Topic: Whacky Turn Signal Behavior

[Popwood]

This sounds as if you have a grounding problem. You may be actually grounding through the inner clutch cable. I have seen this before. This is easy to test. Attach a long wire to the  battery negative terminal. Touch the other end to the handlebars. Try your lights and signals. 

rm56, Thank You! Some real progress here. Connected a wire to battery negative, contacted handlebars, no improvement. Next contacted fork ears, yes! blinkers worked normally, hi beam would light but not low beam. Next I repeated the test with engine running and all worked including low beam. Next I made a fixed connection using the headlight bucket/fork ear bolt. With engine running had everything working properly, signals plus hi and low beam headlight. Next I tested charging per TT. With headlight off, 2K rpm 12.3v; 3K rpm 12.9v; 4K rpm 13.8v and 5K rpm 13.9v. With headlight on, 2K rpm 12.2v.; 3K rpm 12.25v; 4K rpm 12.42v. and 5K rpm 12.53 rpm.

Now, how would I start looking for the ground problem if I had a lot of experience? Any clues?

Also cleaned up the frame negative battery connection with no notable improvement, but at least it won't need more attention for awhile. 

[Popwood]

First, a correction-- that's a big thanks to ken736 for the wire to battery testing. But rm, you may also be quite right. I have asked the question "where to begin looking for the ground problem" and I think the answer may well be what both of you are talking about. Grounding through the inner clutch cable or a ground problem inside the handlebars may explain why the signals operate normally with the clutch lever in or less normally when the handlebars are turned. I think I start with these two clues unless anybody has better tips.

By the way, this forum is terrific. I've learned so much.

[scottly]

Recheck the wiring of your clutch switch. It should have a solid green wire attached to a solid green wire, and a green wire with a red stripe that connects to a junction with 2 other Grn/red wires. I suspect you have a solid green wire connected where a grn/r wire should be, and vice/versa.

[TwoTired]

The fork ears are attached to the bike with rubber isolators...they are not conductive.
The two headlight mount nuts with tabs on them, are grounds that connect to the main wire harness.  Are these in place?

If so, then you have to track down the main wire harness green wire connection to the frame and make sure that is properly connected.

If so, then you have to figure out why the frame is not connected properly to the battery NEG terminal or to the engine.

I'm not liking your headlight on voltages.  While it shows the battery is sort of recharging, the numbers are at least a volt to two volts too low at 5K.  This is going to lead to a weak battery and premature battery failure, as it is being worked to hard.  When you get the grounding work out, repeat the test.  If the voltages don't get better, it is time to measure what the VReg is supplied in the way of power and how it differs from actual battery voltage.

Cheers,

[Popwood]

Thanks, all. I'll be tracking this down in the next couple days. Yes, the headlight mounts are properly bolted in place the the grounds inside the bucket are properly attached in quite clean.

Will retest the battery charging after solving the ground issue. The battery is now two years old and I did mention I allowed the electrolyte level to get below the plates slightly. Could it be that the battery will not take a charge as it should? My battery charger provides fault readouts if there's a problem and so far, it has not indicated battery faults.

[ken736cc]

Your next step is either to find the fault in the original wires or bypass them by creating a new ground path.  You can add a new ground like this: The green wires inside the headlight are for ground.  Find the wires that Two Tired mentioned, from the turn signal stem mounts and the green wire from the headlight into the harness.  These probably meet at 1 connection.  These wires need a good ground.  You can splice or add an additional wire to these.  Run it out the back of the headlight (follow the existing harness) and under the fuel tank. Remove the tank.  You should find a green wire with a ring terminal bolted to the frame near the ignition coils. This is a frame ground point. Attach your new wire here.
This should solve the problem and it is usually easier than finding the fault in the original wire harness.
Hope this helps

[TwoTired]

It does sound like a rather marginal battery.

Sometimes batteries can hold charge but not take a load. I charge the battery and then put an old headlight on it (about 5 amp load) noting how fast and how low the voltage goes with that load.  It's a judgement call.  The lower the voltage, the less useful the battery is.

You could also engage the kill switch and see how long the electric stater will spin the crank.  A new battery should crank for 2 mins (in 30 sec intervals, allowing the starter motor to cool).  Of course this leaves you with a depleted battery that needs recharging.

Even with a known good battery, your testing shows some ground irregularities, too, as well as lower voltages than expected.

Cheers,

[Popwood]

Today I installed a new ground running from frame ground just below the coils to the headlight headlight bucket. (and it was a very neat run as I was able to push the new ground wire inside the wire harness sheath). Inside the headlight bucket, I made the connection between the new ground and one of the grounds coming off the fork ears. Blinders work and are strong, headlight is strong on both high and low beam, and horn sounds like new.

I looked for a ground problem and didn't find any. I didn't pull the wire harness from the handlebars as that seemed like a chore for a time when the riding weather isn't so perfect.

The only issue now is the turn signal indicator light on the instrument cluster. No blinky there. At one point while test riding, it did work properly. I've checked all those wire connections again and see no issues. When the turn signals were a problem, these worked fine. Hhhhmmmm?

Thanks for this tip, ken736. It was an easy, if not resto worthy, fix.

I'll do battery charging check soon to see if the overcharging is no longer an issue.
If anyone has suggestions on the indicator light not blinking now, will appreciate the help. And thanks to all for help on this problem.