I used to hide wires on my Harley. It's time consuming but if you can soldier, totally doable. Stagger the cuts so the connections don't line up on top of each other, solder, shrink tubing for each connection then use a longer piece of heat shrink tubing over all the connections. Piece of cake.
LOL, years ago I had to run a 25-pair cable for some equipment installation on the night shift. It didn't need to be done in one night. I couldn't find a cable long enough, but I did find a couple of sections that I could make work. I got the ohmmeter, soldering iron, shrink wrap, and heat gun and spent the time soldering all the wire pairs together, making sure they were good, then shrink-wrapping each wire/connectin, then for good measure, used electrical tape over the whole section. I was proud of my work although it did look like a snake that swallowed a goat or something. Still, it was up in the cable rack so I didn't think it would matter. I showed my supervisor when he came in that morning, and I guess he found a way to actually order a new, continuous single cable.
There is a company in Germany who sells custom harness built to size. I ordered twice from them. It s not very cheap, but it is pretty nice looking once installed.
John, thank you for this video! I have been thinking about cutting that cable since I can't find a shorter one. Glad you made this video. I will just live with the longer cable VS possible problems down the road. Thanks again!
What I suggest...for motor power leads and battery 'only' fine to cut two leads out of the motor...the black and red and also black and red out of the battery. Be careful all. The controller has capacitance and stores a charge even unplugged to the battery. Do NOT short any wires if cutting the wires with a wire cutter. I suggest using XT60 connectors...60 is for 60 amp rating which is fine with stock 30 amp controller and you can buy them off Amazon versus the more flimsy Anderson connectors that come with Bafang kits. As to the 9 pin harness, Johnny as always is spot on. I wouldn't cut it and I have a pretty extensive background in electronics. But the battery and motor pigtails can be shortened to tidy things up...just be careful not to short the wires for 'either' battery pigtail or motor pigtail....the motor controller stores electrical charge and of course the battery does and easy to ruin either with a short...cut one wire at a time independently. A last note. Learning to solder XT60 connectors is not hard but there is a procedure how to do it. Watch a few youtube videos. There are soldering experts on the web. You want to tin both the connector and wire separately and then join them together with heat. Not hard but that is really the only way to do it reliably.
Crimp connections are maybe a little more reliable as they don't create a brittle spot in the wire. I'll be trimming and mounting all my electronics totally custom on my Surly Wednesday fatbike.
I was just asking myself this question a few days ago, so nice timing... ...question is, could a 9-pin serial computer connector be used? A male and female that is...
I'm probably going to have to extend mine, Giant Revive has such goofy proportions. Also to have them shipped quickly the price will be about 60 bucks which is stupid amount for couple lengths of cable. Extending the speed sensor cable really isn't as daunting as the the main harness cable. If i have to extend the main harness i think the best cable i have already is a ethernet cable, same amount of similar gauge wires and some of them have similar body or sheathing. Really doesn't matter if its bit thicker as I'll wrap it with automotive grade cable protection.
not sure if you know but different size 1t4 cable harness are available, the 77cm is much cleaner and hides most of the ugly wiring [depending on bike size] it fits all my ebikes perfectly. all 29" large. btw these are bafang so very reliable. aliexpress.
Awesome! I just caution people to do that who aren’t skilled wire-workers. I wish someone made an aftermarket “splittable” cable that could be fed through the frame and then re assembled.
I have the bafang waterproof kit. The new 5pin green and 3pin yellow throttle and lcd jullet connectors comming out of my new controller are female. Whereas the ones on my old controller were male. So now the connectors from the new controller cant hookup to the throttle or lcd connectors because those ones are also female. So now its basicly female to female. That obviously doesnt work. So naturally i assumed i’d be able to find a little male to female adapter for the cables so that i could connect them. To my surprise… NOPE! So i’m just going to cut off the female connector ends. And splice the wire onto actual male connectors so that i can then finally connect my new controller to my lcd and throttle. Really wish i didnt have to cut two perfectly made wires, but what else can i do. This should work fine with no problems. Right?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I had no choice to do this job . My puppy chewed the main wire coming from the Motor . It's very doable but as Nerd says not recommended. I don't solder , I used liquid tape for the nine splices , then shrink wrapped the entire splice.
Hmm seems it would be nice if the battery box was designed to accommodate the excessive wires out of site with no trimming needed so you could make a cleaner install Imho
@@arronjohnston742 why so unkind? He brings up a plausible point. It’s common knowledge that bundling AC cable can be dangerous. I’m not sure if the same applies to DC, but suggesting it isn’t stupid. Peace.
@@werquantum where did i say it's not possible ? lol if he wants to add another point of failure for something most high powered guys haven't had issue with then have at it lol run along white knight lol
Hey Johnny, what do you have to do to replace a BBS02 kit with a M625 kit? I have custom lengthened wire and worked a lot on cable management so is it just as simple as swapping the motor and battery/display?Or do you need to completely disassembled all your wiring, brakes, speed sensor lighting etc? Thanks!
Question: As a person who is crippled with range anxiety with any electric vehicle, I was wondering why the ebike industry is stuck on 18650 battery cells when there are larger capacity lithium ion cells like 21700 and 26650?
They are starting to emerge in ebike batteries more. But the performance of the 21700 or more cells are pretty overkill for Ebikes in most situations. We’ll see more 21700 in the future I’m sure. Everything trickles down from electric car tech.
@@TheAgentAssassin pops off both in and out so after adjusting the derailleur both ways it still happens . thinking about putting on a front derailleur just to hold it .
Brand new install on a Specialized Crossroads Sport. I'm having the same problem with a Lekkie 46T chainring popping off to the inside when I shift low. I have ordered this from Amazon and hope that it works: BESNIN Chain Guide Mountain Bike Chain Guide Bike MTB Chain Guide Bash Guard Bicycle Chain Protector 7075 Aluminium Alloy
i have to Disagree with the connections Failing if Soldered correctly it won't happen it is stronger i have never had a Soldered connection Fail on any of my ebikes
I just built my first Two E Bikes over the winter. ( Your Vids were a Ton of Help in both technical & choice making decisions) I did opt to have 13" extension cables to replace the 43" ones that came with the BBSO2b kits. I got them from a guy out of the UK & although he shipped the next day it was still 20 days (Customs 😡) before they arrived. Abt $58 ea, They work Fine & look Factory. Zip me a message if you want the link.
@@JohnnyNerdOut I posted his E mail 2x on here & both times it disappeared ??? Not sure why that happened unless its some sort of a UA-cam nono. I think John you have my E mail as I'm the guy you ended up sending 2 of the Lekkie Mid Drive Sockets when we thought UPS had lost the first one. So if you need it, let me know. I think he is on E bay too but prefers to do buz through Direct E mail.
Someone should start a custom cable business. Made to order. I would pay a pretty decent premium to have it clean without a wad of wires stashed somewhere.
I'm looking at potentially the opposite problem. Once all my parts get here I'm converting a recumbent bicycle. The distance between the motor and the battery is going to be longer than most.
Could you not drill two holes in the tube and fish the line through? obviously you would drill the holes from the bottom or maybe the top while considering rain or puddles. But not from the side where the hole affecting yhe integrity of the tube where the forces would be acting on the weakened part of the tube. The holes could easily be water proofed after.
Yeah generally for cable holes and such you see reinforcements welded onto the frame tubes to avoid discontinuities that can develop cracks. But DIY welding such things onto heat treated alloys that you can't always even find out the exact type of alloy is really sketchy.
You didn't even mention water resistance. Wrapping that slice area up with electrical tape WILL NOT be good enough. This should only be attempted by an experienced electronics technician with experience in exterior-grade splices.
I can assure you its not that bad, the wires in that cable are high quality tinned copper which has high resistance to corrosion, I agree it's not meant to be submerged in water lol, but will survive a splash or two once in awhile.
Generously applying "liquid electrical tape" or similar self-curing/vulcanising polymer before the final main body heat shrink tube should be more than enough.
God speed, my dude. I don't remember deleting your comment, but I definitely did if it was overtly rude, derogatory, hateful, etc. Otherwise I keep all comments that foster good questions, debate, differences of opinion, etc.
I used to hide wires on my Harley. It's time consuming but if you can soldier, totally doable. Stagger the cuts so the connections don't line up on top of each other, solder, shrink tubing for each connection then use a longer piece of heat shrink tubing over all the connections. Piece of cake.
All good tips 👌
I like your staggering tip. ❤
LOL, years ago I had to run a 25-pair cable for some equipment installation on the night shift. It didn't need to be done in one night. I couldn't find a cable long enough, but I did find a couple of sections that I could make work. I got the ohmmeter, soldering iron, shrink wrap, and heat gun and spent the time soldering all the wire pairs together, making sure they were good, then shrink-wrapping each wire/connectin, then for good measure, used electrical tape over the whole section. I was proud of my work although it did look like a snake that swallowed a goat or something. Still, it was up in the cable rack so I didn't think it would matter. I showed my supervisor when he came in that morning, and I guess he found a way to actually order a new, continuous single cable.
There is a company in Germany who sells custom harness built to size. I ordered twice from them. It s not very cheap, but it is pretty nice looking once installed.
What’s the name of the company?
@@werquantum E-Bike Technoolgies
@@wonderwalluk1568 Thanks. I heard all the roads that lead you there are winding.
That is one way to go. I run the wires internally and use grommets around the holes.
@@JoeBManco Great idea.
John, thank you for this video! I have been thinking about cutting that cable since I can't find a shorter one. Glad you made this video. I will just live with the longer cable VS possible problems down the road. Thanks again!
Wow! I just asked about this on another of your vids a few days ago. This feels like I'm getting a custom video reply just for me.
Thanks very much :)
What I suggest...for motor power leads and battery 'only' fine to cut two leads out of the motor...the black and red and also black and red out of the battery. Be careful all. The controller has capacitance and stores a charge even unplugged to the battery. Do NOT short any wires if cutting the wires with a wire cutter.
I suggest using XT60 connectors...60 is for 60 amp rating which is fine with stock 30 amp controller and you can buy them off Amazon versus the more flimsy Anderson connectors that come with Bafang kits.
As to the 9 pin harness, Johnny as always is spot on. I wouldn't cut it and I have a pretty extensive background in electronics. But the battery and motor pigtails can be shortened to tidy things up...just be careful not to short the wires for 'either' battery pigtail or motor pigtail....the motor controller stores electrical charge and of course the battery does and easy to ruin either with a short...cut one wire at a time independently.
A last note. Learning to solder XT60 connectors is not hard but there is a procedure how to do it. Watch a few youtube videos. There are soldering experts on the web. You want to tin both the connector and wire separately and then join them together with heat. Not hard but that is really the only way to do it reliably.
Crimp connections are maybe a little more reliable as they don't create a brittle spot in the wire. I'll be trimming and mounting all my electronics totally custom on my Surly Wednesday fatbike.
I'm thinking about 3d printing some enclosures and channels to hide the wires
I custom built one myself to hide them all. Looks soo much nicer than an ugly controller bag.
I was just asking myself this question a few days ago, so nice timing... ...question is, could a 9-pin serial computer connector be used? A male and female that is...
For internal routing its a must
I'm probably going to have to extend mine, Giant Revive has such goofy proportions. Also to have them shipped quickly the price will be about 60 bucks which is stupid amount for couple lengths of cable. Extending the speed sensor cable really isn't as daunting as the the main harness cable. If i have to extend the main harness i think the best cable i have already is a ethernet cable, same amount of similar gauge wires and some of them have similar body or sheathing. Really doesn't matter if its bit thicker as I'll wrap it with automotive grade cable protection.
there must be another way... coiled cable? vacuum cleaner type cable retraction? a excess cable box designed into the motor case?
But if the extension cable plugs into the motor side cable, then why not cut the plug off the extension, shorten that cable and re-attach the plug ?
not sure if you know but different size 1t4 cable harness are available, the 77cm is much cleaner and hides most of the ugly wiring [depending on bike size] it fits all my ebikes perfectly. all 29" large. btw these are bafang so very reliable. aliexpress.
all 1t4 extension harness on alix are 100cm can you link to the 77cm one?
@@mani-00 search 1t4 two size
@@kevwalton272 connecting to the controller) all i can find are thes long ass 180cm ones. Thats way too long. Do you have a link???
google bafang it4 two size cable follow link . let me know@@Kumari_44
I cut mine plus removed the brake sensors and display then fed it through the frame. Looks perfect.
Awesome! I just caution people to do that who aren’t skilled wire-workers. I wish someone made an aftermarket “splittable” cable that could be fed through the frame and then re assembled.
In front suspension bike you can hide wiring in the forks lower steering tube
Genuinely surprised there's no short option already available on aliexpress. Seems like a no brainer.
I have the bafang waterproof kit. The new 5pin green and 3pin yellow throttle and lcd jullet connectors comming out of my new controller are female.
Whereas the ones on my old controller were male.
So now the connectors from the new controller cant hookup to the throttle or lcd connectors because those ones are also female. So now its basicly female to female. That obviously doesnt work.
So naturally i assumed i’d be able to find a little male to female adapter for the cables so that i could connect them. To my surprise… NOPE!
So i’m just going to cut off the female connector ends. And splice the wire onto actual male connectors so that i can then finally connect my new controller to my lcd and throttle. Really wish i didnt have to cut two perfectly made wires, but what else can i do. This should work fine with no problems. Right?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Great video Johnny.
Hi John. Could you please make a comment on chain vs belt?
I already have a video on that 👍
Will there be any motor issues if I cut the lights and brake cables as I don't use them? Thank you
No
I had no choice to do this job . My puppy chewed the main wire coming from the Motor . It's very doable but as Nerd says not recommended. I don't solder , I used liquid tape for the nine splices , then shrink wrapped the entire splice.
Hmm seems it would be nice if the battery box was designed to accommodate the excessive wires out of site with no trimming needed so you could make a cleaner install Imho
i would trim it. hiding a huge bundle of cable introduces heat issues.
lol yet there's people running 72+volts and 4000+watts that have no issues at all with bundled cables, you do you tho dude ... lol
@@arronjohnston742 why so unkind? He brings up a plausible point. It’s common knowledge that bundling AC cable can be dangerous. I’m not sure if the same applies to DC, but suggesting it isn’t stupid. Peace.
@@werquantum where did i say it's not possible ? lol if he wants to add another point of failure for something most high powered guys haven't had issue with then have at it lol run along white knight lol
@@werquantum the controller has cable spaghetti inside and they run hot.
I have a 1T3 cable in the downtube can a y splitter from the brake senor to make up for lack of throttle?
You won’t be able to hook up a throttle to a brake sensor if that was the question.
Hey Johnny, what do you have to do to replace a BBS02 kit with a M625 kit? I have custom lengthened wire and worked a lot on cable management so is it just as simple as swapping the motor and battery/display?Or do you need to completely disassembled all your wiring, brakes, speed sensor lighting etc?
Thanks!
Question: As a person who is crippled with range anxiety with any electric vehicle, I was wondering why the ebike industry is stuck on 18650 battery cells when there are larger capacity lithium ion cells like 21700 and 26650?
They are starting to emerge in ebike batteries more. But the performance of the 21700 or more cells are pretty overkill for Ebikes in most situations. We’ll see more 21700 in the future I’m sure. Everything trickles down from electric car tech.
Is there a promo code for your website?
I plan to buy a Gazelle ebike but the factory is far away. Do we have bikes made in the USA of such good quality? If so, what?
a way to retain the chain on the stock chainring ? mine keeps popping in and out . is there a guard for it or the lekkie out there ?
Sounds like a chain line issue. I've never had a chain pop off the chainring. I use lekkie rings. Now I've had the chain pop off the rear cassette.
@@TheAgentAssassin pops off both in and out so after adjusting the derailleur both ways it still happens . thinking about putting on a front derailleur just to hold it .
Brand new install on a Specialized Crossroads Sport. I'm having the same problem with a Lekkie 46T chainring popping off to the inside when I shift low. I have ordered this from Amazon and hope that it works:
BESNIN Chain Guide Mountain Bike Chain Guide Bike MTB Chain Guide Bash Guard Bicycle Chain Protector 7075 Aluminium Alloy
What about the power cable mine is way too long. Is that easy enough to shorten?
Yes that is easy to shorten. Just be careful not to arc the two connectors.
@@JohnnyNerdOut will do…thank you
What about a bash guard? Any suggestions? I built the northrock xcoo the same weekend of your live feed.
Check Duluth cycles website for a bash guard 👍
@@JohnnyNerdOut thanks
That battery is mounted so high on the frame of that bike. How do you get it out? How did you get it in?
Get help dude.
@@That-Ninja To be fair a lower center of gravity is better
@@simonpage1472 if you had to do away with one or other - which would it be:
Lemons 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋
Or
Limes 🍋🟩🍋🟩🍋🟩🍋🟩🍋🟩🍋🟩🍋🟩
❓❓❓❓❓❓❓❓❓❓
Already done it! Lots of shrink wrap
Who said anything about shrimp ?
You're a whack-a-doodle
Or do you give veteran discounts? Jw I got my cart ready to go
i have to Disagree with the connections Failing if Soldered correctly it won't happen it is stronger i have never had a Soldered connection Fail on any of my ebikes
I just built my first Two E Bikes over the winter. ( Your Vids were a Ton of Help in both technical & choice making decisions) I did opt to have 13" extension cables to replace the 43" ones that came with the BBSO2b kits. I got them from a guy out of the UK & although he shipped the next day it was still 20 days (Customs 😡) before they arrived. Abt $58 ea, They work Fine & look Factory. Zip me a message if you want the link.
Ya can you post it here? 😀
@@JohnnyNerdOut I posted his E mail 2x on here & both times it disappeared ??? Not sure why that happened unless its some sort of a UA-cam nono. I think John you have my E mail as I'm the guy you ended up sending 2 of the Lekkie Mid Drive Sockets when we thought UPS had lost the first one. So if you need it, let me know. I think he is on E bay too but prefers to do buz through Direct E mail.
Someone should start a custom cable business. Made to order. I would pay a pretty decent premium to have it clean without a wad of wires stashed somewhere.
I’ll do it. I’m going to name my company WGB_JD Custom Cables.
Cheers.
@@werquantum Great. Since it's obviously going to be a billion dollar company, I'll just take 1% of revenue. Done.
@@wgb_jd it’s the least I can do!
EXACTLY!!! Thank youuuuuu!!!!
I'm looking at potentially the opposite problem. Once all my parts get here I'm converting a recumbent bicycle. The distance between the motor and the battery is going to be longer than most.
Making a battery extension is fairly easy 👍 or just buy an extension if you don’t have the tools to make one
Could you not drill two holes in the tube and fish the line through? obviously you would drill the holes from the bottom or maybe the top while considering rain or puddles. But not from the side where the hole affecting yhe integrity of the tube where the forces would be acting on the weakened part of the tube. The holes could easily be water proofed after.
Depending on the frame that would work 👍 not sure how many people feel comfortable drilling holes into their frames though 😬
Yeah generally for cable holes and such you see reinforcements welded onto the frame tubes to avoid discontinuities that can develop cracks. But DIY welding such things onto heat treated alloys that you can't always even find out the exact type of alloy is really sketchy.
i respect that deep squat bro . 💪🏽🦵
That battery looks like it's too high up to get out.
Some can be mounted really close like that and still come out, but generally its good idea to put all additional weight as low as you can.
You didn't even mention water resistance. Wrapping that slice area up with electrical tape WILL NOT be good enough. This should only be attempted by an experienced electronics technician with experience in exterior-grade splices.
😄 it’s covered under “points of failure”
I can assure you its not that bad, the wires in that cable are high quality tinned copper which has high resistance to corrosion, I agree it's not meant to be submerged in water lol, but will survive a splash or two once in awhile.
Generously applying "liquid electrical tape" or similar self-curing/vulcanising polymer before the final main body heat shrink tube should be more than enough.
Lol, behind an air force base..
You deleted my comment that could have helped others. Unsubscribed.
God speed, my dude.
I don't remember deleting your comment, but I definitely did if it was overtly rude, derogatory, hateful, etc. Otherwise I keep all comments that foster good questions, debate, differences of opinion, etc.
@@JohnnyNerdOut I apologize for sounding like a dick. Re-subscribed :) YT may have removed it. Two links were included. One was to another YT channel.