NO Blinky Blinky!

ok strange eletrical problem here and I am not sure where to start with finding the issue and fixing. I will say that the lights worked perfectly fine until this spring and now this started. The rear left turn signal does not work at all. The self cancel does not work at all either. Brake light are operating just fine. Right rear taillight blinks and works fine but the front light do not blink at all but I am nit sure if they are suppose too. The signal indicator by the tach also does not blink but I am sure that it used too but I could be wrong. The left taillight that is not working at all is good and is not the bulb because I tested it but sticking it into the right head light and it came on just fine. Any help would be great.

 

If it's not the bulbs, start by ohming out the wires coming out of the turn signal stalks. I had a "right side not blinking" issue on my 750J, and it turned out to be a loose connection coming off my rear signal stalk where it plugged into the harness.

 

Another thing to check for is corrosion inside the socket. The socket uses a flat disc, and a spring, and, IIRC, another part, to couple the current to the contact on the tip of the bulb base. Water will eventually corrode the spring enough that it no-longer conducts from the disc. Take it apart, clean everything with a wire brush, then apply a bit of electrical grease or (this is actually a decent use for it) WD-40.

 

If I unhook the light from the wiring and put a 12v battery to it then it comes on. If I hook it back up it never comes on at all. These light I refurbed last fall and they were both working when I parked it. Also what about the self canceling? It is not working either.

 

Self-cancelling won't work if the speedo pulse from the instrument cluster is not reaching the self-cancelling unit (White/Green wire), but I'd worry about that after getting the lamps working.

The fact that you can apply power to the bullet connector near the indicator and get it to work means that you do indeed have broken wires or loose/corroded/bad connectors elsewhere. You'll just have to follow them and see where they're not connected - at least for the front right. For the left side (and maybe for the self-cancelling as well), the turn signal switch may be a culprit. It's actually two switches in one: a momentary that enables the cancelling unit, and a regular switch that switches the flashing signal to one side or the other.

You can test it with a meter:

Left should connect Dark Brown and Black/White until cancel (push in) is pushed
Right should connect Dark Green and Black/White until cancelled
Either direction should momentarily connect Yellow/Red and Black

There have been a few reports of people needing to disassemble and clean these internally.

The indicator lamp in the cluster is actually wired between Dark Green and Dark Brown. If your RR is flashing, but the bulb in the cluster is not (and that bulb is good), it's a good indication that the Dark Brown wire is disconnected or broken somewhere between the switch or instrument cluster and the turn signals... although, to double-check this theory, I'd set the Right signal flashing, then check for a flashing 12V signal between the Dark Green wire at the instrument cluster and chassis.

 

I've been dealing with the same thing for months. After you replace the bulbs and check that SOME current is going across the connectors I would make sure your battery is charged up 100%. On my bike the blinkers work normally when the bike is running - when it is off but the battery is at full charge the blinker unit blinks 1-3 times then stays on, and if the battery is anything below 12V it doesn't blink at all. That is net voltage after headlight, so I thought both my old and replacement blinker relays were broken because I didn't realize how weak my battery was.