Topic: Wiring Emgo Ignition Switch

[DaveBarbier]

I just need help wiring up this three terminal EMGO switch on my '78 CB550K. I know the red is ignition and black is battery, but do I just connect the TL2 (taillight 2?) wire to the accessory terminal and disregard the other two wires?

Here are the wiring diagrams for each just to make things easier.

p.s. I know that these switches are garbage and I'll eventually be getting the Hondaman key switch saver relay.

Thanks in advance

[rb550four]

It's a direct plug in. Did you get the right year ignition switch? You shouldn't have to cut the harness for a replacement ignition.
 

[DaveBarbier]

No it's a universal one. I'm doing a cafe and wanted a much shorter ignition and couldn't find anything that fits my bike. When I say shorter I mean that the oem one is tall compared to the top triple. Because it had the dash unit surrounding it, which I removed.


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1978 Honda CB550K

[LesterPiglet]

You only need to worry about the ignition side. You can fart about with the others till you get it right. Brown/white is for your clock lights etc. Brown is a common power when switched.
Worst you can do is blow a fuse.

[DaveBarbier]

Ok, thanks Lester. I'll give it a go.


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1978 Honda CB550K

[Retro Rocket]

Emgo switches aren't the best made parts, they burn out before they should {should any burn out?} Hondaman has a solution putting a capacitor inline to take away excessive load making them last a hell of a lot longer....

[LesterPiglet]

He mentioned Hondaman in his original post.   

[rickmoore24]

My Emgo burned out after only about a month of usage.  Went back to the OEM and haven't had any probelms since.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

[DaveBarbier]

Emgo switches aren't the best made parts, they burn out before they should {should any burn out?} Hondaman has a solution putting a capacitor inline to take away excessive load making them last a hell of a lot longer....

I know he has a solution where he uses relays to switch the ignition so all that power doesn't have to go into the key switch. Is the inline capacitor another option?

I like to make and wire things myself...does he have a wiring diagram so one can build his own instead of buying his?


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1978 Honda CB550K

[Retro Rocket]

Emgo switches aren't the best made parts, they burn out before they should {should any burn out?} Hondaman has a solution putting a capacitor inline to take away excessive load making them last a hell of a lot longer....

I know he has a solution where he uses relays to switch the ignition so all that power doesn't have to go into the key switch. Is the inline capacitor another option?

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1978 Honda CB550K

That may be the one i'm referring to mate, takes load away from the switch, I think i mixed up my capacitors for led lights and the relay for the switch....   Looks like your onto it anyway...

[LesterPiglet]

Give him a PM

[DaveBarbier]

Thanks for the help guys. And happy Valentine's day.


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1978 Honda CB550K

[Retro Rocket]

Thanks for the help guys. And happy Valentine's day.


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1978 Honda CB550K

Where's my rose....

[DaveBarbier]

Thanks for the help guys. And happy Valentine's day.


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1978 Honda CB550K

Where's my rose....

It's the thought that counts right?




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1978 Honda CB550K

[Djfob]

Emgo switches are fine when use with a relay. Any heavy duty relay will do the trick. Pretty simple to wire up

[bjbuchanan]

You just want to "jump" the big draw from the switch, the 15 amp. Otherwise the others don't kill the contacts. Use the old big red thru the switch as the trigger/signal, I believe that is how it is run.

I haven't had a stock harness for a while now so I am having trouble remembering. Main power from Pos battery, thru 15amp>>>to the keyswitch, then out back to the fusebox to be distributed to other fuses.

You jump in at some point there to cut load thru the switch

[DaveBarbier]

You just want to "jump" the big draw from the switch, the 15 amp. Otherwise the others don't kill the contacts. Use the old big red thru the switch as the trigger/signal, I believe that is how it is run.

I haven't had a stock harness for a while now so I am having trouble remembering. Main power from Pos battery, thru 15amp>>>to the keyswitch, then out back to the fusebox to be distributed to other fuses.

You jump in at some point there to cut load thru the switch

It's hard for me to wrap my head around this for some reason. I wouldn't think I'd want the old big red as the trigger because that would have to go to the key switch too, right? And doesn't that carry the high current that the key switch can't take?

On the relay I was thinking I'd have to have the red (batt) and black (ign) on the "switchable" side and some other constant 12v to the "magnet" side and then to the switch.


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1978 Honda CB550K

[bjbuchanan]

Cut in after the switch. It will still use the red as a trigger, I believe. It is harder trying to visualize it otherwise I would be able to help more

[HondaMan]

Connect the Red/White wire through a fuse to the #30 post on the relay. This is the "source" power. Connect the bike's Black (Ignition) wire from the harness (cut it away from the keyswitch) to the #87 terminal on the relay (this is "switched power", then). Connect the Black that you cut from the key to the #85 terminal, and connect the #86 terminal to Green (ground). These last 2 are the coil of the relay: when you now turn on the Key, it connects the Red/White (through the fuse) to the Black. The Brn/Brn-Wht wires stay on the keyswitch, and control the Park light and taillight stuff.

[DaveBarbier]

Connect the Red/White wire through a fuse to the #30 post on the relay. This is the "source" power. Connect the bike's Black (Ignition) wire from the harness (cut it away from the keyswitch) to the #87 terminal on the relay (this is "switched power", then). Connect the Black that you cut from the key to the #85 terminal, and connect the #86 terminal to Green (ground). These last 2 are the coil of the relay: when you now turn on the Key, it connects the Red/White (through the fuse) to the Black. The Brn/Brn-Wht wires stay on the keyswitch, and control the Park light and taillight stuff.

"Holy crap!", said the blind man. I think I got it.

So let me just run through this.

Red wire from battery goes up to the 15a fuse then to the key switch. When switched, power goes through the black wire on the key switch down to my relay to the 85 terminal then from the 86 terminal to ground.

Red/white wire is first fused with a 15a fuse then connected to terminal 30 and then the other side of the black wire is connected to terminal 87 and then I'm good as gold.

But is the magnet side of the relay a resistor? Or will the way I explained it blow the 15a fuse on the solid red wire?

Man, you guys are patient. I'm trying as hard as I can to learn.


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1978 Honda CB550K

[HondaMan]

Connect the Red/White wire through a fuse to the #30 post on the relay. This is the "source" power. Connect the bike's Black (Ignition) wire from the harness (cut it away from the keyswitch) to the #87 terminal on the relay (this is "switched power", then). Connect the Black that you cut from the key to the #85 terminal, and connect the #86 terminal to Green (ground). These last 2 are the coil of the relay: when you now turn on the Key, it connects the Red/White (through the fuse) to the Black. The Brn/Brn-Wht wires stay on the keyswitch, and control the Park light and taillight stuff.

"Holy crap!", said the blind man. I think I got it.

So let me just run through this.

Red wire from battery goes up to the 15a fuse then to the key switch. When switched, power goes through the black wire on the key switch down to my relay to the 85 terminal then from the 86 terminal to ground.

Red/white wire is first fused with a 15a fuse then connected to terminal 30 and then the other side of the black wire is connected to terminal 87 and then I'm good as gold.

But is the magnet side of the relay a resistor? Or will the way I explained it blow the 15a fuse on the solid red wire?

Man, you guys are patient. I'm trying as hard as I can to learn.


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1978 Honda CB550K

It sounds like you've got the wiring right: the relay coil is not really a resistor, but it does have a little resistance to it. It is a coil (this is those 86-85 terminals) that when powered, pulls in the moving "arm" inside the relay to connect 30 to 87. When it is not powered, there is a spring in there that pushes this "arm" back to the 87a terminal, instead.

[DaveBarbier]

Connect the Red/White wire through a fuse to the #30 post on the relay. This is the "source" power. Connect the bike's Black (Ignition) wire from the harness (cut it away from the keyswitch) to the #87 terminal on the relay (this is "switched power", then). Connect the Black that you cut from the key to the #85 terminal, and connect the #86 terminal to Green (ground). These last 2 are the coil of the relay: when you now turn on the Key, it connects the Red/White (through the fuse) to the Black. The Brn/Brn-Wht wires stay on the keyswitch, and control the Park light and taillight stuff.

"Holy crap!", said the blind man. I think I got it.

So let me just run through this.

Red wire from battery goes up to the 15a fuse then to the key switch. When switched, power goes through the black wire on the key switch down to my relay to the 85 terminal then from the 86 terminal to ground.

Red/white wire is first fused with a 15a fuse then connected to terminal 30 and then the other side of the black wire is connected to terminal 87 and then I'm good as gold.

But is the magnet side of the relay a resistor? Or will the way I explained it blow the 15a fuse on the solid red wire?

Man, you guys are patient. I'm trying as hard as I can to learn.


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1978 Honda CB550K

It sounds like you've got the wiring right: the relay coil is not really a resistor, but it does have a little resistance to it. It is a coil (this is those 86-85 terminals) that when powered, pulls in the moving "arm" inside the relay to connect 30 to 87. When it is not powered, there is a spring in there that pushes this "arm" back to the 87a terminal, instead.

Yeah, that's what I mean. Not actually a resistor, per se, but something that offers resistance. Thanks for your help.


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1978 Honda CB550K

[tlbranth]

The best way to handle anything 'emgo' is to launch it into the woods and buy a decent part.

[flybox1]

The best way to handle anything 'emgo' is to launch it into the woods and buy a decent part.

HAHA...you've got a lot of woods out there, Terry!

[DaveBarbier]

The best way to handle anything 'emgo' is to launch it into the woods and buy a decent part.

Haha, I recently got my old potato launcher up and running again. I have a couple acres but I can send it rocketing into the neighbor's property no problem.


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1978 Honda CB550K

[alacrity]

The Hondaman knoweth all.

[PeWe]

The Hondaman knoweth all.

Yes, indeed. Thanks to him I'm correcting a problem before happening. I did not know that the cheap ignition switch did not cope with the CB750 amp needed.
I bought 3 relays, wiring with relay holder, mini fuse holders, socket, pins.. today. I had 12V car relays from before but I noticed that the newer models are smaller that will be fine for the 2 relays for headlight. Maybe they can be inside the head lamp. 3:rd relay for coils under the CB750 fuse box.

These will be connected beside everything else possible to reconnect to OEM later. Head light will activate one relay each instead of the H4 bulb. Closing 12V direct from battery via 10A mini fuse close to battery.
Ignition via 3:rd relay. Wire from ign switch feeding the coils extended to the 3:rd relay, will activate 12v direct from battery via another 10A mini fuse to the coils.

I guess that the starter button will work as it is, right?

[FillionJ]

Hey guys, since ive been waiting on my new emgo ignition ive been doing some research to make sure it will work fine. (am i ever glad i found this thread) Unfortunately im not the most knowledgeble when it comes to electrical and when i read this post it is like a foreign language.  But since i read that the emgo ignitions will last alot longer with a relay i would really like to have my go at installing one.  Does anyone have pictures that they could post to show me what im doing here, i know there are instructions above but i am much more visual.  Thanks in advance guys appreciate it

[lucky]

I just need help wiring up this three terminal EMGO switch on my '78 CB550K. I know the red is ignition and black is battery, but do I just connect the TL2 (taillight 2?) wire to the accessory terminal and disregard the other two wires?

Here are the wiring diagrams for each just to make things easier.

p.s. I know that these switches are garbage and I'll eventually be getting the Hondaman key switch saver relay.

Thanks in advance

The EMGO switches are good.
You can get one that plugs right into your stock wiring harness.
I know because I bought one.

[Retro Rocket]

Hey guys, since ive been waiting on my new emgo ignition ive been doing some research to make sure it will work fine. (am i ever glad i found this thread) Unfortunately im not the most knowledgeble when it comes to electrical and when i read this post it is like a foreign language.  But since i read that the emgo ignitions will last alot longer with a relay i would really like to have my go at installing one.  Does anyone have pictures that they could post to show me what im doing here, i know there are instructions above but i am much more visual.  Thanks in advance guys appreciate it

Hondaman is the one to talk to, the Emgo ignitions weren't as robust as the Honda ignition but with a relay they should last just as long...