Topic: Phaedrus: CB750 RestoMod - Update: 09/23/21 w/ new video

[Raef]

just in case you have not resolved your turn signal issue, I just got a 2 prong solidstate unit from the local auto parts store and plugged it in, it works fine and always flashes at the same speed regardless of engine RPM

[MCRider]

just in case you have not resolved your turn signal issue, I just got a 2 prong solidstate unit from the local auto parts store and plugged it in, it works fine and always flashes at the same speed regardless of engine RPM

Do you have LED turnsignals?

[Raef]

Yes, I think they are 1056 or 1057 ( cant remenber the #) replacements, they fit the in original sockets. I also got those at the auto parts store.

[MCRider]

Yes, I think they are 1056 or 1057 ( cant remenber the #) replacements, they fit the in original sockets. I also got those at the auto parts store.

Hmmm. Thanks for the tip.

[MCRider]

Raef: Talk to me. I just called the place i got the signals from as well as Kuryakyn, the makers. Same story. Wire in a "load equalizer" for front and rear. $17 each. Downside, they get hot, its already hot in there, and they take up room in an otherwise crowded headlight shell.

Kuryakin had no help about a flasher. Custom Dynamics said oh yeah you can replace the flasher instead of the load equalizers, with a 3 prong flasher which they usually have but not right now, and didn't know when they would get one.

So, if you could give me a little more education on what you bot so i don't seem like a dummy asking the auto parts guy (usually a dummie too) for a flasher. I take it, its solid state, but 2 prong (not 3?). Special for LED, or does the solid state take care of that?  Any identifying marks or description, brand or part number? Is it about the same size as stock, etc.

[MCRider]

Can't freaking believe it! Left the key on since Sunday and ran down the battery! Crap.      

[IndyFour]

I have a two-wire electronic flasher on both of my bikes now.  The 550 has a small rectangular shaped (same as original) with two wire leads coming out of it....got it from superbrightleds.com if I recall correctly.  The VFR has a two prong square shaped one from Pepboys.  Both work fine and flash at a steady rate.

I ran LED bulbs on the 550 for a short time before I decided to switch back.  My motivation was to lower power output because I thought I had a charging issue at the time (not so as it turns out).   An electronic/solid state flasher should make LED blinkers work fine on its own without the need for resistors......the issue is if you have a single flasher dash indicator (one that blinks regardless of direction).  The voltage "bleeds" between both circuits and makes the LEDs act up.  The solution for me was to pull the bulb for the dash indicator or go back to regular incandescents....which is what I chose to do.

By the way, I have a set of two front (dual filament running/blink) LED bulbs and two rear (single blink only) bulbs that will fit in stock blinkers.  They're yours if you want them.  I won't be using them.

[MCRider]

Thanks Chris. I was out and about anyway and stopped at AutoZone. Helpful guy, I bota 3 prong electronic flasher. He said he'dtake it back if it didn't work. We'll see.

So he asks me what i was working on, I said a 1972 CB750. He said "nice little bike". By todays standards I guess he's rght. Then sid "I just painted a 1975 CB750F" Turns out he does custom painting on the side. So I'll look into him some more, he's on my side of town.

Won't need your bulbs, thanks. I've got dedicated LED only "mini bullets". Maybe they take removable bulbs though? I'll have to check. Never looked under the lens. If so, maybe I will take your bulbs. For spares.  I'll let you know.

[Pecantree]

Hey Ron:
Your a lot more knowledgeable about this stuff than me. Don't want to step on any toes.
But Thought this might help
On the 360 I replaced the front running/turn lights plus the brake light with led's. Used a new flasher and they operate fine.
Don't use a load resistor because you lose the advantage of the low power led's.
I'm going to rebuild/ rehab the clocks and replace the incandescent with led's.
What Indyfour talks about is addresed in this post  on the twins forumhttp://www.hondatwins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=66264#p66264
I also did a photo series of the led's on my 360 and posted herehttp://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=99045.msg1104822#msg1104822

Anyway, whatever you do it's gonna rock.
The way it's come together is looking sweet.
Be well
Steve

[Raef]

sorry for the delayed response, I'm working 12 hour nights on a glass furnace rebuild.

I'd have to look at the bike and pull the lenses to get exact info, but i am pretty sure i just bought direct replacement LED's and a solid-state 2 prong flasher. I'll look, after some sleep

[MCRider]

PT: Don't assume i know more about anything, in this case its sure not true!  I didn't even realize that i was buying LED lamps, I just liked the appearance of the bullet case. Then when I got them I realized they were LED. It wasn't till later that I realized there would be wiring/flasher issues.

Had i known I would have stayed with a traditional lamp in a bullet case. Now that I'm here I'll try and figure it out. Good to kow the flasher fixes/replaces the load resistor issue. Next is the idiot light issue. Wonder why the suppliers don't clue in on these issues. 

The flasher in the post is the same one I bot last night, but its 3 prong, I guess that works? Anyway, low priority, focusing on getting it started first, sorting details later. So I gotta go one more step to make the idiot (apropos) light work? I see the diagram, i can work with that.

Raef: Glad you got the work! Just let me know what you know when you can. Does your idiot light work OK?

[Tintop]

On my 550 MCR, I used an combined brake/parking/turn light, fronts are 1057(?) LED replacements, & HID head light.  I bought a custom wiring kit from Centech, and he included a 3 prong electronic flasher.  Have had no problems with flash rate, and no need for resistors.  I still use the single indicator dash light in the honda dash/bar clamp.  Seems to work fine. 

[MCRider]

On my 550 MCR, I used an combined brake/parking/turn light, fronts are 1057(?) LED replacements, & HID head light.  I bought a custom wiring kit from Centech, and he included a 3 prong electronic flasher.  Have had no problems with flash rate, and no need for resistors.  I still use the single indicator dash light in the honda dash/bar clamp.  Seems to work fine.

Dang! I keep hearing about this mysterious flasher. I've bot 2 from auto supply stores. They are electronic, say LED right on them. No bueno. I'll keep trying.

[MCRider]

On another thread there was discussion of Dwell meter. I have a rare antique, bot in 1971 from Action Fours: trigger Dwell Meter made for Honda Fours. Has a takeoff right on the front of it for the strobe light. Back when I was doing high volume tuneups.


On to the good stuff. Working on the LED signals. Got all 4 to light and they are really cool. Fronts are amber but look red in the pic.


Twice we had problems. Kick myself. I know 99 out of 100 its the ground. Found one ground wire unplugged. Plugged it back in. Then later we discovered we'd lost the taillight. Checked the bulb, checked the ratsnest in the HLight. Finally pulled out the sub-ratsnest again, and sure enough the other ground was unplugged. Anyway everythings working except the LEDs don't flash.

Getting advice from all circles and they should work. I must have something crossed.

Needed a new washer under the spinnut on the key switch. Not available from Honda. Found a machine bushing very thin from ACE. Ground out the ID to fit.




Made missing jumper for coil wire, played around with rear brake light. Blah Blah.

Hope to time it, put the header back on, put oil in it, next week.

Comments on the LEDs?

Oh yeah, any way to test that the kill switch works? I'll need to be sure it does.

[Tintop]

I found the wiring diagram I used for my build MCR.  I'll scan it tomorrow and email it to you.  Might help solve your issue.

[65Ch3v3LL3]

Did you change the flasher to a solid state one? If not the LED lights don't provide enough resistance to make the old school flasher module work. Many people put load resisters on the circuits to make the flasher work but this can diminish the brightness of the lights. Changing to the solid state flasher is a much better option.

[MCRider]

Did you change the flasher to a solid state one? If not the LED lights don't provide enough resistance to make the old school flasher module work. Many people put load resisters on the circuits to make the flasher work but this can diminish the brightness of the lights. Changing to the solid state flasher is a much better option.

I assume its solid state. I bought it at the auto suppply as suggested. It says "electronic" and "LED" right on it. Actually bought two different brands from 2 different auto stores. No luck yet.

Maybe i don't have the right wires on the right tabs. Its not clear which goes where. But I've tried every possible combo I thought.

[MCRider]

I found the wiring diagram I used for my build MCR.  I'll scan it tomorrow and email it to you.  Might help solve your issue.

I'd appreciate that, every bit helps.

[bikebitzofvt]

Ron~

Are the signals 2 wire or three wire?  I installed some 3 wire signals on my XT350 over the summer, must've been made by some colorbind b@$*@!d  - the running light was yellow wire, ground was red, flasher was black!  They were cheap incandescent mini stalks made in China, packaged by Marshall Dist.  I fist plugged 'em in by the color codes, just lit up bright with no flash, took me a while to figure out the wire mix up!  Since I was sending 12V to the ground all they would do was light up both circuits and no flash.  Might be worth checking on yours??

When I worked at the evil HD dealer from 1999 to 2001 we used to sell lots of led conversions, back then we'd sell 'em a load equalizer with the signals.  Kuryakyn or Badlands make some good ones. 

However, I just did some looking around this morning and found this at Autozone:
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Painless-Wiring-LED-Flasher-for-side-marker-lamp/_/N-26fp?counter=5&itemIdentifier=758569_0_0_
While it isn't cheap ($50.00) it looks the same size as our stock flasher, should fit right into the OEM cushion.  Here's a link to the manufacturer's page, the instuctions are for cars but after reading 'em it got me wondering about polarity through the electronic flashers and how it affects the way they work.

http://www.painlessperformance.com/webcatalog/largeview.php?SearchField=80230

Hope this helps!

Tom

[MCRider]

Thanks BikeBit. My signals are 2 wire Kuryakins. Pretty straightforward, good quality. Grounds go to the harness, no chance for bad ground.

I would have hoped I'd of got a flash, maybe too fast, from all I've done, but not yet.

Autozone keeps coming up. I've been to Advance and OReilly's. AZ is in same block, I'll go there today.

That "painless" flasher looks interesting, but there should be some equivalent locally.

Thanks!

[HonderCB]

MCR I cant wait for you to figure out these lights, i want to do the same conversion to my 750, but dont want to start untill i know for sure how to make it work lol

[65Ch3v3LL3]

What does the flasher that you bought look like? Do you have a link to it? All the ones I've seen are like the painless one with the external ground wire. Have you tried it with your original flasher? You should get either a fast flash or just one light coming on and staying on.

On a side note you can also use those two wire LED lights as run lights, brake lights, and turn signals. There are aftermarket modules out there but I used a module for a HD VROD that I picked up off eBay for $25. It worked great.

[MCRider]

What does the flasher that you bought look like? Do you have a link to it? All the ones I've seen are like the painless one with the external ground wire. Have you tried it with your original flasher? You should get either a fast flash or just one light coming on and staying on.

On a side note you can also use those two wire LED lights as run lights, brake lights, and turn signals. There are aftermarket modules out there but I used a module for a HD VROD that I picked up off eBay for $25. It worked great.

They look exactly like the first two here:
http://www.tridon.com.au/Products/Product.aspx?SG=8&S=35&G=478&P=104173
I notie they are load sensitive. Maybe i need the non-load sensitive?

With the original flasher, all 4 lamps light, regardless of switch position. When I unplug the indicator light, the lamps light with the switch left or right, but still don't flash. I've tried 3 stock flashers.

[65Ch3v3LL3]

If you have LED lights front and rear then you either need a load resistor or you need the non-load sensitive flasher (the one with the ground wire). I think this should resolve your problem as long as everything is wired correctly.

[Tintop]

+1 on a flasher with a ground, that is what I used with no issues.  I've also PM'd the wiring diagram I used MCR