Bike Preparation Part 5

The dead electrics were causing me some concern with only a month to go before the Tour of Portugal. So a thorough check through of the wiring was conducted, this involved removing some more redundant wiring including some of the main power feed wire and fitting new connectors. 

I then tried the starter button but still nothing, I was about to start pulling it all apart again when I accidentally hit the horn button and it worked! 

Foolishly I had unplugged the starter switch and forgotten to plug it back in... doh!

That minor problem resolved, everything was found to be working as it should, it would appear that the redundant wiring was the source of my problem, specifically the main power feed (red/yellow) that piggybacks through two redundant connector blocks (originally for headlight and handlebar switches) I chopped these out and connected to the yellow/red cable directly as it exits the loom.... sorted!

Then I wired in the new combined starter/kill switch on the right hand bar. And a final check that everything works before putting all back together...

Then I remounted the navigation tower, lights and all the navigation equipment, switches etc. At this stage it was just to check it all worked and all the excess wiring was bundled behind the fairing and i'm pleased to say it did! The fairing was remounted and a quick check that nothing fouled showed that the forks were hitting the nav tower on full left lock and the handlebar guard was hitting the road book holder.

Maybe the lock stop needs adjusting I thought, only to discover the left hand lock stop bolt had fallen out completely! A new M8 bolt and lock nut were easily fitted, another problem sorted.

Then I took it all apart and tidied up all the cabling. One issue with the navigation kit, it that all the cables are far to long but the specialist fittings are sealed on the ends. I could cut cable out of the middle and rejoin it with heat shrink over the joints but i'm loath to introduce numerous potential points of failure!

So the cables usually end up being coiled up with tape and bundled inside the nav tower. So I have long thought about how to sort this out. The solution was actually obvious, it was the small plastic box bolted to the side of the nav tower. Originally fitted to keep a few electrical spares in, these will now be moved to the tool bag on the rear mudguard and a few holes were drilled into the sides of the box to allow the cables to be passed inside. All the connections and spare cable have now been neatly coiled inside.

So only a few small jobs remain:

For the MOT I need a main beam indicator light, I have a small LED that just needs to be wired in.

At present the bike has a universal light/horn switch on the left hand bar but it doesn't fit very well as with the road book and ICO switches in places it has to sit further inboard but then  it fouls on the clutch hose so has to be mounted even further away from the grip but even then it's not ideal as the tapered handlebars are too thick there for it to fit very well.

The spiral wrapped cables from the road book & ICO switches still needs routing properly!

The Rally Raid Products switch mount I have for the road book and ICO switches also has the provision to fit a standard KTM switch block. Apparently they are not the greatest quality but it will neaten everything up so one has been ordered and to be honest the switch I have is not brilliant quality as I've also had replace it once when water got into it . This will give lights, dip/main, horn and an additional kill switch.

At present the bike wears a full size rigid number plate for the MOT but for racing in Portugal I have ordered a small flexi plate.

The chain and rear sprocket are in good condition but the front sprocket is looking a bit hooked, so a new one has been ordered.

An Iridium spark plug has been ordered, I've also used standard NGK plugs before but thought I'd give it a try as they are supposed to improve throttle response and produce a (very small)  power increase as well as lasting longer.

Then it's fit new tyres and re-lube the mousses, refresh the fairing graphics and she's already for some testing on the trails before heading off to Portugal.