Where's the flasher relay on a SC1000?

[wasp1000]

Hi folks, although i have been reading the forum (collectively an incredible wealth of information and talent) for a few months, i have never previously posted so here goes.
I have been through the search facility looking for info on the location of the flasher relay on the Sports Classics and have not been able to find any guide.
Can anyone enlighten me as to where it is, if indeed there is one - maybe its all done with smoke and mirrors!!.

Originally Posted by wasp1000

Hi folks, although i have been reading the forum (collectively an incredible wealth of information and talent) for a few months, i have never previously posted so here goes.
I have been through the search facility looking for info on the location of the flasher relay on the Sports Classics and have not been able to find any guide.
Can anyone enlighten me as to where it is, if indeed there is one - maybe its all done with smoke and mirrors!!.

As far as I can tell the flasher function in built into the instrument cluster electronics.

Old school flasher circuits used a thermal relay setup that relied on loading of the flasher lights to heat up a strip of "bi-metal" that once it reached a certain temperature it would open the flasher circuit. The flash rate was directly proportional to the load on the circuit.

The Sport Classics and most modern bikes use a electronic flashing mechanism to make the turn signals flash. It is not proportional to the load on the circuit. It is "bi-polar" meaning the turn signals either flash at the normal rate OR they flash at twice the rate when one of the lights is burned out.

In my initial design for the FLEDA System I used a 10 ohm 25 watt resistor to simulate the load of the stock incandescent turn signal bulbs. The LED arrays of the FLEDA System did NOT draw enough current and without the load resistor the turn signals would flash at twice the normal rate.

I have since discovered that actual loading on the turn signal circuit needed to make the FLEDA turn signals flash at the normal rate can be much less then what I was using in my initial design. I have since replaced the 10 ohm 25 watt load with a 330 ohm 1 watt load and it work great. The actual "tipping point" where the FLEDA turn signals would start to flash at twice the normal rate turn out to be around 470 ohms.

If your question is related to finding a way to make the turn signals "self canceling" I am sure there is a way to do it but I don't think there is anything on the market at this time. It would NOT be a simple swapping of the turn signal flashing unit like you might find with older/other bikes.

I did look through the electrical schematics in the shop manual for the Paul Smart and came to these conclusions.

[wasp1000]

Thanks for the reply Phil.
No, I am not out to create self cancelling indicators, I simply want to install mini LED indicators along with my own version of a tail-chop.
I purchased the (pics attached) indicators and LED flasher relay assuming that it would be a simple case of replacing the original relay.
There are no schematics with the relay and no guide as to how it works.
Can you advise if this would be suitable? (thereby answering the age old question "how long is a piece of string") and where it would be wired into the electrical system?
I am hoping this will be a relative simple case of placing the relay in line as I missed "complex automotive electronics 101" training in the early days.

[dietrichpfeifer]

I know many people have had luck installing LED signals with no other modifications. No new flashers or resistors, and the flash rate is just like stock. So, you might just try wiring them up to the stock signal wires and see what happens. Just need to be sure you test to make sure you have the positive and negative wires figured out, because the LEDs won't light if they're wired with the wrong polarity.

[wasp1000]

Thanks Dietrich, probably a good idea.
I will try installing the indicators and post the results..

[wasp1000]

Originally Posted by dietrichpfeifer

I know many people have had luck installing LED signals with no other modifications. No new flashers or resistors, and the flash rate is just like stock. So, you might just try wiring them up to the stock signal wires and see what happens. Just need to be sure you test to make sure you have the positive and negative wires figured out, because the LEDs won't light if they're wired with the wrong polarity.

I have installed four LED indicators in place of the standard units and the flash rate is approximately twice that of normal.
Although that sounds like they are flashing fast, it still appears acceptable.
Perhaps the LED indicator relay would reduce the flash rate to normal but I am not sure where to install it?.
Any ideas?.

[wasp1000]

As suggested in my previous post, I have now completed the mounting of the two front indicators and attached some pics of the mod.
Im very pleased with the result as it cleans up the look of the front (the least fake/plastic chrome the better) and presents clear lenses instead of inyourface yellow ones and tends to hide the indicators away.
Although these indicators are half the size of standard ones, they are only about 1/2" shorter so should offer the same in-use visibility.

Originally Posted by wasp1000

Thanks for the reply Phil.
No, I am not out to create self cancelling indicators, I simply want to install mini LED indicators along with my own version of a tail-chop.
I purchased the (pics attached) indicators and LED flasher relay assuming that it would be a simple case of replacing the original relay.
There are no schematics with the relay and no guide as to how it works.
Can you advise if this would be suitable? (thereby answering the age old question "how long is a piece of string") and where it would be wired into the electrical system?
I am hoping this will be a relative simple case of placing the relay in line as I missed "complex automotive electronics 101" training in the early days.

Not sure what this "RELAY" thing is all about. It only has two leads which would suggests it might be a load resistor of sorts. Did you get only one of these "RELAYS"? If you got two of them then its a load resistor. Can you supply me with any additional info as to where you got this setup.

Saw your latest posts regarding the installation of your new front winkers. You can get them to flash at the normal rate by adding a resistor across the leads of each light. Try a 330 ohm 1 watt resistor for starters. If at some time you were to replace your rear turn signals with these same winkers you might have to drop the resistance of the load resistors to get them to flash at the normal rate. The front and rear left side winkers work together, likewise the for the right side. The flash rate "tipping point" (normal vs twice normal) is determined by total current draw of each side of the turn signal circuits (right & left).

Originally Posted by dietrichpfeifer

I know many people have had luck installing LED signals with no other modifications. No new flashers or resistors, and the flash rate is just like stock. So, you might just try wiring them up to the stock signal wires and see what happens. Just need to be sure you test to make sure you have the positive and negative wires figured out, because the LEDs won't light if they're wired with the wrong polarity.

The Oberon LED mini winkers don't require any additional loading.

Speaking of having the polarity correct on LED turn signals, it appears from the many installations done with the Oberon winkers that the front left side winker connector on the Sport Classic wiring harness is reversed. Not an issue with in stock incandescent lights but may cause some confusion with LED (polarity sensitive) winkers. The Oberon Kits that I have been selling come with small inline connectors that allow one to reverse the polarity. As a side note, any LED lighting assembly should NOT suffer any ill effects of reversing the polarity, but they will not work.