xj550 turn signals

Just curious but does anyone else have an xj550 maxim that the turn signals self cancel. If so is anyone sure of how this works. Just curious cuz mine cancel for left and sometimes for the right. Just wandering if this was right or if something's starting to go.

 

These bikes have a turn signal concelling unit(?) on them. they are supposed to stop after a time period(don't know how long). My 550 Maxim does pretty much the same. Right side will cancel, but the left side will go on for days. Not too much of an inconvenience, so I haven't dealt with it

Others on here know more than I, so just wait, they'll chime in soon, I'm sure.

HTH Greg

 

just makin sure i wasn't crazy. It does seem more of a time thing. I've flipped my left signal on, seen it on then realized during my turn when going to flip it off that is was already off. The right seems ok but the left kicks off a little quicker.

 

The self-cancellers are both time AND distance-travelled dependant. They will cancel after the bike has both travelled a minimum of 150 meters AND after at least 10 seconds have elapsed after you have activated your turn signal.

This is why the signals will flasher forever if you are standing still.....the 10 second feature has expired, but the bike has never travelled the 150m. It's also why, at different road speeds (lane change on the freeway, for example, versus lane-change on a residential street) that the "amount of time" it takes for the canceller to operate is different........at 60mph on the freeway, you travel quite a bit further than the 150-meter threshold in LESS THAN 10 seconds; thus in this situation, the flasher WILL cancel once the 10-second threshold is met.

On a residential street situation, let's say at 20 mph, the 10-second threshold will be met after, well, ten seconds! But at 20mph, you're only travelling about 29 feet-per-second, and thus the canceller will not cancel the flasher until 13.79 seconds has passed.

 

Which also explains the behavior these guys are seeing: a left turn (for countries where people drive on the right side of the road) will be much longer, distance and time-wise than a right turn, so the turn signal will turn off sooner after a left turn than after a right turn.

 

Thanks, Chacal. I didn't know about the dual requirement. Now I do.

You guys rock!!

 

Too add to all that, the goofy way (electronically) that the whole thing works means that an even slightly cruddy connector ANYWHERE in the "system" can (and will) produce some rather psychotic behavior. I had the right side on my '81 doing a thing where about 2-4 sec AFTER it had cancelled, it would blink again, once or twice. Cleaning all the connections cured it.

 

I see I see. That deffinately explains my one left turn and why the signal is off before I turn. I try to remember to turn it on a little later so it lasts into the turn.

 

Fast.........you're very welcome, BUT.........regardless of whether it's a left or right turn, the canceller will not self-cancel until BOTH criteria have been met:

* 10 seconds of TIME
* 150 meters (about 450 feet) of distance.

150 meters of distance is a football-field and a half worth of distance.....


By the way, you do not "flick" the turn signals on or off. When you push the finger-lever to engage the right or the left turn signals, the lever should AUTOMATICALLY RETURN TO CENTER when you remove your finger from the lever. If not, then the internal switch is either damaged and/or (most probably) "gummed up" (the grease combines with dust/dirt and congeals). The flashers can be manually cancelled (before the self-canceller does it's thing) by pushing straight "in" or pushing straight "down" on the finger lever (depends on the model) when/after the lever is in the center position.

 

ya, it returns then i push it in after my turn. I think i only have one or two left turns that allow it to cancel. The other ones are all stop signs so the 150 meters isn't met before i cancel them.

 

Sounds like you need to re-push it while you're waiting at the light for the left turn... this will reset both the time and distance counters.

150m is just about a tenth of a mile.