"Red Tube" on kill switch wiring - what is it?

[JimmyR]

I'm rewiring my '82 GS1100G because when I bought it the wiring was a total mess. As a result of some of the PO's efforts many sockets and fittings were missing. So I am looking at the schematic of the bike and on the section where the orange wire from the kill switch meets the orange + white wire from the fusebox there is "red tube" marked crossing the socket, and also at the fusebox where the orange + white enters. What is this "red tube"?

Obviously I want to rewire this bike right. If this mysterious red tube is important I want to include it! Thanks guys!

[TheCafeKid]

Because there were two wires of otherwise same colour used to do two different things or something along that line. The red tube is just meant to differentiate that wire from the other. If you look at the wiring schematic you'll see the one marked with the "red tube"'and what it goes to vs the other.

[JimmyR]

I see what you mean - thanks!

[JimmyR]

I was wondering about those loops. Why did they do that? Why not just connect the wires elsewhere? I assumed that it was to break the connection when the plug was taken out but who knows?

I'm simplifying my wiring somewhat. I will have no accessory loop, and the indicators I am using only have a single (hot) wire coming from them as I guess they are supposed to be grounded to the frame. They are metal cast units and I will make sure they ground properly. I'm also getting rid of the big box that runs the turn signal auto-cancel so that will simplify things a bit.

[chuck hahn]

My bikes that came with the headlight switch wouldnt move. They had a little brass plate and the switch knob had a little peg molded into it that blocked the groove that the switch moved in..thus preventing it from being used. I simply take the knob off and throw the brass plate away and grind off that little peg. Headlight is now switched for on and off.

[koolaid_kid]

The loops have something to do with the on/off switch for the headlight. The light used to be on or off then had to be on all the time but not in Europe yet.

The Suzuki engineers did a quick/cheap mod on the wire loom.

Well that's my take on it anyway. Maybe the "gurus" can pipe in and tell the real story.

DP

I would agree. Suzuki had two choices: Manufacture, distribute and stock two harnesses, one for the US, one for the rest of the world, or put the jumper in the harness for US bikes. They chose the latter, a mere accounting decision. Saved them a lot of money, cost us a lot to fix.

[JimmyR]

I had a feeling it might be something like that. But even the stator has a wire that goes up to a loop in the kill switch socket before going to the rectifier/regulator, if the schematic is to be believed. Why would they do that? Why not just route all 3 wires from the stator straight to the RR? That is what I will be doing in my rewire unless I find a reason not to.

I also notice in the schematic that there are grey wires going to the front indicators but not the rears. On my bike the PO had removed the grey wires going to the front indicators seemingly with no ill-effect. Looking at the schematic I can't see why they would be needed.

[JimmyR]

BTW I'm in Australia. Our govts tend to follow your guys in the US with stuff like "road safety" and may be even more officious still.

[Steve]

But even the stator has a wire that goes up to a loop in the kill switch socket before going to the rectifier/regulator, if the schematic is to be believed. Why would they do that? Why not just route all 3 wires from the stator straight to the RR? That is what I will be doing in my rewire unless I find a reason not to.

If your headlight will be ON all the time, feel free to do so.

The reason that loop is there was explained briefly by Highway_Glider, but there is a little more to the story.
Yes, it's there because of the headlight switch. The rest of the story has to do with the rather crude voltage regulation system on our bikes. The stator is always putting out just as much as it can, and the output increases with speed. The regulation part is handled by the R/R (rectifier/regulator), which simply shunts any excess to ground, without changing the actual output of the stator. It is designed to have an output that is just a bit more than the load required by the bike. By turning the headlight OFF, there is a lot of excess to dump.

On bikes with an operational headlight switch, that little loop was replaced by a pair of wires that went to the headlight switch. The headlight switch actually had two sets of terminals. One set would control the flow of electricity to the headlight, the other would interrupt one leg of the stator to prevent the R/R from working so hard, or overcharging the battery.

Sidenote here: That third leg of the stator puts out just a bit more than the headlight draws. Yep, surprised me a bit, too. I would have the headlight OFF while starting the bike, but found that it charges the battery faster with the headlight (and the third stator leg) turned ON.

.

[JimmyR]

Thanks Steve. Yes my headlight will always be on. It has to be by law here. I really appreciate your comments - I had thought about switching the headlight so I could switch it off for start-up. But the controls I have for the bike now don't even have a headlight on/off switch.