The starter works

     Just a quick update today.  I didn't take any new pictures.  I got the starter relay wired in and enough of the bike is wired I was able to test the starting circuit.  It worked!  On the first try.  I used some information from this website to make sure I hooked the relay up correctly and it was VERY helpful.     http://www.ripper1.com/tech/wiring.php     Ripper is a guy on The Horse forums.  He's always willing to help people out with tech questions.  His diagrams made hooking up and explaining the theory of how to use a relay easy to understand.  More pictures tomorrow.

Making some progress

     Tony's chopper is starting to come together.  I can see light at the end of the tunnel.  It's taken me longer to finish than I would like it to but I'm getting close.  The handlebars are wired on both sides, the fuse block is mounted, and everything is looking pretty good.

     The weather is finally getting nice enough to be riding everyday.  I've been working on the bike one or two days a week for about 6 weeks.  I need to hurry up and get his bike done because I have two more in line waiting for some work.

     Here is a picture from dis-assembly.  I tried not to cut any wires out until I knew what they we for and if they had a purpose.  But eventually you just have to go all in and get out the side cutters.

     The stock harness was a butchered mess.  Everything I looked at was electrical taped together with bare hot wires just waiting to cause a short.  Wires changed color for no reason, sometimes to three different colors in the same run of a single wire.  Not to mention the miles and miles of extra useless wire that mostly did nothing.  Did I mention everything was covered in electrical tape?

     There were no useful connectors anywhere on the bike.  Everything to the handlebars was hard wired, with the wrong colors.  I have restored the bike to proper color coding on the harness so that if anything should ever go wrong a sane person should be able to figure it out.  There will be a connector for right handle bar, left handlebar and headlight.

     The bike doesn't have a horn and Tony doesn't care if it has one.  I removed the switch from the back side, made a little aluminum bracket and drilled some holes.  It took me a few tries to get it the way I wanted it and the lights to both fit.  At first I made a plate to replace the horn switch and have the lights recessed into the housing like I did for my chopper.  The problem with that is the lights were to long and hit the handlebar before they were installed all the way.  I trimmed the horn button cap down and used it as a spacer to get the required clearance and epoxied it all together.

     These are the switches for my chopper. I showed them to Tony and inspired using the same lights on his bike.  I like them.  A neutral light is a lot more handy than a horn in my opinion.

     The indicator lights are originally meant for an FXLR Low Rider.  Here is what they look like inside the switch housing.  I did not have this much room on Tony's bike because they are replacing the horn instead of the turn signal.

     The new fuse block is going to be very easy to remember what they are for.  SHIT I blew a fuse.  It is a 4 fuse panel and they are wired in the order of:

Starter

Headlight

Ignition

Tail light and turn signals

SHIT that's easy to remember

     The last fuse is wired to the accessory position of the key switch so the tail light can be turned on without powering the rest of the bike.  The starter relay is going to mount right above the main circuit breaker and the turn signal flasher right below it.