1985 Suzuki VS750 rewire

Ready to hit the road, refreshed and invigorated

The aftermarket rear indicator wires were trapped between the passenger backrest and rear mudguard. Fist step to fix that was make the hole in the backrest the right size

Now the wires run through a grommeted hole in the mudguard before turning towards the front of the bike. Much better

Here’s the new Ignitech ignition. It’s their basic model, sat on a custom mounting plate. Tail and indicator wires sweep past on the right

One of the new (pattern) ignition coils. Despite being sold for this exact model, they needed spacers making up to fit nicely

Here’s how it looked under the seat before

…and here’s how it looked after Adam had finished with it. Fuel pump relay on the left, lights cutout relay on the right

Julie’s Suzuki VS750

Julie had just put this much-loved bike through a respray and rebuild. But that had shown the electrics were in a right old state: exposed cables on the ignition coils, the ignition unit looking very crusty. Everywhere you looked were historical repairs that were probably not that great even when they were first done.

Small wonder she was reporting poor running.

My brilliant apprentice Adam got stuck in, and we rapidly concluded it needed new ignition coils, leads and HT caps, and a new ignition. Then Adam noticed that there was no way to turn the headlight off during cranking; the front brake switch was pooped; the fuel pump had stopped working; and the starter solenoid was dying. It was amazing the bike had managed to go at all.

We suggested the sidestand switch and clutch switch weren’t necessary, and Julie agreed. Ditto the parking light function. So that simplified the diagram. We then re-complicated it by adding a lights cutout relay, to switch all the power to the battery during cranking.

Ignitechs take about two weeks to arrive so there was plenty of time to restore and renew the speedo, warning lights, tail lights, indicators, fuse box and switchgear. And draw the diagram. Programmable Ignitech ignitions can run fuel pumps via a normal relay, but we were using Ignitech’s basic version, so Adam re-used the original Suzuki fuel pump relay system.

It’s a transistorised relay, which earths every time the coil makes a spark. It also fires when you press the starter. It sounds incredibly stressful for such a tiny component but all 1980s and 90s Japanese bikes used them. They are incredibly reliable.

The finished loom looks great. Another superb job by Adam.