curiosity question... blinkers

ok, so I guess my 550 has self-canceling turning signals.

What exactly makes them cancel? I've not been able to find a pattern.

 

The self cancelling unit is probably under the seat close to all the other elctrical thingies. Also, in the speedo housing is a small sensor and "theoretically" the cancelling of the indicators happens after you travel a certain distance or it is timed out.
On my 900 it works both ways but not with any great predictability. Generally it is triggered by the distance covered - can't remember what that is - I think it's on an electrical info/help page for XJ's. The key to it working is the sensor in the speedo housing which can actually be removed and inspected if not working.
Any other takers on this...?

 

Timed -- after so long they cancel

Motion -- after so far they cancel

 

According to my Seca's owners manual,

"If the switch is not cancelled by hand it will self-cancel after the motorcycle has travelled about 10 seconds or approximately 150 meters (490 feet) which ever is greater."

 

ahh... it all makes sense now

 

The "cancelling unit" is actually a special flasher unit on our bikes, it works in conjunction with a magnetic reed switch in our speedometers that measures how far you've traveled with the flasher activated.

The "timed" feature is actually non-existant -- it just depends on how fast you cover that set distance. Pretty sure it's set to 150 metres / yards.

 

Altus is correct, per my manual for an 82' xj650j
The signal will cancel in ~150M or 490ft
It only works on motion and will not self-cancel while the bike is stopped.

 

Ok, that helps understand the seemingly erratic behaviour.

Mine take a bit to start flashing after I push the button, so I tend to start the signal sooner than I would in another vehicle. This of course means I often have the signals turn off before I'm ready when travelling on the highway. It's very distracting keeping an eye on your signal indicator (or resisting the urge to) while negotiating a turn in traffic.

Is the delay before flashing starts normal for these bikes?

 

Intresting, I didnt know they were self canceling. Ive noticed them shut off but like stereomind, couldnt figure out any rhyme or reason.

 

my bike has no delay before flashing, at least nothing noticeable

 

My bike also has no delay. I would be surprised if they were time cancelling; that wouldn't seem safe when sitting at a traffic light.

 

No delay, hmm. Thanks for the feedback.

I guess I'll have to pull the tank and see if I missed any connectors when I was removing oxidation from the electrical system. I'm hoping it's just not getting quite as much power as it should and therefore takes a bit to get going. Sounds better (read: cheaper) than a weak flasher or cancellation relay.

 

I'd suspect your signal switch might be the culprit actually - you might want to take it apart and give the contacts a good cleaning, and then protect with some dielectric grease.

Either that, or your bulbs aren't drawing enough current to activate the flasher reliably....

 

Thanks Altus.