Can TBW wireing extensions be cut & sodered?on ext. handlebars.

[eagle1]

'09 t/g twb . the cable extensions(13" i purchased are single strands of wire. ie (not pre-molded ) extensions.( all 26 pieces. i don't like the idea of
haveing 4 or as many as 12 or 16 connections at the same point in the wireing harness, after you splice the cable, even if they are sperately heat-shrinked. maybe they so my proposed solution:
cut said wire strip it soder it at both ends, all along staggering the splices.. then give each splice a butter-lube of RTV , let it dry,and heat-shrink it. and the end result is a extended cable with OEM connectors.i just think thats a-lot to put on a heat-shrink (to hold a spliced connection together.
Question is this gonna result it too much resistance in the TBW cable?
thats the only cable i may have to extend. as i'm going with paul Yippes 10"
extended bars.
solution 2. try and find extended aftermarket or OEM like cables.
and shortfall in my logic thinking? as i'm down to removeing the handlebars
and at the very least the TBW cable must be extended. thanks for your info. lb

[Gorilla]

I heard but do not know how true that the TBW must use the factory extension. Again do not how factual that statement is. All the bar changes I have done I either did not need an extension or used the factory. All the other wires I stagger my splices like you suggest.

[Bruce]

'09 t/g twb . the cable extensions(13" i purchased are single strands of wire. ie (not pre-molded ) extensions.( all 26 pieces. i don't like the idea of
haveing 4 or as many as 12 or 16 connections at the same point in the wireing harness, after you splice the cable, even if they are sperately heat-shrinked. maybe they so my proposed solution:
cut said wire strip it soder it at both ends, all along staggering the splices.. then give each splice a butter-lube of RTV , let it dry,and heat-shrink it. and the end result is a extended cable with OEM connectors.i just think thats a-lot to put on a heat-shrink (to hold a spliced connection together.
Question is this gonna result it too much resistance in the TBW cable?
thats the only cable i may have to extend. as i'm going with paul Yippes 10"
extended bars.
solution 2. try and find extended aftermarket or OEM like cables.
and shortfall in my logic thinking? as i'm down to removeing the handlebars
and at the very least the TBW cable must be extended. thanks for your info. lb

eagle1, I've done it both ways but its far easier to just buy the TBW extension-- if you check ebay they have them in all sizes -- its worth it for the piece of mind, make sure you use dome di-electric grease when you put the extension pieces together.

[JohnC]

When I did my Paul Yaffe bars, I bought color-coded wire extensions along with a bulk package of 50 pins for the plugs.

When extending the wires, what I did was stagger the solder joints so that I had no more than two joints next to each other along the entire length of the harness. I also soldered my extensions on to the original harness; I did not use any splices. I wanted to minimize "bulk" as much as possible so that I could run the wires inside the OEM sleeving.

Now, here is the way I do my wire joints. I'm not saying this is the only way to do them, only that this is the way I do them. I've been making joints like this for years and have never had a failure.

Before starting, take some zip cord or lamp cord wire, and start stripping the insulation away, about 3/4" at a time until you have about 6 inches of stripped wire. You will be using the individual strands of wire as a "wrap" when soldering your extensions together.



Begin by stripping your wires to be joined by removing about 3/8" to 1/2" of insulation. Slip a piece of heat shrink tubing long enough to cover the joint over one of your stripped wires. Don't forget this step or you may find yourself having to desolder the joint only to do it over again.

Slightly "fan" the stripped wire ends so that the individual strands are spread a small amount. "Blend" your two wires together, sort of like shuffling a deck of cards. Try to distribute your wire strands as evenly as possible.





With your wires blended together, take a single strand of stripped zip-cord wire and while carefully holding your joint together, wrap the joint with your strand of wire.







After the wire joint is wrapped, make sure the ends of your wrapping strand are not sticking out from the joint. If they are, they will poke through your heat shrink.

With your joint wrapped cleanly, you can then apply your solder.



Once the solder has cooled, slip your heat shrink over the joint and use a heat gun to shrink it. I like to use heat shrink that has glue pre-applied. This ensures a water-proof joint.





With my wire extensions all done, I then trimmed all my wires to the overall length I wanted. In the case of my 10" mini apes, I trimmed the length of my harness so that it was about 6 inches longer than it was originally.

I then installed the new pins on my wire ends. I used a proper crimping tool to crimp the pins and I followed that up with some solder for extra security. It was then a matter of putting the plugs back together.

I've extended TBW hanesses, hand control harnesses, etc., and they've all worked flawlessly.

Hope this helps.

[eagle1]

found the 12" TBW extension on the dealers was barnett 152030-30012 or drags p/n 2120-0252 36.85. thanks all. lb

[roadrageisfun]

Eagle, JohnC,

I am considering putting a set of Paul Yaffee's Monkey Bagger Bars on my trike and I see that you all have but his bars on your bikes as well. Is it possible to post some pics so that I can see what they look like? One of my concerns is the reverse and the wiring for it. Does anyone make the wiring extensions for it or would I have to make my own. Thanks guys, any help would be very helpful.

[JohnC]

RoadRage,

I have the Paul Yaffe "Classic" bagger apes, not the monkey apes. You can tell the difference by the shape of the bends; the monkey apes have sharp ends at the top where they weld pieces of tubing together whereas the classic apes are bent from a single piece of tubing. I chose the classic apes because I did not want to deal with trying to run my TBW wires past that sharp bend. Plus the classic apes are much more reasonably priced. I ran all of my wiring externally (except the TBW) just as stock.

As far as extending my wiring, I bought my wiring from an on-line retailer. I let them know what colors my wiring where (including my reverse wiring) and they provided me with 12" pieces of color-coded wire to match. I also ordered the pins used in the plugs. All together, my wiring and pins cost me about $40, which included 50 pins and wiring extensions for the TBW, the reverse harness, and the left and right control harnesses. I extended all of my wiring as I described in my post above, trimmed the harness to the desired length so all the wires terminated together, and then crimped on (and soldered) my pins. I think I ended up going about 5" over stock length so I could keep all of my connectors in the original locations under the fairing.







(Click on pictures to see full-size image.)

If you want any further details on where I bought my stuff or on how to do the work, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM. I'll be more than happy to help.