Turn Signal Issues

[marcmax]

Just about finished with the modifications I have been making to my 82LS and have an issue with the turn signals. I did a lot of rewiring since I swapped headlight shells and removed the tach. All the indicator lights that were in the tach are now on a small dash panel and the turn indicators are now in the headlight shell.

I went from four turn signals, two front and two rear, to just two bar end signals (hella reproductions). Now the turn signals blink way to fast. All the bulbs are standard incandescent bulbs and not led's. The only led's are a pair by the license plate wired into the brake light circuit.

Any ideas why they would flash too quickly? Maybe having just one bulb per side instead of two doesn't put enough of a load on the flasher? They still work and serve the purpose of showing your intent to turn but it just doesn't look right.

[Bob_Roller]

Just remember this, if your turn directional blinks faster than normal, there is less resistance in the circuit .

You can place a resistor across the wires on the turn directionals to add resistance to the circuit, if you want to slow the flashing down .

[Burt]

Just a wild guess 'cause I am not electrically inclined but if you went from four down to two indicators what happened to the wiring of the other two.  Is there now an open circuit causing it to increase the flashing interval?  

Mucking around with a K bike and similar happened because I had one indicator disconnected.   [smiley=whistling.gif]

[Luca]

Just remember this, if your turn directional blinks faster than normal, there is less resistance in the circuit .

And light bulbs are just fancy resistors.

The open circuit (removed or burnt out bulb) no longer provides electrical resistance.  Without a functioning bulb it's as if the circuit was never there (like your new setup).  The total resistance of the circuit is reduced, which allows for greater current flow.  Current means heat, and with a thermal flasher unit getting more intense heat, it opens up more quickly (but not as far... think of an electrical hard tap instead of a gentle push)

Which is why Bob is spot on with adding some more resistance.

It's also why your system is behaving like you have a bulb out

[nhmaf]

+1 either add ballast resistance to the circuit to replace the  missing bulbs, or look into replacing the flasher relay with a solid state unit from an online source (superbrightleds.com I think has them, among many others) which doesn't rely on the current load to determine the flashing rate.

[Luca]

And if you don't mind having some extra loops of wire you can place a new resistor between the two unused turn signal leads and tuck them away somewhere as opposed to trying to squeeze it all in one spot.  Also leaves you the possibility to undo your mod if you or another owner so desires.

====Bulb

====Resistor

the circuit won't know the difference

[marcmax]

Have a load resistor on its way. Thanks all!

Here are a few quick snaps of the finished mods. Heading out on the road in a few minutes for a long weekend on two wheels.  [smiley=bmw_smiley.gif]

[montmil]

No need to order a LED-compatible turn signal relay and pay pricey shipping... Turn signal relays for use with LED bulbs are now commonly sold at all the FLAPS. So many new cars using multiple LEDs for signals and such that these correct relays are quite cheap and local.

[Dave 2]

Beautiful work on your bike it looks great [smiley=bmw_smiley.gif]D2

[disco51]

Looks great.
I had a question for you marcmax I meant to ask earlier.  I think I remember you saying you tried the boxer metal rear fender deletion kit for your new look.  Did it fit plug and play on the R65 or did you need to do some work?

[marcmax]

Disco, I actually have the stock fender installed, just trimmed to the outline of the rear subframe.

Just returned from 4 days and 500+ miles of riding. I can definitely say that the little saddle and clip-ons made it an "experience". Several friends asked me to go to a rally with them. It was me on my R65, a guy on a Ducati Corsa (sans bodywork), a guy on a Triumph Speed Triple and about 2000 Harleys. Needless to say it was an interesting experience. All in all it was fun and got a lot of miles and scenery in.

The one thing I don't quite understand is why someone would put their front wheel into a wheel chock, rev the engine through the gears to the point of having the exhaust glowing cherry red and smoking the rear wheel to the point of blowing it out. And the reason??? To win a new back tire! People were cheering like it was a touchdown at the Super Bowl.

I just don't get it.

[rev_mook]

Burnouts are fun.  Who needs a wheel chock?

http://youtu.be/ZfjUP3uHRQw

[nhmaf]

For what it costs for a new rear tire on my Concours - I won't be doing that !  Got others uses for money besides ruining a tire in a minute..

[montmil]

So, Marc... Did you get the turn signals sorted? What was the fix?

Don't leave us hanging.

[marcmax]

Sorted out? Sure...I just stick out my hand.  

Short term I just wired a couple of small bulbs back into the wiring harness at the back and tucked them up under the saddle. I ordered a load resistor in an aluminum heatsink and will replace the bulbs once it arrives.

I must not have completed the transformation to total Airhead yet because the little bulbs under the saddle is the cheaper way to go. What is the saying...The cheapest thing on a BMW is sitting in the saddle.