Signal light all time on?

gs newbie · May 24, 2003, 01:17:31 PM

I noticed on my friends f4i that his turn signals were on (not flashing, but just on). I asked him if it was some kind of add on and he said it was't. Are the GS's suppossed to be on at all times? I really want them to be, is there some mod to make them stay on?

glenn9171 · May 24, 2003, 06:38:25 PM

Some bikes come with 3-wire turn signals. One ground, one hot for running lights, one hot for turn signals. The GS comes with a 2-wire setup. One ground and one for turn signal. As far as I know, there is no way to have them act as running lights unless you swapped the turn signals for some 3-conductor ones and spliced into the headlight wiring for the hot that you would need for running light mode.

pantablo · May 24, 2003, 07:27:16 PM

I know people have coverted tirn signal only to runing lights. it's not that uncommon but you have to swap out the bulb socket and wiring...may be too much for some but is totally doable.

Black Snowman · May 24, 2003, 08:59:43 PM

Another option would be to add a running light LED which would use less current. The generator on my GS barely charges the battery at idle and I can see the light dim when I hit the blinkers.

Or convert them all to full LED turn / markers. Could be a fun project. to complement JeffD's tail-light assembly I'm getting. hmm. . .

Kingleo75 · May 29, 2003, 12:02:10 PM

It is easy to turn you front turn signals into running/turn lights. LP sells several short stalk signals. Behind the headlight, you will find a female connector that is not connected to anything, this is a hot lead. Run the new signal wires to the old connectors. The 3rd wire will have to be spliced to that hot lead. If you look around you might be able to find a new female connector that will accept 2 male bullets, but they seem to be getting harded to find.

Tuborg · May 29, 2003, 04:47:21 PM

Quote from: Kingleo75Behind the headlight, you will find a female connector that is not connected to anything, this is a hot lead.

I was just going to make a post on this exact topic. I disconnected my lights, didn't pay attention and noticed this extra connector when I hooked everything back up. I thought I lost something!

The way they're hooked up now, they come on when I switch the signal but they don't blink! So if I turn the signal to the right, the right lights come on but don't blink. I want to go back to blinking! Is my relay busted or are they wired wrong?

Note that I never ran the bike or tested the lights before I put the new ones on (Buell style)... so I'm not sure if they ever blinked.

pantablo · May 29, 2003, 05:04:08 PM

Quote from: Kingleo75If you look around you might be able to find a new female connector that will accept 2 male bullets, but they seem to be getting harded to find.

They've always been hard to find but well worth the trouble...

Kingleo75 · May 29, 2003, 09:34:41 PM

They might be wired wrong, get a multimeter and check for current when the switch is on. Also, check to make sure the bulbs are 2-element, if they are not, the light might not blink, not sure how the circuit is set up.

Tuborg · May 30, 2003, 10:57:54 AM

I also noticed that the beam indicator and turn indicator on the gauge cluster do not work. So I'm thinking I'm going to have to draw out the circuit and work from there, since I don't really know how it's set up either.

JeffD · May 30, 2003, 11:25:30 AM

Heh, LED turn Signals. How extravagent do you want to get?!? I can make something up where you can dial in the Flashing rate to how fast you want. Umm... Geeez... Yes its doable but I dont know how much I would be able to make them for, and I'd have to research some more. If someone really wants them I'll look into it, but I dont know how cheap it will be. I already tried just a direct replacement but the stock flasher wont work with LED's.

TheGoodGuy · May 30, 2003, 11:36:29 AM

Quote from: JeffDHeh, LED turn Signals. How extravagent do you want to get?!? I can make something up where you can dial in the Flashing rate to how fast you want. Umm... Geeez... Yes its doable but I dont know how much I would be able to make them for, and I'd have to research some more. If someone really wants them I'll look into it, but I dont know how cheap it will be. I already tried just a direct replacement but the stock flasher wont work with LED's.

humm.. thank god.. cause i was planning to get some orange led things for my gs from tricktape.com

JohNLA · May 30, 2003, 12:09:01 PM

Easy Jeff, I want my LED brake lights first

JeffD · May 30, 2003, 12:14:54 PM

I've got 5 built today. and Your's will be in the mail soon (monday).

JohNLA · May 30, 2003, 12:16:23 PM

Wahoooo

Turkina · July 16, 2003, 10:46:31 PM

Woo, dragging up an old topic in the interest of keeping things together.

Note: I still have to wire this together, but it makes sense.

As far as I can tell, US and UK bikes have the same wiring harnesses for lights, though some bits are not used (sidelight for US). There is a low voltage wire for both the sidelight and the always-on portion of the tail light. It's the brown wire that is paired with the black/white wire in the headlight shell, and the brown wire going back to the tail light. You can use this to power your 3-wire turn signals (LP dual elements) to always give you running lights. Running off the higher voltage wires will cause many bulb replacements.

Like Kingleo75 said, you need to find/make splitters with one female/2 male connectors. You'll need 3 of these. For LP lights, plug the brown wire into both red turn signal leads in the front. Tuck that extra black/white wire out of the way. In the rear, there should be a connector between two lengths of brown wire. Split off that junction, one for the turn signals, the othe for the tail light. Split again and plug in the red wires from each signal.

I really want to get to this soon. I think it would give my bike much better visibility from the sides at night, rather than relying on those dinky reflectors to save my day. LP flush mount rears have good side visibility too.

pantablo · July 17, 2003, 09:45:28 AM

Quote from: pantablo
Quote from: Kingleo75If you look around you might be able to find a new female connector that will accept 2 male bullets, but they seem to be getting harded to find.

They've always been hard to find but well worth the trouble...

Did no one catch the humor in this? I wasn't talking about electrical stuff...

Pkaaso · July 17, 2003, 10:23:24 AM

Tuborg,

Check the bulbs for the indicator lights first. I had one out on my bike when I got it.

Paul

Pkaaso · July 17, 2003, 10:29:05 AM

Pablo, with your nose you could ride 2up with no problem. :mrgreen:

Yes, i got that one but wasn't sure how to comment back.

Turkina · July 17, 2003, 10:58:02 AM

It did give me a chuckle

You would think if we were smart enough to have our GS's, we'd be smart enough to get that joke. hehe :lol:

Then again, we are posting on computers... need to get out more often (and ride!)

Turkina · July 18, 2003, 06:02:57 AM

Shhh, Pablo... with all this double entendre talk, a wrong answer has been produced!

When I got my bike, it came with the front marker lights set up as running lights. Then I broke my turn signals, and had to cut out the old wire splitter (was permanently affixed). I found the little stub I snipped out.

It's two female, one male!

And that's not so bad either, is it...

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Signal light all time on?