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turn signal anomoly

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175 views 6 replies 2 participants last post by  Easy Rider  
#1 ·
After not riding at all last season due to some surgery, I'm making up for it this season, and loving every minute of it. The bike (2005 S50) is running great and I'm still loving it.

Onto the issue. Briefly, On a recent rider with my brother, he noticed that when I use my turn signals, the unused one has a faint pulsing/dimming action. Not enough to confuse which way I'm turning, but still noticeable if you look for it. And the other day when I was riding alone, I noticed my signals went to that fast blinking mode during one of my turns. It did it only once or twice during the ride, and went back to normal by the next turn.

Anyway, when I got home I checked all the bulbs and they are all fine. And that's the extent of my comfort zone when it comes to bike electronics. Also, I had replaced the horn a while back with an aftermarket one (no relay required), and I even disconnected that to see if it made a difference. It didn't.

Other than that slight pulsing of the off side signal, everything seems to be fine and the bike starts right up without hesitation and rides nicely. Before I swing by my newly-found mechanic and pick his brain about it, I figured I'd check with the brain trust here on the forum. Anything else obvious that I should look for that I could try without potentially making things worse?

Thanks.
 
E
#2 ·
cutter said:
Anything else obvious that I should look for that I could try without potentially making things worse?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Check the connections to all 4 of the turn signals.
A poor ground at one of the sockets or at an intermediate connector can cause some
strange things to happen.
And if it still uses the old method of having the ground/negative side provided by
a connection to frame ground......that is even worse and more likely to cause trouble.
 
#3 ·
Check the connections to all 4 of the turn signals.

Thanks. As in visually check the wires going into the housings? Or follow the wires wherever they go, looking for bad wires or cuts in wires, etc.? Would it help or hurt to spray some CRC Electronics Cleaner into the sockets and/or signal switches on the handlebars?
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the follow-up. And now my turn to follow-up.

I didn't find anything obvious in my checking, so I brought it to the mechanic. He also checked everything starting from easiest to more involved, and when he got to the point where he removed the seat...well that's where the fun began. Despite my efforts to keep critters away while in storage, apparently they had made their way inside and wreaked some havoc. Mechanic ended up removing and cleaning out the filter and filter housing and replacing a bunch of wires that were chewed to the point of leaving exposed wires and the possible danger of fire down the road.

Since I don't plan on riding during the winter, I'll have to redouble my efforts for prevention. I've already bought some copper mesh for stuffing into crevices, and will probably get some pine oil, peppermint oil, moth balls, cayenne pepper and anything else I can think of.


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E
#7 ·
I think a couple of us suggested that you check the wiring going to the signals in the back.
It is impossible to do that without removing the seat.......yet apparently you didn't do that.

The easiest way to keep varmints out of your vehicles is to put out a safety
bait station or two.....unless maybe you want to get a couple of cats !!
 
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