color wiring diagrams

[old_skool]

I have a few programs where I redraw wiring diagrams in color, I'm starting on an 81 XS1100H for myself but first thought I'd check to see if someone already has it out there somewhere. I may do others when I get time if anyone's interested in their particular model

[crazy steve]

Just a heads up, but depending on where you're sourcing the original diagram, they may or may not be accurate. I know the Clymer diagrams have errors (they show the '80 and '81 bikes as the same but they're not), as do some of the factory ones...

One thing I haven't seen is color-coded versions of the 'circuit' diagrams that are in the manuals electrical section (ignition, lighting, turns, etc). I've found these far more useful for troubleshooting but the lack of the color legend makes them a PITA to use sometimes. Personally, I'd love to see these done color-coded...

[jayel]

i've done the 80 81

[old_skool]

jayel, aren't those the Special, and the standards are a little different if I'm not mistaken, I haven't checked it against my black and white copy yet. And Steve, I'll go ahead and make it in color, then have everyone in the know shoot me the corrections and I'll adjust it and we'll all have a good color diagram eventually, we might as well be the source for everyone else out there to look to for accurate diagrams, no one else seems to be, go XS11.com !!!


And my H is a Venture I believe, bigger tank, fairings and bags etc...not positive, I'll have to take some pics and post them up, I also plan on adding all the accessories in an optional diagram as well.

[crazy steve]

i've done the 80 81

Yep, there's a prime example....

Not to rain on your parade, but there's nine errors in this drawing...

1. The front turn signals ground should go to the wiring harness ground (black wire), not chassis. The standards use chassis ground, the Specials can't.
2. The Special doesn't have that 'extra' blue lighting wire shown in the lower left corner. That's a feature of the standards, and it's not connected to the gauge lights but to the taillight circuit.
3. The 'extra' yellow wire out of the alternator is missing.
4. The alternator plug is shown as one, when there's actually two.
5. Same as 4 at the regulator plugs.
6. Same as 4 at the hazard flasher/pick-up coils plugs.
7. Same as 4 at the tach/indicator light plugs.

If the bike is a '81, there's two more...
8. The '78-80 ignition ballast resistor is shown, deleted from these bikes.
9. The 'safety switch' wiring is missing.

Now some will say I'm nit-picking, but if you're a newbie and unsure about electrical, when the bike doesn't match the diagram this generally only leads to confusion and mistakes. I know you used the Clymer drawing as it contains all these errors. But even the factory 'complete' diagrams aren't 100% correct, only the individual circuit drawings are.

[XS1100 Newbie]

Sounds like a heck of a project, but with the help of people that have ran across the errors, it should be doable.

[Prothec]

What program(s) are you using for the wiring diagrams? I was looking at seeing how ProfiCAD will work out. It seems to be capable enough...

[old_skool]

I've used Edraw Max, Smart Draw 2013, Microsoft Office Visio 2007, but my favorite is sPlan 7.0
Some programs don't use 2 colors simultaneously and require you to overlay one color on another, more time consuming, some are just not as user friendly as I like, but sPlan 7.0 seems to have everything, and once you get use to it, I think it's faster and easier to do color diagrams with. With any of them, you need to add your own MC symbols cropped from other diagrams or create your own. My second favorite would be visio due to ease of use, but only lays one color at a time.