Turn Signal Issues

When I bought my bike I was having issues with my turn signals blinking too slowly, or sometimes not at all. One of the first things I did was put a new flasher in and while they still blinked too slowly at least they all were blinking. Yesterday I changed the oil on my bike, replaced the filter, and fixed an oil leak coming from my tachometer cable and now when I turn on the bike the front lights come on and flash, but the rear ones don't. The rear left stays off but flashes when I use my left turn signals, but the rear right isn't working at all now. Also, when I turn on my hazards none of them blink like they did with the old flasher.

Mjolnir613 wrote: When I bought my bike I was having issues with my turn signals blinking too slowly, or sometimes not at all. One of the first things I did was put a new flasher in and while they still blinked too slowly at least they all were blinking. Yesterday I changed the oil on my bike, replaced the filter, and fixed an oil leak coming from my tachometer cable and now when I turn on the bike the front lights come on and flash, but the rear ones don't. The rear left stays off but flashes when I use my left turn signals, but the rear right isn't working at all now. Also, when I turn on my hazards none of them blink like they did with the old flasher.

Would check bulb (and condition of bulb socket) in the non-working blinker.

And also assure there's a good connection at the bullet connector in wiring under the seat above the rear fender.

Existing flasher may be the stock thermal style.
If flasher unit needs replacing, would fit an electronic style.

A common automotive flasher readily available at any auto parts store usually suffices.

Good Fortune!

I just put an electronic flasher on mine,nice improvement and only 8 bucks,fit perfectly as well.

Yeah I bought a new flasher as soon as I noticed there was something wrong. I replaced the rear bulbs and found out the grounding wires were kind of rusty and not making a good connection. The wire going to the rear right one was also cut and repaired very sloppily. I fixed those two issues and everything works great now, except for the new battery I bought a few weeks ago going dead already.

Try this metod of electrical troubleshooting:

The Dreaded Shorting/Intermittent Electrical Problem!


Here is the most basic method I know(Taken from www.kzrider.com by member Patton)

1. Charge your battery and have it load tested if you can. The floating ball hydrometer can be used to check the specific gravity of the charged cells in the battery.

2. Disconnect the Black lead from the (-) Battery terminal... or Red from the (+) Battery terminal, it does not matter which one. Just 1, not both!

3. Connect one of the following test setups in series with the Battery terminal and lead:
3.1 A 12 V light bulb,
3.2 A 12 V test light,
3.3 A 12 V test buzzer or,
3.4 A 12 V horn... you get the idea.

4. With the Ignition Switch OFF, go through your harness and wiggle the wires while looking/listening for the test setup to go on/start buzzing.

5.With the Ignition Switch ON, repeat the test except this time the looking/listening for the test setup to go off/stop buzzing.

6. Be prepared to open the Ignition switch and check/test for solder joint failure and or circuit board micro breaks (don't ask how I know this ).

7. Be prepared to pull the wires out of the Head Light to test for failures at or near the grommet.

8. Be prepared to open the harness at or near the Steering Neck for failures. This is where wires tend to exhibit fatigue due to repetitive movement.

9. Be prepared to open the left and right switch gear to search for rust and or broken parts. CAUTION: watch out for flying springs, ball bearings and stuff. Do indoors on White sheet (again don't ask).

10. Be prepared to follow the heavy gauge wire from the Starter Solenoid (Relay) to the starter for bare wire exposure. Especially near bends and grommets.If you can isolate the circuit by removing the fuses, this will help narrow it down.

11. If you can reproduce the fault symptom your are pretty much home free. Be prepare to find and repair/replace any internal wire breaks, insulation break downs, exposed wires, rubber grommet failures, etc. Often, shrink tubing will solve the problem temporarily until something better can be done.

12. I use a very good electrical contact cleaner/preservative called De-oxit made by Caig Labs in San Diego Ca. Their website is www.deoxit.com It can be purchased at Radio Shack and any other electronic supply store. I use it on all of my motorcycle’s electrical connectors , in my home entertainment center’s stereo patch cords and cordless phones charging cradles.

Hi Mjolnir,

your turn signals are rubber mounted. hence they NEED a good ground wire connection. the front signals are more prone to suffer from a bad ground connection because of the harness moving when the bars are turned. look for broken strands where the turn signal ground wires connect to the ground washer inside the headlight. I've had all the symptoms you describe caused by a poor ground connection.

Hope this helps
Bill