New Motorcyclist with some issues...

[JacR]

Hello XS400 forum peoples. I am super new to motorcycling, and my first and only bike is a 1980 xs400 Special. I bought it for $800 and have already used this forum to get the engine running. My bike had an issue where gas was mixing with the oil if the petcock was in the on position and the bike was not running.

INDICATOR LIGHTS
In my state, I need to have indicator lights and I want a new headlight for daytime visibility, at my skill level I am not comfortable riding in the dark till I have a bit more experience on the bike. Being new to motorcycling I am struggling to understand the wiring situation, when I pop the headlight off I am seeing all manner of colors, splices, unterminated wires, and even painter's tape.
Does anyone know what I should be looking for for the front turn indicator wires? (I went with incandescents so I don't have to play with the Light Emitting Diode additional wiring issues I have seen online)

HEADLIGHTS
The headlight I thought would be the easy thing to replace, 7in with a standard plug-in. However, the LED that I bought doesn't fit inside of the light housing bracket, and any alterations I make will negate the bracket's ability to do its job and hold the light in place.
Should I buy and retrofit a new housing that comes with a light or does anyone on here know of a good replacement light that fits the specs of the light housing?

The Bike
After reading on the forum and watching Youtube videos I was able to get it running.
I sanded it down, rattle-can primed it, rattle-can painted it (with tractor paint), and then put a flat auto enamel coating on it after penning in the Special XS400 and a little Gorilla with an oil-based paint pen.

 

[flea]

doing well . best thing you can do if not already ... get a manual ,sounds like you bought the wrong light , measure and buy the tight size , easy but dollars is get one from mikes xs and then use the wiring diagram in your manual to hook it up

 

[MoonClipper]

Your bike looks awesome! I'm going to have to reproduce your steps to repaint my tank soon, the paint is beginning to chip from all the day-to-day wear and tear I put on her.

I can't help with the headlight situation, I'm planning for a new headlight soon but I'm going to be buying the entire bucket and headlight assembly together.

I can, however, point you in the direction for wiring help. Up in the top you should see 'Tech' if you click that and scroll down to electrical, there's a link to the xs400 wiring. I believe the indicator wires for your year should be brown for left, and green for right. black are the ground wires. That correlates with the rear turn signals as well.

 

[JacR]

Your bike looks awesome! I'm going to have to reproduce your steps to repaint my tank soon, the paint is beginning to chip from all the day-to-day wear and tear I put on her.

I can't help with the headlight situation, I'm planning for a new headlight soon but I'm going to be buying the entire bucket and headlight assembly together.

I can, however, point you in the direction for wiring help. Up in the top you should see 'Tech' if you click that and scroll down to electrical, there's a link to the xs400 wiring. I believe the indicator wires for your year should be brown for left, and green for right. black are the ground wires. That correlates with the rear turn signals as well.

Thanks! That is super helpful!
All I can say with the painting is to watch some high-quality youtubes prior and make sure to read the instructions on all pertinent cans (primer, paint, and enamel).