Murf

I have a RT2, not RT1, so I'm flying a bit blind here. However, I'm happy to try and help and to this end I wonder if you would post here which wires are in the two sides of the block connectors, and in what sequence. Also what colour the individual wires are - again, both sides please.

Note that the wiring colour chart that RT325 posted earlier covers virtually all Yamahas of that era - eg horn is always pink etc. Just take care that something like a red wire hasn't faded to pink with age, that sort of thing!

Thanks.

Alan

Yep, hope my diagram doesn't cause confusion. Yamaha always have dark brown & dark green as indicators left & right "forgotten which side is which. Pink for the horn 'as said'. Light brown is always live after the switch is on. Red for battery live into the switch. Black is always earth except for the mag black which is the go wire for ignition. Black & white is ignition kill when switch is off & will join the mag black to kill it but black white will find its way to earth somewhere to complete the spark kill, most likely through the loom black which is earth & probably earthed to the coil mount or close by under the tank. Yellow from the mag is lights into the switch but 'think' then comes out as blue to the dipswitch which then goes yellow green to the headlight for high low with black as earth to the bulb. Blue to the tail light & brake light could be yellow 'something, green i think. & black as an earth back there. Actually if you're in the USA & have a battery powered tail light then ignore my magneto powered tail light like where i am down under. Horn with the pink for the button earth will have a light brown to power it. white from the mag has to be rectifier related but think it'd have to be via the switch as other colors need bridging for charging, for lights on or lights off situation. Someone sort me if i'm up the creek as i'm going by memory & not reading diagrams right now. I have a mental block trying to follow diagrams & get lost, but remember their basic colors & the browns & greens used to cause problems for the unwary or unfamiliar. Probably shouldn't have posted this as confusing but anyway, dissect it as you wish lol.

Looks correct from here...

I will do bit of a diagram and upload it to show what I have

This is what I have. I hope this makes sense. The black/white connecting to the green/red is the one that I am confused about the most

I have not run across a RT1 switch with those wire colors.
The ones that have 10 wires look like this

6 pin connector:
Yellow__________Blue/White
Green__________Brown
Green/Red______Black/White

Loose:
Red- male
White- female
Black-male
Blue-female

I can just about read what you've posted!

If that is a blue/red wire that you're making reference to, then that will be for a European model (it is for a parking light) and therefore probably incorrect for yours, unless yours is a European model (unlikely).

Larger diagrams/photos would be good!

Another possibility is that your ignition switch might have been intended for a street bike
from the same era ( R5 XS2 ) , they would look similar , but could be wired differently .

Ok, thanks everyone. The bike I have is a US bike but the ignition switch is one I found and bought after I got the bike. The original was missing and I am assuming that I have managed to buy a European model switch without realising. The switch has 4 positions. Below shows which switch wires are connected together in each position.

Position 1 (off) black----black/white blue/blue----blue/red
Position 2 red----brown blue----blue/red green----white
Position 3 red----brown blue----yellow----white----red/yellow----blue/red
Position 4 black----black/white blue----red----blue/red

Blue is always connected to blue/red as they are basically soldered together in the switch.

Can any of you confirm that my ignition switch is for a European model and if so can I alter the wire configuration in the connector to make it work on my bike? I realise that I cannot change the internal switching but maybe I can move something to make it work. Just a thought.
Thanks again for all your help.

Thanks.

Yes, definitely looks like a switch for a European model.

Observations, in no particular order of importance:-

1) The blue/red that you have is not used on the RT1.
2) The red/yellow that you have is probably not used on the RT1 (my experience of red/yellow wires is that they are a headlight flashing/passing switch).
3) You are missing the red/green wire for night time charging.
4) You are missing the blue/white - I think this is for speedo/tacho illumination and so could probably be spliced from the existing blue.

Please wait for others to confirm the above.

My own suggestion would be to look for a correct replacement switch in line with the photo I posted earlier and DEET's explanation and sell the one you do have, but maybe try and id what it is off first (probably a 12v model). With a bit of luck, you won't lose much, if anything, doing this, and you might even make a couple of quid!