Need some electrical input

[Condor]

The new2me '07 has a glitch. Not a ghost... I hate those... but a positive glitch. It has to do with the turn signals. I just got around to checking them out and the right side works just fine, but.... when blinking the whole electrical system dims a bit. The left side runs like a jackrabbit and the system pulses a bunch. This is while the motor was not running The bike did have an extra power plug, besides the one in the fairing, mounted up by the audio controls which I removed, and an extra LED running light strip mounted under the trunk which I left were it was. I'd almost think it was all related to a weak battery, but it checks out OK. Any ideas what it might be?? Thought I'd check here for ideas before tearing into everything...

[Freebird]

Condor,

It's not that unusual to see a little fluctuation if it is idling when the turn signals are on. The fast blinking is a concern though. I recommend that you pull off the left rear turn signal lens and check for water and/or corrosion. I've seen several that got water in them and it always seems to be the left rear. I guess because it leans that way when on the side stand.

[HGWT]

Sounds like a bad gremlin, I hate those. They can be hard to find the little suckers will run from one place to another making them hard to isolate. In reality if you start checking the ground side of the system I am sure you'll find the problem there. But the ground system is hard to trace.

[CaptainJoe]

make sure both the front and back are working...

 

if one or the other goes out, it will flash faster...

 

Same thing if you have a trailer hooked up. I have had to get stronger flashers to hook up trailers as the factory ones would flash to slow.

[stardbog]

.. Just my 2 c. motorcycle system can not recognize LED as regular bulb. thats reason for fast flashing. Dimming cluster is sign of electrical system overdraw. I would install one of those voltmeters to give you real time feedback of charging system. Next think to do is to upgrade to hi power output alternator. We know that 2nd gen charging system is just over 600 Watts.

I use to disconnect carb heaters. and change ALL light bulbs with LED's and upgrade headlight bulb with xenon one which was only 5 wats higher than original.

 

Good luck.

 

Dan.

[Dano]

.. Just my 2 c. motorcycle system can not recognize LED as regular bulb. thats reason for fast flashing. Dimming cluster is sign of electrical system overdraw. I would install one of those voltmeters to give you real time feedback of charging system. Next think to do is to upgrade to hi power output alternator. We know that 2nd gen charging system is just over 600 Watts.

I use to disconnect carb heaters. and change ALL light bulbs with LED's and upgrade headlight bulb with xenon one which was only 5 wats higher than original.

 

Good luck.

 

Dan.

 

Heck Dan, this time of night usually doesn't get that clear an answer from you!

[Guest tx2sturgis]

.. We know that 2nd gen charging system is just over 600 Watts.

 

The stock stator is more like 360 watts...less in normal riding. Subtract the loads that the bike consumes, and you have probably a reserve of something like 100-150 watts.

 

Still, its enough to do the job unless a lot of high current loads are added...things like passing lamps, 2 heated suits, heated grips, heated seat, etc.

 

Condor, fast blinking is normally an indicator that a bulb is burned out...but assuming you checked that, has the p.o. installed LED bulbs? If so, they should have used load equalizers, and maybe one is not connected? Loose? Failed?

 

 

 

 

[XV1100SE]

Its probably an issue caused by a previous owner... but is the '07 still under warranty? Depends on when it was purchased.

 

Congrats on the new bike ! Soon you'll have more 2nd Gen's than 1st !

[wes0778]

Check the ground on the left front run/turn light. If ground is faulty the run light may be seeking ground through the turn filament. This can cause all kinda weird things.

[djh3]

I had simular problem with my 09. Turned out to be 2 fold. A rear bulb had went out and while looking at the front it appeared corroded. Well naturally I checked the front first. Like I said the rear was bad. (The fillament in the rear buld would once in awhile make contact and slightly work)

[M61A1MECH]

I had an issue on my 98 Tc some years ago that was similar, one side would blink faster, like it had a bad bulb, but both front and rear lights were blinking. Turned out that the front bulb was actualy bad on the blinker filiment, but some how the blinker circuit was was back feeding to the run light filemant causing it to blink. The resistance for the run filiment must have been different enough to cause a change in how fast the flasher relay actuated. Once I changed the bulb all was good. So if you are seeing both lights flash ata higher rate, change the front bulb and see what happens, I think in my trouble shooting process I swapped my left and right bulbs just to see if if the problem would follow the bulb or stay with on the one side. When followed the bulb Iknew where the problem was.

 

Never really pondered the actual reason why it happened after I fixed it with a new bulb, but did wonder if it was "feature" that Yamaha had designed in so you would not lose turn signal function, but would alert yuo to something being wrong.

 

Keep us posted on what you find.

[dacheedah]

Check to see when it was put in service, may have warranty left

[djh3]

Steve sounds sort of what I had going on. I never did figure out if the filiment was laying "just right" or maybe the elec system was set up to somehow use the "run" light as a signal but act wierd so you would look for it. I put LED bulbs in and the bike really didnt like those. And I didnt want to make/install load equalizers.

[GeorgeS]

I would disconnect power ( or pull fuse ) to " any " aftermarket lighting that has

been added to the bike.

Then Clean ALL the light sockets.

Relace the bulbs for all Turn Signal lights. ( slight chance it could be a bulb causing the

problem, but " not " likley )

 

Do a resistance reading " from " the Neg side of bulb sockets, to the Neg side of battery, make sure NO Resistance above Zero Ohms. ( ie: be sure the sockets are really grounded. )

 

Large Plug, going to all the rear lights, Find it, open it, and clean all the pins.

 

Find the Main Grounding point, check for loose , and corroded connectins. ( Not sure where it is on 2nd gens. ) ( I need to locate this point on my 08 ) Hmmm ??

 

If all else fails, well, maby the flasher unit itself has a problem.

 

Any other " Pull Apart Plugs " front or rear in the Signal system, Clean them !!

 

Find the fuse, check for dirty connections at the fuse holder. ( not likley the problem, but worth checking )

 

:detective:

[Condor]

Thanks everyone for the input. Looks like I'll start by checking all the turn signals for corrosion, and burned out bulbs. And as long as I'm going there, where's a good place to pick up some LED replacements for the 1156's that... I assume... are in there now?? Also will I need to do anything to compensate for the lower power LEDs. I'll also recheck the battery as the bike was not running at the time I ran into the dim/rabbit problem. Need to fire it up this time.....make sure I'm getting the right voltage out of the stator/rectifyer..

[Flyinfool]

I got my LEDs from SuperbrightLEDs.com. Mine are the 45 LED towers. They are not the cheapest, but do have quality stuff. I have thousands of their LEDs in various projects and have never had a single issue.

When you replace the turn signals with LED you will have to either change the flasher unit or add load resistors. The running lights and brake / tail lights can be changed to LED with no issues. There is someone making a brake/tail light conversion that is made specifically for the RSV.

[M61A1MECH]

Here is my go to list when looking for LEDs.

If you are changing out to LEDs make sure the LEDs point rear ward or forward (depending on location on the bike of course) if they are pointing to the side of the housing almost no light will exit the lens , as LEDs are very uni-directional.

 

If you do not use load equalizers on the turn signals, they will blink very fast.

No adjustments needed for brake or runing lights.

 

 

 

http://www.wixtools.com/html/motorcycle_.html

http://www.customdynamics.com/motorcycle_lights.htm

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/tail-brake-turn/

http://www.radiantz.com/

http://www.autolumination.com/

http://www.ledtronics.com/Products/ProductsDetails.aspx?WP=1179#1157

http://www.signaldynamics.com/index.php/products/led-lighting?page=shop.browse&category_id=52&vmcchk=1

http://www.oznium.com/motorcycle-led-lighting

[Guest tx2sturgis]

where's a good place to pick up some LED replacements for the 1156's that... I assume... are in there now??

 

If memory serves....on the 2007 at least, the rear turn signal bulbs are an odd-ball bulb....

 

But its been about 5 years since I looked so I may not be remembering them correctly. It seems, if I remember, that the bayonet pins are arranged differently.

 

I think this is why there are companies that offer complete LED replacement modules for the signal housing.

 

If you find standard 1157's in there, then not surprisingly, my memory is offline...

 

 

 

[djh3]

09 has add ball bulbs in signals also. 3 pins on sides really weird. You can make the standard bulbs work though.