Topic: Should the two front turn signal lights be on all the time?

[rob]

Hey everyone,

Just working on my 81 CB650 Custom, and noticed that when I have the key in, both the yellow turn signal lights are on all the time.  I hadn't noticed this before, and just want to confirm that this is standard behavior.  Both turn signals front/rear are operating fine.

Thanks,

Rob

[Spear]

Rob. The answer to this depends on what country you ride in. Some countries require daylight running lights, in that your front blinkers are always on. When you use the blinkers to indicate a turn the DRL 'disconnects' and the relevant indicator works. Here in Australia DRL are not a requirement. However, having said that, with a view to greater visibility on the roads, I have purchased a small unit from a fellow biker that converts my front blinkers to DRL. Certainly makes me more visible (from the front). I have an isolating switch that allows me to turn them on or off at will. Pretty bright at night and not necessary then anyway. Hope that helps.

[Tim.]

This is the same on the 1976 CB550F, at least in Canada (which likely means North America).  Just the front signals though are on all the time, slightly dimmer than full signalling brightness.

[stanghater]

mine stay on

[rob]

Hey everyone, thanks for that.  Just wanted to make sure it was normal operation.

Spear: did you just put a physical switch on the powerline to the daytime running lights?  That is a pretty cool idea.. nothing better than purposely disabling a piece of safety equipment.

Rob

[cb650]

As soon as i find a switch I like i'm going to disable the head lite just as it warms up to give the alt a head start on charging. 




                               Terry

[MetalHead550]

My 75 has a factory switch that turns the headlamp on and off.  I wonder if that was the idea?  Theres been a couple times Ive accidentally turned it off and not realized it till halfway down interstate..durring the day of course..so if you do that make sure you remember to turn it back on as you leave.  Cars have a hard enough time seing us as it is!  BTW anyone ever had their headlamp go out while night riding?  Bet thats scary!

[rob]

Hey Terry,

What do you mean give the alternator a head start?  Does the battery need to get charging right away, or is there an advantage of this?  I would have thought the advantage would have been not having the headlights running off the battery at the same time the starter motor would be drawing a lot of amperage?   Just curious..

Rob

[cb650]

So more juice goes to the battery instead of the lite. 



                        Terry

[Gordon]

BTW anyone ever had their headlamp go out while night riding? Bet thats scary!

That's another advantage to converting to an H4 headlamp.  Since it's a separate bulb and reflector setup, you can easily carry a spare bulb in your toolkit. 

[Spear]

Hi Rob. Yes, I installed an in-line 'on-/off' switch. I have that mounted between my tacho and speedo along with the on/off switch for my 100 watt driving lights. If you wanna see a pic, let me know.

[my78k]

OK...silly follow up question on this one...I am rebuilding a 78 750K that I never actually saw running before I was brave (or stupid) enough to tackle as a project. I noticed the front signals stayed on all the time but the rear ones do not...I assumed it was a short and have pissed away a couple of hours tracing and trouble shooting. You guys saying the fronts stay on but not the rear ones? Kind of conflicted waiting for a response...if they don't stay on I feel like a goof on the other hand my problem is fixed!!

Thanks,
Dennis

[CTCStrela]

My front turn signals are on when the headlights are on.  The rear ones stay off until I hit the turn signal switch, then they blink. I assumed that that is just the way they are.  The rear signal lights on my 550F only have one hot wire, and a ground...

[BobbyR]

Your front turn signals lights should be on all of the time in the USA. There is no State in the Union in which yellow lights are allowed on rear of the vehicle. The idea is that you can determine the direction a vehicle is traveling. Yellow front, red in the rear. The US DOT actually got this one right.   

[rob]

Hey Spear,

 I would totally be interested in seeing a pic or two of your setup, post em with some commentary if you can

Rob

[Spear]

Will do Rob. Give me time to find them and reduce them to a size where I can post them. All my photos on my database are in the area of 4MB+. (That's the problem with being a pro photographer.)

[Spear]

Rob. Three pics attached. One shows the entire front end illuminated, another the driving (riding) lights mounted, and the third the positions of the switches above my gauges. The DRL unit is about the size of a matchbox and is made by a mate here in Oz who is ex-RAAF. His name is Lance Haslewood ( lanceh@zeta.org.au ) if anyone in Oz - or elsewhere for that matter is interested in modifying their machine. Anyway, it fits inside the headlight shell with the spaghetti factory of other wires therein. It is fully sealed against dust and moisture. Very tidy unit. It comes with full installation instructions which are very well written. I had no problem doing the job. Don't take any notice of the colour of my bike. These photos were taken pre-repainting. Not a lot else to say I suppose. I fitted the isolating switch for the DRL because they are only for daylight running. Very confusing for motorists of a night, especially on the open highway. They are however handy for switching on for a few seconds and then off again when approaching traffic of a night. It gives them an idea that you are something other than a tin-top and they are usually more cautious. The 100 watt driving lights obviously need an isolating switch so you can run high beam with or without them. I live 17kms out of my town/city (pop 40,000) and at present with the drought being as severe as it is, there is a real problem with kangaroos wanting to search the table drains along the roadside for any green pickings. One big problem with 'roos is that unlike the majority of other animals, their eyes do not reflect of a night in your headlights. So, you really need that extra candle power. They have saved my arse on more than one occasion. They are set to illuminate the roadsides about 100 metres ahead. I normally only travel at 85-90km/hr (50-55mph) for the last 10kms of my ride home. That's when I'm off the main highway and on my back road. Haven't had any battery drain problems - yet! I suppose they (the driving lights) are only on for a maximum of 15 minutes at any time, and then that is only on the odd occasion. Okay, better download these photos and go and feed my dogs. It's 4:50pm here and I have about 25 minutes of daylight left. Should be lighting the fire within a week or 2 if it keeps cooling down as it is. How's Melbourne going Terry? Must be cooling down in Mexico by now!

[DrMark]

This is the same set-up I was asking questions about last fall. I love the look. How are your aux. lights attached to the fork? What brand of lights and clamps/mounting brackets did you use? Thanks, Dr. Mark

[rob]

Hey Spear,

very cool!  Thanks for posting those.  I have the same questions about the aux lights as Dr. Mark.  So you just hook a housed switch onto one of the wires for the DRL inside each of their respective housings?

Rob

[Spear]

The driving lights are attached to a 1" square RHS. The lights are 100W NightVision and are all metal - brackets and casings. The mounting bolts are 1/2" and go through the RHS. The RHS is the same length as the motor head is wide. The RHS is attached to the front down tubes of the frame using 'U' bolts, 1 on each tube. The beauty of this is that with the down tubes spreading apart as they descend, then the RHS can be 'wedged' down hard. The 'U' bolts are 1/4" dia and about 3" long. The holes drilled through the RHS to take the 'U' bolts are at an angle to the RHS, but are at 90 degrees to the down tubes. The 'U' bolts have 2 nuts on each leg, in effect locking them on. The protruding thread beyond those 2 nuts is cut off, leaving enough to take domed nuts to finish it off nice and clean. The ends of the RHS have black plastic end caps pushed into them.  I left the hemispherical covers on the lights for obvious stone protection, and ran a length of black tape over the top part of the cover on the flat, to keep the glare out of my eyes. Just wired them normally, and included the relay in the headlight shell with the rest of the sh!t. The isolator switch as you can see from my pic is in-line, near the headlight, and readily accessible. BTW, my low beam and DRL are permanently 'on'. As soon as I turn my ignition on, so the lights come on. I start it that way. Never had a problem - yet. I suppose I'll now have to take some close-up photos of the mounting so you'll know what I'm talking about. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Meantime the 2 shots below will give you a better idea of the placement of them on the frame. (Addendum - I just opened the post to see what the photos look like. Damn that's an ugly seat. I had it made like that for the "pillion in a million" but found it was hopeless one-up. That's why I had another one made to original.)

[Spear]

Whoa back. Just found a 4.7MB shot of the mounting bar before I put the domed nuts on the 'U' bolts, that I downsized to 177kb to fit here. I think this will give you an idea of what I'm talking about. And hey - ain't that a better colour and a nicer seat? Wait a minute, found another one looking from above and to the rear that should complete the 'perspective'. Enjoy - Spear. - - Another addendum. On looking at these pics, I realized that the length of the RHS is the same as the width of the motor. The lights are mounted in line with the head. Sorry.