I am contemplating rewiring my entire 1984 GL1200. She naked right now nearly everything removed: No radio, no horns....
I have an Acewell Speedo.
Aftermarket taillights and turn signals
Seems to have a good amount of extra wiring and its messy and ugly. (see photos)
I'm really on the fence about this because I have limited knowledge of electrical. I would like to modernize it with one of those smart wiring boxes. (motogadget)
Looking for some push in one direction or the other.
There is a vast number of people who know nothing about electricity, and get stuck right in. A vast number of those people just end up fornicating the project because they either don't really have an interest in it, or they just can't learn it. The question is, are you someone who can persevere until he learns what he needs to? If you just want to remove the entire harness and make a complete new, stripped-down-to-basics loom, it's not that hard. But you need to understand what functions you're removing, and what you need to keep. And good electrical practices and workmanship is pretty important. Scotch-Loks, twisted wire junctions, and black tape are not very durable.
Yeah it looking more and more like Im going to do it. I seem to have a short to my battery that it can't start or is hard to start after removed from trickle charger. After doing some research it sounds like the stator and a prick test of the 3 yellow wires will tell if the voltage is high enough (4v).
Otherwise its a short in the system and everything needs to be cleaned up anyways.
Rewire is quite the process and with time and patience can be done well. Here is a thread to look at: https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/ ... 12&t=11441 I would recommend getting a second complete harness, use the bike harness as a template to understand what is there. This will allow you to determine what extra wiring is on the bike that wasn't there from the factory. Upgrade the fuse panel as well with one from the '85 Limited Edition or '86 SE-i. A fuse block from one of these has integrated relays for additional items. The air filter box can be fitted to the '84. Stripping out the existing and trying to make a new one without a reference is difficult as has been mentioned.
TESA cloth tape is an excellent alternative to vinyl tape. OEM style connectors are a must, stay away from the solderless connectors if possible. Reuse the OEM connectors, get a good crimping tool for the OEM connector pins. Reusing the OEM connectors will keep the colour coding intact when you have to troubleshoot and use the service manual(s).
Good luck.
Last edited by Rednaxs60 on Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
"When you write the story of your life, don't let anyone else hold the pen"
"My '85 FI model is not a project bike, it's my retirement career"
Ernest
Another consideration is to keep all add-ons separate from the OEM wiring harness. Wiring used at the factory is the minimum size required to safely operate the bike's electrical system as it came from the factory. Best practice would be to add an accessory fuse block for all add-ons. This fuse block can be on/off with an automotive relay from a switched 12 VDC source. Relays are low power consumption items. Having an accessory fuse block minimizes battery connections and allows for better troubleshooting - isolating the fault when you have an issue. There are very compact fuse blocks that integrate a power and ground bus. Cheers
"When you write the story of your life, don't let anyone else hold the pen"
"My '85 FI model is not a project bike, it's my retirement career"
Ernest
