79 XS650 wiring

Howdy, first time posting here, hoping to come up with some answers. I’ll start off by saying I am new to the xs world and bike building period. So bare with me. When I got the bike just a few days ago it ran. My buddy whom I bought it off of had just ran it after I purchased a new battery for it. We got it to my home and had trouble starting it. Took battery back in and they said it was dead. So they gave me another one. Again it fired right up...few kicks. I’m learning the bike so I killed it a couple times. But then the battery was low again. So I came to the conclusion after many hours of research that I would buy Hugh’s HandBuilt pma. I start checking out wiring after it arrived, I had already torn out the original alternator, and started to see that none of the wires or connections made any sense with what I was provided by Hugh. I spoke with him and he said it looked like oem wiring and not to hook up to that. But now I am kinda stuck on what to keep, what to trash, is it possible to make the wiring so simple that I can’t mess it up? I would like to add electric ignition at some point but am kinda lost on that even with research. I do not plan on running battery-less. My brain is mush with this bike right now. Please ask questions and I will do my best to answer them and hopefully with all you guys help I can get this bike going and enjoy this bike that has been cooped up for two years! It is begging to be ran. Thanks in advance.

Sadly it looks like some has been in there before you and this will make it more interesting, you really need a colored diagram for your model year, that way you can work out what should and shouldn't be there, then assuming you have instructions with the pma it's time to install, theoretically the job should then be done , the wiring can also be made simpler according to your needs,there are diagrams on this site which may help, electronic ignition is also very easy to install, just don't cut any wires until installed and tested, this way there is less butchery.

If you bought a PMA from HUGHS did you also get a new regulator/rectifier also. Diagram below shows you how to hook up.
Don't use the plugs you have . NOT USED with PMA
If you get stuck email me at DADDYGCYCLES@YAHOO.COM and we can exchange phone numbers.

DADDYGCYCLES said:

If you bought a PMA from HUGHS did you also get a new regulator/rectifier also. Diagram below shows you how to hook up.
Don't use the plugs you have . NOT USED with PMA
If you get stuck email me at DADDYGCYCLES@YAHOO.COM and we can exchange phone numbers.

Click to expand...

I got the standard kit. That’s probably the most simple diagram I have seen yet. The only thing is I do not know if the ignition has been changed at all. So when I see the Pamco stuff I start to over think and wonder if it makes a difference.

Nope no difference unless you have a TCI setup. TCI was on bikes late 1980 to 1983

If you have a late 1980 to 1983 then yes you are going to have to change ignition to use PMA

Up in the TECH section, found near top of page, Click the Tech button. This leads you to a list of major topics.
Scroll down to Electrical. Under the Electrical you will find a list of sub topics.
Scroll down to Some Electrical Diagrams. Scroll through to find A diagram that has the things you have.
Build your wiring harness to match one of those.
Once you get the PMA system hooked up, you can run a hot wire to the stock pints ignition. This hot wire can also power any aftermarket ignition.
Before you bought the PMA system did you trouble shoot the stock system?. Often the stock system only needs a bit of work cleaning connections and replacing the brushes to get it to work. Brushes are found most anywhere for less than $20.
Leo

XSLeo said:

Up in the TECH section, found near top of page, Click the Tech button. This leads you to a list of major topics.
Scroll down to Electrical. Under the Electrical you will find a list of sub topics.
Scroll down to Some Electrical Diagrams. Scroll through to find A diagram that has the things you have.
Build your wiring harness to match one of those.
Once you get the PMA system hooked up, you can run a hot wire to the stock pints ignition. This hot wire can also power any aftermarket ignition.
Before you bought the PMA system did you trouble shoot the stock system?. Often the stock system only needs a bit of work cleaning connections and replacing the brushes to get it to work. Brushes are found most anywhere for less than $20.
Leo

Click to expand...

I did consider getting new brushes, but didn’t want to ever deal with it again so I upgraded to the pma. I am starting to get a picture of what I need to do. Sounds simple enough. Just gotta figure out what my now loose wires lead to and how to hook up the new harness blanks that came with my kit.

DADDYGCYCLES said:

If you have a late 1980 to 1983 then yes you are going to have to change ignition to use PMA

Click to expand...

I have been told it is a 79

If you remove the round chrome cover on the left side of the head you will se a few different possibilities.
One is points.
Two is nothing. This means it has the stock TCI ignition.
A third is an aftermarket ignition.
The matching cover on the right side has various thing inside too.
If points are on the left then a mechanical advancer is on the right.
If nothing on the left nothing on the right.
Depending on the after market ignition it may have the mechanical advancer as used by some others just a nut on a through bolt.
Not hard to figure out.
On your stock alternator parts there may be people that can use them. An add in the selling section might help some one get there system working.
Leo

This is what I have come up with. I get stuck with those two wires. One I think is just extra from old wiring, where the ignition wire is coming from.

I know that the top wire i am questioning was hooked directly to positive battery terminal. The other wire in question hooked into a male plug and then plugged into the old wiring from what I assumed was old 3phase. So it also was getting power. Through some round about way.