Hackneyed wiring

:evil:

Ok, sooo... there are a few little wiring issues I think I have run into (of which, I don't happen to have a wiring diagram handy), and maybe I can get a little help here.

'81 550 Maxim, PO made some... alterations to the wiring and rigged up a fusebox. However, I'm not sure what wiring goes where, or what loose ends I have here... so here goes.

First pic is a red & yellow wire coming off of the main harness, of which the end has been soldered, but no lead attached to the end of the wire itself, and is NOT connected to anything. Directly above it (in the photo) is another red & yellow wire which is connected to the fuse box. Above THAT, there is a large brown wire which has been soldered to a red & white wire, which has been soldered to a big red wire, to the body of the fuse box. Above THAT, there is a small brown wire which has been connected to the fuse box.

In the process of getting pics, as I know trying to decipher that is going to be a bear.

 

Your picture didn't make it through, Mr. Bunny.

 

You need a service manual (it has the necessary diagrams.)

Meanwhile, PM me with your email address and I'll send you both the wiring and circuit diagrams for the 550 Max.

 

Even without pictures, I think I can tell what you're describing. I redid my fusebox, and ended up getting two different fuseboxes. The first one was setup as having one ground connection for all fuses. I started to work with that one but decided I wasn't confident enough to experiment with guessing which side was the correct ground side. Second box I bought was a 6 (or 8?) slot inline style (I put spare fuses in the extra slots).

Go ahead and get a picture of what you're working with, but essentially what you want is to have a matching pair of each wire (red, brown, red/white, and red/yellow), with the fusebox connecting the pairs inline. I'll get you a picture of my setup soon to help explain it.

 

Oh my ! fuses don't have a ground side, a feed side and a load side a inside and a outside...no ground side
i know what you mean though

 

Exactly. I use the term loosely here to emphasize that it just wasn't right and wasn't worth rewiring to make it work with that style fusebox. Sounds like the OP's PO felt otherwise.

 

Be careful; on the XJ the fuses are all "inline" but only with each other; you can't use a buss-type fusebox without a little re-engineering and understanding what Yamaha was up to. All is not what it may immediately appear to be.

 

Here's my setup, Gunbunny:


My connectors are hiding my awesome custom diagram, but from top to bottom it says:
"20A MAIN" for the red wire,
"10A HEADLIGHT" for the red/yellow wire,
"10A SIGNAL" for the brown wire,
"10A IGNITION" for the red/white wire, and
"SPARES" for the last two slots.

 

Here's one photo, hopefully the other one uploads from my dumb phone in a bit.

 

Also, what the hell are these two wires? One's brown, and then the other one is light brown/pink?

Above that, is the flasher relay I believe (perched up on a frame tube, just the black connector).

(And I'm going to apologize in advance for shitty pictures)

 

pink and brown wires in that location would be horn.
stu

 

Gun,

The pink and brown is to the horn. The brown and yellow to the rear brake switch.

Gary

 

http://xjbikes.wikidot.com/wiki:xj550-wiring-diagram

 

I gotta get this off my chest.

I just finished completely rebuilding the loom and the wiring diagram I see everywhere is misleading.

1 - headlight black wire connects to the main black line earth
(diagram has this only connect to the side stand switch
2 - Neutral light brown connects to the main brown hotwire
(diagram has this only connect to voltmeter)
3 - voltmeter, highbeam meter, Indicator meters all connect to the main black line earth
(diagram has these floating disconnected to anything)

tears of frustration my friends.

ALSO - pro tip -
do all your splicing etc down under the tank and bring the excess wires up to the headlight bucket, so the headlight bucket is just about plugging in connectors.
unlike what I did.

 

Wiring a bike will make a grownup cry.

True story.

 

Breaking a welded-in fender off after you already powder-coated the frame and started assembly will make a grown man cry.

Hypothetically speaking.

 

The wiring diagram or the circuit diagram? They're two different things; and the circuit diagram alone can be a bit misleading which is why you need them both.

 

Hey guys, Has anyone here connected the ignition switch directly to the main loom? My XJ has connected to the big square instrument cluster which i need to throw away and install something small. If anyone has moved the ignition switch to another location with connection made to the main loom please post pics. It will be a big help for me.
Thanks!!!