Blinker's on the Blink....

[R3Rider]

Hi all,

I rode into town this morning and the indicators were working fine. Come out of my meeting ride off only to find they no longer work along with my horn, same fuse.
Changed the fuse as it was blown, blows as soon as I use them. Side note, they work fine until bike is started. Tried a few fuses to find this out
Any ideas? I'm guessing a short of some kind somewhere, just thought one of you may have come across this and may know of a particular point to start my investigation.

Thanks in advance.

 

[cr0ft]

I'm actually elbow deep in working on my indicators, have installed some LED clusters with integrated brake lights. Unfortunately, there are few spots where you can expect something easy to fix if you have a short. You can open the indicator housings themselves and verify that the cables are still attached and not shorting in there, but the likelihood is that something has rubbed through and is now connecting to ground. And that can be... well... in a lot of places.

Anyway, here's my suggestion on how to get started, for what it's worth. I make no claims on being an expert. Also, I have a Touring so that might influence this vs yours.

If I were you, I'd start with checking the horn. That one is right out there up front on the bike, and the most exposed. Verify that the cables are attached and not shorting.

First, though, disconnect the positive lead on the bike's battery.

Disconnect the horn leads and measure resistance with a multimeter between that connector and ground (put one of the probes on the multimeter against some grounded metal part on the bike). One connector should have near-zero resistance, the other should have no connection at all when the bike is off (the positive one).

You can then try doing the same in each indicator housing (open them up, pull out the innards gently and disconnect the cables and measure the cables individually to ground.

If any of the four positive wires show connectivity to ground, you have a place to start. You can at least narrow it down to the left/right side of the bike (front+rear indicator form one circuit).

Though the fact that they work when the engine is off might mean they only short out when the bike is vibrating, that should be a fun one to diagnose, good luck.

 

[R3Rider]

I'm actually elbow deep in working on my indicators, have installed some LED clusters with integrated brake lights. Unfortunately, there are few spots where you can expect something easy to fix if you have a short. You can open the indicator housings themselves and verify that the cables are still attached and not shorting in there, but the likelihood is that something has rubbed through and is now connecting to ground. And that can be... well... in a lot of places.

Anyway, here's my suggestion on how to get started, for what it's worth. I make no claims on being an expert. Also, I have a Touring so that might influence this vs yours.

If I were you, I'd start with checking the horn. That one is right out there up front on the bike, and the most exposed. Verify that the cables are attached and not shorting.

First, though, disconnect the positive lead on the bike's battery.

Disconnect the horn leads and measure resistance with a multimeter between that connector and ground (put one of the probes on the multimeter against some grounded metal part on the bike). One connector should have near-zero resistance, the other should have no connection at all when the bike is off (the positive one).

You can then try doing the same in each indicator housing (open them up, pull out the innards gently and disconnect the cables and measure the cables individually to ground.

If any of the four positive wires show connectivity to ground, you have a place to start. You can at least narrow it down to the left/right side of the bike (front+rear indicator form one circuit).

Though the fact that they work when the engine is off might mean they only short out when the bike is vibrating, that should be a fun one to diagnose, good luck.

Thanks cr0ft,

I'll definitely do as you suggest. I don't have a multimeter but should probably get one anyway. I always like a good excuse to buy tools
I'll let you know how I go.

Be sure to post some pics of your new lights!!!

Cheers
Jason

 

[cr0ft]

Multimeters can be had for like $3, $4 that will do the job. They're crap, but they do allow you to take as much measurements as you need for stuff this basic.

There are others on this forum far better than I at this electrics/electronics stuff, maybe they have some ideas on how to research the issue also.

 

[cr0ft]

Not sure if it would help, but try pulling the relay for the indicators. It's on the right-hand side under the side panel on the non-Tourings. Then try running the bike to see what happens. Without the relay the blinkers should be disconnected so that would let you see if it's the blinker circuit or the horn/something else that's shorting.

Could also pick up a new relay in case that's bad. Get a LED-capable relay while you're at it if you ever want to put LED indicators on the bike.

Just tossing ideas out there, whether any of this helps is another matter, but may be worth a shot.

Also, you can disconnect each of the four blinkers individually. Pulling one cable and seeing if you're still shorting can help you narrow things down. On my Touring, the rear harness connects to the main harness under the right-hand side panel. Two white connectors there for the indicators in the rear.

The front indicators connect to the harness with two small white connectors inside the headlight shell on mine. Probably quite similar on the normal Rocket.

 

[R3Tex]

Call @mexican he is a blinker specialist

 

[R3Tex]

Call @mexican he is a blinker specialist

 

[cr0ft]

Be sure to post some pics of your new lights!!!

Teaser:



Full writeup towards the end of the week, probably, time permitting, still have some work left. Low on time in the eenings atm.

 

[mexican]

Call @mexican he is a blinker specialist

Yes, i'm an expert on blinkers, like them so much that i leave them on at all times

 

[Fingers]

Blinkers! Isn't that why you have a left arm ?