Help wiring up Virago pods.

[Yard Dogg]

Hi guys. I have an XJ that I'm doing a few mods to with two goals in mind. The first is that I want to do away with all the extra wiring BS because the XJ is loaded with stupid switches and idiot lights. Second, I have acquired some nice chrome gauge pods from a 1986 Virago. They are cool, chrome, bullet style, cleaner looking, and read up to 120mph.

These pods are equipped with speedo, tach, neutral light, oil light, turn indicators, and high beam indicators. If I remember correctly, my XS11 special had basically the same things which is great with me, all the extra stuff is going away.

My XJ has all the same factory connectors as the XS, and then some. What I want to do is swap the wires in the connectors from the Virago gauge pod into factory connectors to resemble an XS for the simplicity. I need someone to take a close up picture of the pigtails coming out of the gauge pod on an XS special well enough to see at least most of the colors on the wires. In exchange you will have the respect of your peers and my appreciation as well.

[Gallaecus]

is this what you wanted ?

you might want to look at a wiring diagram and compare the two.

[crazy steve]

This won't be a simple swap.....

The XJ wiring is very much unlike the XS wiring. What's not generally understood is most of the bike lighting goes through the gauge cluster/monitor, so by removing the stock cluster you'll have to very nearly completely rewire all the lights (except turns).

If you're determined to do this, your best bet would probably be to swap in an XS harness. You'll still need to mod the harness, but not as much and this will eliminate all the safety switches and their wiring/relays. You'll have to swap some wires around in the ignition circuit plugs and match up the hand control wiring, and probably need to check to make sure the Virago gauges/lights are wired to function the same.

Whatever you do, spend some time with the wiring diagram(s) before you start hacking.... This won't be a plug-and-play deal....

[Yard Dogg]

I agree, this will be a challenge. It's gonna be worth it. I did some of it on my last bike. It's not too bad though once you know which boxes and switches can be bypassed. Then running them through the pods should be easy enough. I've already found a bunch of tips in the tech guides. Thanks for the pics!

My only other concern is the speedo. I'm hoping the front wheel for the virago and XJ have the same speedo control, I wouldn't be surprised cause there are a lot of similarities.

[Yard Dogg]

I sat here last night and wrote up a step by step procedure for every wire that needs to be altered and cut out. I'm getting rid of the kick stand switch and dummy light, clutch switch, starting circuit cut off system, hazard relay (the switch is seized), and then wiring up the gauge pods. I'm moving all my connectors that would normally be in the headlight bucket under the tank behind the coils. I found an off road light with a nice chrome bucket for $20 at O-Reillys, and my neighbor gave a regular motorcycle headlight that will fit the bucket perfectly. This is a smalle diameter headlight with a single bolt and ball joint for adjusting which will look sharp when done. My front end will have lots of chrome!

[Yard Dogg]

Developments, I just discovered that these guage pods have a chip fuse system built in, so I can eliminate the tube fuses by the battery. I'm loving this mod more by the minute.

[Nightengale]

wiring

i did alot of the same stuff on my project, it does take time and you have to really think it thru to make sure everything is connected and everything works as intended. but with that said it really isnt that hard to do as long as you use the wiring diagram and follow each wire.

[Yard Dogg]

True that is. I started out by removing all the components I don't want or need from the chassis. Then I removed the factory wiring harness and unraveled it. Then I went to the pigtails of all the components I was getting rid of and cut each wire off of them one by one an pulled them out of the harness. Eventually most of these wires comes to a factory splice that can be cut and soldered back later. After some time and a lot of head scratching, the wiring harness will break down into much more manageable pieces. I've taken care not to cut a wire from any pigtail that will be reused so there are no more splices than need be. It's AMAZING how much wiring can be eliminated from these bikes. And luckily the color coding on the Virago pods are identical to my XJ. I got a lot done today, tomorrow it should be done.

[Yard Dogg]

I have a new question. I realize the XJ and XS wiring is different in many ways, but I also remember that there was a diode in the wiring harness on the XS. I thought it had something to do with the headlight relay. My XJ is not equipped with the headlight relay. There is still a diode and it's broken. What is that diode for and do I need it? It runs along the sky blue wire between the starting circuit cutoff (removed) and the side stand relay (also removed). I'm assuming it switches the current from AC to DC for the relay to work right, am I correct? Also, if I still have the side stand relay, couldn't I use it for the headlight instead? I sort of like having a headlight relay, easier on the battery.

[crazy steve]

...There is still a diode and it's broken. What is that diode for and do I need it? ...

You don't need the diode if the side stand and starting relays are removed...

[Yard Dogg]

I have a couple hang ups.

1. I can't find the B/R wire coming from the oil sending unit. Where is the sending unit even located? I'm not sure if my bike has one.

2. My new tach has an orange wire in place of the white wire that should hook to a white wire between the REC/REG and the A.C.G. The diagram shows it being the middle white wire, but I'd like to be sure so I don't fry it.

3. There is a B/W wire coming from the ignitor unit that would run to the emergency stop switch and the kick stand relay. The diagram looks as though it would complete the circuit grounding the Em Stop Switch during an accident, and or when the kickstand is down. What should I do with it now that both those things are gone? I was thinking of just capping it off but maybe it should be routed to an ignition source? Or am I wrong about it's function?

If I get these 3 things resolved this mod is a done deal.

[Yard Dogg]

I found my oil level switch and the wire is ripped out of it. Explains that. Same with my fuel sending unit. I might write a new repair section soon.

[crazy steve]

The tach wire can be any of the three white wires; the stock tach reads AC frequency to show RPM. Whether or not the Virago tach uses the same type of signal you'll find out...

The black/white to the tipover switch, etc can be taped off.

[Yard Dogg]

Thank you steve. I found a use for that B/W wire whilst brainstorming earlier. It will make a nice anti theft device. I'll ground a hidden toggle switch and use it when necessary, hehe. Let's see em hot wire this one. Hopefully my tach will work. Getting to the end now. You're a huge help