WIRING NIGHTMARE

[chiltonj]

OK. Bought a 78 GL1000 recently, and have had headaches ever since. First with the fuel (main fuel screen in the tank totally rotted out... = replaced, pump = replaced, filter = replaced) and now...heh... i have a doozie of a wiring nest to deal with it. I am including pictures, as it will tell you guys way more than i can. I was just going over the wiring diagram and trying to match up what i saw with my bike, but there are sections that have me scratching my head. (i.e. wires that go nowhere, wires that are spliced with others, grounds missing)

The first image shows the left side behind the cover. Right off the bat, i am not seeing the terminal box, but i do see some sort of capacitor...The smaller circle is where i came across speaker wire in my wiring harness. The larger circle is where the terminal box should be.

Notice the junction box. Looks like it was taken out and not put back in correctly.

In the next photo, you can see the turn signal flasher with a wire cut.. don't know if that is a big deal...

And in the following photo, i took the rectifier out (the battery wasn't being charged, and would die eventually after a full charge) and saw this at the connector...looks like a connector got hot...

And finally, this is a picture from under the false tank where the fusebox should be. Notice them just bundled up. (Again, don't know if this is an issue or not... just seemed odd to me)

Increasingly frustrated, i humbly ask for opinions, thoughts, etc.

[Placerville]

There's a saying that goes, "Sometimes, even if you get something for free, you've paid too much." You're probably at a point where you need to commit to this or pull the pin. If it were me (and I chose to commit), I'd start looking for a good used wiring harness. From what you're looking at here, IMO it's only the tip of the iceberg and it's just going to get worse. Start looking at eBay for a good used harness.

For the other issues you've mentioned, those aren't show stoppers and should be expected for an early, poorly maintained, GL. All of us have cleaned rusty tanks, replaced water and fuel pumps, rebuilt carbs etc. It's all part of the process and you have to take them one at a time.

Regarding the burnt, 8 pin stator to rectifier plug in your last photo - this is a common issue with early GL's. The cause is that the pins weren't soldered to the wires after they were crimped on at the factory. If/when you get a used harness, you should replace this plug as it's a 'known' troublemaker. For more information on how to replace it, go to this recent post.

[WingAdmin]

In your first picture, I suspect this is an attempt at "improving" the condensers for the points - they require a good ground, and from what I can see, they are getting this ground through the bolt next to the rectifier. Because they normally live closer to the battery, they have been extended with speaker wire.

Your third picture with the flasher shows a "vampire clip" on the wire - this allows you to "tap" into an existing wire without having to cut/solder/insulate the tapped wire. The cut red wire was the wire that was connected to the tapped wire - possibly going to an indicator? Buzzer of some sort? Whatever it was, it has been cut and abandoned. Remove that entire blue "vampire clip" and tape over the insulation it cut into with electrical tape. Then put a wire tie around the electrical tape to make sure it doesn't come loose and fall off when engine heat heats up the adhesive.

The melted connector, as mentioned, is a common problem. Too much current going through contacts that get dirty, heat up, and melt. Replace the connector, cut the three yellow wires and solder them directly, bypassing the connector entirely. This will prevent the problem from reoccurring.

The "fuse block" is a head shaker. The previous owner put a bunch of flat blade connectors in place to plug onto the end of blade fuses, in place of the original fuse block. Apparently the connectors were not in a convenient place to install the fuses, or perhaps the fuses were shorting out due to the position? Whatever reason, he then built extensions, with a male blade at one end and a female connector at the other, and then plugged the blade fuses into that. How to fix this? I would either buy a new fuse block and wire it in properly, or bite the bullet and replace the entire wiring harness. You might want to take a look at these threads:

viewtopic.php?t=14320

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13541

[WingAdmin]

Oh...and add your story to this thread: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=22013

[chiltonj]

After removing the gas tank for replacement (and realizing I needed to take the rear tire off to do so) I was able to inspect the wiring harness a bit closer. More bad news. Cut wires, splices, bare wire, and more speaker wire was rampant throughout.

So, I actually came across an OEM wiring harness for my GL. It should arrive in the next few days, so I will update then on the status. I have taken to searching google for the actual part number, and getting lucky more often than not. (with a bit of time for in-depth searching)

Hoping the part number ends up being the part I need. The site I ordered it from has a return policy.

Thanks to you both for your counsel..

[chiltonj]

After removing the wiring harness and purchasing a new "used" harness, I have decided on a top-down tear down and rebuild. The previous owner has really mucked things up with his "quick-fixes" and general short cutting with maintenance and repairs. Although I didn't get to ride it that much when I bought it, I feel like I owe it to her (the bike) to take the time to make sure she runs true.

Wish me luck.

[mmtindor]

Good Luck

Someone on the website (I have a wiring problem too) sent me this.

http://ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9971

Maybe it'll help.

M