Hope someone on this forum can help out. Tried looking at other posts, staring at the manuals, etc. and I'm almost at the point where I'm going to cut the wiring harness apart... which is probably a bad idea. So any help is appreciated:
PROBLEM: Rear signal light intermittently stops working. The front signal lights always work (both left and right), but the rear ones will stop working ever now and then, and then start up again. I know it's not working because the signal indicator will start to blink fast. But here's the odd bit: sometimes it's the right light that stops working, sometimes it's the left and sometimes it's both.
THINGS I'VE CHECKED: I've looked at the bulbs and they both look good (I'm going to change them anyways just in case). I've tried to follow the wiring but there's only that far I can go without splicing open the wiring harness. And since the front works consistently, I'm guessing that the relay and the switch are working fine as well. I'll probably try to check the voltage and current on the rear signal lights this weekend by shorting out the relay and see if I get a reasonable reading. I'm assuming I should be getting 12V across the light and whatever the right current should be based on the bulb.
I've read through the forums and it seems like the left and right circuits are independent, so the only thing I can think of is if there's a common connector that connects the front and the back signal lights. It could be the relay, but if that's the case, the front and rear lights should be failing concurrently. I've looked around and there doesn't seem to be anything that has both the GREEN and the BLACK wires in the same plug. The only other thing I can think of is if I have a freak fault that just happened to simultaneously manifest on both sides of the bike (e.g. same batch of defective bulbs).
Is there anything else I'm missing? I've parked the bike for now because I'm kinda nervous riding around at night with no signal lights.
PS: There's one other oddity with the signals. Sometimes the indicator (and the light) blinks a speed slightly faster than normal, but not as fast as if the rear signal light isn't working. It could be a figment of my imagination though.
check all your grounds
Moosehead,
Where should I check for the ground connection on the bike?
There are several. Start by checking the wiring diagram in the wiki. You will be looking for black/white wires. Each connection could cause you trouble.