Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

I think they might be a smidge wider than average. But not enormeus.

Another +1 for tcx being OK for wide feet.

My Stylmartin boots are also quite wide.

Shout out for ideas/assistance:

I had a broken rear indicator, so swapped out the pair. Two wires per light.

I thought this would be simple, and it wouldn’t even really matter which wire went to the earth and which to the live connection. However I’m now getting all sorts of random results from various configs. All indicators lit and flashing, correct side but too fast, correct but only v v dim.

Is there anything obvious I could be fucking up?

Exact boots I have. Perfect for wide feet. I’ve ridden in through fords in them and still dry. Totally worth it.

Did you replace incandescent with led?

No, so I’ve got no idea where the resistance variance is coming from. V frustrating

Great to hear. Thanks!

It sounds very much like a bad earth somewhere.

Icon Elsinore boots are comfy for my stupidly wide feet with bunions

Sigh. I’ll settle in for a long session with the multimeter. Rear loom is dogshit so maybe I’ll just make a new one

Those look awesome

So go back to the start, and check the wiring diagram (Haynes manual normally) vs the wires you have.

I'd say, disconnect all the indicators, then plug in only one side. Get them flashing and happy, then disconnect do the other side. Then try everything plugged in.

Fast flashing can be due to incorrect load on the blinker unit. Normally they stay on when you have one light not working (not enough load), and they blink fast when the wattage of the bulbs is too high for the setup (too much load).

They are very nice. But I don't know how well they stand up to heavy use. Some of the hardware looks a bit low spec. Time will tell. I broke a buckle and the shop gave me another, and it was easy to fit.

Eta: I have version 1. Version 2 is "upgraded". Now has D30 ankle armour. They look beefy but are very light. Only for road use IMO. Made in China

Makes sense as I expect it’s a thermal reaction in the blinker unit.

Thermal?

I'm guessing it used to be a relay which is basically heating a piece of metal so it disconnects, it cools down and reconnects and so on. I'm not sure about the most modern vehicles but indicator relays have been pretty standard on most of the vehicles I've worked on.

Yea that’s more or less how the old relays worked. Much better to replace with the modern relays built for led lights. I believe bigclivedotcom even did a dissection video on them fairly recently.

Good shout re. unplugging everything. The circuit does seem a bit weird, like I think the front indicators are in series with the turn signal warning lights. Ah well. This stuff is exactly why I want to fit an M-Unit.

It’s most likely that old metal strip type relay, ‘96 a triumph. Looks sounds and feels like one anyway. Have had the battery charging overnight just to be sure that’s not an issue, will try to make sure everything is dry as well. The rear indicator assemblies were off for a week.

I've had a slightly similar issue that affected lights and the starter motor as well. Everything suddenly just behaved incosistenly and weird, like every button found a new function everytime I pressed it.
I never found a specific cause, but unplugging, cleaning and replugging every plug seems to have cured it for now.

Sometimes when different stuff share an earth connection, if it goes bad the stuff wants to earth through for instance the blinkers positive lead.

Interesting. Never seen such a thing.

Unrelated:

I'm planning on moving the wiring around on my 2022 Thruxton this winter. I hate how the connectors are shoved into the headlight and plan to relocate them under the tank. Anything you all think I should be aware or reasons to avoid it in the first place? Doesn't seem too tricky. I've already had the tank off and had a look.

When something shorts against the tank.
When you need to get to a connector and it’s not easily shoved in the headlight.
Headlight housing is warm, dry and cosy.

Go for it.

Good points. Not deal breakers. Maybe I move everything to under the seat to make it more accessible.

Honestly it's irks me... why is the wiring so shit?

Should see the birds nest on Japanese bikes of the 90’s

I promise not to live-post my whole afternoon, but I stuck the charged battery in and the blinkers are now functioning normally, just faster than usual. shrug I’ll take it

Bit scared to put the matching set on the front in case it gets even faster. Especially strangely, the indicators are - aside from being new - exactly the same as the ones coming off (though both cheap generic things)