1981 XS11 Special - DEAD DUCK Cafe

[crazy steve]

Yes, the '81 didn't have the ballast resistor. But rather than modifying the harness, simply switch to 3 ohm coils (either aftermarket or OEM '81 units) and then you don't need the resistor.

I would swap ignitions as the early motor runs best with the early ignition timing/curves. I wouldn't use the 'safety interlocks' from the '81 harness as they can be troublesome....

[MPittma100]

Wiring

If the current 1981 setup works, it will be more trouble to change it to an earlier model. The 1981 units worked well. If it were me, I would run it as is.

[kboehringer]

XS Folks,
I’m working on bike #3 of my XS11 collection and have a wiring question.



BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The bike is an ’81 frame & harness with a ’79 motor. It was initially purchased as a parts donor but my son and I have decided to resurrect it as a Café style bike. We’ve started making a few MINOR mods (tank ready for paint emblems shaved, front fender shortened, some parts ordered).

I would like to keep the OEM frame Structure in-tact and limit any significant “Hackery” of the harness to make future troubleshooting a bit easier. The PO of the bike converted the ignition system to the ’81 version (no mechanical advance, 4 series box, etc.) He also had some “Oddball” coils installed that were from a Kawasaki. Although the bike did have "Spark" I've never seen it start nor have I tried to YET!

It is my plan to convert the bike back to a PRE ’81 ignition system to create commonality with the other XS’s in my collection. I have a very good set of earlier coils, proper ignition unit, proper pick-ups, a mechanical advance, etc.

We hope to make big progress together on DEAD DUCK during his XMas break from College.

HERE’S THE BIG QUESTION:
The ’81 harness in THIS bike does not include any provision for the BALLAST RESISTOR. The Clymer Manual’s wiring diagram indicates that it should (Clymer is frequently wrong). There is no evidence the PO removed it. I THOUGHT I read somewhere here that Yamaha eliminated the Ballast Resistor in ’81??? I have a POS SG donor harness where I pulled the necessary wiring from to modify into the ’81 harness. Seems pretty straight forward with a little soldering and heat shrink it shouldn’t cause any unforeseen issues to tie this in exactly as it is wired in ‘80?

Obviously, the easy move would be to find a pre-’81 harness that’s not hacked to heck (good luck! ). This ’81 harness includes the clutch safety switch which is a feature I like since this will be used by my son and he doesn’t have the same level of experience I have.

Any additional thoughts on this wiring issue?

Sincerely,
Kurt