Headlight Wiring Question

[va_blue_stang]

I had an xs750 a few years back that I wired a relay in to the headlight circuit so the light didn't come on until the engine was running and putting out voltage. My problem is that it has been so many years ago I can't for the life of me remember how I wired it up. Can someone shed some "light" on this for me, it seemed to help the battery with starting quiet a bit?

Thanks and I appreciate any help and suggestions.

[DiverRay]

The '79 and above XS already does that. The '78 has a switch on the control handle for the headlight, so it's always on, or on after the engine starts. You should not need the relay for the XS1100. If it's for something else, the easy part is red wire from battery to the relay, and then trigger wire needs to be from something that will NOT be on until it's charging. I know there is a wire you can use, with a diode, but I don't remember what color it is. You could also use a separate switch, but then you need someplace to mount it.

[va_blue_stang]

Mine comes on as soon as the key is on. It's been through a few hands before I bought it.

[crazy steve]

Look here: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35337
... for a wiring overview. This is for a XS, but the XJ is mostly the same. Somebody has bypassed or removed the headlight relay.

Ray, even the '78 has the relay; the switch on the bars was a manual bypass which never got used, that's why they deleted it...

[jjz28]

The PO of my bike put a toggle switch on the top of the light and i really like it like that.

[va_blue_stang]

The PO of my bike put a toggle switch on the top of the light and i really like it like that.

That is most likely the answer I will go with till after riding season then it will be time to tear her down and do some repairs.

[DiverRay]

If you use a toggle switch, get a 10Amp rated one! 65W divided by 13.8V = 4.7Amps. If low and high beam are both on, that will be almost 10 amps. Always go higher rating on switches!

[DGXSER]

I was just digging through the wiring diagram myself, the wire that operates the headlight relay is a white wire comes form the regulator/rectifier and has the diode in it. If the XJ is the same as the XS, just bove the coils under the tank, look for a four wire connector with black, white, red/yellow, and blue/black wires. Most likely the red/yellow and blue/black have been jumpered together.

If the PO went all out and alos removed the RLU (if the XJ had one), the simple solution is to jump the red/yellow wire to the RLU to the directly to the blue/yellow wire to the headlight switch. But that would take opening up the loom to get to those wires.