/5 BMW Speedometer Wiring

Hopefully the following wiring photos can be of help to somebody.
I hope to add to this post once I am done.
Click on the photos for larger versions.

On my last /5 build, I adapted a /6 relay board to my /5. I cut off the terminals i did not need due to the simplicity (and less features) of a /5 vs /6. I also liked the idea of having the fuses easily accessible. Everything works great however in hind sight, I maybe went too far (did I complicate a simple /5 wiring scheme by adding the /6 board?) and perhaps I left the fuses too exposed where they could get knocked out. But I have over 3000k on the bike right now and no issues.
The gold resistors on the bottom of the headlight bucket are for the LED turn signals. Resistors are necessary to adapt the low current draw of the LED’s so the relays still work.
The large black box at the bottom is a /6 /7 and R100S style turn signal relay.
BlueWith6
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Here is my naked speedometer. I highly recommend painting the inside of the headlight bucket a bright color. It really helps for seeing inside there.
Labeled
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Here is the speedometer wired. It is hard to see some of the actual terminals/connections but this should be a nice short-cut for somebody who doesn’t want to read the wiring diagram.
Please note: My Red/Yellow wire going to the instrument lighting is also a gray/black wire in most wiring diagrams.
Wires
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UPDATEUPDATEUPDATE
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In hind sight, my /6 relay board wasn’t such a bad idea. I scoured electrical stores, auto stores and the internet for terminal relays and fuse blocks that would work for inside the headlight bucket.
I never really found the perfect solution. I was looking for a nice, compact 2 fuse relay. I also looked for a junction box that suited all the necessary connections.
I ended up using the terminal connector that came with the Rocky Point headlight key conversion (white junction on the right side of the photo).
I also used a CINCH 6 position terminal for wiring up the turn signals, brake light and other connections.

I decided to abandon the typical inline ceramic fuse holders that BMW supplies. The ceramic fuses aren’t readily available at your local auto parts store so I have planned to seek the help of experts from https://telluridetireandauto.com/. And I have also opted for something common like the rubber covered fuse holders carry a typical ATC fuses. BMW specifies an 8 AMP fuse. I went with a 7.5 and a 10 (because that is what i have in my garage). The 10 will be fine. The 7.5 vs 8 shouldn’t make a difference.

The Clymer manual did a great job for most of the wiring.
The other diagrams helped A LOT though. One diagram specified which wires connect to which pin on the turn signal flasher.
One thing that none of the diagrams specify is which terminal numbers on the relays connect to which wire. Yea, a bunch of wires plug into the starter relay, but which wires go to each pin/terminal?
Luckily I took a BUNCH of notes when I tore the bike apart. And luckily the old connections were correct.
Here are my resources:WiringDiagrams
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Here is the headlight bucket as tidy as can be (for now).
WiredHeadlight2
Another iphone quality photo of the headlight:
WiredHeadlight1

After some battery charging, and some testing, and pulling my hair out only to realize that the Rocky Point switch was labeled incorrectly (blue and yellow wires were mixed up and mislabeled). we are good to go!
I popped the headlight on and the bike is showing signs of life again!

HeadlightOnCloseup

HeadlightOn

UPDATE UPDATE – – – –

Here are the photos of the second silver bike’s headlight wiring.  It looks somewhat messy in the photo but take my word for it, it ended up being tidy.  I used a cut down /6 relay board and mounted it inside the headlight bucket.  HeadlightRelayBoard_IMG_4588
HJeadlightWiring_IMG_4592

Custom Battery cables

Due to relocating the battery I had to make some custom battery cables. One has to run from battery (located in the tail section of the seat) to the starter and the negative cable will most likely ground on the transmission near the shifter instead of at the speedometer cable.

I bought some #4 Welding cable. It is a nice and thick gauge wire, and flexible.
WeldingWire

I stripped the wire and found a few different sized terminals. This terminal end will connect to the battery.
terminal

Pre-Crimping. FWIW, this crimper is really heavy and cumbersome but works pretty good.
Crimper

Crimped:
Crimped

Cleaned up with Heat Shrink covering.
heatShrink

In addition to the positive wire that connects to the starter, I made a small positive lead to connect to the main harness positive lead. I used the same crimper and it came out great.
positive

The First Full Face Helmet

Dan Gurney, 1960

‘Dan worked with Bell Helmets in California where he helped to develop the first full face helmet. He had seen motorcycle racers wear similar ones at Ascot Raceway in California. Dan wore the first full face helmet at Indianapolis in 1968 and then also introduced it to Formula I racing at the British and German Grand Prix in 1968.’

– Evi Gurney, via The Chicane

Full-Face-Racing-Helmet-1-598x838

Cad Plating

A friend turned me onto the idea of having those old, nasty nuts and bolts cad plated.
After disassembling 4 BMW motorcycles over the years, i developed a few ziplock bags of rusted, filthy, oxidized junk.

After i gathered everything up in a tupperware container, it weighed close to 50 lbs.

I should have had this done before my latest restoration but nothing will beat the stainless steel hardware I have used throughout the bike.

This will, however, save me lots of money and trips to the hardware store.

It was a heavy load for one saddle bag. My bike was all over the road having ‘dead weight’ on one side of the bike.
Bikeimage_1C

These were pretty much un-usable parts. I threw in some fork plates, rusted axles, and other bits just to see what would happen. Whatever was aluminum couldn’t be plated but they got blasted clean anyway.
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A day later and $80 out of my pocket and into the pocket of the guy who did this ‘under the table’ and this is what I got.
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I spent about 3 hours watching TV, drinking beer and organizing everything. I would have been watching TV and drinking beer anyway…
And at anywhere from $.07 – $.60 per washer, bolt, nut and screw from the hardware store or from BMW (some parts are $2 or more), I think just the contents of this container is worth it.
WashersphotoC

cable beginnings

Starting to get the wiring and cables figured out.

The wiring comes pretty easy for me. Understanding the diagrams on a /5 is not too difficult. The headlight bucket will probably get buttoned up last. I have a battery cable ran from behind the seat to the starter. I need to modify the main harness a bit to reach the relocated battery. I need to make a ground cable for the battery.

I found a nice hiding place for the Dyna electronic ignition.
IMG_3775_cvC

I used some closed cell foam to protect the frame from getting scratched when i tighten it down.
IMG_3776cvC

I snuck this baby into a hidden no man’s land on these bikes. I’ve been told they need some air on them to keep cool (don’t quote me on that) so if that is true, this location will get the air and nobody will notice it.
IMG_3777cvC

I am getting the basic wires ran and then once everything is in it’s place, I will tidy this up even more.

WiringCables2LRC

I wish i didn’t need all this crap… but it is essential.
2 throttle cables, switch wiring, brake switch and wires, brake cable…
I am going to get some new cables made. i am running the old ones for sizing and fitting. The only problem is they are filthy.

WiringCablesLrC

It took me about 20 minutes to dig these up. I threw one brake cable retainer on the polishing wheel. That will work for the other one but the rest of the stuff is NASTY. I am thinking of getting a big batch of nuts and bolts cad-plated. It will save me from all those $7 trips to the hardware store to buy new nuts and bolts. More on that later.
DirtyScrewsLrC