Flashing light relay

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Paola Zago
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Flashing light relay

#1

Post by Paola Zago »

I replaced the shock absorbers of my LTD which had 35.5 cm Koni shock absorbers, with the originals. while doing the work I had removed the screws from the handle, but without moving it away from the motorcycle. when I reassembled everything, the arrows remain lit and no longer flash, both those on the right and those on the left. the electrical wires are connected. but if I give small hits on the relay, the arrows work to the rhythm of the hits I give it. I don't understand what happened. Looking for another relay, in Europe I only found it from CMS, at a cost, including tax and shipping of 110 euros. looking on the net I found an English company that sells a relay for various Honda models for 8 pounds, in their table they indicate it is compatible with GL 1000 Z from 1979. the code is 38800-415-405. I wrote to the company, but they can't tell me if it is also valid for my model. can anyone tell me if suitable or not? thank you in advance
Paola (Italy)
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Re: Flashing light relay

#2

Post by Paola Zago »

I replaced the shock absorbers of my LTD which had 35.5 cm Koni shock absorbers, with the originals. during the work I had removed the screws from the handle, but without moving it away from the bike. when I reassembled everything, the arrows remain lit and no longer flash, both those on the right and those on the left. the electrical cables are connected. but if I give small blows on the relay near the fuses, the arrows work to the rhythm of the blows I give it. I don't understand what happened. Looking for another relay, in Europe I only found it from CMS, at a cost, including taxes and shipping, of 110 euros. searching on the net I found a British company that sells a relay for various Honda models at 8 pounds, in their table they indicate that it is compatible with GL 1000 Z from 1979. the code is 38800-415-405. I wrote to the company, but they can't tell me if it's also valid for my model. can anyone tell me if suitable or not? Thanks in advance
Paola (Italy)
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Re: Flashing light relay

#3

Post by Paola Zago »

I apologize but I had corrected the first post because a translation error perhaps did not make the situation understandable well.
thanks for your patience
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Re: Flashing light relay

#4

Post by gltriker »

Paolo. :-D
Photos may be helpful to visualize the situation. tumb2
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Re: Flashing light relay

#5

Post by Sagebrush »

I don't think you are striking a relay. I believe you are hammering on the flasher unit. There are automotive flasher units that will replace your stock unit. Some electronic others not. Some will handle both incandescent lamps and LEDs. Often less expensive than the original. Unless you are a purist and wanting to keep your LTD completely stock then maybe exploring the automotive aftermarket would be worth your time.
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Re: Flashing light relay

#6

Post by pidjones »

Are you certain that you connected the correct wire to the flasher relay? The green one is not used.
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Re: Flashing light relay

#7

Post by Paola Zago »

I did not disconnect any electrical wire, before working on the bumper, everything worked perfectly. after reassembling it to replace the shock absorbers, the arrows no longer flash. for what little I understand about electrical systems, I checked that there were no disconnected cables but it seems to me that everything is fine. by operating the button on the handlebar, you can hear click clicks from that aluminum cylinder fixed horizontally near the fuse box. if I tap the cylinder with my finger, the arrows flash to the rhythm of my strokes. maybe it's just a coincidence that that relay went haywire when I disassembled the bumper, but I see it only works if I give it small taps. Thanks for the tip of trying to find something aftermarket in the automotive sector. today and tomorrow I go in search.
Paola (Italy)
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Re: Flashing light relay

#8

Post by Paola Zago »

pidjones wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:17 am Are you certain that you connected the correct wire to the flasher relay? The green one is not used.
absolutely sure, I unplugged the wires one at a time, put electrical contact spray and reconnected the wire in its place.
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Re: Flashing light relay

#9

Post by pidjones »

Odd for one to stick ON, however sometimes low battery voltage can cause them to not cycle. The relays are readily available in auto parts stores here. I use one that is electronic and can use LED or incandescent bulbs. But first, make sure the battery isn't drained. Perhaps try them with the engine running.
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Ex 2006 GL1800 - the Black Pearl SOLD! to make room for:
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1975 Red GL1000 project - ex Pistol Pete project
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1976 Yamaha RD400c
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Ex 1978 GL1000
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Re: Flashing light relay

#10

Post by digger »

I would check the wires that are used for ground purposes. If you have a poor ground that could give you low voltage and may be causing your problem.
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Re: Flashing light relay

#11

Post by Fred Camper »

If the bike is not running when you check, that could be the reason as they need almost 13V to flash with some flashers
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Re: Flashing light relay

#12

Post by flyin900 »

Paola, check the ground wires too if the voltage is good from the battery and with the bike running. It is unlikely the flasher unit failed if everything was working fine previous to your work. There is a light blue wire and a green ground wire on one signal and a orange wire and green ground wire on the other signal.
These disconnect at the signal area where you were working and also under the seat at another connection point where the wires for the rear taillight also converge and connect in another small wire bundle.
If any of these wires are not making good contact or have become disconnected while you did the shock work you will experience the non flashing condition.
Trace all these wires to be sure they are making contact and are in fact still connected properly.
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Paola Zago
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Re: Flashing light relay

#13

Post by Paola Zago »

Hi, I did everything you advised me, with fine sandpaper I passed all the contacts and put spray for electrical contacts and now everything works wonders. I didn't understand where the problem was, but I'm glad the arrows work.
However I did not think it was so difficult to find a relay, I have been in some auto parts bringing the original relay with me, and in the end the only compatible one, according to the words of the sellers, was a Mercedes van relay, but it cost 135 euros!
Thanks to everyone for the advice and availability
Paola (Italy)
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