Wire Gauge?

Hey Guys, I just picked up my first bike a 81 XJ750 Seca. The bike needs a lot of work but I am hoping that I can get it all done.

My question to you all is what gauge wire would you use to do a full rewire. I plan to use the simplified wiring diagram I found on here but not sure where to start with wire size. It looks like locally the cheapest I can pick up is 14 but not sure if that's too big?

 

Some of the wires differ in thickness. But the majority of the bike is done in 16 gauge. Some are 14 gauge. Make sure what you buy says awg. There are some cheapo wires out there that you want to stay away from.

 

Don't re-wire until you have it all running well in stock form. That way you won't be chasing your tail around trying to get the electrics right without knowing if there is some non-electrical problem causing you trouble. You will also be ditching the really cool systems monitor. Don't throw it out. They fetch good money.

 

Ya sorry I should have mentioned, when I got the bike the systems monitor was already mostly missing and the harness which was there was hacked to bits. I started not able to get fire and the lights were unbelievably bad (flashing, blinking, grounding out). This prompted me to pull the whole mess and start over.

I temporarily have some old 16 Gauge wire in place connecting everything except the ignition on the main circuit of the minimum wiring diagram found on here . This allowed me to get spark and realize there is something else stopping fuel (carbs look clean but must be clogged somewhere?) but i did manage to get it to attempt a start with a little fuel in the head.

I just need to figure out the best wire to tidy this up and set up the other circuits.

 

bigger the better
check in this
XJ PARTS CATALOG, SECTION D: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

he has a section on Identifing wire size

 

sizes used chacal discontinued 20 ga wire
some info from link also has info on current rating
16 x .030" =18-gauge wire
19 x .029" =16-gauge wire
19 x .027" =14-gauge wire
19 x .025" =12-gauge wire
19 x .023" =10-gauge wire
19 x .021" = 08-gauge wire
37 x .021" = 06-gauge wire

If the wire OD is 2.03mm - 2.19mm (.0799 to .0862"), then it's 20-gauge (20g) AWG or 0.40mm squared (metric size).
NOTE: 20g wire is rated for a maximum load of 11 amps of current at 12VDC.

If the wire OD is 2.26mm - 2.42mm (.0890 to .0953"), then it's 18-gauge (18g) AWG or 0.75mm squared (metric size).
NOTE: 18g wire is rated for a maximum load of 16 amps of current at 12VDC.

If the wire OD is 2.48mm - 2.64mm (.0976 to .1039"), then it's 16-gauge (16g) AWG or 1.25mm squared (metric size).
NOTE: 16g wire is rated for a maximum load of 22 amps of current at 12VDC.

If the wire OD is 2.89mm - 3.05mm (.1138 to .1201"), then it's 14-gauge (14g) AWG or 2.00mm squared (metric size).
NOTE: 14g wire is rated for a maximum load of 32 amps of current at 12VDC.
NOTE: 14g wire is the largest size wire normally found in the wiring harnesses on these bikes. Battery cables and the solenoid-to-starter motor cable are larger, of course, but of all the main harness and accessory wiring, 14-gauge is the largest that you'll find.

If the wire OD is 3.49mm - 3.65mm (.1374 to .1437"), then it's 12-gauge (12g) AWG or 3.00mm squared (metric size).
NOTE: 12g wire is rated for a maximum load of 41 amps of current at 12VDC.

If the wire OD is 4.32mm - 4.48mm (.1701 to .1764"), then it's 10-gauge (10g) AWG or 5.00mm squared (metric size).
NOTE: 10g wire is rated for a maximum load of 55 amps of current at 12VDC.

also tells which wires are needed for different items
got to read it to find what clues you need to wire with