Something to think about when changing handlebars

Hi guys,

I thought I would write this post as a bit of a heads up to those who are as new to bikes and electrical systems as I am. Currently I am restoring an old XJ650 4K0 1981 model, and been working on the electrical system and some small changes to the looks of the bike. I have limited experience, but am a keen learner and pick up things fast enough.

The handlebars were in bad shape, so I got hold of new clip on handlebars in aluminum. They looked really nice on the bike, so I assembled everything back together and was keen on a ride, however, my bike would not start. I short circuited the starter relay with a screw driver, and it worked. From there I used a continuity tester and traced all the wiring and cables, tested all components, and to my frustration it would not start. I started reading up and found nothing on any forums.

Then it hit me, the frame of the bike is earth, and is used to close circuits when there is one wire in to the component (Basically, the frame acts as the negative wire returning to the battery, thus closing the circuit). I detached the cable from the starter button, and touched the wire on the tripple tree top bracket, and the bike started (!!). In other words, if you are to change handlebars, make sure that the handlebars are in a conductive material, and that they connect to the frame, otherwise there will be start issues.

I hope this saves someone the hours of frustration it saved me!

Kind ragards
Andre

 

Yes, for the earlier ones, the handlebar was the ground. For later ones, the there was a ground wire in the harness that made much better conductivity to ground.

 

Thank you for that info hogfiddles! Would there be a way to rewire the old bikes to run ground through a wire instead? As this is my first bike, it's a pretty steep learning curve, but loving it so far

 

Yes, get the newer control with the ground wire in its harness. Then when you plug it into the bikes harness under the tank, all you need to do is to add another ground wire to the bikes side of the plug and run the other end of the added wire to a ground connection anywhere.