sweatmark wrote:Besides a few instances of wire breaks/shorts due to the tight zip ties, the bikes are tough, so don't be discouraged. There are two potential wire harness rub points under the tank - one on left side that contacts tank, and the other is adjacent to battery tray on left side.
But guessing your symptoms are related to the wire ties - which means the main wire harness could be ok, just the various sub-harnesses (or pigtails) for the front end: instrument cluster, headlight/signals/horn/ left & right switch modules, lock.
I will "play along at home" as they used to say, because the replacement Rockster I bought Saturday has same collection of pigtails with too-tight original zip ties plus cracked or missing harness sleeves (covers). I'm going to take the front end apart and check all of those wire assemblies, re-sleeve, zip tie everything loose like my last Rockster.
1. discouraged only about my lack of skills, tools and patience for repairs (although it's actually kinda rewarding to work on the bike).
thanks for pinchpoint reminders.
i've seen how those wiresets come together when i loosened the zip ties; just didn't inspect well enough, i suspect
(re: "they're tough" - i can attest to the truth of that from direct personal experience. ask me sometime about the aftermath of my crash on this bike in '09.)
2. man, i hope you're right about the main harness being intact... feeling really stupid for not having taken this short potential more seriously and dug harder, faster.
the entry about adding fuses in a couple places and wiring the headlamp with sturdier components looked good.
for the new sleeves i hope to use bicycle inner tubes - i happen to have a couple newly "'holed" ones here from a sweet trek carbon-frame road bike i recently acquired for a song.
3. replacement rockster sounds fun. year? miles?
i will certainly report back what i learn if i don't go down in a ball of german zip-tie flames, first. (in the carport - i'm not starting it again until this is fixed...)
thanks for your time. i appreciate the experience and guidance.
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