What is the best wiring diagram for a 1979 xs650 special?

As Raymond says............

when the turn signal is switched on, power is fed from the Brown/white wire........this is a pulse so the indicators flash.........Full power on brown wire and flasher relay allows the power to pulse on the B/w wire..............

If the battery is low, it can cause the blinkers to flash slow, or stay on. Not enough power on the Brown wire, or on the DG and/or Ch wires............another reason can be dirty connectors or switches and they will disrupt the amount of power getting through...............

When i swapped out my looms and installed another old one i went through the whole loom and cleaned up all bullet connectors and couplings. Took all the spade connectors out of the couplings and cleaned

Before and after bullet connectors.
P1000974.JPG P1000980.JPG
 
I work better with pics........

Yea the more pics the better..........close ups dont need to be so close, but just make sure they are large enough so they can be examined........latest pics are good.

wiring is a bitch then you die.......When i was trying to work out my loom i had trouble getting my head around transferring the diagrams to the bike.........diagrams do not relate to how a bike looks.......some days a i would have to stop for a few days and let my brain catch up.

I found continuity testing helped me as i followed the circuits and related them to the diagram

this is so true. You can stare at a diagram all day long then look at your bike and it makes no sense at all. Especially when looking at those simplified wiring diagrams. I learned a ton rewiring my bike, doing it one component at a time. It really makes it make more sense immediately.

@Ricky_F the smaller gauge wires going to the light bar leads me to believe it’s an LED unit. That could possibly be your issue. Don’t rule out the flasher relay itself they can go bad. Definitely check for ground connections too. Typically from the factory you’ll have grounds in the headlight bucket, at the top motor mount and near the battery itself. Make sure you have a wire going from battery (-) to the frame near the battery. For the handle bar switch (-) you can run a wire from the switch to the frame somewhere. The horn bracket bolt or top motor mount would work fine.
 
When I ground a connection, such as the flashers L and R connections, does that mean the black(ground) wire has to be literally attached to the frame when you say "ground it to the frame"? I've never quite understood that
If you still cant grasp it, go back to Post#10 and read the Link "grounds are so important" there is a list, Post #2, by Pamcopete, of places on the bike where a ground is no good........Go through the whole thread
 
You know you are dealing with a DPO when you see twist connectors. Yikes!
 
Your turn signals look like aftermarket units, possibly LEDs. If you still have the original flasher unit, they won't work with it. It is designed to only flash 2 bulbs with the original wattage rating, and LEDs would be much lower than that.
 
Thank you for all the Information guys!

So do I need something else if I have an LED strip? Which is what I have. Also I'm looking for my flasher Relay and it doesnt seem like I have one on the back? Maybe I'm not recognizing it. I'll double check what the factory one looks like and see if it's there. I plugged the LED strip like the PO had it and I touched the wires to the battery and everything turned on, but when I hit the turn signal switch the L and R signals wouldn't register. Does that mean I'm missing something that allows my signals to flash? Sorrvly guys, I've been watching youtube videos all night and I understand the wiring now, but not how it differs with LEDs
 
If your bike has the standard flasher unit it's a small, black plastic thing about the size of a matchbox mounted on a frame tab under the fuel tank. From imperfect memory I think it has three wires - brown, live from the fuse box plus two brown/white (?) one carries power to the l/h handlebar switch and the other cancels ? no that sounds wrong. Never mind, you will recognise it.

But if you have the standard flasher unit, it won't work correctly with the LED strip. Because the resistance is wrong - LEDs draw much less current than filament bulbs. Either it would not work at all or would possibly flash at far too high a rate. It's possible PO has fitted a suitable unit for the LEDs - if so, you'll have to find out where it is by following the wires. If you want your turn signals to work, you will need to follow the wires and find out what is in the bike and how it has been wired together anyway. Hope this helps, Raymond.
 
I will look to see if he fitted another one, because he did say the signals were working when he had the bike. Thank you and I'll get back to you
 
Hello guys, how can I test if my flashers switch works if my current flashers arent working? I just want to at least rule that out.
 
My quick answer would be find what wire is giving power to the switch itself. Check for 12v there with the ignition on. If you have 12v then find the wire for the left turn signal, check for 12v when you have the switch on left, then do the same for right. But you should try and locate the flasher relay first, because if you don’t have a flasher relay your turn signals won’t ever flash.
 
See post #62. You will need to check continuity - battery, fuse box, flasher unit - the original one or LED one if fitted - flasher switch, turn signals. Find out where current flows and where it does not. Use ohms to check continuity or use volts to check what is happening when the bike is switched on. You probably need to open up the switch unit on the bars to find bare ends of wires to check. Good luck!
 
Chris and I overlapped. But we're both saying the same thing!

@Raymond im still trying to wrap my head around turn signals and flasher units myself haha it’s the last thing I need to wire up on my bike. If I understand the whole system the flasher relay sends the power to the switch and then the switch itself sends power to the lights, right? I guess I always assumed the relay powered the lights so that’s where I’m still stumbling.
 
@Raymond im still trying to wrap my head around turn signals and flasher units myself haha it’s the last thing I need to wire up on my bike. If I understand the whole system the flasher relay sends the power to the switch and then the switch itself sends power to the lights, right? I guess I always assumed the relay powered the lights so that’s where I’m still stumbling.
I just checked on my bike and couldn't find any relay except maybe this thing?
20201016_072144.jpg

Doesnt look like a relay to me more than it does a fuse. I'm pretty sure my relay was taken out. But when I checked my switche just now, if I had the ignition on and tested my switch, my left signal front signal would glow really dim. When I tested the right it would come on really bright if I tweaked the wire a bit. When I turned the bike on my front right and my back right(LED) would flash. But my front left would be dim still and the back left wouldn't flash. This makes me believe maybe it's a faulty flasher switch only OR the switch and the relay being missing? Today I'm going to buy an electrical relay anyways for safekeeping and a new switch because my current one shitty and old anyways
 
Also guys, the PO answered me back and he said he just wired the LEDS wire to wire and touched nothing else. The lights worked fine when he had it. Just FYI. I'll grab a new switch and let you guys know how it goes later today. I'll see if Cycle Gear has them
 
I just checked on my bike and couldn't find any relay except maybe this thing? View attachment 177318
Doesnt look like a relay to me more than it does a fuse. I'm pretty sure my relay was taken out. But when I checked my switche just now, if I had the ignition on and tested my switch, my left signal front signal would glow really dim. When I tested the right it would come on really bright if I tweaked the wire a bit. When I turned the bike on my front right and my back right(LED) would flash. But my front left would be dim still and the back left wouldn't flash. This makes me believe maybe it's a faulty flasher switch only OR the switch and the relay being missing? Today I'm going to buy an electrical relay anyways for safekeeping and a new switch because my current one shitty and old anyways

that is your flasher relay. I can’t say for sure if it’s an LED flasher or standard flasher. What do your front turn signals look like? Based off your test it’s leading me to believe it’s a bad switch or bad wiring to the lights. Based off you getting better results by tweaking the wires leads me to believe it’s wiring.

but if the front signals are standard and rear are led that may also be causing you some issues, that’s why I’m wondering what the front turn signals are.
 
Also guys, the PO answered me back and he said he just wired the LEDS wire to wire and touched nothing else. The lights worked fine when he had it. Just FYI. I'll grab a new switch and let you guys know how it goes later today. I'll see if Cycle Gear has them

sounds to me like you either need to replace the turn signals with standard units or replace the relay with an LED unit.

but also if riding the bike is most dependent on getting the signals working you may also just be better off forgetting trying to get the original wiring working and just bypass it all with new stuff. It’s a matter of a few wires and it would solve all your headaches and get you on the road!
 
Ricky, that doesn't look like a flasher relay. The standard one looks like this:

flasher_relay_assy_yamaha-1.jpg

But I suggest following the wiring to see what has been fitted.
 
Ricky, that doesn't look like a flasher relay. The standard one looks like this:

View attachment 177322

But I suggest following the wiring to see what has been fitted.
Yeah I followed the wiring and all I saw was that thing. Nothing under the battery either, but I could show you guys a picture of what it looks like under my battery just incase I missed something.
 
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