stupid hire harness routing result

[Beemerguru]

Beautiful weekend..great weather,,,going to the Airheads campout/feast on the norther California coast on the ocean..looking forward to a fantastic ride up highway 1 to wonderful food and beverages.....and while splitting lanes on 101 N of the Golden Gate Bridge in Corte Madera,,,I suddenly have LOTS of smoke boil up from the bike, the lights go out, the bikes stops running...and I have to pull off to the LEFT side of the road..the concrete median...about 2 feet away from 5 lanes of traffic..

CHP hears about it and a half hour later, runs a traffic stop so I can push the bike to the right shoulder out of the way..and I spend the next 2 hours waiting for the tow. Not quite the way I had planned to spend Friday night.

I finally get the bike home around 8 and pull the tank to see what the #$%#$% happened.

The lesson here is so simple. I had replaced the main wire harness that morning since I simplified some the electrical connections. But when I tied it all back together, I routed the right handle bar control harness outside the forks instead of inside..I was in a hurry and thinking of the ride..not what I was doing.

The result is that at full lock to the right, I had pinched the wire harness between the fork tube and the tank..and just enough to split the wrong wire coverings inside the harness.

I got 40 miles from home when the results of stupidity came back to bit me. I moved the bars is just the right way to cause the wrong two wires to meet at the exact split to short out the entire bike. This happening at 40 mph in rush hour traffic was not one of my better riding moments.

Progressive did pay for the tow all the way back home...thank you Progressive...and I THINK the damage is just limited to the control wire harness and not the main. I'll know for sure when I get done tracing wires.

[disston]

"Progress is painful." The bike will work again and it'll be better than before. Maybe it's, "Learning is painful.".... No, no, no. "Pain is painful." That's it.

Charlie

[squish]

Bummer to hear about your sudden loss of power, thankfully you made it out safe.

You story reminds me of two of my stories.

My barn find bike was parked due in part to a miss routed wiring harness.

It was folded and bent up touching the underside of the tank, wearing through the insulation and shorting the wiring out.
Melted a good bit of harness.

Good thing as the transmission was just about to go as well.

Now I'm paranoid and I check the wiring regularly. Since I was the monkey who put the new harness in.

Second story...

My wife riding her XR650L, had it die on her, on I-405, in the carpool lane, with about 12" of shoulder,
Around a corner, at night.! :eek

Freaked her out just a little. It ended up needing a new stator and black box. But it took a long long time to trust that bike again.

[bmwhacker]

Originally Posted by Beemerguru

Beautiful weekend..great weather,,,going to the Airheads campout/feast on the norther California coast on the ocean..looking forward to a fantastic ride up highway 1 to wonderful food and beverages.....and while splitting lanes on 101 N of the Golden Gate Bridge in Corte Madera,,,I suddenly have LOTS of smoke boil up from the bike, the lights go out, the bikes stops running...and I have to pull off to the LEFT side of the road..the concrete median...about 2 feet away from 5 lanes of traffic..

CHP hears about it and a half hour later, runs a traffic stop so I can push the bike to the right shoulder out of the way..and I spend the next 2 hours waiting for the tow. Not quite the way I had planned to spend Friday night.

I finally get the bike home around 8 and pull the tank to see what the #$%#$% happened.

The lesson here is so simple. I had replaced the main wire harness that morning since I simplified some the electrical connections. But when I tied it all back together, I routed the right handle bar control harness outside the forks instead of inside..I was in a hurry and thinking of the ride..not what I was doing.

The result is that at full lock to the right, I had pinched the wire harness between the fork tube and the tank..and just enough to split the wrong wire coverings inside the harness.

I got 40 miles from home when the results of stupidity came back to bit me. I moved the bars is just the right way to cause the wrong two wires to meet at the exact split to short out the entire bike. This happening at 40 mph in rush hour traffic was not one of my better riding moments.

Progressive did pay for the tow all the way back home...thank you Progressive...and I THINK the damage is just limited to the control wire harness and not the main. I'll know for sure when I get done tracing wires.

I feel your pain:....I've always wanted to attend the "Bad to the Beach Rendezvous"....



We were in the "middle of nowhere" Montana. My wife hitched a ride 40 miles to the nearest working telephone....4 hours later and finally a tow.
So much for our 4th.of July Glacier Park Trip. (2010)....swallowed an exhaust valve so no roadside repair magic this time.
I bet over 50 Harley riders passed me up while I was sitting on the shoulder of the road, not one stopped.

[Beemerguru]

Pulled the tank and got rid of all the wire ties...when I spread out all the wiring I didn't see as much melted stuff and I feared. I unplugged the starter combo switch and plugged in a spare...all the lights came on and the bike started...for a while.

Evidently the short took out the Gel mat battery since it won't hold a charge...and for some reason, I can't get a neutral light.

The joys of tracing wires.

Squish...I know what you're wife felt...5 lanes of fast moving traffic 2 feet away from the bike...NOT the most pleasant half hour of my riding experience.

[Infidel]

A good friend of mine told me...

"A good rule to follow is to use existing cable routes when adding ANY cabeling to your bike, that should keep them away from heat and stress."

The one time I didn't listen to him I was in a similar situation.