Front turns signal troubles

Petcha2

XS650 Enthusiast
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Morning everyone. I have a relatively clean 1977 XS650D and am very new to working on it. I have so far replaced the old left and right assemblies and the master cylinder and have had the good fortune that, in spite of my neophyte re-wiring efforts, the switches, e.g. horn, headlight, brake light, neutral light, etc., all appear to still work. That said, the wiring in the headlamp bucket is chaos. Maybe it’s always like that? I am now installing short stalk turn indicators (from MikesXS; part no.11-6512) on the front. They have a single wire coming out of the lamp. I read the posts here carefully, connected the right signal to the dark green wire, the left signal to the chocolate wire, and used a large eye type loop to connect a ground to the post of each lamp, and then found an empty black wire connector to hook them into. Started her up, tried the turn signal - and nada. I will go back and check my connections and wire colors (which are faded and not so obvious), but am I missing something obvious here? There are no turn indicators yet on the back, but the brake light, with input from both front and back brake, works fine. I know this topic has already been discussed at length, but any comments/observations about my specific case?
 
Started her up, tried the turn signal - and nada.
Have you had the turn signals functioning previously?
The flasher unit is under the tank. Originals still work for me but do require descent voltage and clean connections. If your charging is weak or low battery, losing turn signal function is one of the first signs of that.
 
+1 to all of the above. The multimeter is your friend. If you don't have one, get a good one; cheap ones aren't very accurate on low resistance readings, and chances are you'll need that for trouble shooting the charging system sooner or later. Check continuity of ground connections and voltage in on the signal lights and flasher.
 
The flasher unit is designed to power two signal lights at a time. If you only have one hooked up, it's not going to work. The one signal may come on but it won't flash. The flasher is also designed to work with original bulb wattages (27 watts each I think) so if your new signals differ, they won't flash.
 
I think the advice that 5 Twins mentioned about needing the front and back hooked up is correct.
 
Have you had the turn signals functioning previously?
The flasher unit is under the tank. Originals still work for me but do require descent voltage and clean connections. If your charging is weak or low battery, losing turn signal function is one of the first signs of that.
Don’t know, will ask PO. I’ll take the tank off and have a look at the flasher unit. I assume there is a good post somewhere on XS650 about how to do this? Truly a newbie with this stuff...
 
+1 to all of the above. The multimeter is your friend. If you don't have one, get a good one; cheap ones aren't very accurate on low resistance readings, and chances are you'll need that for trouble shooting the charging system sooner or later. Check continuity of ground connections and voltage in on the signal lights and flasher.
Definitely need a multimeter. Can you recommend a brand/model? I’m sure I will become good friends with this tool as I try to understand the wiring on this bike. Are there XS650 posts on the use of a multimeter that you could recommend? Thx, grizld1.
 
The flasher unit is designed to power two signal lights at a time. If you only have one hooked up, it's not going to work. The one signal may come on but it won't flash. The flasher is also designed to work with original bulb wattages (27 watts each I think) so if your new signals differ, they won't flash.
Both signals are hooked up. Don’t know the wattage of each bulb, but MikesXS “says” that the lights are compatible with my bike. That said, the lights don’t come on or flash. Thank you, 5twins.
 
By two signal lights, I mean two on one side, left or right, not two on the front (or rear) only. When you activate the turn signal switch, it sends power to the two left or two right signals.

If the bike had no signals when you got it then maybe the P.O. removed the flasher unit as well. As mentioned, you'll need to remove the tank to check on that. The original was a little tin can mounted between the coils.
 
By two signal lights, I mean two on one side, left or right, not two on the front (or rear) only. When you activate the turn signal switch, it sends power to the two left or two right signals.

If the bike had no signals when you got it then maybe the P.O. removed the flasher unit as well. As mentioned, you'll need to remove the tank to check on that. The original was a little tin can mounted between the coils.
Yes, I heard back from the PO, and the flasher unit was removed. This is part #2FO-83350-70-00, Flasher Relay Assembly, right? The little tin can. Is the Flasher Cancelling Unit (part# 1A0-83395-03-00 also something that I need?
 
Yes, that's the flasher but if you've looked it up, you'll see the replacement they now sell (with a new part number) is big, stupid money, lol. You can use an automotive unit instead that only costs a few dollars.

No, you don't need the auto-cancelling unit, but the signals won't automatically turn themselves off without it. But, the unit is very hit and miss, only working some of the time. Also, it won't work at all with a cheap auto flasher. But like I said, even if you got one, it only works some of the time anyway. You end up having to cancel the signals yourself by pressing the button in.
 
Re. meters, I have two: an Equus 3340a that stays home and a Sperry ADM-18A that goes along on longer trips. Neither one is currently produced. I prefer an instrument that has a low resistance range of RX10 ohms, but a quality meter with a low ohm range of RX200 can be accurate enough where we need it to be; it just needs to tell you if a 2.5 ohm ignition coil or a 5 ohm alternator rotor has lost resistance. You should be able to find a meter that will do the job in the $50 range. (Warning: the Chinese have infringed Fluke's trademark and produced a pocket meter that's a guaranteed POS. It's not even a knockoff of a Fluke product, they just stole the name. Those things appear on Amazon and E-bay, probably elsewhere as well. Caveat emptor.)
 
Re. meters, I have two: an Equus 3340a that stays home and a Sperry ADM-18A that goes along on longer trips. Neither one is currently produced. I prefer an instrument that has a low resistance range of RX10 ohms, but a quality meter with a low ohm range of RX200 can be accurate enough where we need it to be; it just needs to tell you if a 2.5 ohm ignition coil or a 5 ohm alternator rotor has lost resistance. You should be able to find a meter that will do the job in the $50 range. (Warning: the Chinese have infringed Fluke's trademark and produced a pocket meter that's a guaranteed POS. It's not even a knockoff of a Fluke product, they just stole the name. Those things appear on Amazon and E-bay, probably elsewhere as well. Caveat emptor.)
Fluke's are quiet expensive, but they are the Starret's of the electrical world.... the standard to beat. If I were looking for a meter I could pack along, I'd give this one a serious look. About the only down side to it I see is it won't measure current.... but I can't remember the last time I was looking at current stranded on the side of the road... so that's really not a deal breaker. I ever decide I need a "baby meter," this would be the one I'd go for.
This isn't one of the Chinese knockoff's is it Dick?


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Yes, that's the flasher but if you've looked it up, you'll see the replacement they now sell (with a new part number) is big, stupid money, lol. You can use an automotive unit instead that only costs a few dollars.

No, you don't need the auto-cancelling unit, but the signals won't automatically turn themselves off without it. But, the unit is very hit and miss, only working some of the time. Also, it won't work at all with a cheap auto flasher. But like I said, even if you got one, it only works some of the time anyway. You end up having to cancel the signals yourself by pressing the button in.
Found the flasher relay (two actually) in the box of parts I got from the PO. He’s pretty sure the one on the left still works. I’ll try it out once I pull the gas tank. Don’t really care about self-cancelling feature. I can do that myself. Thanks for your help, 5twins.
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Fluke's are quiet expensive, but they are the Starret's of the electrical world.... the standard to beat. If I were looking for a meter I could pack along, I'd give this one a serious look. About the only down side to it I see is it won't measure current.... but I can't remember the last time I was looking at current stranded on the side of the road... so that's really not a deal breaker. I ever decide I need a "baby meter," this would be the one I'd go for.
This isn't one of the Chinese knockoff's is it Dick?


View attachment 190475
Flutes are good.
 
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