| Wire Color |
Stripe Color |
Color Code |
Where Used |
Notes |
Sample |
| Black | | B | Ground on Negative Ground Machines | Most machines are positive ground and have no black wires. However, some harnesses (probably after-market) used black instead of red!
On some Triumphs, the horn to ground was Black.
On Triumphs with a horn relay, the relay to horn wire was Black and the horn ground wire was also black. |  |
| Black | | B | Voltage Regulator Negative Output | PODtronics, Tri-Spark MOSFET, and most others | |
| Black | Red | BR | Contact Breaker to Center Cylinder's Coil, Triples | |  |
| Black | White | BW | Contact Breaker to Timing Side Cylinder's Coil, Twins/Triples | On singles, this is the Contact Breaker to Coil wire. |  |
| Black | Yellow | BY | Contact Breaker to Drive Side Cylinder's Coil, Twins/Triples | |  |
| Blue | | U | Light Switch (Headlight) to Dip Switch (Handlebar) | Some Norton harnesses also use Blue instead of the Blue/Yellow from the headlight switch to the ignition switch |  |
| Blue | Red | UR | Dip Switch (Handlebar) to Dip (Low) Beam | |  |
| Blue | White | UW | Dip Switch (Handlebar) to Main (High) Beam | |  |
| Blue | Yellow | UY | Ignition Switch to Headlight Switch | Some Norton harnesses use Blue for this instead.
On Triumph, to stop confusion I use this from the switched side of the ignition switch to pin 4 of the 3-position headlight switch. Some Triumph diagrams have it as NB and some as NW - in either case that is confusing because they are primarily on the "hot" side of the switch. |  |
| Brown | | N | Stop Light | |  |
| Brown | Black | NB | Horn button to horn (See PB Below) | Triumph "usually" used this for the horn. Some used PB |  |
| Brown | Blue | NU | Battery to Ignition Switch if no Ammeter or Battery to Ammeter and see NW | |  |
| Brown | Green | NG | Taillight, Pilot Light, Speedo & Tach Illumination | |  |
| Brown | White | NW | Ammeter to Ignition Switch | I use 14 gauge wire for this and NU |  |
| Green | | G | Dynamo Field | Only on Magneto machines |  |
| Green | Black | GB | Stator Low Output (RM19), One Leg (RM24) | |  |
| Green | Red | GR | Lefthand Turn Signal | |  |
| Green | White | GW | Righthand Turn Signal | |  |
| Green | Yellow | GY | Stator High Output (RM19), One Side (RM21), One Leg (RM24) | On Norton, also goes to the Warning Light Assimlator |  |
| Light Green | Brown | LGN | Turn Signal (Direction) Switch (Handlebar) common to Flasher Unit | |  |
| Purple | Black | PB | Horn button to horn (See NB Above) | As far as I know, this color was always used on Norton |  |
| Red | | R | Ground on Positive Ground Machines | For Norton, I use 14ga for the main ground wires. For others, I use 14ga at least for the battery to frame.
Some harnesses replaced this with black, but that is not common. |  |
| Red | Black | RB | Lighting Switch to Pilot Light | On later bikes, this was changed to Brown/Green so the pilot light was on whenever the tail light was on |  |
| Red | Green | RG | Oil Pressure Switch to Oil Pressure Indicator (Red) | Triumph before KE00001, after see WN |  |
| While | Green | WG | Stator Common (RM19 & RM24), One Side (RM21) | On Norton MKIII this also goes to the Warning Light Assimulator |  |
| White | | W | "Hot" when the igniton is on. | Goes to each handlebar console, the brake switches, and if no kill button, the coils. See WY |  |
| White | Black | WB | Contact Breaker (Distributor) to Ignition Coil | Only on Magneto machines. Note: The Norton MKIII workshop manual wiring diagram incorrectly shows this instead of Black/White as the timing side contact breaker to coil wire. |  |
| White | Blue | WU | Under tank junction to ballast resistor | Norton, See WY |  |
| White | Brown | WN | Oil Pressure Switch to Oil Pressure Indicator (Red) | Triumph from KE00001 on |  |
| White | Brown | WN | Warning Light Assimulator to Charging Indicator (Red) | This is standard for a Norton but I remove the assimulator and install an oil pressure switch connected to this wire. |  |
| White | Purple | WP | Ballast Resistor to Ignition Coils | Norton |  |
| White | Red | WR | Starter Switch (Handlebar) to Starter Selenoid | Norton MKIII, Triumph T160 |  |
| White | Yellow | WY | Engine Kill (Handlebar) | Triumph Twins/Triples when no balast resistor is used: To coils.
Norton Commando, Pre-MKIII: To junction under tank where it connects to the White/Blue which connects to the balast resistor.
Norton Commando MKIII: To the balast resistor.
|  |
| Yellow | | Y | PODtronics single or three phase input from stator | |  |
| Yellow | | Y | Dynamo Output | Only on Magneto machines | |