Help trouble shoot signal lights

[Scratcher09]

My bike did not have signal lights when I bought it. I am installing some, but can't get them to come on at all. I have the correct wires connected according to the manual (blk-right, lt gr-left, blk w/wht-grounds). I have a multimeter but I'm not good with electrical problems. Can anyone guide me to a trouble shooting thread or give me some advise?

 

[Missile99]

I would start with checking power out of the fuse. Then check voltage at the bulb contact. Are the connections of light green and black to the blacks of the signal stalks good? Check these voltages using the ground wire for the signals and if you read nothing, try checking using a frame ground.

 

[cowboyup3371]

What kind of flasher are you using?

 

[Steve]

Does your horn work?

Does your brake light work?

No, these are not silly questions. They work off the same fuse as the signals. If the fuse is blown, NONE of them will work.

As cowboy mentioned, what flasher do you have installed? If it is not a stock flasher, you will have to do some modification.

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[Scratcher09]

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back out to my garage. I do have voltage at fuse. The horn, running lights, etc. work. And I am using a stock flasher. I have no voltage at the light green or black wires whether I use ground wires or frame.

 

[Steve]

Check the three-pin connector at the flasher. The orange/green wire should have power when the key is ON.

If it does, turn the flasher ON, the light blue wire should have intermittent power.

If it does, continue 'downstream' to the selector on the left handlebar.
If not, it could be the flasher or the control unit.

.

 

[Scratcher09]

I have constant voltage on or/gr (with key on). Blue only gives me voltage when signal switch is off and no voltage when signal switch is on. The third wire does the same as the blue.

 

[Steve]

I will have to verify on my bike (or my wife's), but you might have a bad control unit.

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[Scratcher09]

Still trying to figure this out. If flasher is bad, wouldn't the signal lights still come on but not flash?

 

[Steve]

In post #6, I mentioned you might have a bad control unit. There is a difference between "flasher" and "control unit".

And, ... because of the way the flasher works, it can be bad and the lights OFF.

The third wire on the flasher (black/blue) goes to the TSCU, Turn Signal Control Unit. It basically tells the flasher when to start and stop its flashing. It acts like the black/blue wire turns on a relay in the flasher unit that applies power to the flasher. When the auto-cancel system senses that all of its parameters are met, the TSCU will tell the flasher to stop flashing. If the TSCU is bad, it will never tell the flasher to start flashing, and that might be your problem. If the TSCU is good (and sending that signal), it's still possible that the flasher is not turning ON to start the flashing.

If you are not concerned about the auto-cancel feature, you can substitute a 'normal' 2-pin flasher unit and put it across the orange/green and light blue wires in the connector. You will have to manually turn off your signals, but they should work. That is, as long as the new lights that you have installed are using bulbs similar to stock. If you have some 'cute' signals or LEDs, you will need to install an appropriate flasher.

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[Scratcher09]

Problem solved. I substituted a car flasher and it works fine now.

 

[Steve]

But I'll bet you don't have self-cancelling signals any more. :-k

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[Scratcher09]

Correct. I can live with that. I've been riding with no signals for a few weeks so any signals at all will be an improvement.

 

[Steve]

If you would like to have self-cancelling signals, contact posplayr. He was working on a solution for those of us that have switched to LED signals and need a different flasher. I have installed one on my bike and can tell you it works very well. :encouragement:

On the other hand, if you are not interested in having self cancelling signals, may I buy your control unit? :-k

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