Motorcycle wiring & a new apprentice at mono motorcycles
All change at mono motorcycle this week, as we welcomed Jason Dagley to the mono motorcycles team.
Jason joins us as a Motorcycle Apprentice, studying at Chichester College. Read more about Jason, his military career & his young family at our short introductory blog.
Our week began with a BMW theme. Daniel was working on the BMW R1200 GS which joined us with an intermittent electrical fault.
The fault manifested itself by the BMW cutting out when the handle bars were turned to the right. The BMW R1200 was also with us for servicing & an MOT.
Jason was working on our regular customers BMW C1. Both shock absorbers on the C1 had been leaking & were in dire need of replacement.
As the diagnosis continued on the BMW R1200GS Daniel used traditional wiring testing & assessing methods. Having finally got the BMW stripped to a point where he could gain access to the wiring loom & chasing cabling; he found the cause of the intermittent cutting out fault, whereby water had got into the wiring loom & caused the power wire to the ignition switch to become brittle & had broken in two places.Daniel stripped the BMW loom back & repaired the wiring, re fitted the loom & the BMW started first time.
On Wednesday we welcomed a little piece of motorcycling history to the mono motorcycles workshop. The stunning Arlen Ness, regenerated & customised by those amazing chaps at P&D Custom Bikes; joined mono motorcycles for Daniel Morris’ wiring expertise, as he has been tasked with wiring the Arlen Ness & creating her very own, individual wiring diagram.
From what we know, the Arlen Ness customisation is in the chassis & paintwork, with this example being some 35 years old. In her new regeneration, this Arlen Ness has been customised by P&D Custom Bikes & has had a new engine configured.
‘Arlen Ness is one of the best-known builders in the world of custom motorcycles. He went from customizing his own 1947 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead in the late 1960s to becoming a trendsetter whose designs have been studied—and copied—by everyone from other bike-builders to factory engineers.’
We are often asked “how much to rewire my bike?” Rewiring an entire motorcycle is an art form which many seasoned motorcycle technicians shy away from. One of the main reasons is that for all intents & purposes, a motorcycle’s wiring loom is like a human’s nervous system. Each cable & wire has a sensitive service to perform, sending information & signals around a bike, just like a nervous system in a human. To ensure that every connection, that every wire is channelled, chased & connected accurately takes time, consideration, understanding, patience & a vast amount of knowledge.
The same can be said is in the case of custom wiring. Most custom motorcycles have unique wiring looms, because by their very nature they are a customised version of a base model.
With this in mind & taking our the Arlen Ness as an example; Daniel has been drawing & creating a unique wiring loom for the Ness, as, although the base wires for the BLACKBOX had been laid in place, nothing was connected or routed.
On day two of the Arlen Ness re-wire, Daniel had drawn the wiring diagram for the lighting & built & populated a fuse cradle for the lighting system.
Daniel has now begun chasing the wires out from the BLACKBOX & creating the wiring loom & wiring diagram for the ignition system. Linking the two wiring looms together, Daniel has now generated the wiring loom for the entire motorcycle. Now he has the sensitive task of chasing & connecting wires through the frame, to bring it all together.
If you are considering a major
wiring project & or you have built your own custom & are considering
your wiring options; please do contact us on 01243 576 212 or send us an email
at monomotorcyles@gmail.com
Individuality should never be compromised, neither should the quality &
calibre of the design, mechanics or wiring/electrics.
On Friday we welcomed back the popping green Kawasaki Z1000SX for the second phase of her servicing & maintenance. The Z1000SX is used everyday as a commute & dispatch bike & is therefore on the road in all weather’s & throughout all seasons. Therefore, keeping her safe & road worthy is paramount.
The Z1000SX joined us for new tyres, discs, pads, gear lever assembly, headstock bearings & neutral switch.
It was lovely to hear our customer comment on how transformed the Z1000SX felt after we completed a major service on her previous visit to mono motorcycles.
At the end of our first week with an apprentice on board, Daniel has been teaching Jason the many facets of a plethora of processes & the care & attention needed in everything we do. Jason has learnt an awful lot in a short space of time. One of his most keen observations, is having a greater understanding of the timings involved in certain jobs & just how long different tasks can take.
Our next Breakfast Club is Sunday 22nd September 8.30am – 11.30am. Our Charity Ride Out in aid of SERV with leave the mono motorcycles workshop, take a short spin into the countryside & head over to the MAG event at Port Solent, where Katy will already be set up & promoting the mono motorcycles services.
As always, for all your motorcycling needs, contact Daniel or Katy on T: 01243 576 212 E: monomotorcycles@gmail.com or through our contact page.
