2003 Royal Enfield 500 Deluxe

Thank you, Bob! I'm very pleased with the way the 'office' looks now. Here's how it used to be:

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Plasticy switches, plastic decompressor lever, meh looking instruments. And that light tan seat.
 
Good one, Grimly!

Today, the fettling continues. Have been finding the gearchange difficult - esp changing down.

Bike has the traditional British pattern - one gear up and three down. So to come back down the gearbox, you need to lift the lever and I have ended up in a false neutral as often as in gear. Awkward to get my great big boot into gap between footpeg and gear lever. Sometimes, difficult to extract the boot after attempting a gear change.

Could the awkwardness be a factor? Might not be very noticeable from this photo, but today, moved the lever up by one spline:

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If it helps, here's a picture taken when the bike was delivered:

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Short test ride, along a local lane - you pass through people's farm yards - where you're changing up and down through the gears.

Brilliant! I never thought such a small change would reap such rewards. Changing up through the gears, need to lift my foot a tad and tap down, easy and natural. Changing down, a very easy lift with the toe of the boot and I didn't miss once!
 
Trying to work out why the indicators ain't working proper. At one point they just gave up, but then they decided to come on and stay on - no flashing.

Having rewired the bike twice, my assumption of course is that I done something wrong with the main possibilities being a loose connection or a poor earth. Today, made up some test harness, well okay, just some pieces of wire with male or female mini-connectors on the ends to make it easier with a multimeter.

Thought I'd start by looking at the voltage reaching the flash unit - seems fine. Then thought what about the voltage coming out of the unit?

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The red/white from the ignition switch provides a constant voltage when the key is turned. But so does the white output, which heads off towards the l/h switch cluster. Have I misunderstood, or should the unit provide an on/off voltage? Or would that only work if there's bulbs in the circuit to give resistance?

It would be nice to think the problem is a knackered flasher, not yours truly . . .
 
Able to answer my own question! With this lash-up, aka a test bulb:

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was able to confirm that the flasher is working. One end of the test wire is on output at headlamp end of the white wire from the unit, the other end clipped to earth, and the bulb flashes away quite happily.

Means I need to look a bit further for the problem . . .
 
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Able at answer my own question! With this lash-up, aka a test bulb:

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was able to confirm that the flasher is working. One end of the test wire is on output at headlamp end of the white wire from the unit, the other end clipped to earth, and the bulb flashes away quite happily.

Means I need to look a bit further for the problem . . .
Yes, I like to troubleshoot with a test light. I need to pack one for the Ozark rally.
 
Now this is the bit where I get all confussed. There is a good on-off signal from the flasher unit to the l/h handlebar. And I've traced it to both the r/h and l/h output from the handlebar switch. Then the two wires - black/white for l/h, black/green for r/h - both head to separate three-way connectors under the tank. Input from handlebar, output to front flasher, output to rear flasher. But flick the switch right, or left, and both front flashers operate and neither rear. Eh? Wot? I beg your pardon?

Back to blaming myself which seems a fair assumption. Have got to wondering whether have shared earths for the two sides can cause this?

Can shared earth between r/h and l/h turn signals cause both to operate when one side is selected?
 
Can shared earth between r/h and l/h turn signals cause both to operate when one side is selected?
Details are fuzzy Raymond 'cause it was a long time ago.... but I had the same situation where both (don't recall if front or rear) came on. The power from one side was feeding across the indicator light in the tach or speedo and powering the other side. Don't recall what I did to fix it.
Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I suspect that's where your "cross" power is coming from.
 
With his new speedo, I think the flasher indicator lights were eliminated? But maybe their old wires are touching each other?
Good thinking. But no, because I rewired the bike, again, when I fitted the new speedo and ammeter. All the old wiring has gone. Tomorrow, going to take a look at the common earths, where I fitted ring terminals from each bulb, plus another to a frame earth, over a short bolt and wound a nut down tight. All insulated with heatshrink and fitted inside lengths of bicycle inner tube, so I don't fink the earths are causing shorts. At the moment the best idea I can come up with is that the return from one turn signal is running up the common earth and acting as feed to the other side?

Is that even a thing?

As an empiricist, I'll try changing that and see what happens . . .
 
Did these lights ever work properly after your rewire? If not, my logic says you were in error when you wired them.
Marty, after I rewired the bike the first time, yes, everything worked. But started having intermittent problems with the ignition circuit, and such a mess of connectors in the headlamp shell - called the casquette on the Enfield - that I decided to simplify and tidy up. Hence putting all the earths to a couple of common grounds. That's when the turn signals - we call them indicators this side of the Atlantic - started playing up in bizarre ways.

So yes, my logic also puts me in error. After this, going out to the garage to have a further look. Maybe inspiration will strike . . .
 
Since drafting the above, have been to have a look and I'm even more puzzled.

Normal condition - select r/h at handlebar switch and both front turn signals come on, flashing, but neither rear signal illuminates. The signal from the flasher unit to the handlebar switch is ok, and the signal leaving the handlebar is ok. Checked it with a test bulb. Select r/h and the black/green wire for the r/h turn signals carries a pulsating voltage, no voltage on the black/white wire for the l/h. And vice versa if l/h is selected.

On rewiring the bike, implemented common earth connectors - each earth wire has a ring terminal. Earths from the headlamp, side light, pilot lights and instruments are all grouped to a nut & bolt arrangement, with the common earth running back to a second nut & bolt below the fuel tank, where earths from the l/h and r/h turn signals also join in and common earth is carried back to a grounding point on the battery box. I suspect this common earth might be the problem but damned if I can understand why.

Test condition - disconnect the earth from the l/h turn signal. Switch bike on, select r/h and the r/h signal comes on continuous, l/h does not illuminate. Again, vice versa if earth from r/h ind is disconnected.

Now it gets even more puzzling. Test condition - disconnect all common earths, then connect earth for r/h turn signal only. Switch bike on, select r/h and again the r/h ind comes on continuous. And vice versa for the left side.

Suggestions on a postcard, sorry but no prize for winning entry.
 
When you activate the switch, does it provide a path for current to the load, or a path to ground?
Don't fully understand your question - my fault as I don't speak electric, but the way the circuit works is, turn on the ignition and current flows to the flasher unit, the unit does it's thing and passes current along a white wire to the handlebar switch, flick the switch left or right and current flows through a black/white or black/green wire respectively to a three-way, which feeds the two turn signal bulbs on one side, which are earthed to the common earths.

Or not. The light has dawned. Or in this case not dawned, but I have found a problemo which might account for the puzzlement. The only area of the wiring I haven't meddled with is the rear light & turn signal cluster. A bundle of five wires passes along under the mudguard, or fender if you prefer, and into the rear cluster. It has rubbed through at that point - bare copper on show.

Next action is replace the five wires and see where we are then. Once more into the breach.
 
Thank you Marty, but what I did was head out and dismantle.

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I'm sure you will see the bare and frayed cables? Shocking! I fink that's why the rear turn signals weren't working and why there was interference between the r/h and l/h circuits.

This one had me well confused - kept running through the logic, thinking how is it supposed to work, how the hell can the r/h turn signals 'know' what the l/h ones are up to, basically, what have I dun wrong. So very pleased when I found this.

There's more - connectivity inside the rear cluster leaves a lot to be desired. Some PO has fitted an LED rear lamp/brake light but thought it good enough to sever the relevant wires, twist them together and apply some insulating tape.

As I told her indoors, these are problems which need to be fixed but there's no guarantee there won't still be other issues.

Have put aside lengths of tracer wire, couple of multi-pin connectors and some heat shrink but will also see how I can further armour the area where the cable passes through the mudguard. Job for tomorrow, go and cook dinner now.

Issue for the future - I don't like the way the mudguard is mounted. But one thing at a time . . .
 
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