No power to main fuse block...

[jmitchell03038]

Hi Everyone,
I have a 78' XS1100.
The bike has been sitting a long time... I have begun cleaning all the electrical connections...

Does the starter solenoid have anything to do with getting power to the main fuse block? I jump the connection to the starter relay and the bike did turn over.

[Radioguylogs]

Big wires to the starter solenoid are not related to the fuses. It makes sense you can jump them to turn over the engine.

Power to the fuseblock passes through the IGN switch before it goes to the fuseblock. Perhaps you want to start looking in that circuit.

[DiverRay]

There is a heavy RED wire that connects from the battery cable to the main fuse block. There should be a connector, on a green wire IIRC, that the red wire connects to. This is your main power wire. It will connect to the ignition switch, and exit as a brown wire for power.
If you still have the glass fuse block, REPLACE IT! They are about 1/2 of the problems with these bikes, as the steel springs no longer make a good connection.

[jmitchell03038]

[jmitchell03038]

Thanks guy. They disconnected the ignition switch wire - ok, no problem. I will plug that back together...
There are some other wires disconnected here. Can you guys provide any direction on these unplugged?

[jmitchell03038]

It looks like I will have one wire not connected to anything, does that make sense?

[DiverRay]

Yes, there are one or two wires that are used when you install a fairing. Not needed if you run without.

[jmitchell03038]

Hey Ray, Do i need to plug any of these loose wires together.

[DiverRay]

No, there should be a shield/plastic on the wires that are "hot". You can wrap a bit of tape around the end if you are worried about it.

[jmitchell03038]

Ok, so we are on the same. Looking at the picture I posted. I have 5 loose wires. I do not connect those anything and they will remain unconnected?

[DiverRay]

Green/Yellow and the Brown male connector wires should be for the front stop switch. The three female connector wires, Brown, Red, and Green/White, can be left as is.
This is from the 1978XS1100E service manual, looking at the wire diagram on the back page.

[jmitchell03038]

Do you know where I would connect the male wires? So, my brake lights would work?
I have service manual, not really sure how to read the wiring diaphragms though...

[DiverRay]

You should have a switch off the handlebar, it plugs into the brake master underneath the banjo bolt for the calipers. Look for a small wire bundle, two wires, from the right side. The heavy bundle is from the handlebar switch assembly that is part of the throttle.

[jmitchell03038]

Ok, I see the two wires from the handle bar switch. They come into the headlight area (green/yellow and brown). I am not seeing where to plug those wires in behind the head light...

[DiverRay]

Use the picture in your post #4. The Brown plugs into the brown female with two positions. This is switched 12V. The green/yellow plugs into the green/white, single connector. Then with the key in the run position, try the front brake and look for the light to come on to verify it's correct.