My Auld Triumph

[jimmy]

Well I made a resolution to get my auld 59 Speedtwin on the road this year. I initially set it up in the style of a Cafe Racer (love the look, but can't afford a Triton). I purchased a set of rear sets and made up the hangers and linkages. I also adapted a seat from a modern Triumph before fabricating a bump seat. Finally I fitted a set of clip ons.

I then finished all the wee jobs I needed to get it on the road and about a month ago I took it out for it's first shakedown ride. There were more false neutrals than a Switzerland v Sweden footie game and the clutch was very stiff

It was also highly uncomfortable. 

Back to the false neutral, my belief was that the linkage set up was too loose, added to my inexperience in  right hand gear changes, so I removed the rear sets and fitted a standard shifter and this seemed to cure it. I also stripped and adjusted the clutch so that lightened up a good bit.

My next run was a 20 mile affair up through some country back roads and stopped for a few pics

 

I went down a pot hole and it popped a fork seal, so last week I headed off to deepest darkest Fife to my nearest 'specialist' dealer and picked up a set of seals and holders and fitted them. I was also struggling with the clip ons so I removed them to fit a set of 'western' style bars, as well as 2 new tyres. Below is a mock up with the bars and a later style T140 tank sitting on it (food for thought for me)

I also had to order a longer brake cable and went to fit that yesterday when disaster struck; The cable inner was too long so I'll need to fix that (well my mate will) and then when refitting the rear brake light switch, the spring flew out my fingers taking the small operating pin with it, never to be found again.....now the disaster part. I fitted a new twist grip and switched on the ignition to check the tickover. The ammeter immediately fell to zero. I switched it off and on again with the same result. I stood looking at it, puzzled for a few seconds and then noticed a smell of burning. The -ve terminal wire was melting. I switched the ignition off, but noticed the brake light stayed on. Luckily the battery terminals are spades so I quickly pulled them off. I removed the headlamp and saw that the corresponding wire from the battery had melted in there as well

 

So today I stripped the wiring loom off the bike and removed all sheathing, in prep for building a now harness

Auld bikes.....You can keep them, I should have bought a Yamaha

[blackhat250]

Hee " part of the fun jim,,,,,  lots of dodgey  connectors in there,  

[jimmy]

9 minutes ago, blackhat250 said:

Hee " part of the fun jim,,,,,  lots of dodgey  connectors in there,  

Indeed matey. I'll need a crash course in electrickery to make a new loom

[drewpy]

you need decent connectors, those blue things are OK for cars and other shit.

invest in a crimper and buy the right bullets for the trumpet

[jimmy]

Cheers Drewps

I have trawled through vehicle wiring Products website and filled a basket, but not purchased yet as I still have a decision on colours (see last paragraph). The issue I have is I will still need some female spades for the rectifier so that would be two crimpers

I intend taking my time and do it correctly, but am loathe to pay out good money for a tool I plan to only use once (tight jock fuck, I know). I'm going to use the japanese 3.9mm bullets instead of lucas 4.6, as my mate has a crimper for the 3.9mm bullets so I can get that, and whilst I haven't asked, he will probably have the proper spade crimper as well.

Anyway, now I have got over the initial rage and shock, I am kinda looking forward to doing this and learning a new skill. I have stripped the sheathing off and will pin it to a board with all wires labelled so I can copy with new wires. I will be ordering 2mm/sq 25a cable with the 28 strands instead of the 14 strand wire the PO used so should be better quality

The issue with this bike is that there has been a number of alterations/upgrades (6v - 12v conversion, EI fitted, Removal of distributor, etc) so I cannot make a loom direct from the manual. My only concern at this time is do I lift the colours from the wiring diagram, or just copy the colours from the existing one

[jimmy]

Well I have spent the last few weeks designing a new loom and getting it quality assured from someone who knows waaaay much more than I do. Once I got the thumbs up I ordered all the wires, terminals and other sundries and they arrived a day or so ago. I also bought an automatic wire stripper and borrowed a crimping tool from my pal. I will be doing away with the rectifier and zener diode and upgrading to a rec/reg, but that hasn't arrived yet. I'll be making a start on my next set of rest days

and a wee trial run with the first wire

[cotterpot]

Not sure coiling all the spare wire like that is a good idea - couldn't you have just made it shorter 

[Cynic]

On ‎6‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 7:29 PM, jimmy said:

Well I have spent the last few weeks designing a new loom and getting it quality assured from someone who knows waaaay much more than I do. Once I got the thumbs up I ordered all the wires, terminals and other sundries and they arrived a day or so ago. I also bought an automatic wire stripper and borrowed a crimping tool from my pal. I will be doing away with the rectifier and zener diode and upgrading to a rec/reg, but that hasn't arrived yet. I'll be making a start on my next set of rest days

and a wee trial run with the first wire

Looking good so far. I take it you have a peg board made up?

[jimmy]

I pinned a 6 x 3 sheet of gyproc on the shed wall and pinned the auld harness to that with labels on all the ends stating where they came from (colours do not match any Triumph manual). However there were so many redundant wires on that harness that I designed my own loom using the correct colours (I then got it quality assured from a wiring guru) and I intend to piece it together on the bike before sealing it all up in wrapping / self amalgamating tape.

My intention is to set it up as 3 separate systems 1/ Lighting circuit 2/ Ignition circuit and 3/ Charging circuit and then test them individually.  

I bought the 3.9mm "Jap connectors" and that way I can connect up all live wires with the sheathed female end to help prevent shorting

I also fixed my new Triumph today.....Item number 3 Igniter £226, so starting to get excited again

[Cynic]

It may seem silly but the primary purpose of the pin board is to get the proper length and location for the wires and connectors. Personally when I built my first loom I would never have believed just how much wire was in even a basic loom.

Its  metres of wire just in a DT, 2 indicators, brake and tail is probably 10m alone. Trying to build a loom on the bike will end in nightmare too as you just wont know whats where.

The separate sub looms makes sense, I did much the same on the dt.

You should have the pin board laid out like its a bike that's squashed flat with locations marked on, headlight, battery switchgear etc, in the correct distances.

That pin board will keep you sane, trust me. 

[drewpy]

yep, agree with Cynic, I have a pikky in my tracker blog with a pin board. I also did it in sub looms before wrapping it all up

 

http://xs400flattracker.blogspot.com/2011/08/lectrics.html

 

[jimmy]

On 6/17/2018 at 9:00 PM, drewpy said:

http://xs400flattracker.blogspot.com/2011/08/lectrics.html

1st I've looked in there Drewps, some good reading. Thanks for that

[Airhead]

Jimmy I copied a building wiring loom tutorial from an old magazine catalog if it's any use pm me an email

[jimmy]

Cheers Bud. I started it today, but taking my time and trying to prevent me doing my usual 'fools rush in'

[Airhead]

ive never done one but I understand you don't wrap with adhesive backed tape as it makes it inflexible

[jimmy]

I've bought a mixture of self amalgamating tape, various diameters of sheathing and a length of convoluted tubing (split plastic that closes in on itself, so easy to gain access to the wires). I also bought a fuse box. (the original only had one fuse, now I'll have 5)

[jimmy]

Well, that was a long haul.

Finally got the wiring completed on the auld bike. I spent a lot of time preparing both myself and the bike. I purchased all my kit from vehicle wiring products who delivered in jig time. My only fault with them was their post and package charges. £4.50 is the starting price, so my first order, that seemed fair, but twice more I had to go back (once for 2m of red wire and another for 10 terminals. As they weighed the sum total of fuck all, I found the charge to be excessive then...but it was my fault for not ordering the correct amount

I discovered a company called 12 volt planet, who were 10p/m dearer for wire but their p&p was only £1 odds

I wired it in 3 sections, charging circuit, Ignition circuit and lighting circuit and added a fuse box. The melted harness only had one fuse in it, so I wanted to try and avoid that pain again. I also wired in a kill switch which the PO had cut off at the switch for some strange reason

The PO had made his own harness using (I would think) whatever wire he had available so it did not match any manual, and as there were a number of upgrades to the bike, it did not match any specific Triumph wiring diagram, so I had to pick and choose from a variety of model years

The Ignition and charging circuit turned out surprisingly easy but I had a bit of bother with the lights. The handlebar switches were off a different model so I had to bugger about with a multi meter and a lot of patience. I now have pilot, main (dipped and high), tail brake, speedometer and both idiot lights working.There is still an issue in that the pilot light will not come on, on its own, rather the main beam will come on with the pilot, but as I don't run about with just the pilot, it is not an issue.

So glad it is now sorted and my only regret is not taking photos of each stage of the loom rebuild...but I have laminated my wiring diagram so should help me in the future if needed

Thanks for all the help and encouragement

[drewpy]

well done Jimmy, looked like you knew what you were doing when I saw it in the man cave.
Great when it all comes together, just time and patience (plus P&P) :D

[jimmy]

Cheers Drew. Once my initial shock, horror, trepidation was over I started looking forward to the new learning experience. I got a hoor o' a load of help from 'Stuart' over on Britbike and Airhead sent me a very good 'how to' article from an auld magazine.

Lessons Learned.

Plan, plan and plan again.

It took me about 4 attempts to draw a loom that would do everything I needed and I emailed it to a guy to proof read it. My bad, in that I intentionally left out wiring up the handlebar switches because I assumed this would be the easiest part of the loom build. I then spoke with a mate in work, who has got the best job in the work. Although he is a Cop he has been carrying out the role of Rhib engineer for the last 4 years as we are unable to fill that position, so he works on engines all day and gets to order the best of kit for his workshop. With that in mind I borrowed a Delphi crimping tool. An expensive piece of kit but was great to use. Perfect leverage and ergonomically great to handle....I will be loathe to hand it back,

I then set out a parts list and send my order off. As stated above, I underestimated on a few items, so again, plan, plan plan and add extras.

Practice makes perfect.

Prior to starting I spoke with my mate at the Marine Unit and he gave me a 'course' in wire stripping and crimping. Once the kit arrived, I put this into practice and in the end there were only a couple of wasted terminals lying in the bin.

Be Prepared (Like it Drew)

for some changes. In my finished loom drawing I had left out the handlebar switches and also the fusebox I was going to install, so starting with the fusebox, I had to reroute all wiring that would be fused. I had dryrun the wires and held them in place with tie wraps, so whilst there weren't many waste terminals, there were piles of cut tie wraps in the bucket, but at £2.50 odds out of Lidls, I have tons left over. As the loom developed, a few more changes came into place in that I added earth wires (hence the need to reorder red wire, +ve earth with red being the standard colour) and slightly changed the connection points for some wires

The Handlebar Switches

Which I thought would be the easiest to wire turned out not so. As above the switches were from a mid 70s T140, 750cc (my bike is a 59 500) so again I had to jump from my own loom design to the official diagram for these switches. As I said at the outset, I had no previous electrical experience, although I can read a diagram, but getting the correct lighting set up took me two weekends of frustration. This part of the loom drawing should have been included in my original drawing that way the guy quality assuring it would have guided me on the right lines prior to this pain

Finally

When stripping out the old harness I thought I had taken enough photos and labelled enough end wires to help in reassembly....but no, I hadn't. So if you're doing a loom, or any leccy work,  think carefully about how many pics are enough, then double it. Take pictures from a variety of angles giving an overall view as well as close ups of each connection.

Summary

Whilst delighted to have build my first 'scratch' loom I am aware of how much I do not know. A lot of electrical testing still leaves me clueless and I have to read the test process over and over. In the middle of this rebuild, I also suffered electrical issues with my modern Triumph, and it cost over £350 to repair this because I had no confidence in what I was testing and so believed the 'experts' on various forums telling me the tests I carried out were incorrect.... So if I have learned anything it is be a bit more confident in myself.

Another thing I picked up is that most people (I spoke with anyway) had various names for electrical issues....Black Art, Devils work, Bastard wiring etc. On discussing this further, these folk were like me and had little or no experience of electrics so were happy to shy away from it. I was/am the same but in the end I was forced to face up to my shortcomings. Once I did I am happy as fek that I was able to get a working bike back for only the cost of the materials.

If it happened again, although pisssed off, I would be confident to tackle the issue without all the angst I went through the first time (still seeking advice and reassurance of course)

Still regret not taking pics of each stage of the rebuild, and thanks for staying with me

[Airhead]

Top man Jimmy, well done you

 

positive earth...yikes!