Need help buying a wiring harness

[arm]

Hey guys, last resort effort for my bike is to completely swap the wiring harness with another one. Im looking at a few listings on ebay and was wondering if you guys could share some advice on which one looks good and is compatible for a 1978 xs400 (of course, I don't expect anyone to tell if wires work from just a picture)

1. https://www.ebay.com/itm/335985171388
2. https://www.ebay.com/itm/356417834105
3. https://www.ebay.com/itm/135554582982
4. https://www.ebay.com/itm/167598861444
5. https://www.ebay.com/itm/176594136139
6. https://www.ebay.ca/itm/388450655115
7. https://www.ebay.ca/itm/388450655029

 

[CaptChrome]

First thing to know is that in North America, two models were produced and sold. The XS400E had everything electrically and the other model, the XS400-2E, was similar, but did not have an electric starter nor the self-cancelling turn signals (as far as I remember). It was the same for the 1979 models of the XS400F and -2F.

So, depending on what bike you have and what you are doing with it, you are going to have to be careful regarding what you buy. Here are some observation on the listings you linked:
1. This is a XS400-2E harness. Cheap too. I would grab it if I was doing a kick only custom bike
2. This is a harness from a European spec bike and it may differ by having a switchable headlight, so some extra wires that you may have to dealt with.
3. This is a XS400-2E harness and looks like it is in good condition
4. This is a harness from an XS750 and will not work well without a bunch of mods
5. This is from a '77 XS400D. The points wires look cut short, but it might work if you want electric start since the 1977 and 1978 models look to be similar electrically
6 and 7. It is hard to tell what these are and they did not do the buyer any service by keeping the harnesses balled up and only shooting from one side. It would be nice to know what version of bike these came from.

 

[arm]

First thing to know is that in North America, two models were produced and sold. The XS400E had everything electrically and the other model, the XS400-2E, was similar, but did not have an electric starter nor the self-cancelling turn signals (as far as I remember). It was the same for the 1979 models of the XS400F and -2F.

So, depending on what bike you have and what you are doing with it, you are going to have to be careful regarding what you buy. Here are some observation on the listings you linked:
1. This is a XS400-2E harness. Cheap too. I would grab it if I was doing a kick only custom bike
2. This is a harness from a European spec bike and it may differ by having a switchable headlight, so some extra wires that you may have to dealt with.
3. This is a XS400-2E harness and looks like it is in good condition
4. This is a harness from an XS750 and will not work well without a bunch of mods
5. This is from a '77 XS400D. The points wires look cut short, but it might work if you want electric start since the 1977 and 1978 models look to be similar electrically
6 and 7. It is hard to tell what these are and they did not do the buyer any service by keeping the harnesses balled up and only shooting from one side. It would be nice to know what version of bike these came from.

Hmm, my bike has a electric start and self cleaning turn signals so I guess I gotta find a xs400E wiring harness

 

[arm]

Looks like the only thing i could find was this https://www.ebay.com/itm/335985171388
The only difference I noticed is that in the title this is a "XS400-2" while this one (https://www.ebay.com/itm/335985171388) is a "XS4002E"

does the "XS400-2" work with the electric starter? i have it on my bikes so id prefer to use it but if not I might just go with the XS4002E and only have kickstart and maybe look into DIY wiring up electric start

 

[arm]

I really can't seem to find a wiring harness for the XS400E and testing for spark will having to kick a 400 cc bike sounds like it's gonna be a pain

Just curious what would the difficulty oh stripping the wiring harness from the bike, and trying to turn the previous owners messed up work back to stock? Like I remove any part that dosent follow the wiring diagram and add back anything that's missing and use a multimeter to test every wire from either end to make sure its "working" all the way through? So not a complete re wire but taking my current wiring harness and trying to bring it back to as stock as possible

 

[CaptChrome]

Just curious what would the difficulty oh stripping the wiring harness from the bike, and trying to turn the previous owners messed up work back to stock?

I can't comment on how difficult it will be for you, but this is the course I would take. The stock wire Yamaha put in is very good and if most of it is fine, then this will be better than buying something that most likely will need some of the same work. Learning the wiring diagram and rebuilding the harness is one of the most valuable skills to keep vintage bikes going.

 

[arm]

I can't comment on how difficult it will be for you, but this is the course I would take. The stock wire Yamaha put in is very good and if most of it is fine, then this will be better than buying something that most likely will need some of the same work. Learning the wiring diagram and rebuilding the harness is one of the most valuable skills to keep vintage bikes going.

yeah it seems like thats my only option at this point. I was reading up on some threads here and a lot of people mentioned cleaning up the connectors and that did the trick. I also found this thread about wiring diagrams. I don't notice one labeled XS400E. But looking at the images it looks like the XS400F is the one that matches my bike, any suggestions for which one it is? I plan on printing it out and keeping it along side to make this process easier so wanting to print the right one