Wires, Wires Every Where...

Yesterday morning I started thinking about what kind of mess I was going to find myself in trying to get all the wiring straight on the naked bike. I printed a wiring diagram that I downloaded from www.goldwingdocs.com. (fantastic site for Wingers) I looked it over for some time, and kept thinking how nice it would be to have my brother there to help, before venturing out to the garage.

Not knowing were to begin, I started unbolting everything that might be in the way of seeing wires. I traced several of them to get an idea of where things were going and put the battery on the charger so it would have enough juice so I could test the circuits.

There were two giant bird's nests of wires. One on the front that was tied into the fairing and a second on the rear end that went to the trailer and trunk lights. I started at the battery and unplugged all the axillary power wires that the previous owner had connected for various accessories.

Whoever wired in the fairings did a good job to preserve the original wires and harnesses. The fairing wiring was spliced into the original wires so all I had to do was expose the connections and cut off the newer wiring. Here is a picture of the final product.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the front light housing was still wired and circuits were connected. I used a 12V light probe to test them. A little later that afternoon I pulled the headlight out of the fairing and placed it in the housing. It worked fine but I still need the chrome casing to finishing mounting the light.
The rear end was equally simple and I had a new found confidence from my previous success. The original connections were still intact under the seat and after chasing a few wires I found that I could pull everything that wasn't in a heat shrinked coating out of the bike. Tail and brake lights both work properly and the signal light wires lit up the tester.

While I was at it I buffed some of the rust off the rear fender with Eagle One Never Dull chrome polish. The rust spots were superficial and buffed right off leaving a nice chrome fender behind. I used a little Ronsonol lighter fluid to try and soften up the factory decal. It took some of the ink off but the sticker remains. I'll have to find a better product to remove that one.

I tried to remove the exhaust pipes as well. I soaked the rust covered bolts in WD-40 and after using a 16 inch cheater pipe on my allen wrench was able to break the right side loose. The left side was so packed with dirt and rust that I couldn't get the wrench in it. I was able to get a #30 torx head in it but it wouldn't give and I feared that I might strip it out. At that point I called it a day. Here is the aftermath.

Pile of wire and tape

A second pile of wire and the horns out of the fairing

The big picture
(how do you like my creeper?)