Motorcycle Electrics 101- Re-wiring your Café Racer or Bobber Project

Quick side note – if you would like to know more about motorcycle wiring diagrams, check out this article by bikezombies

That’s your charging and running circuit sorted, (the easy part) now work on finishing your lights and accessories. They’re already mounted up so the looming and connection is all that’s left.

Lighting Circuit

1. You’ll have to run wires from your electrics tray to the front of the bike. I use a Black “snake skin” cable sleeving to protect my wiring from damage and it looks a lot better than your standard plastic wrap or electrical tape. as a minimum you’ll need;

Accessories

• 1 red active linked to the gauges, horn and brake switch
• 1 black ground wire
• 1 Purple for front brake switch
• Signal Lights depending on your gauges ( Neutral, Oil, Engine)

Lights

• 1 Blue for Low Beam
• 1 Yellow for High Beam
• 1 Green for Left turn
• 1 Brown for Right Turn
• Lights can be Grounded to the frame

Left Switch

• 1 green wire for rear left indicator
• 1 orange wire for the Horn
• 1 blue wire for high/low beam function
• All switches switch to Ground (black wire)

Right switch

• 1 brown wire for right indicator
• 1 yellow wire for the Kill switch
• 1 pink Wire for the Starter Coil (optional)
• All switches switch to Ground (black wire)

1. Try to use solder connections on wire joins and good quality joiners for connection to switches and lights.

• Wire all buttons and install into switch housings, for in depth info on this check out our momentary switch guide
• Connect the headlight, and turn signals using the colours described above
• Connect your accessories +ve (gauges, brake switch, horn)
• Connect the other accessories wires as described above
• Connect any Dash lights relevant to your bike.
• All of your accessories will need to have the black wires grounded. You can connect this to the frame at any point or join them all and run a wire back to the electrics tray.
• With the cables connected, loom them into the cable sheathing and run them back to the electrics tray. Avoiding contact with hot areas or sharp edges.

1. Now work from the rear of the bike back to the electrics tray (use snake skin here again). You’ll need:

• 1 red active wire for the rear brake switch, the running light, and the number plate light.
• 1 Purple switch wire from the brake switch
• 1 red wire for your brake light
• 1 green wire for rear left indicator
• 1 brown wire for rear right indicator
• 1 black earth wire

1. The final step is to use your terminal strip to connect your wiring into the Black Box and linking the Horn and Brake lights up to their respective switches. The Gauges, Horn and Brake are run from a separate “accessories fuse” that’s not connected to the black box.