So I recently picked up a 81 xs400 in non-running condition. Replaced the battery, plugs and oil; thoroughly cleaned the carbs and got it to fire up. Won't idle for shit and will not reliably start. Checked the plugs, no spark. Double check all fuses and battery, fuses wiggle around a lot...then got spark again. Screwed the plugs back in and no spark.
So I started checking out the fuse block and unwrapped some of the electrical tape holding the harness together. What a mess. I don't know if it would be easier to decipher and fix the issues at hand or start from scratch with the bare minimums since this will be a bobber soon. There seems to be a huge loss of power from the battery to the fuse block. I was reading 12.5v at the battery and around 11.3v at the main fuse.
I've included a picture I took. The arrows are things I'm wondering about. Did yamaha use blue electrical tape to splice wires together in the harness? Seems unprofessional, but it was the 80s so I don't know.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong the fuses are: 1) Main 2) Ign 3) whatever the PO rigged up under the left arrow 4) Lights?
The starter button doesn't work on the handlebar so I was jumping the starter solenoid to get it to fire since my foot got sore. I noticed the main circuit was getting quite warm even when I wasn't using the starter...is something grounding out that isn't strong enough to blow the 20A fuse?
Thanks for any help...this thing is driving me nuts.
So I started checking out the fuse block and unwrapped some of the electrical tape holding the harness together. What a mess. I don't know if it would be easier to decipher and fix the issues at hand or start from scratch with the bare minimums since this will be a bobber soon. There seems to be a huge loss of power from the battery to the fuse block. I was reading 12.5v at the battery and around 11.3v at the main fuse.
I've included a picture I took. The arrows are things I'm wondering about. Did yamaha use blue electrical tape to splice wires together in the harness? Seems unprofessional, but it was the 80s so I don't know.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong the fuses are: 1) Main 2) Ign 3) whatever the PO rigged up under the left arrow 4) Lights?
The starter button doesn't work on the handlebar so I was jumping the starter solenoid to get it to fire since my foot got sore. I noticed the main circuit was getting quite warm even when I wasn't using the starter...is something grounding out that isn't strong enough to blow the 20A fuse?
Thanks for any help...this thing is driving me nuts.