What is this connected to turn signal flasher?

Turn signals had been working fine on my KZ900 time I rode it. Bike's been sitting idle for 3 weeks. Tested them today and both front bulbs came on and stayed on, I believe the rears were on also. I took the flasher off and tested it for continuity and tested OK.... BUT this thing (resistor?) was attached to the end of the brown lead. I took it off and all 4 turn signals worked. I could find no mention of it in the service manual so I'm thinking it was put in line possibly because the PO was using LED's but there are standard bulbs in the signals and they worked fine last time I ran the bike while this "resistor" was installed. Any idea anyone?

cant tell from the out of focus picture but it could be a capacitor, a resistor or a diode. Cant imagine why anyone would put any of those I've listed in a flasher circuit but its certainly not standard fitment.

Here's a better pic.. the only thing I can imagine is, when changing over to LED turn sigs you need to put a resistor in line between the switch and the flasher... only this bike has standard bulbs. There's always a certain amount of second guessing about what a PO was thinking. Luckily, so far this is the only enigma the PO left me with. I'm just trying to satisfy my curiosity mainly since everything works fine without the "thing".

If the other side doesnt have a silver stripe on it im guessing a diode. If it does then a capacitor. If if were a resistor it would have some coloured bands around it denoting its resistance value.
All a diode does really is to only allow electrical flow in one direction only.

It looks like a ballast resistor that mimic a stock flasher bulb to increase the current load (Ampere) so a stock flasher relay can handle LED bulbs or flasher. LED flasher/bulbs need a load independent flasher relay and are polarity sensitiv.

It is one of the isolation diodes for the turn-signal and harzard circuit. There might be two other diodes in there as well, connected to the hazard flasher. When the key is in the park position (ignition off, tail light on), the hazard system will back feed power to the ignition when the hazard lights are used. This diode blocks that from happening so people can't ride the bike away and/or the battery doesn't go dead faster.

It is shown on the diagrams as a diode on one of the connections for the turn signal relay. But it should have been on the orange wire, not the brown wire. Functionally, it doesn't matter which wire it is connected to as long as it is connected in the right direction. From the factory it was on the orange wire.

You can eliminate the diodes if you eliminate the hazard function by disconnecting some wires. Then just connect up the turn signal relay conventionally.

Thanks... actually it probably was on the orange wire. What's weird is I'd never touched the hazard flasher before this and I tried it out right before I noticed the turn signals weren't working. So I take the diode out of the circuit and the turn sigs work but now the brake lights don't work. What the hell?

Is this bike new to you? Maybe someone before you re-arranged some wiring.

Just a follow up... It appears that the mystery item was in fact a diode as some of you suggested. I checked ohms on it and there was continuity in one direction only and about 6 ohms in the other. When I hooked it up again, this time to the brown wire, my turn signal problem returned... light would stay on and not flash. removing it, sigs functioned normally. If the only reason to replace this diode is to keep the bike from being started without a key with the emergency flashers on, I'm leaning toward not bothering with it as the emergency flashers aren't working anyway. I haven't checked but I'm guessing PO disconnected the switch. Its also strange that the turn signals stopped working right after trying the emergency flashers for the first time. Anyway, just thought I'd finish off this thread in case anyone else has a similar problem.

Edit... I said I hooked it up to the brown wire this time.. I meant the orange wire.