Import bike with no carb heaters. Will the loom be wired for them?

[Taipan]

Hi All
My bike is an italian import. The carbs had no carb heaters on them. However I now have a set with carb heaters on which ideally I'd like to get wired up. Does anyone know if the plug will be in the loom? Or would I have to get a UK bike loom?
Thanks.

I'm not sure but there's sometimes a temp sensor that hangs nearby too (there is on a bandit) that controls whether they're on or not. If it's loomed for it it should be pretty obvious, there aren't that many connectors on a loom.

Or you could just wire the heaters to a switch for cold mornings maybe?

Mine was a german import and i wired the card heaters on a new set of carbs that i got for free!!There is no existing cable as the loom for the imports is different but it is quite easily done.

[Spanner Man]

Good morning.


I've just looked in the manual, & it appears that most SV's are wired for carb heaters. So you're probably in luck.

If it isn't it's still no big deal. For as stated, it's not difficult to wire them in on a manual switch.


Cheers.

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by Spanner Man

Good morning.


I've just looked in the manual, & it appears that most SV's are wired for carb heaters. So you're probably in luck.

If it isn't it's still no big deal. For as stated, it's not difficult to wire them in on a manual switch.


Cheers.

Morning All. Thanks for all the replies. I'll have a look at it at the weekend, weather permitting, and hopefully find a spare plug in the loom somewhere? Having never seen this before can anyone tell me how many wires and what colours they are?

Can I just wire a switchable direct 12v to the carb heaters. Are they not thermostatically controlled in any way? After all I dont want glowing elements in my float bowls!

Many thanks.

Perfectly timed thread, Taipan. Waiting to receive a set of carbs at the mo which should hopefully have heaters in to fit on my import.

They do have some thermo switches to control them and there is a couple of looms on ebay at the mo. But as you said I don't know where they plug in. It seems to be a white roundish type connector that connects to the main loom. I'm going to wait to see whats on the carbs (heater, thermoswitch, etc) before i decide whether to fit a manual switch or try and make it automatic.

[yorkie_chris]

I wouldn't bother. If they're going to ice up then the heat added by some tiny little glowplugs won't do a thing compared to the effect of a pint of ice cold fuel every couple of minutes evaporating.

Remember the ice in carb icing forms on the needles, which is a fair distance from the heaters.

If it becomes a problem, then order a gallon of isopropanol and add 100ml to every tank.


You could probably prevent carb ice by routing a copper fuel line around the thermostat housing or some other hot area to supply the fuel nice and warm. But I'd forsee some pretty bad vapour lock problems when you switch the engine off.

Well I found the plug, its a two pin white socket that was tucked into a black rubber shroud near the fuel pump. It should have a orange/yellow wire and black/white wire going to it. It should also read 12v with the ignition on.

I have bought the loom off ebay which has a thermoswitch included with it for a tenner.

I know what your saying YC but as I was getting carbs with heaters on it I thought it would be worth wiring them up. I ride throughout the year and I have had to use isopropanol as the bike is nearly unrideable in the cold the misfire is so bad. One particular incident in the freezing fog where the bike just didn't want to run at any speed with alot of backfiring, it would then stall everytime I stopped. That was with using the isopropanol too. So I have tended to avoid using the bike when its under 3 degs cos its so horrible to ride. Hopefully using heaters and isopropanol may mean a more pleasant winters riding.

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by walkaboutandy

Well I found the plug, its a two pin white socket that was tucked into a black rubber shroud near the fuel pump. It should have a orange/yellow wire and black/white wire going to it. It should also read 12v with the ignition on.

I have bought the loom off ebay which has a thermoswitch included with it for a tenner.

I know what your saying YC but as I was getting carbs with heaters on it I thought it would be worth wiring them up. I ride throughout the year and I have had to use isopropanol as the bike is nearly unrideable in the cold the misfire is so bad. One particular incident in the freezing fog where the bike just didn't want to run at any speed with alot of backfiring, it would then stall everytime I stopped. That was with using the isopropanol too. So I have tended to avoid using the bike when its under 3 degs cos its so horrible to ride. Hopefully using heaters and isopropanol may mean a more pleasant winters riding.

Top man. Thanks for that info. I left my manual at my In-laws and thats saved me a journey to collect it. Did you get a whole wiring loom or just the carb bit?

[yorkie_chris]

Some folk see the heater loom as part of the loom, others sell that with the carbs.

Out of curiosity, are the imports carb bowls drilled and tapped for heating elements?