Making a new custom loom?

[carburator]

Save your money, buy it all off shore. I've done what you're talking about recently.

Connectors: All Sumitomo or Mitsubishi fully sealed connectors (as per late model jap bikes) easternbeaver.com (located in Japan)
Sheathing: Expanded braid for the most part (various sizes from 3mm up to 20mm), ends of braid terminated with self sealing/gluing heatshrink. Some large OD thick wall heatshrink for abrasion resistance in particular places, and where multiple braid runs join together (cableorganiser.com)
Fuse box: Basic Hella/Narva blade style box (anywhere, even Repco/Supercheap)
Wire: Buy it anywhere (Jaycar, Ideal, anywhere you like).

Don't do anything till you have a plan to follow. You'll need it to buy the connectors at the very least.

To build two looms, for a custom ecu, 20 channel datalogger, quick shifter, flash dash, all sealed connectors, cost me about $600, plus a little more for some quality crimping tools (Easter Beaver can supply those too). That might seem a little steep, but then there's like 20 3 pin connectors for a start, and I did over engineer it somewhat for reliability.

Made a single mistake when I rewired the hi/lo switch internals, but other than that was plain sailing. Although your fingertips get sore after the first dozen connectors hahahahah.

I can tell you more, but I'm super pushed for time at the moment, so you'd be better off just ringing me to talk about it rather than relying on me to remember anything about anything.

Take my advice, get your shit together before you start, it really did make the job much much easier than the total SNAFU it could have been

pretty much what everyone has said, enevn in the rally car's its a bloody nightmare
we have from ( insert the name of that german company i can't remeber right at this minute )
number bands that you slip over the wire and shrink into place ..

they do a great rivnut gun too...

long runs we use trailer five or seven core ( two wires might be doing the same job but thats
dure to overkill as ive seen rallys lost over a single wire to a fuel pump breaking )

ive always tinned the ends before crimping, its a personal thing.
military / aircraft plugs brilliant yet when you have a 50 pin plug and you have to start
soldering from the inside pin to the outside and you realise that you have skipped a pin
its a prick to try and unsolder that one pin in the middle ..

anyway best trick ive leanrt is get a sheet of poo wood and use it as a lay out for runs
so you don't get twists or uneven lenghts..

[The Pastor]

thanks for your replies, very helpful.

[Brian d marge]

pretty much what everyone has said, enevn in the rally car's its a bloody nightmare
we have from ( insert the name of that german company i can't remeber right at this minute )
number bands that you slip over the wire and shrink into place ..

they do a great rivnut gun too...

long runs we use trailer five or seven core ( two wires might be doing the same job but thats
dure to overkill as ive seen rallys lost over a single wire to a fuel pump breaking )

ive always tinned the ends before crimping, its a personal thing.
military / aircraft plugs brilliant yet when you have a 50 pin plug and you have to start
soldering from the inside pin to the outside and you realise that you have skipped a pin
its a prick to try and unsolder that one pin in the middle ..

anyway best trick ive leanrt is get a sheet of poo wood and use it as a lay out for runs
so you don't get twists or uneven lenghts..

Im dong one now !!

the poo wood it painted white m and the components bolt to it , , 1,8m x1 x 0.05m

Make a wiring diagram, ( there is some excellent software that allow you to test your proposed loom. ( I use electric , linux but the windows ones are much better)

Also which some may have mentioned , Estimate the current going through , while in most cases you can use the same as the japs ( and they do some shocking ones ) Ive seen pissy earth wires , ( from the factory !)

talking about earth's , lots of em and bridge that steering stem !

tin the ends, ( I use cutting pliers , and make the crimp, sorry personal thing as I can ensure its correct ) then a small bit if heat shrink , then into the block connector and for me , clear silicon on the backs of block connectors as well as.

and on saying that

I must do some work

Stephen

[F5 Dave]

. . .talking about earth's , lots of em and bridge that steering stem. . .

What he's saying there is don't rely on frame earth to bridge the connection to the bars, as any earth connections from that point have to travel through grease film. Run a reasonable wire between the two.

[imdying]

we have from ( insert the name of that german company i can't remeber right at this minute )
number bands that you slip over the wire and shrink into place ..

Yeah, that's something I wish I'd thought about more... not only would it help keep everything easy to maintain, but it'd look pimp as fuck too.

[F5 Dave]

yeah don't underestimate the amount of time to trouble shoot issues if you play it by ear. I started off with a butchered loom & though crap I can do better & bought another loom & as the project grew I ended up with more & more different controls or electronic boxes that weren't original.

A decent plan & from scratch will take ages & cost. But so will any other way if it is a slightly ambitious end plan.

[mossy1200]

Get a multi core cable as the main loom and strip it as required. The cable are all white but they are numbered every 30mm

[Macontour]

Anyone know a GOOD auto sparky in aucks ( i had used one in the past but got TERRIBLE aesthetics from them)[/QUOTE]

I had these guys fix a lighting issue with my cage, very helpful at short notice and short staffed over Christmas. They sorted the problem quickly and charged about $80 when I was expecting to pay a couple of hundred for a new switch etc. Kevin was awesome to deal with.

They do everything from bikes to cars, trucks, motor homes and so on.

Wiri Automotive Electrical Ltd, 121 Plunket Ave, Wiri, ph:262-2660

[carburator]

Yeah, that's something I wish I'd thought about more... not only would it help keep everything easy to maintain, but it'd look pimp as fuck too.

Wurth NZ..
RS componets probably have them too..

I grew up in the aircraft industry , honestly can say when you in the bowels of a 747/400 and your looking
for a certain wire that number code tag system works very well

the pimp daddy loom i had in the staduim truck was aircraft built
push button reset breakers
sliver plated contact switch gear ( aircraft shit ) ( hell ive seen races lost over $12 shit from repco )
bulkhead conectors and bits..

[CookMySock]

The important things about wire sizes are, obviously that it won't have too much voltage drop (lights will be dim, horn wont go etc) and also, and very importantly, that the fuse WILL BLOW if you short the distant end to ground. If you use too small a wire and you have a fault to ground, the fuse won't blow and now you have a ticking time bomb.

[Paul in NZ]

Buy the latest Claasic Bike magazine - its got an article on making your own

[F5 Dave]

Every time I read something in a mag they say solder the connections. That's house technology.

[imdying]

Every time I read something in a mag they say solder the connections. That's house technology.

All my bikes have crimped factory looms, so I followed that logic and built mine with the same connectors and crimping. Having said that, where some earths join together, I have soldered. As you say, a quality crimp is ok, and average one is not.