Garage Night

This time around we get an overview of a bike’s wiring harness, or wiring loom. This spaghetti-like confusion of wires and plugs is the backbone of the electrical system – and after a ride across a partly flooded South American salt lake, the KTM’s needed replacing. Pete gives a brief rundown on rear suspension compression, rebound and preload settings, and how even though the shock and spring are a single unit, they do different jobs.

Trent and Waz discusses the dry-sump oil system used on most adventure bikes. Richard gets his number two bike up and running (creating a bit of smoke for added drama) and Trent grapples with the last spokes to be removed from the front wheel hub that he’s helping Waz rebuild. Make sure to leave a comment after you watch!

Electrics and suspension tend to be voodoo areas of bike mechanicals. Just looking at a wiring diagram is frightening enough, without delving into the loom itself, which of course looks nothing like the diagram! But troubleshooting bike wiring is less about an in-depth knowledge of electrical systems – and more about the ability to work through a problem, starting with the simplest and most likely cause, such as a ‘bad earth’. Continue reading ‘Ep 4: Wires, shocks and smoke’