Crimp my style!

Ralph Ferrand works with tools all day long – he sells them too at bikerstoolbox.co.uk. So he knows what works.

- Ralph Ferrand

For the third month in a row I am dealing with electrics.

Now, for some reason all high street auto-shops and even motorcycle shops sell preinsulated bullets, spades and ring terminals by the bucket load, despite the fact that no motorcycle manufacturer or professional auto electrician would use them. Their use is evidence to a professional that a monkey has been playing with the wiring. Proper terminals aren’t even appreciably more expensive, though professional crimp tools do cost a bit more than those nasty tools punched out of sheet steel that claim to strip, cut and crimp, and yet do none of the jobs properly. If you’re not willing to buy the correct tools, pay someone who does have them to do the job!

Old British bikes with wiring by Lucas use machined male brass bullets that are forced into connectors. I use the term ‘forced’ as they tend to be as tight as a duck’s bum to fit together. To the best of my knowledge only one manufacturer still makes the crimps for them and they are far from cheap for a basic tool.