Aftermarket Harnesses

I thought about this, as I do the same for motorsport and occasionally engine swaps (not often, I don't do much roadie stuff, try and stick to legitimate racecars, generally for companies or teams).

I'd probably have given it a go if I was in the US, but it is a very, very small market. If you'll get a kick out of it, fair enough, as a money spinner, I'd be skeptical.

They're so simple, it's a relatively small outlay in parts, materials and time. System 25 spec moto looms would likely solve occasional problems.

Great idea, IMO.  I can provide a bit of insight on this as I have had wiring experience (various race cars/Formula SAE) and someone I tangentially know spun up his own wiring company catering to a very specific make/model and has since branched out.

As with anything else, the big up front cost is the tooling.  You'll need multiple crimping tools depending upon what types of connectors you are using, several spools of quality wire with the right colors/tracers if you want to follow OE specs.

In order to really nail down your QC, you need some sort of jig or other setup to test that the harness was assembled properly.  Quality would also obviously improve once things like crimping and such is automated, but that's a big investment and who knows where the volume would have to be in order to do that.

Connectors was left separately on purpose.  One of the most difficult parts initially is identifying the connectors that you need and where to purchase them from.  There are a number of OEMs for connectors, so tracking down the right ones can be difficult.  Once you do identify what they are and where to get them from, you will likely have to order these in bulk (hundreds if not thousands of pieces). 

I'd suggest that you avoid counterfeit connectors at all cost.  While they may be sufficient for putting a set of driving lights on your Jeep, the types of conditions seen on an MX bike will cause issues in short order.  Sure you save some money on up front costs, but I can guarantee you'll be forced to warranty harnesses down the line and your reputation will suffer.

On the plus side, most OEMs seem to use a few of the same types of connectors, so it may be possible that you do not need to stock as many as you do with cars.  More importantly, those connectors are also shared with other ATVs and UTVs, which is a HUGE market.

Hope this helps.

My company builds large industrial engines and wiring harnesses are our biggest engine issue- specifically the quality. And so working in service we are constantly troubleshooting “wiring harness” issues. 

Within the harness the most frequent are improper crimping, improperly seated pins and sockets, poor control (wide range of quality) of connectors, and mixed up pin/socket location within connectors.

The ability to test the harnesses is critical, but can’t replicate functionality while under vibration (a running engine). 

I look at harnesses and think how difficult they can be to manufacture..Not to discourage you as I expect you could fill a quality need that doesn’t exist..

Most harnessing is built in Mexico..

I think it’s a great idea….not sure of how many could sell per year though.   100-200?

RYWIRE bb