Nothing on this motorcycle is a bodge
This is the original loom. Everything worked but it’s a bit of a mess
This is the same part of the bike with the new loom. It has to run between the frame and the engine – hence the heat resistant sleeving
The Zeeltronic ignition has a bunch of wires the bike doesn’t need so they lead to a blank plug in the middle of the pic
One of the best bikes I’ve had through the workshop in eight years
Paul’s RD500 GP replica
This exquisite motorcycle has taken eight years to build. It was already a runner, but Paul wanted the cobbled-together loom to come up to the standard of the rest of the bike. He also wanted a ‘lights on’ switch to backlight the instruments, and some more fuses.
Paul’s idea is lightness and simplicity, so it’s got a daylight MOT (just a horn and brake light), and the whole machine is built like a racer. The Zeeltronic ignition is an obvious choice for the RD – it runs the YPVS system and can handle lots of other goodies if you like.
The most complicated part of the loom is the SPA instruments. Although they have some bike-only features this is really a car system, and car systems have lots of separate inputs. But the finished console looks exactly right.
We don’t often get a bike this classy through the workshop.
The SPA tacho and temp gauge have several separate inputs; this is as tidy as I could get it
The clocks are hugely tunable for lighting and functions
The loom runs either side of the engine, inside the frame beams
