Hawk 250 Electrical Hell: NEED HELP please

[BotBike]

Hey everyone I've recently noticed an issue with my hawk 250 Carb.

A few days ago I noticed that when I turn my handlebar to the right even 1 degree the headlights would dim to almost nothing and both turn signals would turn on and dim the same amount and would be constant and not blinking.

After trying to "fix it" it is now like this no matter the angle, but if I put it in neutral and pull the clutch in it works fine no issues.

While trying to "fix it" I found that if I moved or held at an angle where the wires under the headlight all enter a tube/wire protector then the issue would also disappear but this no longer works.

All other things I have tried:
1. Charged battery fully
2. Unplug and plug in all connectors I can find (Under headlight wires, under seat, etc)
3. Change angle of wire harness
4. Tried revving the bike at the same time to produce a little more electricity to the lights.
5. Disconnect Heated grips from bike
6. Check battery with multimeter (All good)

If anyone has any ideas I would greatly appreciate them, I was thinking maybe replacing the wiring harness entirely but I would hate to spend the 75-100 dollars and it not fix the problem.

I will add photos to better explain the issue and solutions I've tried.

Thank you all in advance I'm losing my shit not being able to ride during this nice weather.

[J4Fun]

Unfortunately you more than likely have some wires in your harness rubbed through. Your going to have to unwrap them and inspect and repair. Usually right at the fork neck and under the gas tank is where you’ll see the problem. Hope this helps…

[BotBike]

Do you have any advice on what to look for to identify the bad wires once I open the harness. Thanks for the idea btw.

[J4Fun]

Rub marks on the wiring covers (loom). Look around the fork neck with the handle bars turned to the left and that’s where the problem probably is. If not your going to have to take the gas tank off and look at that area too as some had the issue there. I believe it’s going to be an easy fix…

[Megadan]

You are going to need to open up the harness sleeve and actually look for a problem. I suspect it will be easier to find than you think.

[BotBike]

Good news and bad news:
The good: I FOUND THE BREAK (when I touch the wire to reconnect it, it all works well again)
The bad: I'm not sure how to fix where it broke off, I was planning on using a heat shrink butt connector but I don't think I can.

Here's a picture of the bastard:


And another:


I was thinking of stripping like an inch of rubber off the broken cord and wrapping the copper around the other connectors and then wrapping that in electrical tape.

If anyone has any ideas on how to reattach it I would really appreciate it.

[XLsior]

if its the green earth wire where they put a single strand trying to feed the branching cluster...I would personally replace the single main strand with something heavier gauge and preferably auto grade.


I've had that earth wire melt on me twice and kill the loom.

[BotBike]

I believe that's a good idea that I will eventually do, but for now I would like to do a quick fix to get back on the road as soon as possible so any more thoughts would be appreciated.

[superjocko]

Not that I'm saying it's a great fix, but a "Scotch Lock" type of connector between your broken wire and any of the intact green wires would be a "quick fix". A ground isn't super critical to be particularly well insulated, so this would get you back on the road. I'd make a proper repair as soon as convenient though.

[Megadan]

The common ground. You could solder that wire to the outised of the crimp collar and then tape it up. That's honestly what I would do. Or, just put a new crimp collar on all of them, then wrap it. Or, any combination there of. You could use a Y bullet connector and divide the other grounds between the two and then connect to that third one. Etc.

[buzz]

Just don't use scotch lock connectors,there junk.

[Aussie_in_MO]

Whenever possible I use the heat-shrink solder connectors for harness repairs.

You can see the issue in your pics where this large number of wires being attached with a solid brass crimp causes failure. The edges of the crimp create a sharp corner that results in fatigue in the wire due to vibrations.
May be better off grouping the ground wires into pairs and tying all those together. More splices but less strain on the wires.