Wiring harness for 1982 Yamaha bobber project...

[Meese94]

I recently acquired a ripped apart virago 750 that I’m turning into a bobber. I’m comfortable with everything but the wiring. Much of the wiring has been cut, ripped out etc. Does anyone have any experience or any easy to read diagrams for these bikes?

 

[ericm]

See if you can find a Yamaha shop manual. The ones I've had have been written very well (as are Honda and probably the other Japanese make's manuals). Haynes and other aftermarket manuals are not nearly as good. They're only acceptable if there's no factory alternative.

That said, older bike electrics are pretty simple compared to cars.

Here's a good source for connectors: https://cycleterminal.com/

 

[Stuart in MN]

There are some simplified Virago wiring diagrams here: http://viragotech.com/newtech/Wiring Diagrams.htm The website doesn't appear to say which specific model or year, but if you're building a bobber I assume you intend on simplifying the wiring system anyway.

The Virago tech forum is probably a good source for help, I'd recommend joining up there. http://www.viragotechforum.com

 

[nadogail]

My personal experience doesn't include motorcycles, what I have done is Industrial Machinery electrical work.

A previous employer acquired most of a used baler for cardboard. The machine machine had all the hydraulics and mechanicals, but the box containing all the push buttons and relays was missing. In fact we didn't know who was the original manufacturer.

My solution was to use the schematic for a very well known and reliable machine and then proceeded to make this orphan and unknown machine into a clone of the one I preferred to maintain.

I suggest you find a motorcycle you like and then make your pile of parts into a close copy of either a Honda or Yamaha, or some other brand you are familiar with.

 

[Mike Folks]

6 gauge welding cable makes great battery wires, the heaviest wire in the harness might be 14 or 12 gauge wire, lighting circuits,16 at the least,maybe 20 gauge.

 

[driftpin]

It probably would help to name the date of manufacture in your post, as they've been building those for probably 40 years.

"How do I fix my Harley-Davidson Big Twin?"

You should know, the early 750/920 had a design requiring the cases to be split, to change the ring gear for the starter. Beware the 'can of rocks' sound!

More help:

 

[Metal-Marc]

Whatever you do, don't use wirenuts.

 

[jmiller_2308]

I just started on a 1982 XJ550 Maxim project that although it has a complete harness the fuse box and starter solenoid sections were obviously hacked and done so rather poorly. I've been looking at issues with this era motorcycle and thought I'd share what I learned.

You can probably get a used harness off ebay or other sources but they will be old and could be of potentially questionable worth.

A common issue with this era bike is that the fuse box was horrible with lots of failures due to the glass tube fuses as well as just plain poor construction. A lot of people are switching these out for a box that uses more modern blade fuses. Unfortunately, that usually means relocating the fuse box since the blade fuse boxes tend to be higher than the yamaha factory ones.

Looking at my harness with the fuse box under the seat and the ignition on the steering head there is quite a lot of extra wire used just to get the circuits under ignition control. I don't know if the virago was wired this way but if it is, you may want to relocate the ignition switch to save wire and complexity.

You can do the entire thing from scratch and if you do I encourage you to use multiple colors so that you can trace wires more easily. I think you may find that if you have to buy a lot of different colors, all the connectors, regulators, solenoids, fuse blocks, etc. that it might actually be a better and cheaper option to get a universal aftermarket wiring harness. If you buy from a reputable maker you should also be able to get information from them as to how to best hook up the harness.

One last note, remember to save and reuse any special connectors for things like the brain box, etc. Locating replacements could be difficult.

Good luck with the project.

 

[driftpin]

I just started on a 1982 XJ550 Maxim project that although it has a complete harness the fuse box and starter solenoid sections were obviously hacked and done so rather poorly. I've been looking at issues with this era motorcycle and thought I'd share what I learned.

You can probably get a used harness off ebay or other sources but they will be old and could be of potentially questionable worth.

A common issue with this era bike is that the fuse box was horrible with lots of failures due to the glass tube fuses as well as just plain poor construction. A lot of people are switching these out for a box that uses more modern blade fuses. Unfortunately, that usually means relocating the fuse box since the blade fuse boxes tend to be higher than the yamaha factory ones.

Looking at my harness with the fuse box under the seat and the ignition on the steering head there is quite a lot of extra wire used just to get the circuits under ignition control. I don't know if the virago was wired this way but if it is, you may want to relocate the ignition switch to save wire and complexity.

You can do the entire thing from scratch and if you do I encourage you to use multiple colors so that you can trace wires more easily. I think you may find that if you have to buy a lot of different colors, all the connectors, regulators, solenoids, fuse blocks, etc. that it might actually be a better and cheaper option to get a universal aftermarket wiring harness. If you buy from a reputable maker you should also be able to get information from them as to how to best hook up the harness.

One last note, remember to save and reuse any special connectors for things like the brain box, etc. Locating replacements could be difficult. Good luck with the project.

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