78 KZ1000 front signals

my front signals blink slow,dim and independently from the rear when the headlight is on, they blink bright and at the same time as the rear when the headlight is off. has the headlight on off switch on the rt handlebar.
ive unplugged and replugged and cleaned all the ground connections in the bucket and replaced both bulbs and checked the sockets and replaced both flashers.

That may be a sign of a slightly weak battery or charging system or simply a less than perfect flasher. I had a similar problem and I solved it very easily. I replaced the original flasher unit with an electronic unit. I put in a Tridon/Stant 552 2 prong, and it was a perfect fit. I bought it at an auto parts store. Ed

charging system is good new battery and new flashers from auto store still has the issue

A lot of flashers are plain junk and/or just don't work for some reason. Get something like Ed mentioned, or at least get a "heavy duty" flasher made for towing trailers. Standard flashers are no good. Also go somewhere decent like Napa, not Autozone ect.

Every bike that goes thru my shed get a new flasher, it solves a lot of indicator problems. That and proper ground

Thanks for the reply, exactly what i have, a napa heavy duty,
Flashes fine with headlight off as mentioned, headlight on flashes dim, slow and independent from the rear, and rear is bright flashing..

allfixed wrote: my front signals blink slow,dim and independently from the rear when the headlight is on, they blink bright and at the same time as the rear when the headlight is off..

Just to make sure I'm looking at the correct diagram, do you have a '78 KZ1000 A2? Or is it an A2A, B2, C2, D1? I think that's a KZ650 in your profile picture, but I might be wrong...

I've been staring at the wiring diagram for the A2 for about 20 minutes now. I'm a bit stumped.

My only guess is that you have a ground fault somewhere, and the dual filament bulbs in the front turn signals are providing an alternate/incorrect current path. The idea would be that the current for the front turn-signal filament doesn't return to ground in the bucket, but flows through the running-light filament to somewhere else. When the headlight is off it would flow back into the rest of the bulbs in the running light system, which is sort of like ground when the headlight switch is off. When the headlight is on the running-light circuit is near battery voltage, but it may not be full battery as you'll lose some voltage across those old switches. So the blinker may light up a bit, but not much. As for the out-of-sync blinking between the front and rear, I can't make any sense of that...

Here's my recommendation for a thing to test.

1) Unplug the running light wires for the front two turn signals in the headlight bucket. The wires should be blue on both sides (if it's an A2). With the blue wires unplugged, there is no alternate current path for the front turn signal filament.

2) Unplug the hazard flasher. It's probably not the problem, but if it's not installed it can't confuse the issue. The hazard relay and turn relay pull from the same feed wire, so removing the hazard relay removes a possible incorrect current path and a possible source for out-of-sync blinking.

Oh, one other thing. Is the headlight nice and bright when you turn it on?

Another possible thing to try is to remove both turn relay and hazard relay and short across the turn relay. One would expect both the front and rear turn signals to light up full when the handlebar turn-signal switch is toggled.

Many auto parts stores carry Novita flashers. made in USA. get an electronic flasher, not thermal. I know of at least on guy who opted for a cheap chinese part, instead of the suggested Novita brand, but the new china part didn't work. big surprise.

Thanks for the reply!
that is a 77 kz650 in my avitar.
the bike in question is a 78 KZ1000a and i too have been looking at the wiring diagram in my FSM for some time and as ive mentioned, i too believe it is a bleed through or bad ground but where? also the turn indicators in the cluster show a dim glow when headlight is on and signals arent activated? nothing with headlight off? seems like something in the running circuit but they use the same ground? i will unplug the blue wires and check back asap.. thanks for the help..

Try to make a temporary ground cable form battery/engine/frame ground to the front signals ground connector.
if its cure your problem something in the main wiring harness or connector have a bad electric current flow.
The electric current try to get over other electric components to the ground like:

the turn indicators in the cluster show a dim glow when headlight is on and signals arent activated?

ok ive done the ground from battery jumper no change, unplugged both blue running light wires and nothing comes on with them unplugged no signals no running lights so thats as far as ive gotten so far and the flasher is a heavy duty Digital from napa the flasher is not the issue..

So since the blinkers don't light at all with the blue wires disconnected, it's pretty certain you have a ground issue. Do you have an ohm meter? You'll need to test every point along the way from the bulb socket to the battery ground.

But I'd start with the simplest test. Connect a wire from the shell of the bulb socket straight to battery ground. Until you can get that to work, there is no reason to trace the ground path.