Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech electrical fat trimming

Just like to point something out to anyone who' like to trim the fat on their electrical system and get rid of some of those wires (tho I'm sure many of you know quite a bit more than I with such things). Yes, the alarm connector is useless if you never intend to hook up an alarm BUT some of the wires are not. For instance, the wire that goes from the small plug on the starter solenoid to the alarm connector HAS TO play a part in the starting system somewhere (in my case I connected it to the starter button) or your motorcycle will not start, leading to a week or so of frustration and probably a call for help to someone you know. Just throwin that out there.

Bad idea to go cutting off those connectors unless you really know what you're doing. You leave stray wire ends hanging round just waiting to pick up water and short out, and you remove any possibility of you (or a future owner) changing your mind and installing an alarm, driving lights, charge socket, etc. It's not as if having unused connectors "lets electricity leak out" etc either - there's no harm in leaving them there. If you don't like the look, just tuck them away somewhere they can't be seen.

The reason cutting your alarm connector off stops your bike working is because both the starter motor and ignition circuits go though that connector so the alarm can disable them as part of its security. If you check out the blanking plug that was plugged into the connector it had two wire loops on it to keep these circuits operational. To fix it you need to locate the two pairs of important wires and connect them up - this will be made especially difficult by the fact that ALL the wires on the alarm connector are black. This is to stop thieves doing exactly what you're trying to do.

I -did- cut off my alarm connector, but I'm one of the ones who fall into the "really know what you're doing" category. I removed mine because I was fitting an aftermarket alarm and at the time I had no source for the connectors so I hard wired the alarm in. I've since found a source for the connectors and have both a new plug and socket, but I see no real reason to mess with it while it's working. If the alarm dies I'll put the new socket on so I can fit a standard alarm.

I would love it if someone who knew this electrical stuff better than me could do an "electrical charging improvements thread for Dummies".

I'll spend some serious "mind time" going through Roadworthy's description which is the best one I've come across so far. Not that I know if I have any real issues but I just have a sneaking suspicion the reason my R/R carked it on me was because of the patheticly small stock wiring and riding in summer outback heat.

Tom, I've Sort of done everthing you've suggested bar having Led blinkers. Does anyone know of a plug and play replacement for the stock turn signal bulbs, without having to muck around with wiring and wotnot?

For instance I've Just done a direct swap with my tail light with one of those Kissane stop halogen bulbs but it's not an led so I'm not sure of it's pwr consumption factor there.

Brilliant from a safety perspective though and would still just prefer some more power generation happening anyway. I just aren't that good with improvements to the electrics unless it comes as a kit with instructions that is.

Staffo

I used superbright LEDs amber 1156-a12 but wasn't to pleased with their brightness, I e-mailed and asked if they have anything brighter and they suggested http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/s...F115x-x3X1W.htm