Written by Daniel Morris – Director of mono motorcycles 2017 Ltd.

Planning is everything when it comes to wiring up a bike. Whether it’s a simple single cylinder carb bike with just a horn and no lights or a fuel injected 4 cylinder running a turbo, the principal is just the same. 

Rob contacted us a couple of months ago looking for a hand to finish off his custom Triumph T100 which had been modified to a flat track style machine. We sent Rob some ideas on dash’s and other electrical components and once he decided on how he wanted to proceed, we were then able to order the parts and I started to draw up a wiring diagram. 

Starting with a wiring diagram from the manufacturer I redrew the loom. Now this bike is fuel injected so there is quite a bit to it!

When I redraw a wiring loom, every single wire is drawn and followed so I know which wires can be removed and what needs to stay.

The Axel Joost B-box works in a similar  way as the motogadget m.unit however it’s half the price! The B-Box is a digital controller so this means we can minimise the use of fuses and relays.

In the case of this T100 we were leaving the fuse box in place as the charging system runs through it so it makes it neater. We were also using a motogadget mini dash on this build, but as the T100 uses a Can-network between the ECU and dash, we needed to use a mo.tri converter.

The mo.tri converter fools the ECU into thinking the dash is still connected allowing the bike to start. All of this needs to be drawn even before we get the bike in. I then give this to the customer upon completion so they have a copy in case they sell the bike on or need to do any work in the future. 

Day one. 

First, I removed all the panels and fuel tank, wrapping it up and putting it out the way so it didn’t get damaged. I then unplugged each connector and marked it up noting if the plug was to be used.

Once this was done, I could remove the loom. This sounds simple enough but the airbox needed to be removed to gain access to the wiring harness and to get the airbox out I needed to remove the rear wheel. 

With the rear wheel removed, the airbox and throttle bodies from the wiring harness could be removed. I was then able to degrease the frame and components so it was clean ahead of the rebuild. 

Turning my attention to the loom, it was then laid out on the bench and given a thorough clean before the sticky job of removing the old tape off the loom. Once this was done, I then degreased the whole loom of the sticky left from the tape.

Then consulting the newly drawn diagram I could carefully remove the old lighting circuit and marked up the control wiring for the ECU. This will be controlled by the B-box. I also marked the loom up as it was way too long with the original dash. Total 7 hrs. 

Day Two.

Our customer wanted to retain the Triumph switchgear as this incorporates the throttle, clutch and brake master cylinders which are built into the switchgear. Swapping this out is a costly exercise. The Axle Joost B-Box works the same way as the motogadget m.unit. The controls are switched earth paths, so this means the wiring needed to be changed. On the plus side as there is no longer any high current going to the switches, I could thin the wires down to a more manageable size and tidy the wiring up coming out of the switches. 

With the switches modified I then changed the handlebars and risers for a pair Rob bought for the bike. Next up the motogadget motoscope mini and combi frame which mounts neatly between the yokes. For this we had to drill a hole through the handlebars right in the middle so we could pass through the wires for the dash and also the bar end indicators. Once completed, the wiring was wrapped and plugs made up for all the handlebar components and the headlight. Total 6.5hrs.

Day 3. 

With the wiring loom cleaned and the lighting circuit removed, I laid the loom out and marked where each branch of the loom would come out. Once done the loom was loosely refitted to the bike. I could then start adding in the new wiring from the switches back to the B-Box. Each wire has a heat shrink label attached to minimise the risk of connecting anything up incorrectly.

Once the switch wiring is loosely laid in, I turned my attention to the output side of the control box, adding in the wires for high/low beam, indicators, brake light etc. Again, I labelled each wire as I went along. These wires were then loosely taped to the main loom.  Total 4 hrs. 

Day 4.

Mounting the B-Box to the side of the airbox. I had to ensure the bolts were glued to the airbox so the bolts didn’t come undone and end up in the intake! I mounted the box where the old high beam relay was mounted. I also repaired a broken mount for the starter relay, refitted it in place and rewired the wiring from the starter relay to the B-Box.

With this bike I decided it would be neater to leave the original fuse box in place and use the B-Box to control the fuse box. This way although the fuses are still in place, it’s become a distribution box for the ECU. In theory the B-Box will turn off the circuit if it detects a fault however it never hurts to have a backup!  Total 4.5hrs.

Day 5.

Loom shortening. With the dash now being on the handlebars and the plug for the dash being under the fuel tank, I removed a good 60cm out of the length of the loom. Every wire had to be cut, re-soldered and heat shrunk all except the red and blue wires which are twisted together. These are the Can-bus wires which run between the dash and the ECU. 

The Can-bus wires carry digital signals between the two units at very high speed. If these wires were cut and shortened the digital signals would change and you would end up with errors and possibly the bike not starting.

On the Triumph models with electronic speedos if you disconnect the dash the bike won’t start so the wires from the ECU on this model need to go to a Can-smart controller. In this case a mo.tri by motogadget. The mo.tri fools the ECU into seeing the factory dash, with outputs for the motoscope mini. Total 5 hrs.

Day 6.

With the loom in the right place, I could cut back the new wires to the correct length and add ferrules (a type of connector) on the end of the wires to mount to the B-Box and the mo.tri. Once completed these were connected to their controllers and diametric grease added to protect the connections from corrosion. Plugs were then added to the harness ends for the switchgear, headlight, etc. Total 5.5 hrs.

Day 7.

With the loom in place, I then had to add in the wires from the indicators and high beam for the combi frame tell tail LEDs. I also gave the B-Box power and ground supplies, running a power supply to the fuse box and a switch supply to the other side of the box.

Once completed I refitted the airbox and connected up the battery to check everything worked. I then temporarily connected a supply to bring on the B – Box and at this point I also checked for a spark. All was in order which meant I could remove the airbox again and remove the loom for taping. Total 3 hrs

Day 8.

Once I had removed the wiring loom again, I taped the loom ready for the final fit. Once laid and connected I refitted the airbox and the battery. The ignition switch had been swapped out for an RFID key from motogadget. The RFID needed a relay as the B-Box uses a switched ground supply unlike the m.unit which uses a 12v supply. This was then mounted under the right-hand side panel. Total 4 hrs.

Day 9.

With a new battery fitted, I attempted to minimise the connections at the battery (bit of a pet hate, there’s no need for it!) The battery charger lead I made a bit shorter so I could connect the earth and the power to the controller earth point and the power to the battery side of the starter relay. I then refitted the rear wheel and then rear light panel. I had to make sure none of the wires would chafe against the metal work so added an extra bit of loom wrap. 

One thing I noticed was that I was getting a back feed to the high beam indicator on the dash. After a bit of head scratching, I found the Chinese headlight plug was wired back to front so we had no earth to the headlight. Swapping the wires over cured the problem. Next up I drilled a small hole in the switchgear for the dash switch so it could be set up and adjusted if needed. Total 3.5 hrs.

Day 10.

A bit more head scratching! Powering up the Axel Joost B-Box for the first time I knew I had to program it for switches on the headlight and indicators as the unit comes designed for momentary switches. Not the end of the world I thought, just need to follow the instructions.

However, in practise it proved to be a bit more challenging than I had anticipated. Therefore, to program you need to hold the brake on and the left indicator then switch the ignition on. This then takes you to the programming choices, left or right indicators determines if you want the indicators to switch off automatically or if you’re using a RFID key or switch etc.

So, here’s what I found in case anyone else comes across this. The motogadget mo.lock works the other way to the Axel Joost unit. Not a problem as I switched this with a simple 4 pin relay. However, if you program the B-Box to the RFID, the ignition come on and goes straight off. This is because the Axel Joost RFID acts like a momentary switch and as we have wired a relay to the mo.lock it didn’t work, so we had to tell the B-Box we were using a switch. That was that bit sorted. Next up during programming we were getting to x7 on the list of 10 sections, and it wouldn’t go any further. Confused I emailed Axel Joost and he explained the control option on x7 was if you wanted to control the box with just two buttons. 

If you set up for the two buttons the other two options of setting the indicators and headlight are not needed and switch off. Anyway, after that we set the controller to multi button and everything worked. One of the other things we did was to keep the ignition kill switch. We set it to work when grounded and disconnect when going open circuit. We completed this by switching off the fuse box via the B-Box. Total 3 hrs.

Day 11.

The final touches included tidying the wiring and cables, refitting the fuel tank and side panels and giving the whole bike a good clean. Setting up the motogadget motoscope mini was comparatively simpler to set up compared to some of the more complex dash’s and therefore this part of the process was completed relatively quickly. Rob also asked us to service and MOT the T100 for him. Therefore, with oil and spark plugs changed, chain cleaned greased and adjusted, we then also swapped over a couple of bolts to tidy things up.  Total 4 hrs. 

All in all, it’s been good to use the Axel Joost products and have a chance to become accustomed to the settings. As we are the importer for his products it stands me in better stead to understand the product so I can help customers going forward with their builds. 

Not all bikes take as long as this one, however fuel injected bikes have a lot more wiring than carbed models. In total this one has taken me 39hrs to complete. However, I think you will agree it’s turned out beautifully. Now the T100 has a future proof wiring system and controller and is ready to hit the streets, track or custom show.