Bullets, blades and wire.

[JOHNDADDY]

Good morning, day, night All It's a Big site.
Your preferences on connectors? Manufacturers?
I've always leaned towards bullets. Any reason why not?
Also, what's the best wire to use? Silicone wrapped, marine, I've seen tin coated...?
No LEDs for me, 18ga throughout?
Thinking crimp and solder w\shrink wrap.
I do not want to ever do this again, once I wrap it into a harness
tearing it apart will be a real pain. Trying for bullet proof. ha ha oxymoron.
Dialectric grease on them first?
Your thoughts?

 

[Wingedwheel]

Vintageconnections.com

 

[Jim]

1+ on vintage connections.

A lot of people don't like the connectors the bike came with... think they're cheap, chinsey, crap connectors.
But... if you think about it, most of 'em are still soldiering on some 40-50yrs later. So I'd disagree with that assessment. Just replace 'em with new originals and get another 40-50yrs out of 'em.

 

[Jan_P]

Not for everyone and for all bikes but Over the years connectors and switches have caused 85 % of the faults .
Cleaning grinding apply grease but at times it comes back
So if the connection is bad I solder and use shrink wrap ..
If i need to split it I just cut it with pliers.

Some connectors need special tools and pliers
If it is a low budget job the solder Is Cheaper and gives a better more secure connection If you ask me .
Cheaper better takes less space -- Works for me
I Mark up the wires usually with tape and corresponding number on each side
Helps reassembling
1---1
2--2
3--3

I use some bundling so the wires are not hanging loose
Later years mostly regular string Like a spiral along the harness instead of Zip ties

 

[JOHNDADDY]

Vintageconnections.com

Thanks, they have a nice set for under $70 with the tool. Curios about the silver connectors though, aluminum, steel?
Thought copper was the way to go.

 

[bosco659]

Thanks, they have a nice set for under $70 with the tool. Curios about the silver connectors though, aluminum, steel?
Thought copper was the way to go.

The bits that I bought from them were all brass. If silver in colour, perhaps plated brass? Pretty sure not aluminum or steel.

 

[Jim]

Most likely tinned brass.

 

[JOHNDADDY]

Most likely tinned brass.

Durability against corrosion?
Was wondering about that with tinned wire?

 

[Jim]

Very durable. They're used in aircraft applications.

 

[JOHNDADDY]

Very durable. They're used in aircraft applications.

Use them over copper?

 

[Jim]

Yup.

 

[Wingedwheel]

Brass is harder than copper and way more durable. I would think that if you used copper bullets that they would fold over or stretch when you tried to push them together. Just my

 

[5twins]

Several years back, I got a couple of the Vintage Connections kits, one for bullets, one for spades, and the crimping tool. It wasn't cheap but I'm glad I got them. I'm pretty much set for life now, lol. I've since picked up several more bags of connectors from eBay, not as good quality-wise, but they work OK. I've done numerous wiring repairs and mods with all this stuff, and they come out great. Never did a whole harness, never had the need to, but I could if need be I'm sure.

 

[Its been a long time]

For those of us in the UK, I recently bought a bunch of stuff from Vehicle Wiring Products. Can't say enough good about them really. Good prices, good selection of bits, answer the phone promptly when you call, don't rip you off for shipping. Highly recommended for bits to fix wiring issues on an old bike. Link -

https://vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk/

 

[gggGary]

Durability, continued use of the wiring harness may be somewhat regional.
Up here the major killer is left outdoors / sunlight. eventually the connectors crumble. The wire insulation is pretty tough.
Biggest problem is Primitive Pete's ham handed, no nothing butchery of what were prolly perfectly good harnesses.
But if the bike was at least in a shed and not excessively wet the harness is still good to go. One biggy is using lots of lube/wiggling before disconnecting the multi-wire blocks. Someone gave me an aerosol can and tub of this.

Tend to use it on connections switches etc., seems to work well. But spraying rust buster or silicone spray before trying to open connectors works too.
Other than madness that came to me "rewired" (mostly very well) that I've also modified/redone, all of the many XS's through the SOIR that left here running, did so with factory harnesses. If not the one they came in with, one from the box of harnesses salvaged from "parts" bikes.
For replacement bullets etc I've bought from chinese venders and once I got the correct sizes to match the stock connectors those parts have done very well. Of all the fancy shmasy crimp tools I've gotten, this type of simple crimper from Klein or Ideal has become my usual go to.

A few more steps than the ratcheting all in ones to make up the connection but with just a little finesse it will successfully make just about every kind of wire/terminal joint from #4 down to #22 wire. I do a lot less soldering than I used to.
The biggest problem with custom harnesses is lack of documentation, two three years later no one knows what wire/color goes where.

 

[JOHNDADDY]

Thank you All for the input. Thumper was completely rewired by me years ago after a harness fire.
I'm sure back in the day I just grabbed the cheapest wire I could find and put it back together.
It's a mess, just want to clean it up. Headlight, taillight and brake is all that's on it, With two toggle switches.
one for IGN and one for lights. Coffee Warning.

 

[ThatXS650Guy]

Vintageconnections.com

Thanks for that. I cringe when I see the colored, hardware store, plastic crimp connectors on cars or bikes.

 

[Its been a long time]

Thanks for that. I cringe when I see the colored, hardware store, plastic crimp connectors on cars or bikes.

I'm working through my 77 650 removing them and using the correct crimp bullets. The original style crimps are a 1000 times better than the pre insulated garbage.

 

[Wingedwheel]

I’ve also had good luck buying the 10 packs from XS650direct. I originally bought a few to get my order to the free shipping zone but was pleased with them.

 

[jetmechmarty]

Thinking crimp and solder w\shrink wrap

Don’t crimp and solder. Just make proper crimps, or solder. Don’t do both. Crimp connections are more resistant to breaking than solder connections. I like uninsulated connectors with heat shrink. That’s how I choose to do it.