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Wiring Question xj650 tach

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by joejr2, Sep 6, 2019.

  1. joejr2

    joejr2 Active Member Premium Member

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    Hi, i am restoring an xj650 maxim from a variety of aquired parts. I have installed a very clean looking tach
    included with the instrument cluster having a 4 wire pigtail with blue, black, pink, and brown. The companion pigtail off the harness for the tach contains only blue and black wires, The harness is clean and complete in every other connection. I will have to splice in the brown and pink wires to whatever activates the tach, as the blue and black wires only supply power for the tach lighting. Any clues as to what components the pink and brown wires connect to ?
     
  2. Simmy

    Simmy Well-Known Member

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    sounds like you're installing an electronic tach into a non-YICS wiring harness set up for a mechanical tach.
    The brown wire needs to get power from the brown wire at the fuse panel, 10A fuse. This brown feeds power to many things so you might be able to tap into it somewhere closer to the tach.
    The other wire, usually gray or orange on an XJ needs to be tapped into one of the wires running between the pick-up coil and the TCI.
    Are you sure the pink is not actually orange?
     
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  3. chacal

    chacal Moderator Moderator Supporting Vendor Premium Member

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    Brown wires are the hot lead. Pink wires are the horn "ground" circuit (horns are always "hot"; pressing the horn button (which is connected via the pink wire) completes the ground side of the circuit and the horn activates).

    But...….something doesn't sound right...…...there should not be a connector that has those combination of wire colors on/in it (blue/black/pink/brown). The 1982-up XJ650 Maxim tachometer has a lead harness coming off it that has blue, black, brown and orange wires coming of it...…..these are strictly for powering the tach (orange wire is tach drive signal from the TCI/ignition coils primary side). Brown wire is hot lead for tacho meter drive (it's an electronic tach, not cable-driven like the earlier models), blue is hot for the light bulbs in the tacho housing, and black is of course ground.

    The 1980-81 tachs are cable-driven, and thus they only use the light bulb wires (blue = hot, black = ground)…..so it sounds as though you have a 1980-81 bike (or main harness) that only has the leads for the 1980-81 cable-driven tach.

    If you are installing a 1982-up electrically-driven tach onto a 1980-81 model XJ650, then you'll need to:

    a) block off the cable-drive port on the cylinder head, where the original drive cable for the cable-drive tach is located:

    HCP7521 Aftermarket tachometer cable drive gear housing BLOCK OFF CAP. If you decide to replace your cable-driven tach with something else, this block-off cap screws onto to the cable adapter in places of the tach cable, and prevents oil from spraying out of the engine and prevents grit and grime from getting into the engine. Fits all XJ550 models, 1980-81 XJ650 Maxim and Midnight Maxim models, and 1982 XJ650RJ Seca model. Bright finish.
    $

    HCP23120 Aftermarket tachometer cable drive gear housing BLOCK OFF PLUG. If you decide to replace your cable-driven tach with something else, this block-off plug replaces the entire cable housing unit, and prevents oil from spraying out of the engine and prevents grit and grime from getting into the engine. Fits all XJ550 models, 1980-81 XJ650 Maxim and Midnight Maxim models, and 1982 XJ650RJ Seca model. Bright finish. NOTE: You need to retain and re-use the drive housing retaining clamp and bolt to secure this plug to the engine.
    $



    AND:



    b) tap into the orange wire leading to the ignition coil to pick up the signal from the TCI that drives the tach:


    Mechanical Tachometer Conversion:

    All XJ550 models and the 1980-81 XJ650 Maxim and Midnight Maxim models use a mechanical (cable-driven) tachometer, while all other XJ-series bikes use a electrically driven (off the TCI box) tachometer.

    We now have a TACHOMETER CONVERSION KIT that allows you to easily swap out your original cable-driven tach with the electrically driven tachometer that's found on 1982-83 XJ650 Maxim and 1983 XJ750 Maxim or Midnight Maxim models. These tachometers are commonly available used, and are the exact same size, shape, face design, and mounting configuration as the earlier cable-driven tachs. Our conversion kit allows you to perform a simple plug-and-play harness upgrade to allow you to interface the electric tach to your original wiring harness, with no splicing or cutting necessary!


    HCP10017 Aftermarket mechanical-to-electrical TACHOMETER CONVERSION KIT contains an easy-to-install conversion harness, a tach drive housing block-off cap (HCP7521), and instructions, giving you all the parts you'll need to make a professional and correct change-over. Tach not included!
    $
     
  4. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    is the tack oem or aftermarket?
    what bike is it going into? a photo of tach and its wires would help
    tach electronic 650.PNG

    82 650 tach
     
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2019
  5. joejr2

    joejr2 Active Member Premium Member

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    yeah, that diagram was the one that went with the frame and motor I started out with. I used the cleanest looking
    harness from a box of salvaged units. It was, according to Len probably from an "80" 0r "81" 650 maxim with the mechanical
    tach. The wiring diagram I used to trace orange and brown connections was the same one that you posted. I spliced into the
    orange at the left coil and and the brown at an extra horn connection, This harness had been wired for two horns, Seca ?
    The orange looked like it ran directly to the igniter terminal so I figured that a splice any place along that orange wire would be ok.
     
  6. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Chacal s post indicates he has a conversion kit for what you want to do including the tach plug

    orange can be added to ignition coil as it is closer
     
  7. joejr2

    joejr2 Active Member Premium Member

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    You guys have been extremely helpful. With the help of the members of the xjbikes forum
    I've been able to progress from knowing nothing about motorcycles to becoming a reasonably
    competent novice. The bike I'm working on now is my 5th build out of mostly junk parts.
    As an older retired guy,"72", I like to invest my time in new learning experiences. The thrill of
    turning a wreck and a few boxes of greasy parts into a zippy road machine is indescribable.
    82 650 seca
    81 650 maxim
    82 650 maxim
    83 750 seca
    81 650 maxim
     
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  8. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    when you stop stimulating the mind you may as well go take a dirt nap.;)
     
  9. Daniel Ayala

    Daniel Ayala New Member

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    hey all, bringing up this thread, so I'm currently working on completely remaking the wiring for my 1982 XJ650RJ Seca, I'm adding in controls from another bike and bringing along the whole accessory wiring from said bike, that's no issue. Considering the entire wiring was a mess of missing wiring and diodes/relays, I figured I might as well create a new and slightly simpler wiring harness that incorporates the loss of certain systems (i.e. the side stand switch among a few). Given this, I was looking at the original schematic and as I was clearing out the accessories portion to just have the bare minimum for starting the bike I noticed a few wires that don't lead to anything it seems? Can someone give me a clue where they are supposed to go or be used? There are three in total, as well I am adding the wiring that I have simplified.
     

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  10. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    there are extra connections in the headlight bucket for lights if you pot a cowl on the front
     
  11. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    here is the minimal wiring for an xj one drawing omits the run switch eQNlgxq.jpg m1csRY7.jpg
     
  12. Daniel Ayala

    Daniel Ayala New Member

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    thanks XJ550H, I had seen that green one before, perhaps I didn't wire correctly the first time or something just wasn't working correctly a few months back because I wasn't able to get her to crank without bypassing the solenoid and hotwiring it. I changed the solenoid but still had the same issue. Figured Id fix up the whole wiring and not leave it a butchered job like it came the first time around. Im probably going to start a build thread, I have some photos here and there, so perhaps ill see how that goes. Its going to anger a lot of the purists...
     
  13. jayrodoh

    jayrodoh YimYam Premium Member

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    I only get annoyed when bikes don't get finished. I'm a purist but I also enjoy a good build, I see too many that get chopped up and started but then people realize they don;t have the money/time/skill to finish and it sits rotting. Plenty of build thread on here where the bike is modified. Welcome to the forum, definitely start a thread for your build and issues!
     
  14. Daniel Ayala

    Daniel Ayala New Member

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    Thanks Jay, I'm currently working on the tail end, I managed to raise the rear of the tank about 3 inches or so, so it looks a little better, the lower curve of the tank is matching the curve of the center spine. I'm remaking the entire rear subframe and going for a monoshock system using the rear shock from an R1. As much as I'm modifying, I'm trying to keep it within the family of parts. I guess I should get some photos together and start up that thread soon! I still have a lot of questions and problems to solve so I'm looking forward to the feedback. And yes, she's going to run pods.
     
  15. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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