Short Wire Direction Light

[lakeview]

So you're going through your spares looking for a couple of good enough direction lights for a beater bike and you see a couple tired ones, you know a bit scuffed, bent and having the wire stop right where the hollow thread does. You can't even stick a butt connector on it (not that you would do such a thing).
Taking it apart, the fix looks easy, just solder a fresh terminal onto a new piece of wire, but where do you source that terminal that has been crimped on and cannot be reused.
I found a red spade terminal with a tiny hole in it and trimmed it to a small cicle. The little hole is just big enough to let the bare wire through, but sits up flat on the insulation, making it easy to spread out the filaments and solder them onto the bitty "washer".
If you assemble the wire, socket, spring and the big washer before you solder it together, it is a whole lot easier getting the new wire down the hollow mount thread. If you want to get really fancy you can get a green or brown wire off an old harness and be factory colour coded. I grabbed a blue piece, I promise to put a label on its business end before installation.
If there were a ready source for those small terminals, the fix time could be reduced to minutes.

 

[robinc]

Nice save lakeview!

 

[weekendrider]

 

[lakeview]

Thank you for the source WR.

 

[5twins]

Couldn't you just extend a short wire using an in-line Western Union splice? Done properly, they're barely any bigger in diameter than the original wire. The longer section of shrink wrap at one end of each of these jumper wires is concealing a Western Union splice .....

 

[gggGary]

Couldn't you just extend a short wire using an in-line Western Union splice? Done properly, they're barely any bigger in diameter than the original wire. The longer section of shrink wrap at one end of each of these jumper wires is concealing a Western Union splice .....

Pretty fancy name for a twist and hope connection 5twins ..... bit of solder on that and you should be good to go.

 

[5twins]

Yes, it must be soldered, should have mentioned that, or it will just pull apart with a gentle tug. I use this splice all the time on my wiring mods. I do occasionally crimp new connectors on wires but usually I clip wires from old harnesses with factory crimped connectors on them, then "Western Union" splice them onto my project wires. I can do a pretty good crimp job but I still trust factory ones more than mine, lol.

 

[lakeview]

Thanks for the schematic 5twins, that is probably the best solution when there is enough wire. Alternatively, with years of rubbing, the insulation where the wire exits the threaded mount gets a bit threadbare, so a complete change is attractive.

 

[5twins]

I wouldn't do the splice right at the end of the stalk where the wire exits, I would go up into it an inch or two. Then you'd have new, fresh wire exiting and the splice wouldn't be subjected to twisting and bending.

 

[59Tebo]

lakeview,
I plan to replace the sockets in my turn signals with those for a dual filament (#1187?) bulb, possibly LED. The base of the bulb is the same size, and this allows me the benefit of having a marker light (on all the time) and the turn signal. Since I'll be converting to a PMA, there should be plenty of reserve power to run them. However, for those who would rather keep their turn signals stock, you have an excellent repair.