willerd8
XS650 Member
yo guys, first time poster here... bought my first xs650 beginning of summer, I love riding it... when it works.
Let me start by saying thanks to everyone whose posted questions and answers, its helped me go very far with my cafe/brat project.
I have a 1980 xs650 (I believe its SG/G)
Mikesxs performance carbs
new wiring harness from mikes xs
tour max solid state regulator rectifier
OEM right and left handle bar switch control
OEM 7" headlight , prism taillight (fucking sweet tail light), and aftermarket signal flashers (not stock)
Attached but not installed, e-advancer electronic ignition from mikes xs. its on my bike currently but not set up. using the stock ignition system now because I couldn't figure out the e-advancer for the life of me.
Shorai battery
The other week I decided to take her on a trip to White Plains NY, I reside on eastern Long Island (a two hour ride)... Broke down on the long island express way about 30 minutes into my ride. I brought my volt meter with me... Took off my seat to access the battery box... Battery voltage was at 6 volts, waited for a second policeman to bring jumper cables, jumped my bike from his police car (police car was off)... went back up to 12 volts, great!... As soon as I kick started the bike, battery drained very quickly. Long story short, got her towed back to my place.
Now, that was when I had a separate regulator and rectifier. The next day I was able to troubleshoot a bit and figure out what the hell was going on. I realized with my regulator detached voltage levels were good and battery wasn't being drained. I figured this was a perfect time to install my R/R combo from mikes xs.
Heres where things get really funny. Ive checked out just about every single diagram there is to figure out how to convert my set up to work with the regulator rectifier combo (R/R combo), even videos.. for the most part they're very self explanatory. after hooking it all up accordingly I noticed many un-used wires (previously used from the separate regulator)- a gray wire, red/yellow wire (from headlight fuse), blue/black. I go to start my bike (kick start, starter button hasn't been working recently) and my headlight and dash lights (tacho and speedo) aren't working (however, I routed the wires from the speedo to indicate which flasher I'm using (turn right-flasher light flashes, turn left oil light flashes)) and those ARE working, just not the back light in the displays. So since I'd like to have a headlight, I routed the red/yellow wire from the headlight fuse all the way up into my headlight bucket and connect it to high beam (now I have high beam as soon as I turn the key on. I'll also add that before I installed the R/R combo, my headlight was working and I also by-passed the reserve lighting unit by connect blue/black to blue/red or which ever wires they were (however I by-passed the reserve lighting unit it worked).. until I switched the old R and R with the new R/R solid state combo...
By the way, the system seems to be charging when I rev the engine but doesn't go above 13.80volts. also did the slap test against the side cover and the metal magnetized when I turned on the key switch.
So I started from basics----No voltage at high or low beam headlight,( flashers and horn work perfectly though) the six plug connector from my harness to my left handlebar switch seems funny to me. Out of the six wires, 2 of them have 12+ volts, the yellow/red only getting 11 volts, the other three, 0. going down further on the bike, I get to the flasher cancelling unit. It seems that from my harness I'm getting 12+ everywhere until we get to the flasher cancelling unit. the yellow/red wire isn't coming out of the flasher cancelling unit with 12+ volts, its around 11 volts. Assuming it was that, I tried to bypass it making a few extra connections but it seems like a lot of things rely on that unit, flasher and horn would not work.
On top of all this, after taking her for a spin today, she seemed to vibrate much much more.
I hope I explained everything thorough enough, I'm sure I left out somethings but I'll definitely have answers if y'all need more info. This bike has been a never ending struggle, I fucking love it when she's working well but hate it when I get stuck on something stupid, which is usually the case. However the learning process is very beneficial for me cause I love learning about this bike but can't stand it when I'm scratching my head 90 percent of the time trying to figure out what the hell is wrong.
Thanks for all the help in advance! I'll try to get some pictures up too
Also, if any one here is from Long Island or know of a good xs650 mechanic around here please let me know. I'd like to bring mine to a good mechanic to see if my "do it yourself" work has had an affect on the bike, positively or negatively.
thanks again dudes
Let me start by saying thanks to everyone whose posted questions and answers, its helped me go very far with my cafe/brat project.
I have a 1980 xs650 (I believe its SG/G)
Mikesxs performance carbs
new wiring harness from mikes xs
tour max solid state regulator rectifier
OEM right and left handle bar switch control
OEM 7" headlight , prism taillight (fucking sweet tail light), and aftermarket signal flashers (not stock)
Attached but not installed, e-advancer electronic ignition from mikes xs. its on my bike currently but not set up. using the stock ignition system now because I couldn't figure out the e-advancer for the life of me.
Shorai battery
The other week I decided to take her on a trip to White Plains NY, I reside on eastern Long Island (a two hour ride)... Broke down on the long island express way about 30 minutes into my ride. I brought my volt meter with me... Took off my seat to access the battery box... Battery voltage was at 6 volts, waited for a second policeman to bring jumper cables, jumped my bike from his police car (police car was off)... went back up to 12 volts, great!... As soon as I kick started the bike, battery drained very quickly. Long story short, got her towed back to my place.
Now, that was when I had a separate regulator and rectifier. The next day I was able to troubleshoot a bit and figure out what the hell was going on. I realized with my regulator detached voltage levels were good and battery wasn't being drained. I figured this was a perfect time to install my R/R combo from mikes xs.
Heres where things get really funny. Ive checked out just about every single diagram there is to figure out how to convert my set up to work with the regulator rectifier combo (R/R combo), even videos.. for the most part they're very self explanatory. after hooking it all up accordingly I noticed many un-used wires (previously used from the separate regulator)- a gray wire, red/yellow wire (from headlight fuse), blue/black. I go to start my bike (kick start, starter button hasn't been working recently) and my headlight and dash lights (tacho and speedo) aren't working (however, I routed the wires from the speedo to indicate which flasher I'm using (turn right-flasher light flashes, turn left oil light flashes)) and those ARE working, just not the back light in the displays. So since I'd like to have a headlight, I routed the red/yellow wire from the headlight fuse all the way up into my headlight bucket and connect it to high beam (now I have high beam as soon as I turn the key on. I'll also add that before I installed the R/R combo, my headlight was working and I also by-passed the reserve lighting unit by connect blue/black to blue/red or which ever wires they were (however I by-passed the reserve lighting unit it worked).. until I switched the old R and R with the new R/R solid state combo...
By the way, the system seems to be charging when I rev the engine but doesn't go above 13.80volts. also did the slap test against the side cover and the metal magnetized when I turned on the key switch.
So I started from basics----No voltage at high or low beam headlight,( flashers and horn work perfectly though) the six plug connector from my harness to my left handlebar switch seems funny to me. Out of the six wires, 2 of them have 12+ volts, the yellow/red only getting 11 volts, the other three, 0. going down further on the bike, I get to the flasher cancelling unit. It seems that from my harness I'm getting 12+ everywhere until we get to the flasher cancelling unit. the yellow/red wire isn't coming out of the flasher cancelling unit with 12+ volts, its around 11 volts. Assuming it was that, I tried to bypass it making a few extra connections but it seems like a lot of things rely on that unit, flasher and horn would not work.
On top of all this, after taking her for a spin today, she seemed to vibrate much much more.
I hope I explained everything thorough enough, I'm sure I left out somethings but I'll definitely have answers if y'all need more info. This bike has been a never ending struggle, I fucking love it when she's working well but hate it when I get stuck on something stupid, which is usually the case. However the learning process is very beneficial for me cause I love learning about this bike but can't stand it when I'm scratching my head 90 percent of the time trying to figure out what the hell is wrong.
Thanks for all the help in advance! I'll try to get some pictures up too
Also, if any one here is from Long Island or know of a good xs650 mechanic around here please let me know. I'd like to bring mine to a good mechanic to see if my "do it yourself" work has had an affect on the bike, positively or negatively.
thanks again dudes