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gsxr-russ123

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Been gone for a while, it seems when the snow flys I put all things GSXR out of mind....that way I dont get all depressed and end up one of those guys that tries to ride in the snow. But now the snow is melting and like all warm blooded males my thoughts turn to the beautiful lines of my full bodied SRAD.

Shes a 98 and the main harness is begining to give me some grief. Ive patched and patched, and at the end of the last season I began to ponder if I should just replace the thing and be done with it.

Now its just about time to shit or get off the pot, but as always would like to hear what the longtime owners have done in this case. Thoughts? Bikebandit appears to have both the harnesses available but there kinda expensive. The thing is, I would rather be ridin over re wiring.

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Discussion starter · #3 ·
It is FI, so that is one of the reasons why im leaning more and more to a replacement harness(s). What is this soldering on the stator you speak of? I've already cut the melted mass of plastic out from what used to be the plug for R/R and did replace with mosfet unit, and last season I did replace the stator but the plugs where all in good shape.

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It is FI, so that is one of the reasons why im leaning more and more to a replacement harness(s). What is this soldering on the stator you speak of? I've already cut the melted mass of plastic out from what used to be the plug for R/R and did replace with mosfet unit, and last season I did replace the stator but the plugs where all in good shape.

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ah you're halfway there in regards to the charging system upgrades..

apparently they have been soldering the eyes where the R/R wires connect to the stator for better functionality, sure t has something to do with flow but an electrician I am not..

yea man mosfet and new plugs you're off to the races, just make sure you pack EVERY connections with di-electric grease should be good to go, fact is you can do that now if you haven’t already for some stability..

sure helped my 600 out a lot, fact is that’s all I did really cept I threw on an r/R form a later gen 1k 07 or something, plugged right in now it works as SHOULD, no flickering and the lights get brighter when I rev no dimmer.. lol

yea man the thing about a used harness is you maybe chasing down someone else's gremlins for who knows how long?

I think a new harness/mosfet and rebuilt ninja carbs are about the best upgrades you can do to the 600 to hear and feel real performance improvement ASAP. just let him know the altitude and what not I think he can ball park them good as anyone never know maybe even spot on?

I think its a good move if you can afford it, say did you try ronayers.com?


they want around $500.oo for the complete set (main/headlight)

I bet they don;t sell a lot of those and maybe if you opened up a dialog with them somehow and ask when they have their 20% off electrical sales maybe you can get them down on the price some?

also here is another thought, maybe make your own bigger and BETTER loom, ragekiller made his and he used better plugs and what not, obviously some places you will have to use the Suzuki connectors like where they plug into the ECU and other sensors whatever but theres a lot of places like the cruel yellow plug you can use a BETTER connector, combine that with better wiring better shielding and you can come up with something real nice..

my guess is after tools (there are some special tools but not many) wiring and connectors you can build the harness easily for half the price a new one then it can be better, so many easy to improve that setup its not even funny from material to routing to schematic..

I've been told that the quality of Suzuki connectors have been the heel during this era and others for almost all models, part of the problem is those connectors don't get good enough contact so they tend to arc, that's why the di-electric grease is recommended but even then the grease can't make a good solid connection like a quality watertight connector can..

lemme know if you are going to make one I need two maybe we can split cost and labor, engineering?

ask me the harness's are so sketchy that in order to hunt down a gremlin or short you have to strap a rider on with a tester and hit the canyons, yup that sketchy, so better off making a good one where you know you can eliminate wiring for good, mind you if I am to be involved in the process don't look for a speed ball deal, unless you want to buy the tools then sell them to me at a discount, i could go for that, plus we can get the connectors and wiring at a bulk rate so there's that too, just buy the bulk then sell me the remainder something like that?

also talk to ragekiller he made one recently and his bike is the bee's knee's so we know it works... :chucks
 
There really are not any special tools needed. All you need is a decent set of scisors, a pair of vice grips, and a good wire stripper. That and a fuck ton of electrical tape and the molex connectors. Super simple to do.

All you need to do is have your old harness naked, as in no electrical tape at all. Then all you need to do is measure each wire and cut it to length with an extra inch or two to accomidate for the molex plugs. Then assemble the new harness 1 wire at a time. Super simple. I could probably do it in a day or so if i had all the proper plugs and a old harness for reference, as well as all the proper colored wire and a 12 pack.

I had to completely rewire my old gauge wiring for the new koso gauges i put on, absolutely no issues. Took at most 30 minutes of testing wires to find the right ones. This would be easier. Granted much more time consuming as its not just connecting 9 wires however with a decent measuring tape and some patience it could be done.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Hmmmmm......making my own harness would be the way to go. That way I can upgrade to better wiring and mininmize the number of connectors (weak spots). Im just wondering how hard it would be to find the stock plugs for things like the gauges and ecu etc. Any ideas where these could be found?

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From what I currently know....If you do intend to make a whole new harness yourself...

You would be better off using the existing connectors and just replacing the pins for the unique connectors to the ecu and clocks. The connectors are purchasable, however they are expensive and you will need to buy the pins for them separately anyway. And for everything else, you can ultimately use whatever connector you choose to use. There is cheap ones, and there is nice expensive ones. You could also make some yourself using single wire pins, and melting some plastic. Would look terrible, but its doable if you needed to.

If your doing the entire harness, you should invest in a quality crimping tool. DMC for example makes good ones, and often can be found on ebay for a good low price.

Lets also take two steps back and reflect.....

Making your own wiring harness is not impossible, but god that'll be a nightmare to do on a FI srad and terribly time consuming, even for people who are experienced with doing such things.

Have you looked at what all it is going to cost you to make this? Wire alone will likely end up running you a sinister pretty penny. Then toss in the expense for adequate or quality connectors and pins, heat shrink tubing, heat shielding, etc. Your likely looking at nearly the same cost of just purchasing a brand new harness from the sites you initially listed as having them available and the other mentioned by twisted. These companies get a better deal on purchasing the materials in bulk. So after cost of materials (bought in bulk), assembly cost, handling cost, and middleman reseller profit fee, that's what the price reflects.

The existing harness shouldn't have been giving you continual issues either if you have been properly patching and fixing the causes. Pulling the harness and completely inspecting and repairing it, is about the only way you will ever be able to sort out all issues in a trouble harness in one go.

By all means it would be a good learning experience and you get the peace of mind knowing you did it yourself. But at the same sense, when you bite off more than you can chew and invest this much into it. You'll only have yourself to talk to for a warranty. And from the statements you made of.....


The thing is, I would rather be ridin over re wiring.
What is this soldering on the stator you speak of?

It just doesn't seem like making your own harness is really up your ally.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
Hey Monolith, reading your reply had made up my mind. Its going to cause far less grief to purchase a new harness rather than make one. The difference in cost would be negligible in the end and im sure I would get another 14 years out of it.

I currently dont have any electrical issues, (atleast that was the case when I put her away for the winter), but as mentioned she is a 98 and the gremlins do seem to pop up on occasion. Wiring is not an issue for me, I have all the tools and a considerable amount of knowledge (having been in the field both for employment and as a hobby for some time...going on 20 years now.....suddenly I feel very old), and that experience has told me that you would be correct. The time and aggravation in making my own harness is not out weighed by the cost of a brand new shiny non brittle wire harness. ...

So that answers the question, thanks all for the input it did help make my mind up.

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Rite on, and good call man. Twisted really summed it up best in his first response.

While at it, consider doing the mosfet rectifier upgrade and hardwiring it in, like twisted had mentioned in his first reply. Most every srad wiring harness I've come into contact with has had most of its damage caused by something failing in the charging system.

Oh and when you have the old harness out and intact consider selling the thing instead of boxing it. It will sell eventually and will cut a good chunk of your expense. A quick search on wiring woes in this forum will show how frequently people massacre their harnesses beyond their capability of repair.
 
There really are not any special tools needed. .

I was talking about doing it better than the factory harness using waterproof connectors, for those you need the crimping tools to do it right, no electrical tape just heat shrink and solder..

waterproof connectors not necessarily these chinese ones but you get the picture, they make tools to crimp these proper, then you need the tool to redo the ECU connector and all the sensor connectors and what not..

Image


Image


I am talking top quality material and craftsmanship, making one better than the old one..

while your at it you can add like a fused accessory wire, ciggy lighter in the trunk all that stuff and as weatherproof as you can get it with SOLID connections everywhere as it should be..

bulk wire $45 for 500 ft, you need what 12 rolls of the right colors, say $600 worth of wiring? but you can prolly make 100 harness's with all that wire, buy the connectors bulk as well and save save save!!!!!!!! just pass the tools around to whoever pitches in

polytherm heat shrink get it whatever color I suppose? I like clear just to help with any troubleshooting... buy bulk and save save save!!!!

Image


no electrical tape on my harness whatsoever
 
Hmmmmm......making my own harness would be the way to go. That way I can upgrade to better wiring and mininmize the number of connectors (weak spots). Im just wondering how hard it would be to find the stock plugs for things like the gauges and ecu etc. Any ideas where these could be found?

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you dont use anything except the stock connectors on stuff like the ECU, TPS and stuff like that where the plugs are speciality, (if you look hard one could prolly source every connector on the bike?) the feild connectors I would buy new and better then treat them better anti corrosion and stuff, I would use CLEAR shrink shielding but yes this thing could be done real nice and budget minded if it was a group thing just pass everything around

only problem would be reliability and time like maybe someone takes forever or never does forward the goods something like that..

I guess we could have a central trustee who is willing to strip off the proper amount of wire for each harness and allot the connectors then ship em out, then we just wait for the tools to circulate?

I am thinking like you exclude all the UK stuff we'll never use and beef up the trouble spots like the headlights with a heavier gauge wire, consolidate and whatnot..

folks with their race setups could make custom looms more practical for their use.. for me the dealer switch would be relocated and all the lighting would be beefed up, some that signal wiring is a mess and weak right off the floor plus they have some connections not needed? well I guess they wanted a separate unpluggable rear lighting loom, scratch that for me just another break looking for corrosion and issues.

make it clean and simple plus heavy enough to stand the test of time, better connectors will help out tremendously, its a labor and money thing for Suzuki they give you just enough in that department to get by I suppose?

I would definitely beef up the stator wiring then have a direct to batt and accessory lead, (so it runs with no batt on push start w/good charging system)

some folks are scrapping the stock red wire and going straight to the battery, that's good but remember you disconnected the stator R/R power to the ignition so the bike wont run if you unplug the batt, or have a dead batt and try to push start it, it would start but it will take a lot more having to go through the battery back through the solenoid and what not, like to have mine go right from the stator to ignition that way with a dead battery you wont have a dead batt trying to suck up all the juice on a push start..

after seeing ragekillers loom I think its way doable.. he is good, but I'm BETTER... lol I might even wire in a cruise control, AC, and exterior temp gauge... wait I already have AC, scratch that


:chucks


:cheers
 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
I actually have a local supplier that has all the wire, connectors (weatherpak) etc. I do think that making my own would be way better than purchasing a new one. The thing is, I just want a full season to ride with out having the girl on stands for a week at a time. (This has been the case ever since I bought er 4 years ago, while I replaced/repaired all of the neglected or "fixed" items the previous owner(s) fouled up.)

So this is what im going to do....

Im going to purchase a new harness, replace the old one. Once the old one is out, I will use that as a template and make another one. That way I can take my time and do it right.

I like where this is going now. This is going to be a rainy day project and I will be able maximize my riding time this year. The season is so short here and and in the past something has always taken me away from riding. Things like moving or broken parts or work (responding to natural disasters) really eat into that time. So yea....this is gonna be plan.

Twisted, Anarchist and Mono, thanks for all the input. Sometimes I just need someone to make my mind up for me, and by doing so I usually end up down a road I didnt even see on the map.

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Your most welcome. Please remember to crack open a brew for me. And let us know how long it took from start to finish. And remember its not how long it takes, but how well it is done. Take your time, do it right, and then rejoice when you fire her up for the first time with your new harness.

Oh and take fuckin pics if the process. Id be very interested to follow this build, even if it is just a harness.
 
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