Hey Guys,

I bought the DK Customs coil/ignition relocation kit with the 1.5" tank lift, and had a local shop that does nice custom work install it on my 2008 Nightster because I am not electrically inclined and I figured this would be right up their alley.

I also asked them to do the wire tuck in the 1.5" space created by the tank lift so I could get rid of the hideous plastic and clean up the wires above the engine.

They installed the DK kit perfectly, but they did not do the wire tuck because they said there was not enough slack in the wires to get them up over the backbone of the frame. They said they would either have to cut all the wires and lengthen each of them by 4-6" which would be a big job, or pull on them to stretch them over the backbone but this could cause electrical issues down the road and that would be a liability issue for them.

Anybody have any advice on doing the wire tuck? Do you really have to cut and lengthen them to make it work, or should there be enough slack in the wires to get the job done?

Any pictures or video of exactly how to do the wire tuck would be most appreciated because I may attempt to do it myself. (all of the pics/vids I can find show the kit installation but skip showing the wire tuck and only show you the finished product)

Thanks!
Steve

 

I did the same thing on the GF's Sporty early this year. Granted my background was auto electrical but, all I did was unplug everything (after removing the plastic loom cover etc), wrap each individual loom in nice black tape and one at a time, plug each one back together after trying to seat the tank. Just do one at a time, you may have to jiggle them around, maybe unplug a couple, swap them under each other and try again.
Just take your time, you can't plug them in wrong, the plugs are all different.

I'm sure someone will be along soon with pics and more info.

Go for it!

 

I would get my money back!All they have to do is unplug the wires at the top and then follow the ones down along the frame and unplug them then they will all go over the back bone.You have the 02 sensors and the oil sensor and one other wire that goes to the bottom of the frame.I have done 3 lifts and wire tucks My Iron,brothers 72 ,friends 1200c its soooo easy to do.

 

Great advice Fatbob V2.

Here is a link with step by step, with many pictures. Although he did it on an install with no tank lift, it is the same principle with a tank lift, just easier and better hidden.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/sport...k-no-lift.html

Also you can do a youtube search for "sportster wire tuck" , lots of good videos there.

And to confirm, you do NOT need to cut any wires, or lengthen any wires to get a good a good clean wire tuck.

We do recommend using "Rescue Tape" instead of electrical tape, it leaves not sticky residue.

 

Check out my build here https://www.hdforums.com/forum/sport...eeps-iron.html

Where you don't see photos of the tuck is because it is just simply putting the wires under the tank. Which is obviously above the frame!

Get the shop to pull up this link or others on their computer at the shop. They may just have a misunderstanding of what exactly you want!

Cheers!

 

As BlkSheep said maybe it's just a misunderstanding from the shop what you wanted them to do. But I'll throw in some pics of my wire tuck I made to my 48. It will look exactly same on your nightster. All the connectors you see are unique and once pulled apart they will only fit back together "as they where". So you don't have to worry about messing that up.

I'll do a short version here;

1) remove your left battery cover. Turn your ignition to ON and pull out the green main fuse. If you don't turn on the ignition and pull the fuse the alarm will go off.


2) remove your seat and loosen (don't remove) the rear tank bolt.


3) disconnect the fuel pump pet ****. Push the steel ring up towards the tank and pull out the hose. A few drops of fuel will leak out (catch it with a towel or some paper) but don't worry, no more fuel will leak out.


4) remove the front tank bolt and raise the tank as high as you can to give yourself some room for the tuck.


5) start cutting the zip ties holding the wires on the back of the ugly plastic cover. You will find quite a few of them.


6) once all the zip ties are cut and the plastic covers are removed you can start disconnecting all the connectors.
Left side...


Right side...


Right side disconnected...


7) you can now start routing your wires to the top of your frame. You will be forced to lower the tank back on a couple of times to make sure it's all fitting properly under the tank and that no cables get pinched. Some wrap the cables and connectors with black electrical tape. I actually used an old bicycle inner tube that I split and cut to size and wrapped it with. After that I used electrical tape in the back and front end. That way the cables won't get all sticky if you in the future needs access to them.

There's some wires wrapped in a black cable sock (sorry don't know the English word for it) that are routed on the left side of the frame together with the clutch and hides in under the tank. See pic...


And depending on how "clean" you'd like your tuck to be you might wanna re-route this one as well as it will be visible between your frame and front cylinder. It's a bit tricky but just follow it down the frame and on to the right side and in under your exhaust. It's hard to see but there you'll find the connector. It's a slim black rubber connector, inspect it and you'll find a thin slice in the middle of it. Grab it on each end an pull it. Pulled apart it will look similar to an iPhone headset connector.

8) when you're happy with your tuck put the front tank bolt back on, tighten the rear tank bolt, put the seat back on, put the main fuse back, put battery cover back on and turn on your ignition and make sure all functions work properly.

I got carried away when I did this so unfortunately I don't have any more pictures showing the finished tuck without the tank on top but hopefully this can be helpfull to you!

Good luck with it and let us know if you have any other questions!

This is my before pic...


And this is how it looked like when done (also did a coil/key relocation)...

 

I completed a DK coil and ignition relocation with a 1.5 inch lift and had no issues at all. You do not need to cut or lengthen any of the wires. Yes, with only a 1.5 inch tank lift things are a little tight however, it does work without any problems. Your shop either doesn't know what they are doing, too lazy to do it the right way or they are trying to scam you out of more money. I do not like electrical work at all however, this was pretty easy. If you look at all the connections under the tank, it is impossible to hook them up wrong because of the quick connects.

There was one wire I had to disconnect down at the bottom of the down tube and behind the front pulley (neutral indicator I think) in order to re-route it over the backbone so you don't see it above the top cylinder. I see a lot of installs where people do not do this. Yes, it still looks a lot better but you then have one cable going right through the void which I don't like. All it takes is a little extra time so you don't see it. Maybe that's the one they are talking about.

Sounds to me like you are getting scammed. Very frustrating to hear because I don't consider myself to a know-it-all wrencher and even I thought this install was easy.