85 xj700x solenoid wiring

Someone cut the wiring, and replaced it with spaghetti and the solenoid wasn't clicking. So I'm trying to fix it. To the best of my knowledge the red wire & blu/white wire coming out of here under the seat from that big relay under the tank are the solenoid wires. Is that correct? Does the black wire go to ground? I thought the other solenoid wire would be red and white but there's no tracer on the red wire. Whoever hacked the wiring had the fuse plugged into the solenoid and the red wire going to the starter wire and the blu/white going to ground. So I'm not even sure that it needs the fuse or where to connect it. Also I cannot find any fuse block, in here. Also, will these motorcycles start without a headlight installed? I have the wiring diagram but I'm uncertain so I thought I would ask. I think the red wire goes to the fuse and then the small red wire coming out of the fuse goes to the solenoid and the blue/white wire also goes to the solenoid

 

sorry for the double post but the edit button has disappeared. Is it supposed to go like this?
also, the black wire has continuity to the frame, so really it can be connected to thhe engine or the battery, but the rest of it, where the red/white wire goes and the fuse is the main issue here.
or does the red/white from the solenoid go straight to the battery instead of to the fuse? I guess it probably doesn't matter idk?. I attached 2 diagrams.

 

This is how stock solenoid hooks up. Perhaps the PO was doing a workaround for failed safety circuit??

 

The fuses are under the chromed idiot lights cover between the tach and speedo, tank side of the temp gauge. Four screws to remove the cover.

 

he was doing a workaround for some giant ape hangers with a marine start switch that didn't work. when i say there was spagetti i mean it was horrible. he had about 15 feet of wire crammed under the seat, wires hanging from the back of the fender alligator clipped onto the tail light wires, etc. there were zip ties and a hose clamp holding the throttle cable to the outside of the grip and it was all wrapped in electrical tape. start run switch was gutted, it appears he used sheetrock screws to attach the faceplate to the bottom of the gauge cluster. he had a small square fog light bolted to the front with the wires jammed inside the headlight connector. fan has been rigged as well. But he made sure to properly extend the clutch safety switch wires... It appears he didn't know enough about anything to bypass anything properly. worst rig job ever


thanks for the info. I appreciate it!!

Also, the fan has been rigged to a switch, i'm assuming the temp sensor has failed, but where do i find that?

 

if you need a wiring diagram for your bike , if you click on top right of page ,( XJ forever), scroll down to about 8 from bottom, you will see "information overload hour"
scroll down that to electrical section and wiring diagrams are at the end, cant see one specifically for the 85 x but im sure one of them will be near
you may need 3 pages part one , part 2 ,and the key

 

I printed the wiring diagram this morning, but the part that says "starter relay" and "starter solenoid" those being 2 different things threw me off because a lot of people use those terms interchangably. Also I thought that the "starter relay" was just a flasher, apparently it's equivalent to an old Honda civic's "main relay"
anyhow, I got my bike wired correctly finally, and i'm sure it will start if it's able to start. if i ever get my starter brush plate in... i've been waiting for over a week and it's been stuck in atlanta with the US mail for 4 days

 

yeh, starter relay would be operated by low current wires and switches, the relay would then operate the heavier duty solenoid , which will then close the even heavier duty solenoid contacts to put power from the battery to the starter motor,

 

well really I guess the starter relay's main job is to disengage or prevent the starter if the bike is running. otherwise it would be very redundant to have a relay in the middle of the start trigger wire. It's been a long time since I had to work on anything like this. This whole thing has been a refresher course on basic motorcycle electrical systems. Next is my carb tuning refresher course, assuming my starter spins the right direction

 

Relay is in there to help with all the AMPS the starter will be pulling from the battery.

 

If I'm not mistaken the main job of the relay is to disconnect the starter button when the bike is running. Because the only thing going through that relay from the starter wire is a ground signal when the button is pressed. There are no amps pulled through ground

 

I stand corrected, I was thinking the trigger for the solenoid starter with the two positive wires connected to it. Not the "starter relay" that is a stand along ckt for this model.

 

Well Technically you could run this same thing on the positive side instead I reckon. And keep the other side of the solenoid always grounded. I don't see how it could hurt anything doing it the opposite way

 

That starter relay is there as part of the safety circuit and prevents the starter from engaging if the bike is not in neutral OR in gear with side stand up AND the clutch lever pulled in. The starter will still engage on a working bike if you push the start button with the bike running if the same previous conditions are met.

 

I bypassed the clutch lever and threw the switch away. If this is all the relay is for then I'm getting rid of the entire thing, and all related wires and switches. The last thing I need is for a failed relay preventing me from starting my bike in the middle of nowhere.