Hi,

New member here. Bought a 2003 Savage with 39K miles and doing the CS-1 conversion.

I've got the bike stripped down to engine frame and wiring harness. The thing is filthy with combination of road grime, grease, etc. I've decided to get the frame powder coated and will be pulling the wiring harness.

I've been marking connectors as I've stripped the bike. I'm somewhat anxious about pulling the wiring harness off - wondering if I can put it back in place. Have taken photos etc. but everything's so dirty the photos aren't very clear.

I have two questions:
- Any known issues regarding putting the wiring harness back in?
- The wiring harness is pretty dirty. Can I immerse the whole thing in soapy water and then dry out? Seems like all the components are sealed pretty well. Thoughts?

Thanks and I look forward to learning lots from this experienced group.

Thanks, Kris01. Reminder that there's no charge going through the system and most components appear water tight (are they?). This will be sitting for a few weeks as I have the frame and parts painted so will have plenty of time to dry... Does that change your answer?

I don't think the connectors are as water tight as we would like. If you do wash them and get them soaked, as least dry them THOROUGHLY and fill them with dielectric grease to keep any more water out.

What's the gooey stuff the factory uses?

Hmmm, from that link:

In regular low voltage multiple-pin circuit connectors, such as automotive applications, flooding with a proper insulating grease of low-viscosity dielectric grease is perfectly acceptable unless a manufacturer recommends against it. The grease should have good stability and not contain metals in any form, and be specifically designed for use as a dielectric grease. This generally is a silicone dielectric grease, although some Teflon based greases are acceptable.

I think I would use Bike Bright as a cleaner.....it is good at removing oil and grease but not hard on much of anything (except it should not be left to dry on anything without rinsing).

When the harness is cool, and you are working indoors or in the shade, spray down the harness and give it a wipe down with a terrycloth rag or soft bristle brush (wear rubber gloves as this stuff takes the oil out of our skin).  Then give the harness a thorough rinse, and carefully dry it off with towels, and blow out the connectors with compressed air if you can.  Then put the wiring harness out in the sun/wind to dry.  Then jam the dialectric grease into the wire connectors when it is all dry.

When you put the bike back together....be sure to put a little electrical tape on the rubber boot/wiring harness connection.  The rubber boots have a bit of tape on them where the boot seals to the harness, and if you take that off the boot can slide back over the harness so you can access the connector to take it apart.  When you put it back together and slide the boot over the connector.....put a couple of wraps of black electrical tape on the boot/harness joint to keep water from getting into the back side of the connectors.    

A lot of the yucky stuff on your harness will be degraded electrical tape and the gooey residue it leaves behind. I would remove all of the old tape, and clean the area with alcohol or Goo Gone which wont hurt the electronics or the PVC insulation on the wire. Do it a section at a time so you dont forget where the "branches" are

Engines have been removed alone by getting everything ready, laying stuff down, laying the bike down, pulling out the peg bolts and a top mount, standing the frame up..