HOW TO: CHOPPER / BOBBER WIRING - PART 1 OF 3
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Hey there fellow chopper builders. So here’s the detail. Wiring up a custom motorcycle from scratch is definitely one of the biggest love/hate relationship tasks in finishing any bike project. Some people loathe the process, don’t know which online diagram to trust, don’t know how to set up the layout, or how to finish it let alone where to get started. But for me, I love it. The planning, prep, the quiet-ness of it. I find it oddly soothing to wire a bike. So… I’ve found myself in a lot of conversations with others online about how I did my setup. After a lot of back and forth messages I figured it might be easier to just make a series of videos to capture everything I had to say. The result is a 3-part video series. They get a little long winded at times - sorry about that. But the goal was to capture as many details as possible.
Please definitely check out the other two videos of this series… along with the rest of my Channel for other fun chopper and dirt bike content. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for watching!
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THE GEAR:
Riding shots recorded on a Sony action cam HDR-AS100V with assorted Luxebell mounts, Audio-Technica ATR3350iS microphone, Biltwell Gringo S Helmet with Chrome Mirror Bubble Shield, Straight video recorded on Samsung Note5 in 4K. Basic Windows Movie Maker editing.
THE BIKE:
1971 Harley Davidson Sportster 900cc custom motorcycle. Came stock with drum rear brake, right-side shifter (left side rear brake pedal), and a Zenith Bendix carb with adjustable main jet. Previous owner(s) did a lot of backyard engineering to this one that all had to be undone. So I’m going through it to make it radically new. 12” over narrow springer. All new wheels and tires. New sheet metal. King Queen seat. Tons of engraving… and more!
THE STORY:
In 2004 I bought my first street bike - a brand new Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 custom. Loved it. Rode a lot for a few years. Gave birth to a deep passion for custom motorcycle design. But time passed, and building a family became the priority. In March of 2015 I got back into dirt bike riding after several years having no motorcycles at all. Had a blast. Learned a lot. Went through several bikes and upgrades. Started to get kinda good on the track (at least not dead last). Things were progressing really well (fully documented here on the RUclips channel) until March of 2017 when I managed to crash during a race. Broke clean through my upper humerus and split the scapula. Ouch. Spent the rest of 2017 getting healthy again and in that time… decided to step away from Motocross. But the passion for motorcycles remained. In January of 2018 I jumped head first into a custom street bike build. A chopper. Starting with a donor bike and working my way through it to create something of my own design. This has been a dream of mine - to build a bike my way. All of those years and years of ideas and thoughts - now it’s time to give it a shot!
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Thank you for posting this. Gonna be wiring my 74’ xlh.
I was looking for a simple, definitive guide for wiring a chopper. This is it. I'm impressed with how thorough and organized your methods are. Thanks for sharing this. It's going to be a big help for my own project.
Awesome man! Glad I could help! I'm a chronic over-thinker and spend way too many hours planning before I grab the first wrench. Somehow keeps me sane I guess. Who knows.
Ditto
Help! 💀
@@hectorruiz6102 - what's up? How can I help? Happy to do so. Just let me know what questions you got. :)
Thanks for the vids, I used to be a great mechanic, but I'm losing my memory from MS, so it's so nice dry run stuff by watching vids before I start a project. Also your seat is ridiculous, I love it, hah.
awesome video and very informative. i'm doing the same thing to my 1988 Sportster 1200. i love watching these types of video,always looking for great idea's 👍
Awesome! Glad it was helpful. Cheers!
wow, very good wiring. building a shovelhead bobber from scratch, this will be my first reference. thanks.
awesome man. depending on your setup it might be pretty close to this. will you be running points? dyna S? or new electronic? Magneto? I'd love to hear what you have going on man, and if there's anything I can do to help just let me know.
Finally a video of pretty much what i need to do on my custom build. Thank you brother for explaining everything so well!..great video man!
Awesome! Glad I could help. Reach out if you need anything man. Cheers!
You are the shit sir. This is exactly the video I needed. Looking forward to finishing my Ironhead and you just helped a lot!
great video!!!! a motogadget m-unit is a great additional as well.
This should work on my 82 ironhead ill let you know and thank you in advance
Awesome video. Thank you!
You're welcome! I know it's kinda long and boring... but hopefully helpful in some way. I'm thinking about doing other "how-to" videos on the chop. Any other areas or topics that might be interesting?
life saver THANK YOU so much
My pleasure! Have fun with it! If you're on IG... check out my feed @bpeak82 - I'll be posting pics of the new wiring diagram I just finished for my current build... a chopped down 82 FXS with magneto and battery eliminator, but still with all the warning lights and a few toggles. :)
Great video.
Just getting ready to rewire my ‘73 FX from scratch and ran across your video series. Very well done! Can I get a copy of your diagram for a starting point as well? Also, do u have a color coded copy? Lots of info to review on these 3 videos. Thanks for putting these together!
Yea man for sure. Just email me at bpeak82@gmail.com and I'll send you whatever I have. Can also help draw up a diagram if you need... or send you some basic input and whatnot.
Just came across your wiring videos. Great job! Very easy to understand and they take a lot of mystery out of it. I am building my first bobber and if you don't mind I would like to email you to get a copy of your diagram for reference. I read some of your comments and got your email address. I just stared a RUclips channel documenting the build and need all the help I can get. Keep up the great work!
Sweet man thanks! Just saw your email. Will send it over in a sec. Cheers!
I had my handle bars extended for comfort but after seeing the wiring its a mess splice after splice. I know the best thing to do would to just pull all the wire and rewire it, in theory it's looks easy but in practice it's something else.
Great easy to follow series will be very helpful as I rewire my old XS650 chop during lockdown. Do you have a copy of your wiring diagram as I think it would be a handy reference
Thanks
Paul
Hey man, thanks for watching. I could send it over to you. Shoot me an email at bpeak82@gmail.com. Never wired an xs650 but happy to help any way I can.
Hi watching from New Zealand, thanks for video. I'm running a starter button close to starter motor. 12v positive to starter button, straight to starter coil. So only a short stretch of wire, seems fairly safe but would you put a fuse in this? Cheers mate.
Hi there. So your setup is pretty straight forward too. The wire from the pushbutton to the starter solenoid is only hot when the button is pushed. So no need for fusing on that side (in my opinion). On the battery side of mine, I had that larger circuit breaker as basically the first thing after the battery. Battery > breaker > rest of stuff. And some of the other circuits on the "rest of stuff" I isolated with another fuse set. But not the starter circuit. That was already protected via the big circuit breaker. If you'd like... I can shoot you a cleaner copy of the wiring diagram I had in the video. Just email me at bpeak82@gmail.com and I'll shoot it back over to ya. It was a key start but you'll be able to see where the circuit breaker is located in the run. Then too... if you want... we can email back and forth on your setup. Happy to help any way I can. Cheers man!
You have any issues with stress fractures after drilling holes in your frame?... just curious, about to start on my frame.
Nope. Was good to go. But just be aware of how many, and keep the holes only as big as needed. And you'll be good. Especially on a chopper being so stripped down and lighter (compared to a full dress bagger and whatnot)
holy shit that's quite the seat lol
haha thanks man.
Great vid. Where did you get your rear brake light switch ? Would you have a link ?
Hi there. Just got it off eBay. Generic "chopper brake light switch". You'll see a few options. Then when you get it... just test it with leads to a battery a few ways to make sure you know how it functions. Every switch is slightly different.
Great vid, super helpful. Did you make the ignition switch re locator and coil housing/ top mount or find them somewhere?
I found this one online, but I specifically got the one without a switch hole because I knew I wanted to set up my own layout. Thing is, these top mount coil mounts are mainly for the type of coil where the spark plugs come out the front or bottom. I wanted them out the back. But there wasnt enough clearance to the cylinders then. Hence the extra spacer block in there. If you're planning to use the same, just consider that in your setup for what parts you'll need. Then had to bore out the mount holes a bit to fit my heads rotation. And bore out the coil mount holes for heftier bolts. Seems like nothing is "bolt on" with these older bikes. lol
@@bpeak82 great, thanks for that. would you mind sending over a uncheckmarked file of your wiring diagram? hard to see it fully and follow the wires on the vid.
@@benfox4225 - check out my Instagram page @bpeak82. If you scroll down a bit I posted a pic of the diagram on 8/28/18. Inalso have a fully detailed build thread on the ChopCult in the "Everything Sportsters" section where I tracked the whole bike build start to finish. Let me know if that helps!
@@bpeak82 was the bracket from tcbros or another source?
@@benfox4225 - the bracket mount was a generic off eBay. Chromed. $25 with free shipping.
How did you make your wiring box where your key switch is?
I cut a piece of sheet metal based on a cardboard template I made. I have pics of it on my Instagram (@bpeak82). If you go all the way back to a post from April 30, 2018... you'll see the rough sheet metal and template. That box was then welded to the frame seat post. And aluminum side covers cut. Everything was done with a harbor freight jigsaw lol.
Thanks!!! I am building a 2003 Sportster Bobber Basketcase..and want to get rid of the chopped up factory wiring harness and go to a new ignition system. LED headlight & Tail light..
yea man for sure. would definitely recommend grabbing a copy of the factory wiring diagram for the 03's to start to learn it a bit. With that system there may be some other devices or do-dads that you might have to contend with. Especially when it comes to the charging circuit since yours is an alternator as opposed to the generator.
Me too
Hi. I have a question. Excuse me if it seems out of place but I'm just becoming interested in this stuff. How can you get by without turn signals? Or a speedo for that matter? Can you have that bike registered and insured and street legal? Or is it meant to be a show bike? I don't know if the rules are different for motorcycles. I live in New York. If you have a turn signal out on your car you can be 1. Stopped and warned. 2. Stopped and ticketed. 3. Stopped and have your vehicle impounded....worse case scenario 😝
So I'm very curious about that. Thanks. Nice bike. How do you keep that seat clean?
These are great questions. Seriously. I'm not that tough guy that claims the whole "screw the cops" thing. I enjoy the gifts I've been given and count it as stewardship to possess them wisely. To me... for motorcycles... that means I always need a clean and clear title on a bike. No funny business. Registered. And insured. With this bike the neck VIN numbers were unaltered. Title = check. I was in Florida at the time. So most of the rest of the answers are state specific. In FL... insurance is based on very little. I gave the make/model/year/Vin to my agent and he wrote me a liability only policy and had a rider that piggybacked on my auto insurance if I were to medically get really messed up. I figured even if I crash and total the bike, I could salvage some parts selling off, make some cash back, etc. I needed to keep the insurance cheap. But zero problem getting insurance = check. Next is registration. In FL, as long as you have the title, and proof of insurance, you can get registration, plate, and sticker just with a DMV visit. No visual inspection. DMV doesn't care what it looks like as long as the paperwork is good. Registration = check. Next is vehicle inspection. Here's where a lot of the "chopper" parts usually hit a snag. But again, in FL, there are actually zero vehicle inspections required. At all. Cars. Motorcycles. Nothing. So nobody was looking at the bike in terms of compliance telling me what to do. Inspection = check. So far... 100% above board right? This post is long so I'll fill in the rest in a separate comment.
So in addition to my other comment (above or below)... it comes down to riding and the possibility of getting pulled over. That's where compliance with state laws kicks in. You gotta know em if you want to be 100%. This is where my bike was... let's say... 80% haha. In FL I could have been pulled over for A) loud un-muffled exhaust B) missing at least 1 mirror C) no front fender D) no front brake E) and if the cop was grumpy and if I were slouching... they could write me for handlebars being above shoulders maybe. On these points, I was willing to take the chance. As far as penalty, as long as you play it cool it's probably a ticket and not impound. But as soon as I say that I'm sure someone else has a horror story of bikes being impounded. Usually that's just if the paperwork side is sketchy or can't be verified that the bike ISN'T stolen. Again, my paperwork was always squeaky clean. In terms of actually riding it... it was super easy. In FL your head is always on a swivel anyway watching for car-missles. So no real need for mirrors. Easy to glance over the shoulder. No front brake? Just a matter of riding carefully and giving yourself enough space. And I had a crappy drum rear brake too. Didn't stop on a dime. More like stop in a block or two haha. You get used to it. Definitely run yellow lights rather than try to stop which can be a trick with FL traffic cameras. Lastly... on the seat... I make sure the bike is covered in the garage... and that my hands are clean when I take the seat on/off... and that my clothes are clean when I ride. Beyond that, I have to admit that I traded this chopper for another bike project before the seat got too bad. Would I do furr again? Heck yea. White furr? Prrrrobably not haha.
@@bpeak82 i appreciate the detailed answer and your taking the time to write it. I'm a bit surprised one has to exist in so gray an area with this particular thing. My pops lives in Florida. You have nerve. The roads are beautiful but I've jumped out of my skin in a car when the speed freaks plough by at 110 or better. 😆 Thanks again. Be safe.
@@stevenedwards4470 - yea man it was wild down there for sure. I'm actually up in the hills of North Carolina now. Just outside of Winston Salem. Beautiful back roads for miles and miles and not far from the Blue Ridge parkway. Much more chop friendly riding spots. Month or two of really cold. Hardly any snow. 10 months riding temps without freezing the manhood off. I'll take it. :) I always try to respond to comments and emails. Happy to help any way I can... and (if you couldn't tell) I talk/type a lot. Haha. Especially once I get goin. Cheers!
Does it matter which way you wire the circuit breakers leads??
If I recall... the wire that feeds power to the circuit breaker goes to the copper (usually shorter) terminal. So copper is the hot in. Then the silver (usually taller) terminal is the connection that leads out to the components.
@@bpeak82 thank you very much!! Much appreciated!!
Hi mate. I have an 84 ironhead I'm working on. Can i please grab a copy of your diagram please?
For sure man - just send me an email to bpeak82@gmail.com and I can hook you up with everything I got. :)
When you're drilling holes in the frame for wiring runs is there a best location in respect of maintaining frame integrity? I'm thinking do you keep the holes close to joins (like where the backbone meets the steering head), or do you keep them as far away from joins as you can ? Or does it just not matter?
so... I'm no engineer... but... (haha). my view is that generally speaking a stock frame (even stock neck hardtailed rear) is so overengineered that a few holes make zero difference ultimately. I know that's "rule of thumb" at best. But if you're just drilling holes for wiring, keeping them relatively small (not taking out a whole half of the tube in that area), you'd be fine to do whatever. Now - if you're already dealing with a custom frame that has non-speck frame tubing, maybe was sloppy welded up in a jig under chain force to get it to align, some radical 12" out gooseneck, and a 30 over rigid front end and plan on doing wheelies and curb hopping... might wanna rethink life let alone those wiring drill holes haha. For me on this ironhead build, it was just a matter of aesthetics and placing holes where I wanted them... and had zero problems.
Could I get a copy of your wiring diagram?
Sure thing man. Just email me at bpeak82@gmail.com.
what electrical box is that? I may need one.
Hey man. If you're referring to the box on the seat post behind the rear jug... that's a custom piece I made. This bike's frame was wonky and the previous owner welded on the hardtail with the seat post in a super odd position. I made a sheet metal housing to fit wrapped onto the seat post. Had it welded in place. Then made the little aluminum side covers by hand. I have some photos on my instagram (@bpeak82) of how I did the cardboard template and in-progress pics of making that box. But you'll have to scroll pretty far down to get to the build pics on this specific bike. If you're really curious, and don't wanna scroll insta... shoot me an email to bpeak82@gmail.com and I can send you pics of how it came together. cheers!
This is an older post but...do you remember the color (code of the blue on that bike?
Great question. I actually do. It was powdercoat... prismatic powders... "Illusion Blueberry". It has a slight bit of metalflake too. Came out nice for sure. I have more pics on my Instagram as well @bpeak82 but you have to scroll way down to find ones of that bike. Hope this helps!
@@bpeak82 Thanks for the reply. How did you like the powdercoat finish on it? The durability is a definite plus....the slight metal flake is exactly what I am looking for...the dayz of ez earlier rides
@@DeeInTheHouse - I really liked it. Would totally do it again. It also hid some of the imperfections in the frame metal. Super good stuff. The frame, gas tank, oil tank, and rear fender were all powdered the same.
@@bpeak82 ..I don't see the Illusion Blueberry in the lineup?? Maybe discontinued?
@@DeeInTheHouse - www.prismaticpowders.com/shop/powder-coating-colors/PMB-6908/illusion-blueberry
Are you located in Texas?
Nope. When I did this wiring video series I was just outside of Tampa, FL. Now up near Winston Salem, NC.
Dang ok looking for somebody to rewire my motorcycle located in DFW area..
@@donnieleeman8817 - bummer. Yea man I'd totally do it for ya if I was closer. If you wanna give it a go yourself... feel free to drop me a line any time via email at bpeak82@gmail.com with any questions or whatnot. Happy to help any way I can.
Is there a way I can private msg you?
Feel free to email me at bpeak82@gmail.com