Topic: Wiring help

[seanhawk]

Hi guys,

I'm trying to clean my wiring up and need some help, so first off I need help with the on/off switch.
Here is the original wiring an as you can see it has 2 wires so I assumed if I hooked it up to a rocker style switch it would work but it doesn't seem to.

Here's the rocker

Next up is I want to change out the push button starter, does anyone have any ideas of how to get this to work? Stock one has 5 wires and the new push button I purchased only has 2 ports.

Here's the switch I want to change too

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a wiring diagram but get lost in the wiring maze as to how to make this work.

[alancop]

What bike?

[seanhawk]

1980 Cb650

[alancop]

Ok. Lets start with your rocker switch. Is it a 3 position or a 2 position? If it is a 2 position, that means it only clicks into the top and bottom of the switch, therefore when the switch looks like this:
   /
123
pins one and two are connected.

if it looks like this:
  \
123
pins 2 and 3 are connected together

If it is a 3 position where it clicks on the ends and the middle, then its a bit weirder

   /
123
is pins 1 and 2 together

   |
123
Is no pins put together

   \
123
is pins 2 and 3 together

What this means is you will probably want to solder that other wire to the center terminal of the switch to achieve the desired effect. I'm honestly not sure which on/off switch you are talking about, but I would check and see what amperage that switch is rated for.

Now, your starter switch is a bit more complicated. Here is the diagram for the switch, then we will talk about what that means:



Alright, the leftmost column tells us what position the switch is in: free and Push.
When free aka not pushed:
the red/black wire is connected the the white/blue wire
the black wire and the orange/yellow wire are left alone

however when pushed
the red/black wire and the white/blue wire are left alone
the black wire and the orange/yellow wire are connected


So what that does is when the switch is not pushed it allows the headlights to be on, but if you push the switch it interrupts the flow of electricity to the headlight and creates a connection to the starter motor to start the engine. You can just hook the black and orange/yellow wire together in order to send power to the starter solenoid and therefore start the bike; However, the bike may not have enough juice to start with the starter and headlight going, hence the original design.

[stickman]

AlanCop:  Read your post and just want to commend you for such super concise, easy to follow explanation.  This is a great example of why this forum rocks.  Keep on keeping on!

[bjbuchanan]

The type of starter switch you have isn't able to do what you need. You need either dpst style switch with your headlight hooked up to normally closed

If you choose to keep that switch you will have to separate the headlight and starter circuits and use just the starter on that switch. Then hook up a toggle or something different for the headlight

[seanhawk]

AlanCop:

Thank you for your response, My head light is already set up on a toggle switch where I can switch from High:off:low

So if I hook the black and orange/yellow wire together can I leave the other two out of the circuit? 

As far as the on/off switch its the orange switch located on the bars where you can turn the bike off. I have a 3 pin toggle and tried to hook it up every way possible and in every position I was still able to crank the bike over, which means for some reason the toggle is operating properly?

[alancop]

I forgot to include in the original post that you would need to permanently bridge the red/black and white/blue wire, then just make sure you turn off your headlight before you start the bike.

With the kill switch, you should still be able to crank the bike, it just shouldn't start.

[seanhawk]

Doh! I should have figured that! I thought since it was turning over it was hooked up wrong....

So I can just solder the red/black and white/blue wire together and just make sure my lights are off when I start the bike? am I reading that right?

Thanks again for all the info.

[alancop]

We all have our moments, yes you can. you are reading that correctly. No problem, I am studying for my Electrical Engineering degree so this stuff is what I do for fun

[seanhawk]

Oh nice I just graduated with my Construction Management Bachelor degree but wiring and electrical have always been an interest of mine.

[seanhawk]

Alancop: can you help me out with wiring up this tail light? I can get the bottom bulb to light up but I can't get the brake light to work?




I know it looks like a rats nest but I was trying to figure this damn thing out!

[seanhawk]

Anyone have any input?