New guy can really do with some advice/help!

Hi to all,

A bit of a background to introduce myself...... started riding in Australia last year, had a 2007 CBF250 which I enjoyed and having arrived back in the UK earlier this month I bought a 1998 CB500W to ride around Europe for 6 months, leaving next week. Problem is, the bike was stolen last week as I had just finished getting it ready. The bike was recovered but as you can imagine there was some damage:

Tachometer destroyed
Headlight bracket bent
Clutch lever snapped
Left mirror bent
Right and Left side panels broken off
Rear cowling broken off
Ignition switch cable ripped out
Hook seat catch broken

Gutted but I want to see if I can fix it myself. I think I can get most of the parts replaced 2nd hand but would like to ask 2 questions

1) Any recommendations on wreckers
2) Can anyone advise on the wiring into the ignition switch as I can (hopefully) solder the wiring back in place but I don't know to which terminals which wire goes!

I appreciate the time you have taken to read this and any help you may be able to offer!

Hi and welcome, sorry to hear about your troubles , plenty of second hand bits to be had on ebay, try ,donedeal, preloved, vivastreet, gumtree, buy n sell,etc. the guys here are great should be able to sort the wiring woes. Also keep a eye out for a none runner maybe cheaper as it will have most of the bits you need, good luck.

Hi Guys,

Cheers for the info so far. spitonyourgrave22 thanks for the diagrams 'unfortunately' I have those from Haynes, what i would like is a photo or diagram explaining which wire goes where on the ignition switch as there are no symbols on there to say.

Firstly - sorry to hear about the bad luck.
Secondly - forgive me in advance if I'm starting too simple

I'm guessing from your description they ripped out the ignition barrel.

As you can see from this diagram (near the top):



The ignition barrel basically connects three wires together (the red one, the red and brown? one and a blue one). They are all conncted when the switch is in the 'on' position.

If you can find the end of those three wires and twist/wrap/crimp them together you should be able to get the bike to run.

This is of course assuming that everything else is OK (battery, spark plugs, fuel etc).

It might be useful if you posted a picture of the ignition area of your bike... I may have underestimated the damage!!

Good luck!

Cheers for the reply,

I like simple when im playing with something new! Problem I have is that the gits ripped the wires straight from the soldering points on the ignition barrel so I have no indicators to say which wire to solder to which solder point. I know I should just by a new one but I want to try and fix it first.

Ah, I see.

Well, if you belive the diagram, it shouldn't matter which wire goes to which connection, because they're all connected together when it is 'on' and all disconnected when it is 'off'.

If you have a multimeter you can test the switch by using the 'resistance' setting and checking that there is low resistance between the contacts when the switch is 'on' and high/infinite resistance when it is 'off'.

Before you do that I would still suggest you check the bike can start when you bodge all the wires together before you spend too much time fixing it properly.

BTW, where abouts in the UK are you? Given what you were saying about having your bike nicked I would guess 'London' but I may be prejudiced :)

Cheers for the info, will try and 'bodge' and will advise on the outcome. I actually live in Bristol but the bike was park on a street up from a couple of bars! One lesson learned!

Had a quick look behind my headlight/under the clocks (where the ignition switch is) and it appears than on an unmolested switch the cable appears from the bottom of the switch - I couldn't really see how the cable connects.

I suspect the whole cable/switch thing comes as one unit, hence why you are having problems finding out how to put it back together.

Anyway - another thought - do you have a bike lock (of any kind)? IF you do, you could just replace the key-ignition with a simple switch (purchaced from your local friendly auto repair place) that is hidden somewhere out of the way.

If you are ingenious at hiding the switch (for instance, how about under the seat?) any possible theives won't be able to find it... does the steering lock part of the igniton still work? If so it would be even more difficult to steal!

You may not want to do this, of course....

Simple way to check the wires is turn the ignition to on ,with the bike in neutral and touch the wires to the solder points until the green neutral light shows.
I have done this repair before, it is hard to stop the plastic wire protectors from melting when you solder the wires in place, if the wires are bare sooner or later it will cause you problems.
I'd recommend buying a new ignition - about £30 new.
You will need to have a security screw remover to be able to unscrew the ignition to repalce it. I got a set from Collins Cash @ Carry Nott's for a £1!

I've just had a look at a replacement lock I got & looking from the front with the point of the triangle towards you the wires are:

back left - red, black stripe
back right - blue, red stripe
front - red

Re-soldiering it without melting the plastic housing is gonna be mighty tricky to say the least. If you can somehow get a heat sink (a large bulldog clip works) on the wires it might help.

Unfortunately my new barrel is currently attached to a 500S top yoke by security torx bolts so I'm gonna have to wait a bit to get the tool unless I can (preferably) work out some way to modify it to fit my naked bike. Otherwise I wouldn't have hesitated offering the old one to you. As it is there are a couple on the bay at the moment which might be a better bet.

eternally_troubled wrote:Ah, I see.

Well, if you belive the diagram, it shouldn't matter which wire goes to which connection, because they're all connected together when it is 'on' and all disconnected when it is 'off'.---snip---

The diagrams a little more complex than it looks but not by much thankfully. The fan wire (blue, red stripe) will actually be constantly connected to the battery wire (red) so the fan still runs when the ignitions off.

If you do decide to relocate & replace the ignition switch with a non key one, then you'll want to hook up the two red wires to the switch & the blue to the battery (it goes through it's own fuse anyway).