T5 Odds and Sods
Our T5 project’s progressing nicely... this month Stan shares some tips he’s gathered along the way.
Our T5 project's progressing nicely, this month Stan shares some tips he's gathered along the way.
Although this is the first time I've been up close and in the guts of a T5, I'm no stranger to rebuilding a P-Range. The most important thing is to know one's limits and for me that's an engine rebuild. So, while ours is being sorted by someone who knows what they're doing, it's time to reflect on how the frame went together. Whether you've built a dozen scooters or done nothing more than change a plug, there's always something new to discover. On this build it was fitting the loom.
Through the eye of a needle
Removing a PX loom is easy – simply disconnect everything and pull it out from the front. However, replacing one is a completely different matter. Like most people I've always inserted the loom from the front, relying on a variety of cable ties, old cables and string to pull it back through the frame. In hindsight I should have realised that they wouldn't have faffed around like that on the production line. However, it took a one-line post on the T5 Owners FB group for me to see the error of my ways. The sticking point, when threading the loom, comes at the point where the front tube meets the frame tunnel, just in front of the foot brake aperture. Because the various pressings overlap at this point and give the joint strength it's a tight squeeze. My experience is that if a loom's going to strip its sleeve during installation, this is where it happens. The process isn't helped by the fact that the various branches of the standard loom form ‘barbs'. These run against the loom's direction of travel and can jam things up further. The barbs are a clue, the loom's not meant to go in from front to back!
I may be late to the party, but it came as news to me that the connector block, which sits under the horncasting, is just the correct size to squeeze through the bottleneck. Instead of wrestling with wires and skimmed knuckles, start by threading the loom in from the tank end. Make sure the connector block's laid facing downwards, take the loom's weight with one hand and then thread it into the tunnel. Ease the connector block through the bottleneck by reaching into the brake opening and pushing it forwards; the loom's rigid enough to carry itself up the frame stem. You may need a pair of snipe-nosed pliers to ease it the last few millimetres but the entire job can be done in two minutes. In honesty it was so easy that I forgot to photograph it… doh!
I've tried searching the T5 page for the poster's name but have been unable to locate the original post. Whoever you are, I salute you. Fortunately, many of the other lessons I've learned apply across the P-Range. Hopefully there's something of use to everyone.