new blinkers won't work?

okay, I have a 1982 seca 550 and I just got a set of small blinkers, I did not go with the led type as I knew the flasher would have problems, I went with a normal bulb, smaller size bulb but still normal filament type. When I hook one of them up it just lights and does not flash. If I go back to the stock blinker it works fine, keep in mind fine is slow blinking.
Do I need a different type of flasher? Does one from a newer bike work? Is the flasher the square behind the fuse box under the seat or is it mounted somewhere else like in the headlight?
A little help please....

 

Here's the deal- - the Yamaha system needs to draw 27 Watts per bulb to work, so, you need to . . .
a. Run the stock bulbs
b. Add 8 Watts of load hidden anywhere on the bike, tied into the signals, each side.
c. replace the 3 prong flasher with an automotive, cheap 2 prong flasher. Then you will not have self cancelling signals. Try not to pick "c".
d. Learn hand signals.

You can run LED flashers if you add enough load.

Tell us how you fixed it !!! I hate it when a thread like this just dies. . .

 

What about using a flasher from a newer model?
also, is the flaasher the one onder the seat or is it mounted somewhere else like in the headlight. Last if I go with option c and use a auto flasher, which two wires do I use?

 

If you want to use a generic two pin flasher, the two wires to use are brown and brown/white.

If you want to build a replacement flasher that will let you keep the self-cancelling feature, the details are here, about half-way down: http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14068.html

This will work with any turn signals, including LEDs.

Cheers,
Paul

 

I had the same problem with mine, until I went to the local auto parts store and found me an electronic flasher. Works great and was fairly cheap. It works with LEDs also.

 

Sorta but not quite. I had the same problem when I replaced my turn signals with aftermarket units that came with 23W bulbs. I swapped back in TWO of the original 27W bulbs (one per side) and they work fine again. So the actual draw required is somewhere in between. Lots easier than a bunch of electrical mods.

PM me with your email address if you would like a set of component location/cable routing diagrams for your 550 Seca.

 

Does your self-canceller still work? If so, I'd be very interested to know exactly which flasher you bought.

Thanks,
Paul

 

I never had a self canceller on my bike, so I can't know if it was disabled by the signal swap.
I don't remember what brand my electronic flasher units are. All I do know is they aren't the old style mechanical ones. Just ask for an electronic flasher and they should know what your talking about...
...of course I've come across some real idiots working at some of those stores. Some of them couldn't tell the difference between a high compression hub cap and a muffler belt!! 8O

 

Bosch makes a nice electronic flasher. Most auto parts stores have them

 

The self-cancelling turn signals are one of the technological "advances" (ok maybe just "advanced utilization of existing technology") that make an '80s Yamaha what it is. Are they a pain in the butt? YES. Are they less than 100% reliable even when everything is right? YES. Is it an integral part of the bike's personality? YES. Sorry, can't give up the feature even with all the drawbacks.

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one that feels that way!

 

That self canceller can save your life !!

Try to retain the feature, it's not just a toy.

(a person could ride down the road with a signal on, and a cager could pull out because the motorcycle was signalling a turn)(and it would be the motorcycle's fault)

 

truth is none of my bikes have self canceling, so I am very used to doing the canceling myself and the stock blinkers are a large, and I repeat large eyesore. truth is I am sorry alot of you feel so dearly about self canceling signals, but for right now they will probably have to go in favor of more modern estetics. Truth is I would still cancel mine, I really do not even know if my self canceling is working or how is is supposed to work as I always turn them off manually and when I do they have still been blinking so either I am faster than the self canceling or it is not working which would not suprise me. Thanks for all the help, I will try the bosh one probably tomorrow.

 

also, where is the stock flasher? Is it the small box under the seat behind the fuse box or is it somewhere else like in the headlight case? I checked the repair manual but it does not say

 

Not sure where your flasher is on yours, but on my xs 400 it's underneath the frame directly under the tank. Pain in the $#@ to get at, but you need signals, Right! Hope that helps.
Mac

 

The small flasher-looking box under the seat to the rear of the fusebox is the sidestand relay. The flasher itself along with the cancelling unit and the safety relay are located under the tank. I completely agree as far as the stock turn signals go, so on the "modified" bike I went with these:



They are the same style as the stock signals on the Radian and FJs/FZs from the nineties, so it retains the "Yamaha" look (as well as the self cancelling feature, once I swapped the orig bulbs back in.)

I'll have your component location diagrams out to you later today.

 

thank you, and yes your new blinkers are much nicer, the ones I am using are still smaller, what did you do to the horns, are those just covers that can be removed to get what you have? I am thinking about relovating the horns to somewhere else less visable.

 

The horns are made by a company called Acumen in England http://www.acumen-electronics.co.uk/pro ... nish_70001 and are louder (and a lot more obnoxious tone) than the stockers. I wanted all-black horns, slightly smaller if possible, because I wanted to retain the stock locations as I feel it is part of the "personality" of the 550 Seca, but make them less obtrusive. (Same motivation for the turn signals.) These COMPLETELY fit my requirements, the louder part was just a bonus. There are a couple of things to be aware of in mounting them but they turned out real nice. I painted the obvious brass rivet in the center with a dab of black automotive touch-up paint.

 

Just went thru this on my Xj650..Make sure the front turn signals are a 'single element' I had this issue on two other bikes in the past and had to argue with the tech at the local shop about it.
The way I proved it is I installed the old single elemint socket into the new turn signal assy and it worked great!!!

The new ones came with a dual element type bulb and did not work. We even tried just hooking up one wire for one element in the dual set up...no go.

 

you have me thinking now, I like the blinkers you used but I am not sure I could live them sticking out as far as they do, so I will go back to the Dennis Kirk book before loosing the stock flasher. Also, when at the auto shop looking for the electronic flasher I saw a couple of 3 prong flashers. Would these work and still keep the self canceling?

 

A 3-prong flasher (old-school or electronic type) with X, P and L terminals can be used. You will have to re-arrange the pins on the 3-prong connector, though. That can be done without cutting or splicing any wires.

See this thread:

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=4489.html

 

thanks for the link, I also saw in the dennis kirk book a electronic load equalizer that is said to let you use leds or smaller bulbs with old style flashers, cost is under 20, has anyone tried it to see if the auto cancel still would work?

 

okay, had my tank lifted up and the only thing under there that looked like a flasher was a small silver box but it had 4 wires, is that it?

 

No. To keep the self cancelling you'll need to build the flasher circuit I pointed you to earlier.

The three-pin generic electronic flashers are line/load/ground. The stock Yamaha/ND flasher takes line/load/enable. Enable is NOT the same as ground; it's 12V when disabled and floating when enabled.

 

what does the stock flasher look like? How many wires to it?

 

I'm holding one. . .
Black box 1 3/4 X 1 1/2 X 7/8 inch

3 prong labeled C _ L _ B

faded white lettering. . . 12.8 V. . . 27 W . X 2
DOT , an "A" in a circle, other lettering faded

And the wire colors on the flasher for a Seca 550 are
Br . Y/G . Br/W

Hope that helps.

 

yeah it helps, I finally found it after I took the tank all the way off, did the flasher swap and now it works great. I only swapped the rear blinkers for today , looks muchbetter even though these are not the exact ones I want. I will do the front next week as I have to remove the headlight to get to the conectors for the front blinkers.
I did have a bad suprise, i wired wrong and blew a fuse, when I went into the fuse box to swap fuses I found that someone had broken the fuse holder for the main fuse and just wired the two wires togeather bypassing the main fuse, also one of the terminals for the fuse for the headlight is also broken, the fuse is held in with tape. So I bought a fuse for the main, not correct but for now it is better than no fuse. How many amps is the main fuse?

 

20A. Sounds like you're a candidate for a fusebox retrofit. Chacal sells a kit that works marvelously, and it's not expensive.

Oh, and BTW---those turn signals ARE available with shorter stalks, I wanted to duplicate the stock locations for visibilitys' sake. Form has to follow function occasionally and I ride in downtown Detroit rush-hour traffic.

 

I actually had the same problem on my friend's 1982 XJ650 frame/XJ750J engine. I ended up leaving the stock flasher relay in to retain the self-canceling and just wired an 8 ohm resistor in parallel with the new blinkers. Works great and still self cancels.