the harness under the motor is hard to get to. personally i pull the motor, its alot quicker. the helpful hints you may run across about tieing a string or wire to the harness has never worked for me. perhaps if you have tiny hands it might. there are 4 or 5 wire tabs that secure the harness under the motor and its virtually impossible to loosen the tabs and re feed the harness.
with the connectors from the stator unplugged you can get about 3" of slack on the harness. with a flashlight you should be able to visually inspect for any chaffing of the wrapping on the harness.
other areas to check are the harness connection left side front from the hood back to the stator plug and under the bar pad toward the dimmer switch, as well as by the steering hoop near the cdi.