1982 Maxim 650 Would swapping in awire bundle same as 1980?

I’d like to fix a 1980 XJ 650 maxim, Which has a bad wire harness. Would swapping in a wire harness from a 1982 model work on the 1980?

 

It would mostly work. Your safety circutry is different, and the '82 has an electric tach, so you'd have to make changes to the harness.

 

The diode block is slightly different but from personal experience it will work if wired properly

 

Turn signal ground wires are present in the 1982-3 harnesses, not there on 1980 models, but a bullet connector and length of wire could remedy that. I believe it's much better to ground the turns thru the harness rather than thru the frame.

1980 models lack a sidestand switch (part of the safety circuit), and thus you'd have to "bypass" (i.e. short across) that part of the harness, but the TCI connector is also different (due to the sidestand issue) so you'd have to change that out.

Also, the '82-up models use dual brake lights, the 1980 has only 1 bulb, but that will not present an issue.

 

Forgot about the tci, yes that is different. Would he want to the one for the harness not necessarily for the bike/motor? Also with chacals brake light tip I am curious to crack open the factory light from my 82 650 as I don't recall there being 2 lights but I definitely don't possess the wisdom he does.

 

The TCI always goes with the engine that the TCI is mean to run.

 

Guys, I really appreciate the great technical input! That has helped me form a decision not to pursue fixing up the 1980. I just brought it home this evening and now I really can see it would take too much work and part replacements to make it look decent, that also factors into my decision. Besides, I really can use some of the parts from it...and the other parts l'll eventually post for sale.