Making a replacement wiring harness?

[That80sGuy]

My wiring harness is in rough shape because of age and exposure to the elements. As a result some of the wires are becoming brittle and most of the connectors on the ends need replacing. Has anyone ever constructed a complete wiring harness? I feel like my harness is intact enough to provide me with a good pattern to follow. Any suggestions on upgrading with better gauge wires or connectors?

[RibbedGiraffe]

Ive never done it on a Cart - But have made many harnesses in the past. Pull the old one out (Take pictures of the connections on the motor- etc before pulling) buy the correct size wires and connections (using the factory colors is nice too) and just duplicate the old one. These harnesses seem pretty simple, so just take your time.

My only real advice - DONT USE ANY BUTT CONNECTORS - Solder and heat shrink any spliced connections. You will thank me later.

[That80sGuy]

I have experience with a soldering iron and heat shrink tubing.

[TomStark]

Originally Posted by That80sGuy

I have experience with a soldering iron and heat shrink tubing.

That's good! I will avoid at all costs using solderless "butt" connectors. They are big and ugly and look very unprofessional. I will use solderless terminal ends, but after I crimp them I solder them. Making sure to get enough solder that it is sealed on each end of the crimp and down the center of the crimp. If no air can get in you can't get oxidation.
I rewired a 750 Honda once. I figured easy enough, it only has an ignition, a few lights, etc, so how hard could it be? Well it was not hard, but it took a LOT more wire than I thought it would! Like well over 100 feet! The one piece of advice I would give you is to really think it through. There were 3 or 4 places I had to cut a wire and solder in another one because I forgot something! Of course, the bike had been wired before so I could not follow ANY of the existing wire, and had to do it all from scratch.
So far as wire gauge goes, real easy, make it at LEAST what it is now. If you go too big, no problem, like if you have a 22 gauge wire and replace it with 00 gauge Not a problem (except for soldering, bending, etc.) But if you replace a 10 gauge wire with 12 gauge, if it is pulling the 30 amps the 10 gauge wire is made for, you will melt the 12 gauge wire which is only supposed to carry 20 amps.
Tom