Hi guys, the other day I did a wire tuck on my Iron without the tank lift I taped all the wires neatly around the frame of the bike and got the tank placed back down with no issues. However I accidentally cut a wire... I worked out that it was the wire that must affect whether the tailifhts come on when I use the front brakes. Stupidly thinking it wasn't a big deal and not having the parts available to fix it then and there I decided to leave it for another day. The next day I jumped on the bike and went for a ride, no problems until shortly after heading off both my battery and engine light came on my digital tacho.. About 30 minutes after this I was on the freeway and the bike began loseong power and the tacho died and stopped working.... I got off the road as the bike died and I was able to realise that the battery was dead. Got the bike to a mate and hooked it up to charge overnight, battery charged no problems and I managed to fix the cut wire. All good bike started fine no warning lights on and the taillight was working properly with the front brake again so off I sped down the road, then those to dreaded lights came back on!?!! What could be the problem and what do I need to do? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 Just a quick comment on your problem - I would like to bet that you have damaged more than one wire!! 

I would say that you have squashed or cut the insulation on another wire(s) and it or they are placing a short (probably partial if no fuse failure) and it is this that is draining your battery and giving the warning lights. Remove your tank and have a look for any compression points on the wiring harness. If none visible, remove the tape where you re-loomed and inspect again. 

A general wiring rule on motorcycle harnesses is not to tape/fix the wire(s) directly to the frame - loom the wire bundle then attach it to the frame - and most importantly don't fit the wire harness between the frame backbone and the fuel tank tunnel unless there is adequate clearance between the tank and harness to prevent scuffing the insulation off due to vibration/tank movement.

If you have this setup, I would highly advise a tank lift and or fitting the loom under the frame backbone (Not between the frame and tank).  A wiring harness fire is very messy indeed - I have been into wiring construction/repairs for 40 plus years and have seen some horror jobs - so plan carefully and take your time with wiring changes - EFI wiring harnesses are a wire wackers nightmare and very expensive to replace!!!

Hope this helps, and not scares!!!

Cheers

RedNed

The lights would be a fault code registering...right?

Where are you located Spartan?

T1

 I'm located in Melbourne guys, yeah to my knowledge only one wire has been damaged it was fixed, the wires I wrapped to the frame directly, didn't like the look of the tanklift so I I took it off. So best solution would be to remove the tank, re wrap all the wires together separately so they are somewhat insulated and then wrap them to the bike frame. I did a really tidy job and checkered everything so my guess is I've done them to tight and the vibrations or what not are messing with the wires shortly after I begging rumbling down the road? If I sort the wires out and how they are wrapped should this fix the problem. I also relocated the ignition battle and could with a fl customs kit but I don't think that has anything to do with it. Thanks again for the feed bback guys its help relieve the stress lol

did you remove the plugs for the wire tuck? and are you 100% you got the wires right?

 What do you mean remove the plugs? I connected all the plugs up correctly and taped them to the right hand side of the frame? I didn't remove any and solder wirthe wires together or anything like that.

ahhh ok, thats what i did and found the you cant go by colours of the wires haha got caught out on a few

 Yeah well the wire I cut I fixed no probs, I'm just thinking thinking I've wrapped everything a little to tight and I didn't insulate things properly, might also try and make it easier to put the tank down coz at the moment I'm really putting some weight down on it till I put the front tank blot through

 Yeah I think my best bet when I get time is to unwrap everything. Check all the wires and plugs and make sure there all connected. I'll then wrap everything into a bundle/s. Then I'll wrap it or too the frame as low as possible while still trying to give it a little slack, then get the tank down hopefully without to much force.

i put my wires is elecy conduit, that could help with vibration and chafing. I did the same as you with the wiring under the tank with no lift, just with the plugs it was too tight so i fucked them off. I left the pins on so all i did was plug each pin in and heat shrinked the fuckers so if i wish i can put the plugs back on easy.

 What's this electric conduit wrap stuff you speak off? If like to get some and use it myself if you could clarify it for me. Also what do

You mean by removing the plugs but keeping the pins, I've discovered that the there is about 4 large connections? That seems to take up the most space when I'm trying to do the wrap?

 This stuff mate, you can get it from most auto shops. 

And yeah i did the tuck and had to take a few plugs off to do the wires throught the handle bars so i thought fuck it they all can come off and get a better look.

Spartan, don't panic just yet.

There are two large plugs (deutch plugs) that connect your controls to the ECU of the bike and control your indicators, brake lights, start switch and everything else available in your left and right hand. The plugs are for plug and play purposes and ease of maintenance but aren't actually necessary. DONT CUT ANY WIRES - Its a fucking nightmare in the long run and completely unnecessary; particularly if you're like me and are forever swapping bits and pieces.

The pin the blokes above are referring to live inside the two large plugs - from memory one is grey and the other black? You can pull these apart and simply join the metal pins and heat wrap them to protect the join and hit them with a little electrical tape and you're sorted. I put a thread up sometime ago taking you through the whole process. I had the bars off my bike yesterday to instal a new set of trees and it took me about 30mins to run the entire thing again!

Back to your initial problem, I agree with RedNed; if you're getting other problems than its highly like you've damaged/kinked another wire that you're not aware off. As painful as it is, pull the entire thing apart (slowly) and check each individual connection that you've touched to ensure that everything is in working order. If you can't find anything than check everything you've wrapped in tape to make sure you haven't broken a connection taping the thing to the backbone. In terms of fitting, I also recommend sticking everything under the tank and use a lift kit to ensure you do not inadvertent squash your loom trying to install the tank again.

P.S - Dont snap any pins either, once they're gone; they're gone!! I think you can get a tool but fuck knows what it looks like..............just easier to be exceptionally careful and run through it.

Take some pictures of what you've done so we can see in detail and I am sure we'll all be able to help ya!

Cheers

Waz

Spartan, don't panic just yet.

There are two large plugs (deutch plugs) that connect your controls to the ECU of the bike and control your indicators, brake lights, start switch and everything else available in your left and right hand. The plugs are for plug and play purposes and ease of maintenance but aren't actually necessary. DONT CUT ANY WIRES - Its a fucking nightmare in the long run and completely unnecessary; particularly if you're like me and are forever swapping bits and pieces.

The pin the blokes above are referring to live inside the two large plugs - from memory one is grey and the other black? You can pull these apart and simply join the metal pins and heat wrap them to protect the join and hit them with a little electrical tape and you're sorted. I put a thread up sometime ago taking you through the whole process. I had the bars off my bike yesterday to instal a new set of trees and it took me about 30mins to run the entire thing again!

Back to your initial problem, I agree with RedNed; if you're getting other problems than its highly like you've damaged/kinked another wire that you're not aware off. As painful as it is, pull the entire thing apart (slowly) and check each individual connection that you've touched to ensure that everything is in working order. If you can't find anything than check everything you've wrapped in tape to make sure you haven't broken a connection taping the thing to the backbone. In terms of fitting, I also recommend sticking everything under the tank and use a lift kit to ensure you do not inadvertent squash your loom trying to install the tank again.

P.S - Dont snap any pins either, once they're gone; they're gone!! I think you can get a tool but fuck knows what it looks like..............just easier to be exceptionally careful and run through it.

Take some pictures of what you've done so we can see in detail and I am sure we'll all be able to help ya!

Cheers

Waz

That stuff is rubbish IRON. use http://www.red2go.net/listProduct/Soft+PVC+Tube/Soft+PVC+Tube this stuff. Spartan check your PM, im only 5 mins from your place and i have some of this loom tube here.  i also have some spare deutz connector pins....
T1

P.S - Excuse the double posts, my internet connection is running pretty poorly ATM

 Thanks for all the advice and pointers guys, made this a lot less stressful, as soon as I get a chance I'll get some pics up of my current wrap job and see what kinda feed back I can get, I don't think I'm brave enough to take part plugs and whatnot though.

 Okay guys, so today I got the tank off, cut loose all the tape, CAREFULLY. No Other wires cut or lose fuses ect. Taped it all up again minus the tight zipties on it and I also insulated all wires and gothem taped lower to the frame and more clear of the tank, the tank still took abit of weight to get down and line up with the bolts. Hooked everything back up, headed down the street and blam, the dreaded battery and engine light pop on soon as get moving at about 60km. I think the issue may be as you can see in the pics is the cluster of wires that run over the frame and end up sitting under the tank, I have to try and disconnect them and reroute them under the frame? I tried them under the tank this time with some conduit around them to but this didnt seem to make any difference.

Can someone please identify what this bundle of wires do?

Thoughts? Advice?

This is the cut wire I repaired and later insulated.

 

This is the wire tuck job where the issue started.

 

 

And this is after i unwrapped it all and checked over everything. Notice the wires that run across he frame, I believe thats the issue as they are getting crimped under the tank?

 Some thoughts: You should not have to force the tank down to secure it - this is a big warning that wire bundles are being squashed and are not happy. You can disconnect all the connectors and run the wiring under the backbone. The wire bundle contains your power and data to the instruments, handlebar controls, crank position sensor, voltage regulator and oil pressure indicator.

If your battery light is iuminating it could indicate - under voltage, under charging or no charging at all ( Battery level drops after a few minutes / kms of riding (either not charging or discharging through a partial short). Could be a 'stressed' connector by extra strain on connector joint or wire pulled out of its terminal in the connector. Check the fault codes thrown up on your speedo. The operting manul will describe how to display them. The engine check light can indicate many things but iit s most likely under voltage to the ECU.

Split the wiring so you have connectors on both sides of the back bone, tape loosely, try the tank, tape up then refit the tank..

I really think you should have a better go at repairing that wire - use a butt splice connector not spade connectors - that's a problem waiting to happpen.