Wiring Diagram

Howard

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VOC Member
It's a cold, damp, salty road day, so I've decided to do one of those jobs I've been putting off for some time.

I'm going to draw a wiring diagram for my Egli. I've looked all over the internet (not really) but for some reason there isn't a diagram for my bike.

It's a twin with a car type alternator and regulator, electronic ignition, electric start, Kawasaki switches, indicators, 5-way fuse box, relays........... surely there must be a standard wiring diagram !! :)

I make up the wiring as I go, but there will come a day when someone needs to know which blue wire goes where (there seems to be a lot of blue wires), and as people keep saying "We're only custodians."

How many other bikes have components and settings which will be totally alien to someone with "Know thy Beast" etc in 20 years time?

H
 

bmetcalf

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Could you use this as a guide and redraft it to suit your bike? Probably any '80's bike diagram would do as a basis.

That type shows the approximate physical location of the devices and can be simplified to a "ladder" format, similar to this. The functionality is shown better there, in my opinion.
 

Howard

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Thanks Bruce, I'm well under way with my diagram on CAD, but I like the ladder diagram idea, I may try to adapt that as well.

When I think about it, maybe I should have started with a diagram, but the wiring has evolved as I've added things, and not being an Auto Electrician, some of my circuits aren't what you'd call conventional, but they work well, and I know what the bits do.

H
 

timetraveller

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If your alternator is a Walkernator or similar, with a separate regulator box then I can send you the page of the assembly instructions which contains the circuit for the alternator, ignition switch, battery etc. The rest of it is your baby
 

Howard

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If your alternator is a Walkernator or similar, with a separate regulator box then I can send you the page of the assembly instructions which contains the circuit for the alternator, ignition switch, battery etc. The rest of it is your baby

Thanks Norman, I have drawn most of it now.

I think the point I was trying to make was that in a few years time, without a diagram no one will know how it's wired, and where to look if there's a problem.

All the bikes are different, and our personal babies (or Frankenstein monsters) we know ours runs best with 35 degrees advance and a 250 main jet, and never use a lucas ABC123 regulator with an Iskra 30 amp alternator etc etc etc but how many of us store these things in our memory instead of writing them down for the next "custodian"?

H
 

BigEd

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Howard has highlighted the point that a repository of "non-standard" information could be of immense value to future owners. We are all making a contribution for this repository by posting information on this forum. It may need some imaginative use of the search facility but the information should hopefully be accessible for many years to come.
.........

I think the point I was trying to make was that in a few years time, without a diagram no one will know how it's wired, and where to look if there's a problem.
All the bikes are different, and our personal babies (or Frankenstein monsters) we know ours runs best with 35 degrees advance and a 250 main jet, and never use a lucas ABC123 regulator with an Iskra 30 amp alternator etc etc etc but how many of us store these things in our memory instead of writing them down for the next "custodian"?

H
 

davidd

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VOC Member
All the bikes are different, and our personal babies (or Frankenstein monsters) we know ours runs best with 35 degrees advance and a 250 main jet, and never use a lucas ABC123 regulator with an Iskra 30 amp alternator etc etc etc but how many of us store these things in our memory instead of writing them down for the next "custodian"?

H

Howard,

I keep a notebook and photos of every bike and/or every project. In fact, many of the posts I make are drawn from the notes that I have taken. I remember looking through a notebook I kept on a Rapide. It had all sorts of details about a valve job and new guides I had installed about a decade earlier. I had no memory of the work. This caused me to keep much more detailed notes.

This habit made keeping detailed notes on the Racer much easier. It saves so much work to have records of the track, elevation, gearing, jetting, and notes on performance.
Having said this, I realize how much we all resist this documentation. I sold my Black Knight to a friend many years ago and it had a pair of new Monoblocs with it. As he was building it I asked him what number main jets came with it. He did not know. I told him pointedly that he needed to know. He disagreed. The bike went together and he rode it for about a year and sold it. Before he sold it he said the mixture was a little rich and he finally looked inside to see what jets were installed. There were none! He then remembered taking them out for another project. As far as I know he has never made a single note either then or since. I think he is definitely in the majority!

I know that Martyn keeps detailed notes of his Comet work as I have read his entries.

David
 

ossie

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sounds like the wiring in my house I know how it works, but when the man[boy] from british gas came to put a new meter in he took one look and a lot of pictures on his ipad thingy and said I cant do that so I sent him packing. what happened to common sense.
reminds me when I use to run a capstan shop the ones that came from college with all the paperwork were useless the ones off the street that needed the job were prepared
to listen.
your wiring must be getting to something close to a Honda or something like it [just a new year joke]
 

Alan J

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VOC Member
i rewired my model 20 A.J.S. for indicators e.t.c.-the result is a "mares nest" of wiring in the headlamp, but so far all is good! My Vincent wiring is far from standard but you don't need a P.H.D. in electronics to understand old Brit. bikes!
 
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