First time rehab of a 1976ish basket case

Should I cut down front fender or leave it?


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No you do not need to run an extra brown. Read through this thread.
http://www.xs650.com/threads/72xs2-73tx-wiring-diagram.53244/
Also Mailmans thread starting at 2190. Both go into the details of the 72 lighting wiring.
http://www.xs650.com/threads/mailman’s-xs2-a-full-on-restoration.51520/page-110
Thanks for the links GLJ, all good reading. Unfortunately, this bike is very literally only a 72 on paper.. a lot of the basic wiring is the same but there are as many, if not more, discrepancies. Just for example, my ignition switch, which looks like a mike’s, has 6 wires. I think to avoid any confusion I’m going to fork out the cash for a replacement, but in the meantime I’m trying to make some more headway in the wiring
 
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Is your left handlebar switch from a 72. If so you may need to follow the 72 wiring diagram for the lights.
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Or use it to figure out how to integrate your ignition switch to your bike.
 
Yes, you will need to pin down the approximate year of your ignition switch. An original early switch that would have come on a '72 would only power the blue wires (tail light) in the "Park" position. Starting with the '78 switch, the blue wires were powered in both the "On" and "Park" positions. The ignition switch now controlled the on-off function of the tail light. Turn the key on and the tail light came on. On the older bikes, the tail light on-off was controlled by the headlight on-off switch in one of the handlebar switch assemblies. A blue wire from that switch ran to the blues coming out of the ignition switch.
 
Is your left handlebar switch from a 72. If so you may need to follow the 72 wiring diagram for the lights.
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No, my left hand switch appears to be from a 76 which would make sense since the motor is 76 and the carbs are 76/77. I’m going to rename the thread since it’s causing confusion!
 
Yes, you will need to pin down the approximate year of your ignition switch. An original early switch that would have come on a '72 would only power the blue wires (tail light) in the "Park" position. Starting with the '78 switch, the blue wires were powered in both the "On" and "Park" positions. The ignition switch now controlled the on-off function of the tail light. Turn the key on and the tail light came on. On the older bikes, the tail light on-off was controlled by the headlight on-off switch in one of the handlebar switch assemblies. A blue wire from that switch ran to the blues coming out of the ignition switch.
I’m fairly certain it’s a 76 igntion/controls. I’ll take photos when I get home in about 30 minutes. My ignition switch came to me literally tied together with Teflon pipe tape... so I’m thinking maybe I’m supposed to be getting power to the two blues in “on” position maybe?
 
A '76 switch shouldn't power the blues in the "On" position, only in "Park".
So the power for the tail light in “on” position needs to come from one of the brown wires, correct? ***edit*** read back through, you already told me that power from right control (blue wire) off of on/off goes to tail... thanks for leading the horse to water 5t :doh: components tested, all works
 
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Anyone have suggestions on product for loom? Really want to avoid the corrugated split -loom material. Thanks in advance!

Quick update from yesterday afternoon. Did some component testing and got my fresh 552 flasher relay in, swapped terminals and got directionals and tail/brake dialed in. This weekend I’ll be out and about but plan on hunkering down starting Monday.
 
I hate to bring this up at such a late date greasy - but when I got my '76 C-model, the wiring was simply....a total hot mess. Nothing worked and some of what was there was solid copper house wire joined with Marrette connectors (wire-nuts). It was irretrievable as were both handlebar switches. The plastic buttons simply disintegrated and when I tried to clean the mud (??!!) out of the insides of the switches, what was left was rusted rotted junk..

Soooo....I took a chance and bought a brand new wiring harness and a set of handlebar switches from MikesXS (actually their Canadian affiliate) and was pleasantly surprised with the fit and quality of the components. The harness was around $60-70 and the switches were about $60 each. It did take a little adaptation because the switches were 1977 versions and the harness was for a '76 - but that took an evening and everything worked out great for around $180. That is not exactly cheap I know, but for me, it was a good trade-off between time, buying lots of parts and having something that works well and looks correct.

Anyhow - just a thought.

Pete
 
I too bought a MikeXS wiring harness, but was lucky my switches were pretty good. The only thing is I bought the harness in 2008 and never got the time and ambition to work on the bike till 2018!o_O Yea! I can be a slow starter on some projects!

As the original harness was almost as bad as MaxPete's, less the solid copper wire, it did take some thinking to figure out what went where. I did find one mistake. Seems one of the wires going to the coils was the wrong sex! After a quick sex change operation all was good.

Now I just have to get my butt in gear and get the title changed, replace rear tire, new battery and put oil in forks and might actually get back on the road before 2028!:rolleyes:
 
Hey thanks fellas! I actually did purchase a mike’s harness when I first undertook this project, but after digging into the wiring there was wayy more work to be done besides a harness swap, so I returned it and decided to do everything from scratch to force myself to become familiar with the bike. This is only my second real motorcycle (street legal with lights) and first big project, so I’m glad I decided to go this route. MaxPete and kshansen, I understand your wiring frustration! There was literally not a single factory wire or terminal block in this entire bike, aside from headlight and flasher relay plugs, and there were plenty of wire nuts. At this point all that’s left is routing/cleaning up then it’s on to tuning!
 
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Hi all
To Liveslowdiewhenever Just read this hole thread i am no expert but i just want to say well done with what you are doing keep up the good work its great to see someone overcoming problems and bringing these bikes back to life Awesome ...
All the best Funky
 
Hi all
To Liveslowdiewhenever Just read this hole thread i am no expert but i just want to say well done with what you are doing keep up the good work its great to see someone overcoming problems and bringing these bikes back to life Awesome ...
All the best Funky
Thanks funky, I appreciate the encouraging words. You must have the patience of a saint to read through this whole thread! Things should start getting a bit more interesting shortly here as I move past the electrical battle
 
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Daily update, did a bunch of wiring clean-up (got everything shrink wrapped and weatherproofing) and properly wired up the front directionals. I found a tab of 8 gauge copper in a junk box that was pre-drilled so I hooke it up under the rear motor mount with the intent to use it as my main frame ground (front directionals are grounded to headlight bucket armature) I know it looks shitty, but do y’all think it’s a good spot? It’ll be drilled to bolt a smaller terminal to with some 14ga wire for grounding.. don’t like the idea of multiple points for failure but it’s what I’ve got for now. Oh and I got my compression tester in the mail and pulled readings of 115 and 120ish on a cold motor so that’s promising
 
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