“Over the winter period our work shifts a little to focus more on re-wiring, motogadget & project work.

In the last couple of weeks we have had a pair of  Yamaha XS650’s in. Both XS’s have been modified by their owners to a very high standard, but both VERY different in a lot of ways including the wiring!

The first wiring on the Green Scrambler style XS, has benefited from a motogadet m.unit system with & anti-gravity battery, electronic ignition, lights, indicators & a dash with a GPS speedo.

The second wiring on the Silver Flat Tracker style, is very minimalist. This one is running a headlight, horn & rear light, electronic ignition & a capacitor instead of a battery!

Therefore, we have decided to include both of the XS’s in this one blog, to enable readers to gain an insight into the differing approaches we have taken.

Green Yamaha XS650 Scrambler 

As will all our wiring jobs we start a good few weeks before the bike is actually booked in.

First, we undertake a lengthy consultation to work out what the customer requirements are & the intention of use. In this case as the customer wanted to use the bike, keep it within MOT laws & bring it more up to date; we recommend a rewire using a motogadget m.unit. Then a few weeks before we start work, as we do with all bigger wiring jobs, we start by drawing a wiring diagram.

Once the bike is on site we start by laying out all the individual components like the starter relay & m.unit.

The customer had thought ahead & made a lovely box located up under the seat unit. He had already bought an anti-gravity 8 cell battery which can be laid on its side. We had plenty of space to fit the starter solenoid alongside & also the m.unit.

When these components had been fitted, the next job was to lay in the high output power cables to the starter & a new earth lead. We drilled 4 holes in the edge of the battery box and fitted some rubber grommets before feeding through the cables and soldering on the eyelets onto each end.

Next up, we extended all the wires from the components like the lights, brake light switches.

The switchgear needed wiring, which is a really fiddly job. Thank goodness for Nathan & his very small hands. All the wiring is heat shrunk & made longer than is needed to be.

The handlebars then needed to be drilled to feed the wiring from the motone switches. At this point we also fitted the bar end indicators & drilled a neat hole though the speedo bracket for the wires to run through.

While on the front, we dismantled the headlight, extended the wiring & did a dummy fit for the GPS sensor that worked really well in the top of the headlight.

On day two & with most of the wiring laid in & running back to the m.unit, I wired up the ignition circuit from the switch then set about making a couple of plugs so the handlebars could be removed for future work.

Then the speedo was connected up & the wires hidden inside the headlight.

With the loom made the first thing I connected to the m.unit was all the outputs to the components then all the inputs form the switch gear.

Once this was done I programmed the m.unit to work with the components.

On Day 3, we had been waiting on a reg/rec, which needed both wiring up & fitting in a location out of the way. Location found, we cable tied so we could wire the unit, leaving the customer to make a bracket.

Once the wiring was completed & the reg/rec fitted, we had a final run through & checked to see that everything worked. Everything worked perfectly, except the starter motor.

As we tested through the wiring, it became apparent that it was the starter motor at fault. Thankfully as it’s got a kick start, we refitted the fuel tank, added some fuel, a few kicks & it was making noise!

For now, our job was complete. The customer is planning on bringing it back once he’s fitted his reconditioned motor he’s building. We will then set the carbs up for him & adjust the timing.

With any motogadet install we always estimate around 20-30hrs for a carb bike & 30-40 hours for a fuel injection model. The XS was no exception & with two of us on it for two of the 3 days, it took 21 hours to complete.

Silver Yamaha XS Flat Tracker.

The Silver flat tracker is stunning. The XS owner a self confessed bike aficionado, has an array of beautiful machines all built by himself  & therefore so it was a real honour to be able to work on this one. Not only is it an honour, but this XS is also a first for us as we wired it without a battery.

The owner of the XS wanted purely minimalist wiring to go along with the build.

The motor has had some extensive work including over-boring, faster high lift camshaft, ported cylinder head & some big Mikuni carbs. He also removed the starter motor & lightened the XS as much was possible. The bike is running a Hughs Handbuilt Cycles electronic ignition & stator which is a real quality bit of kit.

The Hughs Handbuilt kit can be & was supplied with a capacitor to go in the place of the battery, meaning the lights & horn will only work with the bike running, a bit like a dirt bike. This saves weight & keeps a very clean look. However, this did mean we had to plan ahead to make sure everything would work before we started.

As mentioned before, we started with a wiring diagram. The owner had already mounted the components which sped the process up a bit as all we needed to do was extend the wiring up to under the fuel tank.

We added 3 relays, one for the headlights on/off, one for the high beam & a third for the horn. We also added a fuse to protect the circuits.

The rear light was a single wire item but came with a resistor to split the system into two then run up to the switch which is neatly hidden.

The lighting circuit was tested using a battery ahead of firing up, once happy we connected up the capacitor & refitted the fuel tank. A few kicks & it fired up.

It’s been a great few weeks working with the two XS650’s & the Yamaha XS is such a fantastic starting point for customisation. Next month we have a XS750 Cafe Racer coming in!”

Written by Daniel Morris – Proprietor mono motorcycles, Motorcycle Wiring Specialist & Master Motorcycle Technician

If you are considering re-wiring your motorcycle, are interested in the motogadget system or are considering commissioning us to create a bespoke wiring diagram for you; then please do contact us on T: 01243 576212 / 07899 654446 E: info@monomotorcycles.co.uk or contact us through our contact page.