Topic: Signals only work when engine is revved

[Dos]

Hey all, just riding around and noticing that my electricity is a little weird.
if I am in neutral waiting for stoplight and want to make a left-hand turn the blinkers don’t work unless im revving the engine hard .
what part would  i be having to replace soon ha ha
the rectifier?

[DaveBarbier]

I would use your multimeter and check to see what voltage you battery reads when idling and when revving up to, like, 3500 rpm. Do you notice your headlight dimming also? Is this a fairly new issue?

You can buy a signal relay meant for LEDs, I had one before that had a small knob so you can adjust the speed of the blink.

[Coredozer19]

I would use your multimeter and check to see what voltage you battery reads when idling and when revving up to, like, 3500 rpm. Do you notice your headlight dimming also? Is this a fairly new issue?

You can buy a signal relay meant for LEDs, I had one before that had a small knob so you can adjust the speed of the blink.

Where can I get one of these relays. Normally closed relay to be prescise.

[DaveBarbier]

I would use your multimeter and check to see what voltage you battery reads when idling and when revving up to, like, 3500 rpm. Do you notice your headlight dimming also? Is this a fairly new issue?

You can buy a signal relay meant for LEDs, I had one before that had a small knob so you can adjust the speed of the blink.

Where can I get one of these relays. Normally closed relay to be prescise.

I believe this is the exact one I got.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F282124254337

[Dos]

Yeah this is relatively knew. I will have to check about headlights dimming

[PeWe]

My bike was like that when the battery went bad. No headlight under 4000 rpm. Blinkers glowed constantly. New battery was the fix.

[Bodi]

The blink rate - with a stock flasher - varies with load current. Current depends on load resistance and voltage: low voltage means low current and slower or no flashing. Assuming your lamps haven't changed and the flasher is OK, your voltage is low. That makes sense as the bike's alternator works poorly at idle RPM, with the battery discharging to keep voltage up. A good battery charged up from higher RPM operation for a while will hold voltage up for quite a while.
So a weak battery, even with the alternator working perfectly, would cause what you have.
It could also be the flasher failing - the voltage will always drop a bit at idle. A good flasher will flash down to a fairly low voltage, although more slowly.
Maybe the harness or switches are in bad shape and causing a low voltage to the flasher. Maybe the alternator, regulator, or rectifier are having problems.
Or a combination of things: a defective charging system unable to ever fully charge the battery so idle voltage gets lower than it should be, plus maybe a weak battery unable to keep voltage up, corroded harness connections and switched, and a failing flasher that works poorly at lower voltage.
Electronic flashers designed for the low current load from LED lamps will flash more consistently. Three terminal flashers that don't depend on load current are also available.
You should check that the charging system, harness/switches, and battery are OK though!

[flybox1]

Hey all, just riding around and noticing that my electricity is a little weird.
if I am in neutral waiting for stoplight and want to make a left-hand turn the blinkers don’t work unless im revving the engine hard .
what part would  i be having to replace soon ha ha
the rectifier?

Diligently clean your harness connectors.
Check the Vreg charging rate.  Its in the link below.

http://www.hondachopper.com/garage/troubleshooting_charging_system/troubleshooting_charging_system.pdf

your battery should be near 12.7v at the terminals, with the bike off.

[Keith]

Yep, check the flasher!

[TwoTired]

The stock flasher is voltage sensitive anf operates faster when the voltage is higher.

I would check the battery voltage when the engine is idling.  You could have poor coonector mating throughout the bike, or switch contacts getting resistive.  All of which shoul be addressed as a maintenance item.

Once you know what voltage makes the flashers stop, you can use the flash rate as a voltmeter to indicate when the battery is depleting. I rather like this as a feature.

Several of my bikes do this and it can also happen with a worn flasher unit, too.  But, i'd check the voltages before condemning the flasher unit.
You can replace the flasher unit with a different one that isn't voltage sensitive.  But, then you lose that battery status feedback while you are riding.

Cheers,