GS1100GK '83. Indicators no come on or flash. Auto-off fault?

[Jonathan]

Hi all. Last job before the GS is finished is to get the indicators to work. On moving the handlebar switch to L or R the flasher relay clicks once but the lights don't come on.

the 1100GK has a auto-off electrical black box. I don't know if the fault causing my lack of indicator lights is with this component or something else. I've swapped out the flasher relay to no benefit.

Has anyone else had trouble with the auto-off component? Any other "known" problems?

 

[Jonathan]

This is the bike in question...

 

[Steve]

You have swapped out the relay? What did you put in?

If it is not a Suzuki flasher, it will not work. Period.

Unless you do a lot of modifying.

By the picture, that would be a GS1100GK"S"? :-k

.

 

[Jonathan]

I've tried done other flasher relays. The Suzuki one does seem closest to working, I wasn't aware the Suzuki ones were different to everything else.

yup a GS1100GS. I do cafe racers of every size.

keep the Suzuki one and chase a routine bad connection?

 

[Guest]

Also if battery isn't fully charged, I have seen them that only work while bike is running

 

[Steve]

I wasn't aware the Suzuki ones were different to everything else.

On the bikes with auto-cancel, the third pin on the flasher is NOT a ground, it is connected to the Turn Signal Control Unit (TSCU). The other two pins are connected to the battery and to the lights, as with other flashers. The flasher only does the actual "flashing", the TSCU tells it when to start and stop. There is no other flasher on the market that has the pin for the TSCU.

I do cafe racers of every size.

Your bike appears to be very nicely done, but it is so ANTI-"cafe racer". The "cafe racer" concept was born by a bunch of guys that were stripping anything off their bikes that did not make it go faster, handle better or stop faster, in the quest of getting to the next cafe first. Your fairing is pushing the envelope on the basic concept, but it can add a bit of streamlining, which would make it quicker. However, the bags and trunk are another matter entirely.

Personally, I would say that the change in fairing would make the bike more of a "sport tourer", with the emphasis more on "tourer" than "sport". :-k

It's also interesting to see it done in the "Cooley" blue and white, but overall, I like it. :encouragement:

.

 

[Jonathan]

Well thank you all, consider it a Gentleman's velocipede. A GPz1100, a Honda CBR1100 Bol d'Or. The only weight that's come out of it has been the fairing. I'm not overly impressed with the AirTech 900SS fairing, the handlebar gap isn't quite wide enough to accommodate the space the bars need to go through their full arc so some creative fitting was needed to get it to fit...

you are right about it having to be a Suzuki flasher, perhaps sometime I'll learn about what's special inside.

Also needing a fully charged battery......

im now waiting for a pair of surface mount tungsten filament surface mount indicators, LEDs are too complicated and I'll be good.

 

[Jonathan]

Steve, I've seen your description of the flasher unit, third pin.... I understand, thank you.

 

[Steve]

LED blinker 'bulbs' are possible, but will require some adaptation. One way is to also add some load resistors, which simulate the load of incandescent bulbs and maintain the same flash rate. If you are switching to LEDs to save some power, this will negate that effort, as it still draws the same load. One other way is to get creative with the flasher unit. I am using a prototype unit from another member that has allowed me to install a flasher unit that is proper for LEDs, but still retains my TSCU and my auto-cancel. I think I have heard that this prototype is not going to go into production, so some experimentation will have to be done. It is basically a small solid-state relay that controls the ground (in this case, it's the third pin) for the flasher unit. By using the TSCU to lift the ground to the flasher, the flashing stops.

Since that is beyond the scope of most of us, sticking with the incandescent bulbs is probably best. :encouragement:

.

 

[Jonathan]

Dear all.

success (of a sort) at last. Surface mount incandescent lights arrived and duly wired in. Battery fully charged and new reg/rec with 13.5v charging.

suzuki 3pin flasher relay would flash, but strangely only when the engine wasn't running.... start the engine and no flashy lighty thingys.

swapped the Suzuki 3pin phlasher relay (heady with excitement and a couple of beers) for a no-name two prong relay and lo! Lights go flashy-flashy even with the engine running. Woohoo!

so, I do without self-cancelling indicators. No great hardship as no other bike I have had has had self-cancelling indicators. Can you miss something you have not got nor have never had?

i presume there is some fault in the black box that cancels the indicators but having worked around the problem I won't be trying to track it down.

been out on it today, the GS1100 is everything I remember UJM litrebikes to be. Big, docile unless thrashed, comfortable, torqueful. The short handlebars make the whole feel very planted. Very pleased.

roll on summer

 

[bobgroger]

Dear all.

success (of a sort) at last. Surface mount incandescent lights arrived and duly wired in. Battery fully charged and new reg/rec with 13.5v charging.

suzuki 3pin flasher relay would flash, but strangely only when the engine wasn't running.... start the engine and no flashy lighty thingys.

swapped the Suzuki 3pin phlasher relay (heady with excitement and a couple of beers) for a no-name two prong relay and lo! Lights go flashy-flashy even with the engine running. Woohoo!

so, I do without self-cancelling indicators. No great hardship as no other bike I have had has had self-cancelling indicators. Can you miss something you have not got nor have never had?

i presume there is some fault in the black box that cancels the indicators but having worked around the problem I won't be trying to track it down.

been out on it today, the GS1100 is everything I remember UJM litrebikes to be. Big, docile unless thrashed, comfortable, torqueful. The short handlebars make the whole feel very planted. Very pleased.

roll on summer

If you remove the black box and jumper the third pin of the flasher to ground the turn signals will work, and more importantly you can use an LED flasher from Autozone or Ebay. If you have a bike with a single "Turn" light in the gauges you need to either cut the light green and black leads to the bulb, or put diodes in series with both wires from the flasher to one lead of the bulb, and ground the other bulb lead. Otherwise both sides flash in either direction....