Crimping. It needs to be communicated more than it is. At the odd instance when it is mentioned online, it's mostly people defending it. That should not be. Crimping is an ill, a malady. A huge maintenance issue.

Crimping is what makes your cell phone charger cable suddenly die. Crimping is the number one problem in motorcycle wiring, even in new bikes, let alone those more than fifty years old. Crimping is even the thing responsible for some vintage Hondas not running right, and many more not charging their batteries right. A simple thing, but also a very destructive thing.

Obviously, the companies that make your bike's wiring don't have time to solder every splice and every terminal, especially all of those in the numerous canon plugs. But these crimps are where trouble lurks. The now infamous 2-volt drop from battery to ignition coil or battery to headlight found in vintage Hondas is not normal. It is the result of aging crimps. Maintenance of the canon plugs is mandatory, and while it helps a lot it won't always eliminate the voltage loss. The wiring harness needs to be replaced. Many riders have discovered this. The CB350F's notorious low speed running issues are largely caused by a bad wiring harness. Install a relay if you must, but replacing the harness is addressing the issue not just the symptom. One of my customers saw his voltage drop to the ignition coils go from 2 volts to just 0.5 volt with just an afternoon's work of changing out the harness, and the idle and throttle response inconsistencies disappeared. A similar situation exists with 50-year old Honda fours. Their marginal charging systems ate optimized by replacing the wiring harness. This is well understood.

Forums push back on the correct way to maintain your bike's cannon plugs. Do it anyway. Disassemble, clean, and reinforce the crimps by soldering. Then pack the two plug halves with grease before reconnecting. Some say the solder will make the wiring dangerously less flexible. First, you're only soldering the crimp. The harness wiring is not loading up with solder. Second, the only way the harness would accumulate solder is through "wicking", which happens only with deficient soldering technique.

It's laziness, misinformation, and incompetence. One or all three, from the manufacturer of the wiring harness to the user forum, to the motorcycle rider. Be wise. Do the deed.