Middle of the job

[Ron9046]

I recently had a friend bring me his 83 XS650 that was in the middle of having a wire harness change.
It was being converted into a bobber when the bike was purchased and I am new to the XS650.

As it stands I have several key issues that I need to fix to proceed with the job.
It's never fun picking up where someone else left off.
To start I have power to the kill switch but not the starter button (which has continuity).
It has a new battery that is reading over 12volts.

The headlight is a major issue.
Would the wires that are shown disconnected be causing the lack of power to the starter?

 

[Downeaster]

Generally, on a stock wiring harness, Black is ground.

If it's a stock wiring harness that's being stripped to eliminate unused wires, a wiring diagram will be a big help. There are several for various years and models on this site. Check out the Tech tab on this site and go to Electrical. http://www.xs650.com/threads/some-wiring-diagrams.61/

I THINK the starter button provides ground to the start solenoid. It should be easy enough to figure out which wire is connected to the starter button and identify the wire coming from the solenoid and connect the two.

 

[650Skull]

Here is a diagram for you.

All black wires are earth/grounds...........RSL is reserve lighting unit

 

[Ron9046]

Thank you very much for that

 

[XSLeo]

On the headlight, if everything is hooked up right and working the headlight won't come on till the engine starts. The safety/ headlight relay gets tripped by power coming from the alternator. This only happens after the engine starts.
On the starter the starter relay/ solenoid gets power on a red/white wire. The bluie/white wire runs up to the start button and the button grounds. This trips the relay and sends full battery power to the starter.
There are several things a lot of us bypass or eliminate when we rebuild a stock harness or build one from scratch. Things like the RLU,, The starter cut relay and side stand switch, clutch switch.
Most of these things were added so stupid people could ride. About the only thing i keep is the safety relay. This protects the starter gears from overrunning.
The rest are mostly trouble waiting to happen.
In the tech section under "Some Wiring Diagrams" #4 is the one I like. It's a vewry simple diagram. It shows the early points and reg and rect in boxes.
It has the later TCI and combo reg/rec In boixes. Just swap boxes to match what you have.
The starter is in the upper right corneer.
Leo.

 

[Jim]

Keep in mind the handlebars themselves aren't grounded on these bikes. For the starter button to go to ground, it has to pass through the handlebars to the left switch housing. From there it comes out on a black wire into the headlight bucket. That black has to be plugged in for the starter solenoid to ground itself. One quick check is the horn. It uses the same ground.

 

[Jim]

Here's your left switch connector.... and the ground you need to hook up. Careful, there's also a chocolate wire that fools you into thinkin' it's black.

Where I marked the harness ground might be the choc.... just look for the black.

 

[Ron9046]

Here's your left switch connector.... and the ground you need to hook up. Careful, there's also a chocolate wire that fools you into thinkin' it's black.

Where I marked the harness ground might be the choc.... just look for the black.

Thanks Jim.
The horn works but I still have a dead starter.

 

[Jim]

Take the blue/white wire from the solenoid and touch it to ground. If the solenoid is good and has power, it should power the starter.

 

[Jim]

You can also check for 12v at the red/white wire on the solenoid. The 83 had an extra interlock relay for the sidestand and clutch lever. Maybe not be getting power to the solenoid.

 

[Ron9046]

That must be the issue. The blue/white wire does nothing when grounded and the red/white wire has no power to it.

Where is the relay for the side stand/clutch lever located?

 

[Jim]

That must be the issue. The blue/white wire does nothing when grounded and the red/white wire has no power to it.

Where is the relay for the side stand/clutch lever located?

I'm not sure. Maybe someone else can chime in here. I did find this thread that talks about it. Maybe that will help.

 

[Jim]

Here's another thread. Read the last comment.

 

[Jim]

And this one.
Don't worry, they're all pretty short... and they have the answers you seek...

 

[650Skull]

From the XSJ/K manual

 

[650Skull]

If you haven't already got a manual, there is a link to online manuals here..... http://www.xs650.com/threads/xs650-model-identification-year-vin-workshop-manuals-and-other-information.30569/

Also some good reading in the links as well
The manual PDF is to large to post on here

 

[650Skull]

Online manual links

http://www.xs650.com/threads/xs650-...workshop-manuals-and-other-information.30569/

 

[5twins]

The relay for the clutch lever switch along with the headlight/starter safety relay (2 relays mounted on one bracket) are under the right side cover .....

The sidestand relay is under the left side cover .....

The sidestand relay doesn't act upon the starter motor, it grounds out and kills the ignition black box. The clutch switch relay does act upon the starter, cutting the power flow on the R/W wire to the solenoid. Personally, I feel both these relays should be eliminated as they're just problems waiting to happen on an old bike like this. The clutch switch relay killing the starter won't end your ride, you can still kick start it. But the sidestand relay and switch will end your ride as it kills the ignition and you'll have no spark.

 

[Ron9046]

Thank you for that information.
Apparently the bike has already been modified for this but the harness has not.
Below are some pictures of missing relays and the remaining harness conectors.
All help is greatly appreciated.

 

[5twins]

Eliminating the sidestand switch and relay is easy, you simply unplug and remove them. There's no need to add any jumper wires. Here's the plugs on my '83 after I removed those items. They simply hang there on the left side of the bike and now go unused .....

I think I see those 2 plugs in your last pic sitting just above the rear shock.

When you remove the clutch switch relay, you do need to add a jumper wire or the starter won't function. I think that's why your starter isn't working. I'm pretty sure I see that clutch switch relay plug in the forefront of your last pic. It has 4 wires, a light blue, a black/yellow, and 2 red/whites. You must jumper the 2 red/whites together to make the starter work .....