Relays and such

[Take Warning15]

Sorry for starting anothe tread but I posted in related threads and I don't think anyone saw my questions. I'm ready to start ordering bits for my new harness but have a few more questions.

First, are relays recommended or necessary? I've read a bit about people using them for their headlight hi and lo and also their horn. Is it worth it? If so what gauge wire do I use going into and out of it?

Also, has anyone made a harness out of cloth overed wire? I think I'm going to use it because it seems like if would be a bit stronger to deal with vibrations and might look better. I'm just fraud it might be difficult to work with and maybe will take up too much space. Any insight?

 

[grepper]

On Relays, it all depends on the condition of your switches and how worried you are. I like the idea of putting your kill switch on a relay. If your using old switches and you are concerned about voltage drop, then yes. I have read that some after market switches aren't built for the load. You can always build your harness w/o them, and add them later if you are having trouble.

As for cloth wires. I have not read that they are any stronger. For the most part they are modern wires with an extra covering of cloth for aesthetics.

 

[Take Warning15]

The bike runs okay now, but I am rebuilding the harness. Would it give me an even better spark than I have now?

 

[5twins]

If you're losing power to your coils then yes, a relay there would give a better spark. Test it. Measure the voltage at your battery and then measure it at the red or R/W wire that feeds power to the coils. It should read near the same, maybe slightly less at the coils, but only by a few tenths of a volt. If you're losing a volt or two, you have problems in the wiring or the connections and switches between the coils and battery. Fix them or use a relay.

 

[Take Warning15]

Oh, I see... So I shouldn't need a relay if my system is working properly. If it's working properly and there is very little or no voltage drop then I won't need or benefit from a relay? I would imagine the same is true for the headlight and horn.

 

[5twins]

Exactly, relays are fine but just added clutter if you don't need them. Cleaning all the connections and switches will accomplish the same thing but is more labor intensive. But since you're re-wiring, that won't be a problem. You're going to have it all torn apart anyway. As long as you do a proper cleaning job, everything should be fine without the need for relays.

 

[Maurice]

Although I scrapped all the relays on my bike, I admit there is one place where it comes in handy: headlight relay. This used to be performed by the safety relay but I removed it along with the starter solenoid to clean up the triangle under the seat and go to a small 5ah battery.

I went and got this and plugged yellow/ground to 85/86 and headlight wire (depends on the bike...) to 30/87. Yellow wire is the one that comes from the alternator.

Before that I would simply forget to turn no the headlight...

BTW if you can look into GXL wire. I was under the impression that cloth wire was for period restorations?