Anyone ever re-wire the whole bike?

Energy One

uhoh0573

Member
My 04 mastiff is now ehc free. Cost me about ~$225. Uses the BD hand controls. I used a signal dynamics penta star for turn/brake, it works very well. The hand controls switch everything via very low draw relay drivers. So far so good. The only functions that arent exactly as stock are, that you can switch the high/low beam by pressing either high or low button more than once, and out of personal prefernce i unhooked the run/stop and just use the ignition key switch.
 

Diesel Dan

Well-Known Member
Yes mine is rewired with the ultima kit....cut the end of bars off had new ends welded on..to fit normal controls grips etc...

Tell me about your Ultima kit.....Which one did you go with.........are you happy with it.........I like the idea of all 14 guage wiring,get rid of the wimpy ass thin wire we got on our bikes.........Any pictures of how you did your bars????? Did you go with HD hand controls???? I gotta rewire my bike this winter,its either gonna be a kit from Ultima with HD hand controls or a M unit...cant decide yet.......

Thanks in Advance!!!!!!!!!
 

txcrod6

Member
My 04 mastiff is now ehc free. Cost me about ~$225. Uses the BD hand controls. I used a signal dynamics penta star for turn/brake, it works very well. The hand controls switch everything via very low draw relay drivers. So far so good. The only functions that arent exactly as stock are, that you can switch the high/low beam by pressing either high or low button more than once, and out of personal prefernce i unhooked the run/stop and just use the ignition key switch.
Where did u order it from n what's the part number for it???
 

LA_Dog

Go Fast, Go Faster
When you do it, do it as simple as possible. You don't need signal indicators, neutral indicator, oil idiot light, high beam switch, starter button, run/off switch, etc. Toss all that crap, it only clutters the system and adds complexity to something that was meant to be simple. Put your hi/low beam on a switch on the back of the headlight bucket, starter button either on the starter (eliminates relay), or on the key switch, and get an oil pressure gauge. The only thing on the bars should be the turn signals if you choose to use them. You won't miss any of the other crap trust me, and you'll thank yourself later for the simplicity of having just 10 wires running through the bike as opposed to the 10,000 that BD had!
Yep that is exactly how my 2001 Pro Sport is (came that way when I bought it), and I love it. Seriously, if anything should go north with wiring I could find / fix it in 5 minutes. One thing I find odd is I still have the stock BD speedo and it seems to work fine. I thought the EHC was required for the BD speedo to function.
 

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bearman

Active Member
.....I thought the EHC was required for the BD speedo to function.
Nope, you just need power and a ground and signal from the transmission speed sensor (and the sensor needs power and ground also). It basically just counts pulses from the sensor and does its own computing to get a speed and milage readout, so no additional computer (or EHC) needed.
 

LA_Dog

Go Fast, Go Faster
Nope, you just need power and a ground and signal from the transmission speed sensor (and the sensor needs power and ground also). It basically just counts pulses from the sensor and does its own computing to get a speed and milage readout, so no additional computer (or EHC) needed.
Thanks bearman- that's what I kinda figured but I did read some threads here stating the EHC is required. working for me, thats all I know :D
 

Pops

Active Member
Complete re-wire....

After a number of trouble free Wire-Plus years (thanks to Moe) I decided to have NAMZ Custom Cycles in Oreland, Pa.
do a complete re-wire. Moe recommended NAMZ so I knew they were good. I could not be happier with my decision.
Jeff and Mike are great guys, their prices are reasonable and their workmanship is meticulous !

I went with PM Controls/Switches/Grips. I swear the bike starts easier and runs smoother and I really like the PM set up.

If you are considering a re-wire I highly recommend NAMZ:2thumbs:
 

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Rottweiler

Well-Known Member
I was wondering if anyone has rewired there complete bike, basically
started from scratch. Not just a wires-plus install but rewired everything
got rid of the ehc, wired in standard/harley controls etc. If so did you
use a pre-made harness or make one yourself?

Thanks
Not yet but thinking about it. Thanks for you post. :flag: So tired of fu#cking with the EHC. But want to use as much over again as I can. Every thing sounds pretty easy except the turn singles? Nice to know the speedo will still work. :2thumbs: I wonder if I could mount a small switch behind the turn single buttons instead of the circuit boards. IF not maybe no singles?
 

LA_Dog

Go Fast, Go Faster
I just got done re-wiring my 2001. If your bike is not EFI, this will be simpler to do. If you have EFI, you'll need to figure out the relationship between your EFI and the engine control module and what can / cannot be bypassed.

At the end of the day, this is a *motorcycle*, not a laptop. A carb bike needs very few wires to run, and the less wires you got, the less there is to go wrong electrically. At it's basic, you only need ignition, head / tail light / brake light / voltage regulator, battery cables, ground straps from engine to frame, ground cable from starter mount bolt to battery ground point. you could use a heavy duty key switch to turn everything on / off, and a slam button on the starter solenoid to fire things up. turn signals, hi / low bean switch, horn, are all extras and I don't ever run turn signals because it is false security to rely on them. Speedo / odo, ya sure that is kinda important to help avoid speeding tickets and know when to fill gas :), but that is pretty simple and most speedos will work fine with the typicsl output sensor from a Baker trans, 12v, and a ground. My OEM BD speedo / odo works fine this way, no EHC.

Ony my bike, the previous owner had a shop pull the EHC, handle bar controls and put in direct wiring with breakers and a Crane HI4 ignition. They did a "so so" job, but used undersized wiring, poor ground locations and most importantly, did not solder connections. Not soldering connections on a bike is a big no no. Crimps without solder will fail every time, when you use crimps always crimp lightly and then solder the wire to the crimp. Every connection that you use a spade, ring terminal on, alway solder it. period. never use butt splices, ever. solder the two wires together directly and cover in heat shrink. Evey crimp thst you do not solder now is one tht will fail on you later. here is a great tip: buy very thin silver solder wire from radio shack. it melts fast and makes the job easier. using thick solder wire is a hassle unless you plan on using a blow torch :D. Buy some alligator clips to hold wires togther while you solder.

Overall, rewiring is not a hard job to do, but requires patience and attention to detail if you want to do a clean solid job. It took me a week (few hours per day) to re-do my dog front to back and do it properly. I suggest taking as much of the bike apart as possible to make things easier- pull the tank, pull any side covers, and rear fender. the more room you give yourself, the easier / faster it will be and the neater it will turn out.

Grounds: Always ground everything to the frame and at as few locations as possible- the more you can consolidate all ground points, the better. i.e. do not ground your headlight to the bucket, but instead run a ground wire to a common frame point location with other grounds. I have two ground points on the bike for all circuit grounds. One at the battery and one at other frame location between tanks.

Use bosch relays (the type with built in resistor or diode) for main power feeds to ignition, starter, key switch, lighting. You'll use the ignition key switch to activate the relay, which will connect the 12v + to everything connected to that relay.

Same for the start button - use a relay. the start button will activate the relay and the relay will connect 12v to the starter solenoid. this will allow you to use trick billet buttons mounted into the handlebar or on the clutch / throttle housings. Check ebay for "billet handlebar buttons" or "custom chopper handlebar buttons" and you'll see what I mean. these buttons are small and are meant to trigger relays instead of drive the source voltage directly. your OEM controls work the same way with the EHC handling the relay duties.

I have two relays on my bike - one that runs main system power for ign / lights / speedo and is activated by the key switch, and the other relay handles power fo the starter solenoid and is activated by pressing the small start button on my coil bracket.

For your main power feed wires to relays that will drive lights, horn, ignition, start button, use 10 or 12 gauge wiring. and not the ebay crap that is "fake" stuff with a thick insulator and weenie cable inside it. Radio Shack or Lowes / Home Depot has the good stranded copper stuff, and you want the type that is flexible. I bought most of my wires from radio shack. I use all black jacketed wiring for everything.

Use 12 or 14 gauge for headlight power wires, use a slightly smaller gauge for the ground
Use 16 / 18 gauge for smaller peripherals like brake / tail lights, turn signals, etc.

Use self-resetting breakers for your main power circuits, usually 20 or 25 amp is sufficient. use either self reseting breakers or fuses for peripheral circuits to brake / tail light, headlight, horn, etc. - this way, if you hve a short in the wire on one of the peripheral systems, it does not shut the whole bike down.

Coat any exposed metal on connection terminals with liquid electircal tape- it is liquid ruber in a bottle - home depot - great stuff. prevents corrosion and peels off easy if needed. plu it looks nicer than crusty oxidized terminals or nuts.

Buy a lot of heat shrink in all sizes from narrow 3/16" up to 1". The cheapest place to buy heat shrink in bulk is your local general electronics parts hobby shop- not radio shack or auto zone. you should cover every single wire in a heat shrink sleeve for extra protection and an OEM look. Yep it takes more time, but the end result is very nice.

Heat shrink cover all wire connections and splices.

Lay out your wires on bike before you start cutting / splicing and have a general plan in your head of how it will lay out. be sure to always leave a bit of extra slack in wiring at all areas, because you will need that extra slack at some point for some reason, and wires that are too tight on a bike will become damaged and abraded.

When running wires, watch out for possible pinch points between tank and frame, swingarm, sharp edges, etc.

After all wires are run and connected, test everything before you bundle and tie strap everything together. It may also help to use a label maker to label ends of wires as to what they are for, especially if you used all black wires and heat shrink. I can guarantee that in three months you'll look at a wire and go "um what was that for again".

Secure all wires with tie straps, and keep wires away from hot points on engine.

Make sure important wires (or at least the fuses / breakers) are easily accessible after the bike is put back together, and that they are still protected from water as best as possible.

Good luck I hope some of this info helps someone else.
 
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