[DaveT]

Hi there fellas.......So christmas break from work is approaching & I plan on doing a wiring "clean up" on my 2010 C5 wiring in readiness for the better weather riding season.
I'm going to re-do all the multi-pins with heat shrink & line the areas where the wiring enters the L/H toolbox. But what about disconnecting the sidestand & clutch lever switches ?? Do you have to trace them back & dis-connect correctly ?? Also read somewhere that there is potentially troublesome wire the headlight shell that some of you have parked in the trash ??
Any other areas that need attention (all of it ??!!??) I know there has been extensive writings about electrical issues & I apologise if I'm going over old ground here, but looking at a lot of old postings the ongoing wiring issues sure do worry me !!

[Ducati Scotty]

The sidestand connects to teh harness a few inches up from the sidestand.  Follow the wire up, disconnect, move on your merry way   Remember, that was a safety feature you just disabled.

In general look for anywhere the harness is pulled tight, especially around an edge, and protect it.  The spot on the right of the headtube where it passes into the headlight could use some protection so it doesn't rub itself raw against the head tube.

Scott

[greggers]

Possibly the headlight wire you are referring to is the jumper cable that disables the headlight/parking light/no light switch? That's pretty easy to remove if you want, just don't get caught running without your headlight on!

I've considered disabling the side stand switch, though knowing me I'd immediately proceed to ride off with my side stand down. The Ducati I just got has a switch that will only kill the engine if the side stand is down AND you put the bike in gear. That makes SO much more sense to me than just preventing the bike from starting all together. Italians using more logic that Indians I guess (wait, what??)

[Ducati Scotty]

Greggers, I thought of putting a circuit together with a few diodes and a relay to work with the sidestand and the neutal light so that you get exactly that.  It saved me once or twice on my Ducati when I put it in gear and it abruptly died. 

Due to the notoriously flaky nature of our sidestand switch and the notoriously lazy nature of me, I just disconnected it.  I try to be diligent: if I stand the bike up the side stand comes right up, even if I'm standing there for a few more minutes.

Scott

[GlennF]

The downside of the sidestand switch is you cannot start the bike and leave it running to warm up, you have to sit on it. I tend to get impatient and ride off too early.

On the plus side its impossible to do the embarrassing "hit the starter while standing next to the bike and have it leap forward and fall over" thing with a sidestand switch.  Though its still possible to use the kickstart to roll the bike off the stand if you are having a particularly remedial day

[Ducati Scotty]

Ever sit on one of those Ducatis where the side stand just pops up on it's own?  Some of the super bikes had this so you could never ride away with the stand down, it came up on its own as soon as the bike was unweighted.  It has caught many people by surprise and dropping a Ducati is not cheap.  There's a $10 bolt that makes the kickstand behave normally that most people buy.

Scott

[greggers]

I thought of putting a circuit together with a few diodes and a relay to work with the sidestand and the neutal light so that you get exactly that.

I have no real skill with electrical stuff or knowledge of how to put something like this together, but it sounds like a great addition. Please post the details if you ever go ahead with it.

[Ducati Scotty]

I will if I do.  I'm sure lots of people would like it.

Scott

[GlennF]

I will if I do.  I'm sure lots of people would like it.

Scott

Connect a relay in series with the side stand switch which is powered by the neutral light ?

[Ducati Scotty]

Something like that.  I have to go poke things for a while, take a few readings and think about it.  Solid state would be better and smaller.  Something like this:
http://www.ducatisportingclub.com/archive/index.php/t-5676.html

Scott

[TCP]

I find that if I start the bike and flip the sidestand down really fast, it bypasses the sidestand switch and will continue to run unless the RPM drops too low.
If I hold the choke on, it wwill stay running.


Quirky eh??

Caseman

[Ducati Scotty]

It sounds like your switch is already flaky

[Jack Leis]

Feeling like a Rebel a few months back I removed my sidestand switch on my G5. Its a treat to finally be able to warm up the bike on the sidestand and i have yet to ride off with the kickstand down.

[Arizoni]

DaveT
While your looking at your harnesses, keep an eye open for any and all sharp metal edges that will be close to the wires.

I found several  places on my G5 including the side cover that covers the fuses etc. (Hard to believe these sidecovers are metal stampings like in the olden days instead of cheap crappy plastic like the new bikes have! )

Also, in some places there may be a metal tab that is holding the wiring in place.

I used short lengths of rubber or vinyl tubing, slit from end to end to tuck the wiring inside wherever these sharp edges/wiring were close to each other.

  Now, the sharp metal edges will have to gnaw thru the tubing before it can get to the wires.

[jartist]

+1 what Arizoni said.  Also the thread he started here:
http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,11088.0.html