New looms from old

Finding a NOS loom isn’t easy these days and some of the aftermarket offerings are, frankly, pants! Anything bearing EMGO or Sumitomo brand names are fine, but a lot of what’s imported from SE Asia can be dire. The normal issues are poorly crimped connectors, stupidly thin copper cores, and/or cable runs that are just too short. Many are best avoided unless you have a personal recommendation from someone. Making your own loom isn’t as challenging as it might first appear and if you have an old one to follow it’s fairly straightforward. Start by pegging out the old loom to a piece of board and tie everything in place with some sticky-backed cable tidies. Lay out everything logically and then work out what wiring and connectors you need, noting where you’ll need heavier gauge cable for high current draws. Wiring, cables and connectors are readily available and it’s worthwhile investing in some decent crimping tools specific to your particular loom type. Working from the front of the loom backwards, replicate in new wiring the old loom, adding additional earths for good measure.

If you lay the new loom below the old one it’s so easy to follow everything.

Add sleeving and taping at this stage and, ideally, leave the ends of the wires slightly over length. The loom can now be fitted to the bike and connectors added once the wires ends are trimmed.