Wiring, signals and resistance

[hank hill]

Hi all, im new on here and this is my first post. I want to start off by apologizing ahead of time if this thread has ABP i tried to search but could not find anything. As for me, I recently bought a 1981 xs400 special, its my second bike and im going to do a lot of work to this bad boy. My plans include taking off the signals, front and back, and perhaps doing away with the electric start. I guess my questions are, is this possible? will the resistance be so drastically changed as to keep the bike from starting up? can I buy a new harness just for this? Thanks in advance for any help and please, if this has already been asked/answered, feel free to remove this thread.

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Welcome to the site! Removing the starter is a pretty common mod here, the only thing to be aware of is that you will have to open the left side of the case in order to remove the chain that connects the starter motor with the flywheel. If you don't, you're gonna have a bad time. You will still need a battery though.

 

[jmd_forest]

Removing the signals and starter should have no effect on the electrical system other than ... no signals and no electric start. Make sure any loose hot ends are covered so they cannot contact ground and cause a short. Just a word of caution in removing the electric start, these bikes have a design flaw where the casting inside the crankcase that holds down the inside end of the kickstart shaft is weak and often cracked or broken. Mine only had 9k miles on it when I bought it and when I took off the end casing to polish it, I could see the casing around the kickstart shaft was already cracked.

 

[hank hill]

Thanks so much for the info guys, the bike is in the shop at the moment but ill get it back tonight and start working on it. maybe ill make a build thread who knows