Installing Trailer Wiring Harness on Motorcycle with 5 Wire System

Question:

I have a 5 to 4 wire harness converter to hook up to the wires on the bike but the wires have 4 of the same color wires and 1 different color and I want to know which wires go to what, I have on the converter the green, white, yellow, brown and a red wire, and on harnes that I need to connect to have green, white, yellow, brown and a blue wire, I don’t know what goes to what.

asked by: Robert E

Helpful Expert Reply:

It sounds like you are trying to install a converter harness kit like the Tekonsha # 119178 to combine the separate circuits on your motorcycle to the standard combined wiring that is on a trailer. On the harness that you are installing the green wire should be for right turn signal only from the bike, the white wire is for ground, the yellow wire is for left turn signal only, the brown wire is for running lights, and the red wire is for the brake lights only.

In order to determine which wire to connect to for each of these functions on your motorcycle you will need to simply test them using a circuit tester like # PTW2993. Because there is no standard for wire colors on a vehicle/motorcycle and manufacturers tend to switch up the colors they use at the factory, this is the only safe and certain way to find the correct wires on your bike. You can run through the lighting functions on the bike while you test each of your 5 wires to see what signal each of them carries.

expert reply by: Chris R