Turn signal back feed

[Overkill]

Hello! Whenever one of the turn signals is on, the other one (in the front only), will also flash but very little - like a back feed. The rears work perfectly. Here is what I have done so far:

1 Checked front turn signal bulbs - they are the original factory and work in both turn and marker settings.
2 Pulled and cleaned the turn signal switch with contact cleaner - no change
3 Changed battery with another fully charged battery - no change
4 Pulled the tank and side covers and cleaned, checked and lubricated every connection on the bike including in the headlight bucket - no change
5 Replaced the turn signal relay ($80 - ouch) - no change

Modifications to date: Added winshield (had to make brackets to get it to hold perfectly still), drilled the pilot jet very slightly and shimmed the needle. The bike runs excelent! The turn signal thing is driving me crazy though. It is not real bad, just enough to concern me. Thank you for any help you can give me!

[Gz Rider]

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[blaine]

My 99 never had this problem. I can't imagine the bike having this problem from the factory.Has anyone tried replacing the indicator bulb (the small one by speedometer) to see if this makes a difference?(I believe it is part of the ground - circuit)
:) :??:

[Gz Rider]

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[blaine]

Blaine, is it possible that you failed to notice that if the left signal was flashing that the right might have been dimming a little?
Yes,The other side dims a little,especially at idle,as the rest of the lights also do.The front signal light takes a lot of power when it is flashing,and the bike idling cannot keep up.As you stated,that is the nature of the beast.A lot of smaller bikes will do that when idling,not just the G.Z. Especially noticeable if you also have the brake on.I misunderstood his post as saying the the other side was actually flashing rather than dimming.
:blush: :sad:

[Water Warrior 2]

On the bright side Overkill now has a spare $80 flasher.

[Overkill]

Yeah I think your right, it may be dimming, I will have to look closer. Thanks for your help! At least I can put the bike back together now!

[alantf]

Sounds like an earth (ground) problem to me. If there's a problem, I've known the return path go through the other filament, & produce the effect you describe. I remember once, when towing a caravan, another motorist pulled me over, to tell me that my caravan lights were all flashing like a christmas tree. I found the problem to be a faulty scotchlock on the return (ground) cable. The indicator bulb was sending the current via all the other filaments until it found its own ground.

[Gz Rider]

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[Overkill]

I ran a ground up to the turn signals, and tried clamping it in several spots but it didn't seem to help, but I like the way you think! :cool:

[5th_bike]

Take a look at the wiring digram and you will see that the signal indicator bulb uses the "other"'s filament as ground, that explains why the other light flashes along gently.

[alantf]

Ah........I missed that. Our European bikes have a single filament bulb (no marker lights) :)

[Road_Clam]

One of the things i've learned over the years is that when it comes to electrical gremlins, it's usually one of two things. A corroded ground, or a corroded connector. These can be a PIA to track down. Many times connectors that reside near the battery tend to corrode from the acid vent vapors. Another common point for corrosion is inside the headlight bucket, which the mfg's love to pack a rat's nest of wires. Look for the tell tale "blue powder" near the terminals. This is the enemy. Corrosion causes wires the heat up melt and fuse together causing system backfeeds. Corroded ground connections are famous for causing lights to intermittently dim. I have a learned diciplin of using die-electric silicone grease on all my bikes connectors and grounds.