Topic: Blinker / Indicator light question **NEW AND IMPROVED - NOW WITH MORE QUESTIONS*

[MrFry]

ok, So i am installing a Traltech Vapor gauge - with indicator dashboard.
i am trying to convert my stock '77 750 blinker indicators to one light (stock shows left and right).

so here is my idea - please give me some input (good or bad)
install diodes on each positive lead coming off the blinkers
connect the 2 positive leads of the blinkers together and connect the negative leads together
then connect the positive leads to the positive lead on the new indicator light same with the negatives

here is a crappy MSPaint drawing to give an idea

[scondon]

    I just tried the very same thing and ended up wit hazard lights. The current going up to the instrument panel light also travelled to the opposing signal so no matter which way I turned the signal switch(left or right), both signals would flash in unison.

    Hopefully someone will chime in with a way to wire into one instrument light that will work as intended.

[MrFry]

...a thought just occured to me

my bike has a blinker buzzer (a most god awful dying cat noise) - but it goes off whenever the either of the turn signals are activated
what if i just replaced the buzzer with this indicator light?

[scondon]

Good thought. Definitely worth looking into. I'll check my wiring diagram tonight and see how that buzzer is wired in. Hopefully you've solved our problem

[BobbyR]

Well you could hook a light to the buzzer, but it will won't tell you left or  right.

[eurban]

I asked this very question in a thread called "Diode selection . . . .TT , Hondaman others" a few weeks ago so you might want to look it up.  Basically to make things work you will need to install a diode between the each turn signal + to idiot light wire prior to their union with the single idiot light + wire.  Your diagram looks exactly like what I did to make my setup work.  I believe that I purchased qty2 1n4001 diodes from radio shack and soldered them in in the correct direction and things work fine.  One thing to keep in mind is the current usage of your idiot light and size your diode correctly.  I use an LED idiot light that uses very little current but I am not sure if the diodes I bought would be up to the current of a standard idiot light bulb.  Probably but I am no electrical engineer.  . . . .

[scondon]

Excellent! eurban to the rescue again  

   The diode solution should work for me since I don't have the stock left control and my wiring harness is a "custom" job.


    In looking at my wiring diagram it seems that MrFry's solution might be simpler if his harness and controls are stock. The "buzzer" has two leads. One plugs into any black power wire and the other plugs into the brown/blue wire coming from the left control. When the turn switch is activated(right or left) it grounds the brown/blue wire allowing power to flow through the buzzer. I would think that plugging the power wire from the single light into any black wire, then plugging the ground into the brown/blue wire coming from the left control should do the trick(77-78 750F wiring diagram).

[scondon]

   Jeez, just reread the ORIGINAL post and can't see how I missed the bit about installing diodes inline, MrFry. I was at work.....I had something in my eye.....the dog ate my homework and then snacked on my frontal lobe........   I hope the "buzzer" idea works so I could have some saving reason for posting to this topic

[scondon]

  OK, last post. I swear

   I bought a set of 4001 diodes as mentioned in eurbans thread, soldered them in line and now every thing works as intended.

   MrFry, I won't claim to know anthing about electronics but it appears that the 4000 diode in your diagram should be sufficient and be less bulky than the 4001. Radio Shack did not carry the 4000. 4001 was the lowest they had. I did not split the ground wire as shown in your diagram. In my case, one ground is all that's needed.

[MrFry]

turns out the buzzer worked fine!!
no more dying cat under my gauges!!! 

but now... a new question.

the gauge cluster i am using came with 4 indicator lights - 2 wires each, but they only used two grounds - for a total of six wires at the harness - which required me to use 2 grounds for the four lights.

now - i tested everything many times to make sure it would work right - turns out i didn't test it with the engine on.

the oil pressure light and the high-beam indicator share the same ground; once the engine is running the oil light goes out (which is normal), but disables the high-beam indicator as well.
if i have my low-beams on, both lights stay on real dim.

any suggestions?
i'm thinking of just tapping into a different ground - but am unsure that will resolve the issue.

[MrFry]

some pictures:

[Gordon]

I've never been a big fan of digital guages, but that set-up looks slick!   Put up some more pics when you're finished.

[Einyodeler]

I saw those for sale by Trail Tech and only $120, I too will be watching this as I am considering going this route with the 550 rebuild.

[scondon]

Which wire from the gauge do you have plugged into the blue/red ground wire to your pressure switch?   I don't see how the oil indicator can share a ground with another light since the switch operates by disconnecting the ground, which turns off the light.

[MrFry]

Which wire from the gauge do you have plugged into the blue/red ground wire to your pressure switch?   I don't see how the oil indicator can share a ground with another light since the switch operates by disconnecting the ground, which turns off the light.

..werll apparently it can't 
i am now thinking i may have got my grounds confused (i hate the clymer's manual) and possibly hooked them up to the +12v
at work right now - so i can't tear the bike apart

[scondon]

I'm assuming from your pics that you have a K7 and yeah, Clymer sucks for the later SOHC models.

   I'm at work as well and don't have no access to a wiring diagram so this is from memory and also for a F2, but I think the colors would be the same for both our bikes.


Instrument lights:

Turn- Ya got that one

High beam-  Dark blue from headlight(power),  Green(any green ground)

Oil light-  Black(any 12v power wire),  Blue/Red(special ground leading to switch)

Neutral-   light blu/red, any power or ground(I can't remember which)

  Hope it's just a matter of plugging in the right wires. That gauge looks sweet

[MrFry]

I'm assuming from your pics that you have a K7 and yeah, Clymer sucks for the later SOHC models.

   I'm at work as well and don't have no access to a wiring diagram so this is from memory and also for a F2, but I think the colors would be the same for both our bikes.


Instrument lights:

Turn- Ya got that one

High beam-  Dark blue from headlight(power),  Green(any green ground)

Oil light-  Black(any 12v power wire),  Blue/Red(special ground leading to switch)

Neutral-   light blu/red, any power or ground(I can't remember which)

  Hope it's just a matter of plugging in the right wires. That gauge looks sweet

thanks!
it is a k7 - which is slowly turning into a cafe of sorts
i should probably start a thread on this...or perhaps just convert this one.

yeah that sounds about right (i never had the best memory though).
i may have to de-splice (is that a word?) their harness so i can have more grounds - i have a feeling the oil-light/high-beam sharing isn't going to work.

[Einyodeler]

Hey Mr Fry
Download a Shop Manual here and feed the Clymers to the shop oven for those frosty nights when wrenching.

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=17788.msg184793#msg184793

[MrFry]

Hey Mr Fry
Download a Shop Manual here and feed the Clymers to the shop oven for those frosty nights when wrenching.

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=17788.msg184793#msg184793

well don't i feel like a dumb donkey
i had downloaded those about a month ago when i originally found the thread - and totally forgot about them!!!

thanks!

[MrFry]

upon further inspection (wiring diagrams)
it looks as if the Turn signals (buzzer), Neutral, and Oil pressure lights can all share the same ground.
the high-beam is the odd one out as it shares with the headlight.

i think I'm just going to hack apart the harness that came with the lights so that i have an 8-prong socket - i can't take the terminals out of the socket without ruining it anyway (f'n radioshack POS)
it may be a bit larger, but i think in the end it will be an easier solution to these problems.

I'll send the info to TrailTech when this is all done so they have an idea as well - Their Customer Service is absolutely fantastic as it is.

next project - Speedometer mounting and Brake disassembly.

[MrFry]

Just an update: tried splicing the grounds differently (after looking at the wiring schematic) - still didn't work
so i bought some 8-pin sockets at Radio Hack and cut up the TrailTech harness.

hooked up everything normally (as in - no spliced grounds other than factory) and it works great!

My tach was bouncing around a bit so i called trailtech and they attributed it to a 'dirty signal' and offered a couple suggestions:

!.) wrap the wire around the spark plug wire only 4 or 5 times
          - same result
2.) connect the + lead to the + input on the coil
          - same result

so i still have a bouncing tach


i just finished hooking up the speedo sensor but havn't had time to test it



drilled a hole in the rotor base for the magnet and hacked up the dust shield (?) around the rotor to hold the sensor
i think i'm going to ditch the dust-shield and make a bracket

the installation instructions only have you calculate the circumfrence of the tire for the input of the compute (you say your Circumfrence is __ and it figures out the rest).
wouldn't it depend on where you install the sensor in relation to axle or center of the wheel?

perhaps i'm looking too far into this...

oh, and in the process i discovered the brake line was seized on the caliper (and the PO had already broken the bleeder) - so i had to swap the ends of the line. I will see if my local place will make me a new one.


also recieved my EBay tach-plug