Man, I spent what felt like the entire weekend working on the SV, re-installing and re-wiring all my electrical accessories, and it’s still not finished! I certainly won’t be able to ride it to work this morning.
My friend Don Weber offered to help supervise the operation if I brought the bike to his shop. So I packed up all my accessories on Saturday morning and rode up to Albany. After situating myself in a corner of his shop, I got to work.
The new fuseblock was a snap to install, but it took me forever to build the wiring harness for my accessories. I had to solder so many connections that I started getting high from all the magic smoke. Running wire through a loom is more difficult than it looks.
I should have known better, but I disregarded an electrical gremlin and it came back to bite me. After connecting my Gerbing’s temperature controller to the heated grips on the bike, we noticed that the grips were getting hot even when the switch was off. So we started troubleshooting, backtracking through all the connections and eliminating the stuff that worked. All of a sudden, the grips started working properly. Odd, but I chalked it up to a bad connection that might have been resolved by our troubleshooting.
I wasn’t able to finalize the wiring 100% that day so I put the bike together into a ride-able state and headed home. I immediately noticed that the grips were warm and getting hotter, and I hadn’t even turned the switch on. Argh! Gremlin! The grips got so hot after a few miles that I had to pull over to let them cool down. Luckily, one of my additions was a nifty connector between the accessories and the powered fuseblock. I pulled the connector, which cut the power to the grips so I could ride home without setting my hands on fire.
I spent Sunday afternoon tracking down the problem. I checked, re-checked, double and triple checked my wiring between the battery to the fuseblock, the fuseblock to the Gerbing’s controller, and the controller to the heated grips. Everything checked out. My multimeter read 0.0 volts on the power lead to the grips, yet when I hooked the same lead to the grips, the grips were getting hot.
I finally enlisted a friend to help me track down the problem. As we stepped through the circuit, it became clear that there was a short somewhere in the grips. We finally traced it to the wiring on the clutch side heater element. This explains why the previous owner experienced occasional popped fuses while running the grips. My wiring efforts must have jostled the wires enough to push the short circuit from an intermittent occurrence to one that happened 100% of the time.
So now I’m waiting on a new heated grip kit to arrive so I can finally wrap this project up. It’s been a lot of work, but the difference from the exposed and unkempt wiring on my old SV to the neat wiring looms on the new bike is night and day.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Electrical gremlins are the worst. Especially when hours of troubleshooting shows that you did everything correctly, and the manufacturer is actually to blame. Luckily, you have the problem diagnosed and can resolve it as soon as you get the new grips.
Then you can get back to riding!
Stacy:
One thing I know for sure. If I ever need any accessories installed, I’ll know where to take it. I think I need a fuse block too. Splicing into all those wires makes for an unkempt look.
bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin
Which grips did you get? And no pictures??
“…so I could ride home without setting my hands on fire.”
I’m glad you got your gremlin worked out – but I just have to say the thought of you riding around with oven mitts on is pretty cute. I see you as a simple and efficient oven mitt wearer; solid color, maybe those silvery ones – nothing with chickens or pigs in aprons.
@bobskoot: You may want to reconsider the idea of having me involved with any electrical work!
@Chris Luhman: Pictures are a lot of work, and honestly, I just wanted to get shit done without futzing around with a camera. The bike came with Dual Star grips so that’s what I ordered — I’m willing to give them another chance. I’ve already posted about installing heated grips, and the process for these will be basically the same.
@Fuzzygalore: LOL! I own a solid blue oven mitt and a silver one with silicone grippers. You know me too well!
This is another area where you put me to shame. I’ve had Elvira for a year and a half. How much wiring have I gotten done? None. Now you write about getting so much done in a weekend.
Even though I might not actually let you touch the wiring
I might be looking to you for advice.
P.S. Don’t know if they are on the site, yet, but here are the dates for ART this year.
May 1st – Canby
June 7th – Canby
August 9th – Canby
August 23rd – Canby
September 13th – Canby
September 20th – Canby
Not sure if there will be a Medford session this year or not. We are in the process of getting assignments, so it will be a week or so before I know my personal schedule.
@irondad: What can I say, all my heated accessories have turned me into a bit of a wuss. I’m very motivated to get them installed so I can return to that warm, loving, Gerbing’s embrace. But that’s why they don’t call me Irongirl!
Re: ART dates… thank you!! Is the May class really on a Saturday?
Sorry, I left out a numeral. The May ART is actually on the 10th.