Replacing separate lights/signals/etc. switches with factory unit. Help?

[retroLS1]

Hi again. So I "finished" working on my bike a little while ago (they are never really finished) and decided I did not like my handlebar switch setup. My turn signal switch was a very temporary/redneck solution that worked and I had every intention of replacing it. Horn placement isn't ideal but it is a clean install spot. Headlight is mounted on top of headlight bucket which is OK but that one wasn't my main concern.

My turn signal switch was a DPDT switch (only 3 of 6 terminals on switch had connections) with a variety of zip ties holding it onto the left handlebar. Super redneck/ghetto and it got me by on the road but I really wanted to get rid of that setup. My horn is mounted in one of the small holes on the front of the triple tree... small momentary on switch that fit into the rubber bushing in the hole on the left side. Not easily accessible while riding but it was more for inspection anyways.

Anyways, I ended up picking up a factory XS650 switch off eBay so I could get them all in one place, the way Yamaha intended. I didn't have this switch when I got the bike, and it's not as huge/bulky as I would have pictured... should have just done it from the start! It even has the thumb choke setup, which my BS34's are set up for (will have to run a cable later).

So enough babbling. What I need help with is wiring this up. I am not an expert at wiring, but I managed to get my bike wired up and running ok after much help from you folks on here. I opened the switch to see what wires went where etc. and I'm a little confused. I think the thing I am most lost on is where "power" goes into the switch. My horn is wired up like on any of the wiring diagrams here - power going to one terminal on the horn, the other terminal going to the switch, which then has its own ground. I believe the horn works by grounding out when you push the button? Please correct me if wrong.

I could see in the switch that the horn had just a pink wire on it. I am assuming this will just take the place of the wire running to my momentary switch right now? That way, power will still be running to the horn, then the other terminal will now run to the handlebar switch. How does the handlebar switch ground out when pressed - is it to the handlebar itself? If so, I have powdercoated bars so I would have to remove the paint from that area I believe. Horn is the easy one out of the three on the switch.

Turn signals I have wired to a simple On-Off-On switch. Power from my flasher unit goes to the center, and either side "On" powers one side of the turn signals. I couldn't get a good look inside the switch for the wiring on the turn signals but there were certainly more than 3 wires. Any help or direction on this on how to run my current wiring into it?

Last but not least is the headlight. I am running yet another simple On-Off-On switch for that. Low-off-high is how I have it set up. New switch has just Low-High which is fine, low will be on all the time which is not a problem. Again, it has more wires running to it than what I have running to my switch - any help here as well? I have the factory diagram in my Hayne's manual but I am having a really hard time making sense of it. I do better with the simple pictorial ones posted in the Tech section haha.

Thanks in advance.

Alex

 

[Grinder]

You are correct about the horn but you will need to scrape the bars where the metal tab on the new switch contacts the bar.

Turn signal wiring:
Brown/white - power in from flasher
Dark green-right signals
Chocolate brown-left signals

Headlight wiring:

Blue/yellow-power in
Green- lo beam
Yellow-hi beam

All other wires not needed

 

[Conrad Russell]

Mine is an '81 with Harley wire harness and stock XS controls, wired as Grinder has described.

 

[retroLS1]

Awesome, thanks so much Grinder - exactly what I needed. Love this forum.

 

[Grinder]

You may have to ground your bars if they are mounted in the stock rubber risers in order to get the horn to work. The left switch normally gets its ground from the right switch on the throttle side. The ground then transfers through the bars. Not sure if you have that or not.

 

[XSLeo]

If your new switch housing has the enrichener lever on it, it should have a black ground wire on it.
On the later models they ran a ground wire from the left switch housing down into the headlight bucket to the harness ground. The right housing grounded to the bars so the start button would ground. Then the ground ran through the bars over to the left side, where the housing hooks to the bars. Then the ground ran down the black wire.
So if your not using the e-start then you might not need to clean the powder off the bars. The left side only grounds to the bars so the start button can work.
On the later bikes they removed the headlight on/off switch. The safety/headlight relay turned the headlight on after the bike starts. As mentioned earlier if no e-start you probably removed the safety/headlight relay.
If kick only it won't really matter if the headlight is on when starting. Unless you have a PMA then it might be good to add an on/off switch before the headlight dimmer switch.
Leaving the headlight off during starting will let the PMA deliver all it's power to just the ignition. If it tries to power both the ignition and headlight it may not have enough power at kicking speeds to power both.
Leo

 

[Grinder]

That would make your life much easier if you have that ground wire coming out of the switch.

 

[retroLS1]

I'm going to go check in a minute but I believe I did have a black wire from the switch. I do have the enricher thumb lever on it as well.

I am not running an electric start or right switch so it sounds like I will be able to just ground that one black wire and be OK. I am running a battery too, no PMA, so having the light on during starting shouldn't be an issue. If I go PMA in the future I'll add a separate on/off toggle for it during starting.

 

[retroLS1]

Welp I was in luck and did have the black ground wire. Got everything hooked up and cleaned all the wiring up on the front of my bike with wire loom and everything is working great! Thanks again for all of the help. Much easier/more ergonomic than using the set if hodge podge switch setups I had before. Next up is to print and apply new decals for all the labels on the switch.