Wiring and the end result

[trike lady]

The outcome of bad wiring on a GL1800.



This guy just got his '07 Honda Goldwing back from the mechanics. Turns out faulty trailer wiring was the culprit. Hopefully the bike owner had good insurance.

 

[rhino 2]

That would burn me up.........:gah:

 

[David357]

Frighteningmg:

 

[Burnerboy]

wow!

Now I'd B in tears if that was my bike.........:blush::blush::blush:

 

[Keystone]

WOW! mg:

 

[GoldWingrGreg]

Daily, I see faulty wiring on GL1800s. Many electrical accessories installed at rallies have poorly routed wires, or harnesses that are poorly protected. Here are some things to remember.

- any electrical accessory attached to any part on a GoldWing, should have a connector easily accessibly so that the part that it attaches to can be quickly removed for service. A common error is a ring-of-fire. To properly service the front tire, forks, fenders, brakes, axle bearings, anti-dive valve, a tech should be able to unbolt a ring-of-fire and immediately find the connector behind it so that it can be correctly removed.

- almost all electrical connectors bought at a common auto parts store are sub standard. All crimp connectors should be a double crimp design. The first crimp secures the wire to the connector, the second crimp secures the outer protective coating of the wire to the connector.

- quality wiring always has 2 protective coatings. Each wire should have its own protective coating, and vinyl, or electrical tape, or some other coating to protect the protective coating.

Here is what most forget ... vibration, movement, and temperature change is what "kill" connections and wiring. Wiring, even if it is protected, should NEVER rub or freely touch other parts that are moving. For example, if the forks are fully rotated left to right, ring-of-fire wiring should never freely touch a steering head or a fork tube. It should be routed similar to how the brake hoses are routed. It's routing should also allow for full up-and-down movement of the forks. Connectors must be able to withstand thousands of miles of vibrations, and crimps must be able to take rapid temperature changes from starting up cold to riding in hot climates. Metals expand under these conditions, and a quality crimp will be able to take expansion and expansion from heat. They must also be able to live in the extremes, such as going over Grants Pass and it be 30 deg, to dropping into the Sacramento Valley 1 hour later and it be 105 deg.

I'm sure there are exceptions to this, but thus far, I've never seen a quality electrical installation that was done at a rally. In my profession, we call it carnival wiring or carny wiring.