Commander main wiring harness

[Richard Negus]

A guy who's just bought a Commander 'project' finds the main wiring harness has been butchered beyond repair. There is no new stock at Andover Norton, the manufacturing board disappeared long ago, and there is no drawing showing wire lengths and break-out positions.I have the all wire, tape and terminals and could make a new one (or several if needed) if I had a sample to work from.Does anyone have a main harness I can use as a sample? It needn't be perfect, or even complete.Failing that, does anyone have a new or very good harness to sell?

[Wayne]

Hi RichardI think Graham has some second hand ones i think theres a sub harnes on the website, Did you ever get involved with the nrs cdi as i need to work out whats what?Regards Wayne

[FloridaMike]

There's someone over there in Blighty who makes replacement wiring harnesses for all kinds of unusual/rare/antique bikes and cars. Not awesomely expensive, if I recall.Shame I'm not over there, I could probably sort this out in a weekend and enjoy doing it. Did a Porsche 914 once with a big Chevvy V8 stuffed into it in three Saturday afternoons, this one ought to be a piece of cake. (The owner was nuts, after I got everything working, he asked if I wanted to go for a ride. I declined.)The whole trick to wiring is divide and conquer. What functions are supposed to work, now find and hook up the wires as required to make them do so. I find this kind of work relaxing (which may be a sign of innate depravity, wait until I'm done rewiring the bike to advise me of this ;-)Best Regards,Florida Mike

[Dell Boy]

Also ,nothing is usually "butchered beyond repair". Maybe 30% is or whatever but the rest will be perfectly usable. So, sort out the damaged areas with replacement wiring & you are back in business. Dont go to Electrickery though unless you have excessively deep pockets.I remember seeing the wiring board at the factory in 1990. Surely someone rescued it? It was on a 6`x 4` sheet of ply.I had to buy a complete wiring harness for the crashed & totally burnt out Commander I was rebuilding at the time [1990] & the harness,three sections, was a fortune then. About £300.00 as I recall.Derek.

[Richard Negus]

Derek,Yes, the board (8' x 4') was made by Paddy Ryan and disappeared long since on the presumption that "we won't need that again".I have now managed to borrow a standard harness and will make one complete new one and an un-taped one to use as a master for the next time someone wants one.R.

[gripper]

I've seen those guys at Orange County Choppers wire a bike. Looks like a piece of p-ss. . I had a poor copy of the wiring diagram for my Commander and that looked pretty a level but enabled me to trace most of the systems. I think that a lot of the safety interlock systems could be ignored, (side stand cutout, in-gear start inhibiter, hazard warning lights etc) Vehicle wiring products sell some nice mini multi pin connectors and the latest wire specs. seem to indicate a lot lighter wire can be used. It would be a good time to install a couple of relays in the headlight to ensure the full voltage is getting to the bulb. My Commando was losing 1/2volt by routing the power through the ignition switch, ammeter, light switch, dipswitch. Big fat wires direct to the headlight (and return) via a pair of relays makes a big difference.

[Richard Negus]

Dave,Yes, all good things, but I have to supply a main harness that will fit into standard Commander for a customer in another country where English isn't the first language. Now, for my own bike, there's lots of improvements, both in layout, wire and connectors........ . But while it all works, and I don't ride much at night (or at least on roads I know) then it will stay as it is.See you at Applecross.R.

[FloridaMike]

Supplying a wiring harness to a customer where English isn't the language . . . Think IKEA - picture instructions. Also take a peek at/into any late model "world car" (Ford Focus, etc.) to get some idea of the symbols used for high beam, low beam, horn, etc.Label the ends of each wire, if the guy works slowly and carefully, he should be OK. DON'T "rip it all out", try to work this a little at a time so he has something to compare to as far as lead dress, harness fastening points, etc.If your customer knows how to read a schematic (or can find someone who does) the task will be MUCH easier. Using the standard color codes will help also.It will take some thought, but this isn't rocket science. Sounds like an interesting challenge!Best Regards,Miami Mike