'82 GS550L Wiring Harness Reinstall: questions, complaints, and ... HELP!

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

We knew when we bought the bike that the PO had planned to chop the rear end, and he cut the wiring to the taillight and signals.

That's OK, actually ... we're putting on aftermarket signals and brake light anyway (once we figure out where, exactly, the signals mount!)

What's not so OK is, after hours of looking at pictures here on the GSResources, looking at pics we took as we took it apart, and looking at the service manual and parts fiche and ... well, you get the idea.

Tanner cleaned the harness after he took it off; and twice went through and disconnected, sprayed with contact cleaner, and reconnected every junction. We're also using dialectric grease liberally.

We dove in and started, with the most obvious place: The turn signal flasher.
A couple of false starts, and we have almost all of it at least close to where it needs to be.

Here are a couple of specific questions:
1)
We've read the stator papers, and I *think* we've identified the loop that goes up front and then returns. The question: are these the right connections for that loop, and is there a reason not to just connect the W/R (to the front) and W/G (the returnlead) bullets as shown to bypass the loop?

2)
What are these for? It's a 2-wire-into-one-female-bullet (both B/W), bound with a single Y/B female bullet; and the single at top right is Y/G.

3)
From the headlight bucket: I don't have pre-removal photos, and the diagrams in the manual don't seem to show where these two grounds should be tied to the frame?
3a)
What do you think the three ring terminals go to? and
3b)
What did the PO cut off of this end? (Edit: I think these are to the ignition switch!)

We have the connectors for the handlebars, and the handlebar-end of the harness. We also have identified and located all the indicator lights.

We're replacing the gauge cluster with the Acewell 2853 mini-combo-speedo, so that wiring challenge is waiting down the road.

 

[Rockgs1000]

Ok to question one I can't say I cut that whole loop out of it. The second question is the black white and yellow black is for the fuel tank sending unit got fuel level and the yellow green is the trigger from your start button to the starter solenoid . If the colors are again yellow black and black white again other end of fuel sending unit that may not be used dont know if 550 had fuel guage. The cut off looks like a red, orange, brown and grey. That is your ignition switch connection. Red is from battery, orange is the return to the fuse block that powers your orange/white, orange/green, orange /red. The grey and brown are for parking lights when ignition not on but in P position. Not sure where the grounds would be connected or the other orange single wire. If you have access to an ohms meter you can test which wires are connected through what. Hope I got that all right I am going off my 1000 wiring .

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Thanks Rockgs.
We have a replacement set of keyed pieces (ignition, gas tank, seat, helmet lock) that all match, and the ignition has the harness and connector intact, so we're good that way.

The fuel sending unit is a great tip - I'm sure that's right, and I'll confirm it with the FSU I have ready to reinstall in the tank.

Anyone else have suggestions for the last group of wires in the headlight?

 

[eil]

I think that last group of wires are the ground wires for your turn signals. They go underneath the nut that holds the "stalk" to the headlight ear.

 

[msy3]

related gs850 question

related gs850 question

I think that last group of wires are the ground wires for your turn signals. They go underneath the nut that holds the "stalk" to the headlight ear.

I've just replaced my stock indicators with aftermarket ones. They have two leads coming out of the light socket which I have connected to the plugs from the wiring harness. Do I need to splice in a lead from the ground wire to the frame? The indicators light up but do not flash. They worked fine before I changed them. This is the only thing I can think of.

Thx.

 

[barnbiketom]

those THREE little ring connectors are not stock, but he might have had an aftermarket ignition switch??

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

I think the orange, brown, and red wires are for the ignition - but I'm replacing everything after the ignition connection anyway, so I'm good there.

The three little ring connectors, though ... I'll have to re-double-check my wiring diagram to see what those colors are for.

 

[Steve]

I will provide my answers right after your questions.

Here are a couple of specific questions:
1)
We've read the stator papers, and I *think* we've identified the loop that goes up front and then returns. The question: are these the right connections for that loop, and is there a reason not to just connect the W/R (to the front) and W/G (the returnlead) bullets as shown to bypass the loop?
Your loop, as shown, will work just fine.

2)
What are these for? It's a 2-wire-into-one-female-bullet (both B/W), bound with a single Y/B female bullet; and the single at top right is Y/G.
The 2-into-1 is probably the ground connection for your turn signal wires. The LARGE ring terminals in the next picture are for the turn signals. They mount over the stalks and get held by the washers and nuts that secure the signals to their mounts. The bullets on the ends of those wires go into this 2-into-1 connector.
HINT: any time you see a black/white wire on a GS, it's a ground wire.

3)
From the headlight bucket: I don't have pre-removal photos, and the diagrams in the manual don't seem to show where these two grounds should be tied to the frame?
See answer #2.
3a)
What do you think the three ring terminals go to? and
It is kind of hard to tell exactly what colors those are. Please elaborate on the colors. Do they stay in the headlight bucket? Do they connect to the main harness?
3b)
What did the PO cut off of this end? (Edit: I think these are to the ignition switch!)
The group of four wires off to the right are ignition switch related.
What color is the single wire?

I've just replaced my stock indicators with aftermarket ones. They have two leads coming out of the light socket which I have connected to the plugs from the wiring harness. Do I need to splice in a lead from the ground wire to the frame? The indicators light up but do not flash. They worked fine before I changed them. This is the only thing I can think of.

Thx.

It is rather difficult to butt in on someone else's thread and expect answers, it would have been better to start your own thread, but here goes ...

What "aftermarket turn signals"?

Are they LED signals?

Did you connect them to a battery to see if they worked before you installed them?

What color are the wires?

Were there any instructions with the lights?

Are they single- or dual-filament lights?

Yes, all those questions matter.

The stock turn signals might have had one or two wires, depending on whether they were front or rear signals, or even what model bike they are on. Some of the smaller or older bikes did not have the "running lights" next to the headlights, so they would have single-filament bulbs. They would also only have a single wire going to them, as they used the stalk/housing as the ground. Aftermarket signals might or might not use the housing for a ground, so one of the wires might be the ground. Or, it might be that they are the two power leads for a dual-filament bulb. No way to tell from here.

If you connect a jumper wire from the battery positive post to either of the new signal wires, what happens? If you are lucky, one wire will light the signal, the other will light it brighter. Now you know what wire to connect to what. If neither one lights, one of the wires (likely a black one) will be the ground, the other is your 'hot' wire.

What bulbs are in the signals? Some aftermarket signals are smaller (for "looks"), so they don't have room for a proper bulb. They will install what is basically a marker light bulb, which does not draw enough current to trigger your flasher relay. If your signals are LEDs, you have the same problem. You will have to install compensating resistors to increase the load when the signals are used. Or you can install an aftermarket flasher that will handle the lesser load, but you will lose your self-cancelling feature when you do that.

You say that the signals were working fine before you replaced them. Call me silly, but why did you replace them?
If it was for looks, I hope you are enjoying all the frustrations that are involved with "looks".

.

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

You say that the signals were working fine before you replaced them. Call me silly, but why did you replace them?
If it was for looks, I hope you are enjoying all the frustrations that are involved with "looks".

.

You're silly! (You said, "Call me silly!")
So often, we make changes out of vanity or a desire for something "unique," and it bites us!

To answer your questions ...
The three leads with the apparently home-installed ring terminals are Orange, Black/white, and Yellow/blue. I was focused on the handlebars/controls/switches last night, so I didn't trace the wires out. I'll do that today.

The long, single lead is black.

We'll trace out the wires today, after we get the pipes on. If we can't figure them out, I'll post up followup questions.
James

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

Yet another "What is this" question - wiring

Yet another "What is this" question - wiring

Simply put, what is this?
The leads are Orange and white/black. It was in the bucket-o-stuff the PO took off before we got the bike.

 

[mike_of_bbg]

Simply put, what is this?
The leads are Orange and white/black. It was in the bucket-o-stuff the PO took off before we got the bike.

That's one of the handle slide switches. There are two - one for the clutch (can't start bike unless clutch is pulled in by design) and one to activate the brake light when the front brake is applied. Many of us disable/remove the clutch-side switch.

Here's a tutorial from BassCliff's site about repairing the switch, which will also show you how it works:

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/storagecliff/images/front_brake_switch_repair.pdf

 

[82 GS550L Basket Case]

yep, that's the one. not sure how I missed that particular tutorial, but there it is.

thanks!

 

[mike_of_bbg]

Happy to oblige. They're pretty cheap to replace (~$10 new on eBay). I probably have a lightly-used one if you want, from when I replaced my master cylinder with another using a different type of switch. You can eschew the clutch switch altogether by plugging the harness wires for that together in the headlight bucket. Of course if you do that you'll be able to start the bike in gear with the clutch engaged...