Ten Common Mistakes In Powersports electrical Designs Home
(As Seen In June 4th, 2007 Powersports Business magazine)
10 Common Mistakes Made In Powersports Electrical Designs

Copyright 2006, Gary Gustafson

Electrical systems have historically been treated as many things by powersports manufacturers. A red-headed step-child, an elephant in the corner or even an afterthought. This is changing. In the 21st Century, powersports manufacturers must make electronic design a priority. OEMs and aftermarket companies who can master electronics will increase their chances of dominating the 21st-century powersports world. The following are some of the most common mistakes that powersports companies make today with their electronics development.



1.Insufficient charging system power.
Insufficient charging power will result in perplexed dealer technicians and more significantly dissatisfied customers. On the other hand, a maximized charging system can be the foundation for game-changing innovation. For example, the new YEPS available on 2007 Yamaha Grizzly FIs required a 200-watt upgrade to their stator.









Yamaha YEPS Courtesy Yamaha Corp.

It is always easiest to specify a high-output magneto charging system when a new engine platform is designed. Sufficient room must be allowed in the crankcase casting for the stator and flywheel, and provisions for cooling the stator may also need to be made.

2.Not allocating the electrical system design equivalent resources, testing and development as you do your mechanical designs.
Powersports OEMS, by and large, have staffs that are 99% mechanical in their expertise. Yet the percent of vehicle cost that is electrical is closer to 10% (and growing), meaning 1% of the staff is responsible for 10% of the content. By devoting more resources to electrical development there is an enormous opportunity for more satisfied customers and product differentiation. In fact, as it has happened in other industries, it is only a matter of time before a technology revolution based upon electronics could allow a start-up company to turn the Goliaths of the powersports world on their collective heads.

3.Not planning for hose, wire and cable routes.
Poor hose, wire and cable routes can cause warranty costs as high as six figures annually and trigger product safety recalls.  Powersports OEMs usually design the rest of the vehicle and then make a last-minute demand for their electrical “gurus” to find a place for the wiring to go. Technology exists to modernize this aspect of the design process. Manufacturers can document cable routes either with photos, CAD or--better yet--both; test cable routing right along with the rest of the vehicle; and then control the route-specifying documents the same as any other blueprint.

G-Force Consulting created the P.R.O. (Placement and Routing Optimization) system to help manufacturers of all sizes take control of their cable routings, before cable routings take control of their warranty budget.  The system sounds complicated but is actually very simple once it is implemented. Improving hose, wire and cable routes will never make a manufacturer any money and that is why so little attention is paid to them. But no team can play with just an offense, they also need to field a strong defense to win. And a sound approach to controlling cable routes can save a company tens of thousands of dollars in warranty and recalls.

4.Not designing for serviceability.
As much as 60% of all electrical warranty is due to poor service procedures. Manufacturers should adhere to a few basic rules for electrical-system serviceability. Some of them include: Centralize components into an electrical center, keep schematic diagrams up-to-date, and locate electrical connections where they can be reached with minimal labor time.








Suzuki King Quad 700 Electrical Center

Develop an ironclad specification for wire colors vs. electrical functions. Continuity in wire color functions will help technicians to grow their familiarity with evolving electrical systems. Added diagnostic capability is often available for free by simply adding a little more software into items with microprocessors such as speedometers.

5.Not protecting electrical connections.
Let’s make this simple. On an ATV or ATV aftermarket product all electrical connections carrying less than 1/2 amp should be properly sealed, period. Some designers will nit-pick whether the threshold should be set at 100 milliamps plus or minus, but what is most important is that manufacturers commit in general to paying the added cost for having sealed connectors. ATV manufacturers who say that they will not warranty any usages where water is above the floorboards or even above the CVT clutch cover are living in a dream world. ATVs should have waterproofing specifications nearly equal to a personal watercraft.

However, implementing sealed connectors is an art unto itself. Most sealed connections are actually made for the automotive industry and because of this, careful attention must be given to supply-chain management. This is covered in more detail below.

6.Not designing for nighttime operation.
I have seen ATVs and Snowmobiles that looked great on the showroom floor and even performed well on a daytime test drive. Then I took the quad or sled out for a nighttime ride and I discovered that the lighting was so poor that any speed over 30mph was a white-knuckle experience. Or I discovered that the angle of incidence on the LCD was so bad that the digits in the LCD were watery at night unless I leaned my head 2 feet to the right of center where the symbols became more clear. Another common problem I have uncovered is with handlebar controls where it is impossible to see what the switch settings are. These real-life encounters confirmed to me that nighttime testing should be a mandatory part of the development process. Have people of different heights sit on the vehicle and evaluate the features at night and during the day. Evaluate the features for both stand-up and sit-down riding. Technical limitations may prevent a designer from making a headlight or speedometer perfect for every possible use, but at least execute the design for reasonable night-time use—and be sure you test it that way.

7.Believing “all electrical parts are the same”
Not all batteries are the same. Not all headlights are the same. Not all key switches are the same, and not all wire harnesses are the same. More importantly—a battery is not a headlight is not an electronic module. For a Powersports manufacturer, the problem of lumping all electrical components together is chiefly caused, again, by a mechanically-oriented design and management team who wants to throw everything “over the wall” to their electrical design staff and/or suppliers.

If you are having your “electrical guy” develop something he has never done before, ask him for his thoughts on the project and listen to what he says he needs to do his job. It should be viewed no differently than asking a transmission engineer to develop his first chassis. Even the most brilliant engineer will have a learning curve on developing something new, and he may need extra resources including added personnel while developing the new system. Even if inexperience isn’t an issue, some electronic and mechatronic projects are much more labor intensive than others. It can be advantageous to look for contract engineering help to be sure all of your current and new designs get done properly. When I developed electronic transmission shifting at one OE, having a contract engineer to do the “leg work” of updating schematics and overseeing lab tests freed me up to be sure that the overall system was developed successfully. 

8.Being ignorant of suppliers and costs of electrical components. 
If a Powersports OEM is utilizing an off-the-shelf automotive part or sub-component, it is critical that all parties in the supply chain understand the long-term availability of the part. I am aware of more than one time when an automotive company stopped ordering a part, triggering the supplier to stop making it. Then the powersports company received very short notice that the part number they have built into their design is no longer available.  Also--it is worthwhile to be knowledgeable of electrical component costs. Ask for an itemized cost breakdown of your electrical assemblies such as wire harnesses. Hidden gems of cost reduction will be everywhere—many just for the asking.

9.Locating low-current components and wires next to electrically noisy devices.
Magnetic fields around ignition coils cause electro-magnetic emissions. Aging spark plug wires can induce voltage into other wires capacitively. Many voltage regulator designs are also notoriously noisy. Keep sensitive low-current signal wires like those on sensors at least 3-4” away from these devices, or utilize grounded shielding on sensor wires if the minimum spacing can’t be maintained. Otherwise, inaccurate speed readings or poor emissions controls are just a couple of the setbacks waiting to happen due to electrical interference.

10.Throwing an electrical design “Over The Wall” to other departments.
Many internal departments—maybe all of them, will have to be involved with an engineering design for the project to succeed. Engineering must stay engaged with these other departments to ensure the success of the project. I once led a new instrument cluster program at a major OEM. We began having rejects due to a circuit failing in the speedometer. An inspection of the parts revealed a failure on the speedometer circuit board. I traced the problem to an electrical test station on our factory assembly line, where they occasionally connected the 12-volt power supply backwards causing a dead short in one circuit. I instructed Quality Assurance to bill any such failed parts back to the line as scrap, and to stop reporting these particular failures as a supplier defect. Once the assembly line started getting charged for the problem rather than the vendor, the line fail-safed the process and the problem went away. Lessons learned—engage beyond your cubicle walls to ensure the success of a new electronics project. And sometimes to get an internal or external partner to change their ways you have to make them feel it in their pocket book.

G-Force Consulting  218-209-1388 or e-mail gary@g-forceconsulting.net