Right side signal not blinking

[crossworks]

All my signal lights come on on my 79 gs850. They flash on the left side but not on the right side. I've followed the diagnostic procedure outlined in my Clymer manual it appears that everything checks out. Does the blinker relay care which side is blinking? It doesn't seem like it should considering there is only a positive and negative coming to it........voltages seemed to be the same for left or right turns. Love to get some wise input???

[lucabond]

If 1 side flashes then the flasher itself is fine. It will not flash only 1 bulb on a side both have to be working which I think is what you said. So if the bulbs both front and rear on the same side light up but don't flash it sounds like poor connections causing to high a resistance for the flasher to work. Does it work while running but not with the motor off ? I would pull the bulbs and make sure they are clean and the contacts in the socket are clean also. Then follow the wiring and check the connectors for that side of the bike. Good luck.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. crossworks,

The stock electrical system wants to "see" a certain amount of load. If you don't have the stock value bulbs (Stanley 1073, 12v/23w) then your flasher might not work properly. Other than that, check the socket connections and the grounds. These old bikes love having every electrical connections checked, cleaned, and repaired as necessary. Now, let me lay some GS850G lovin' on you.

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[crossworks]

It is correct that all the bulbs light up correctly. I did spend a fair amount of time going over all the connections but will tackle it even more thoroughly. Running or not doesnt seem to make any difference. But one other tidbit of information that I happened on today was that when the headlights are turned off the right side will blink, but ever so slowly, but the blinking goes caput when the headlights come on.......the right side only. Left side responds totally fine. There are probably some connections that haven't been looked into yet somewhere, this bike is wired for trailer lights and has a Vetter Windjammer on it as well, all things that could affect wiring I am sure.
To Mr. BassCliff, I happened on the gs resource website in the process of cleaning up the CV carbs..........wow what an amazing resource, better than the service manual would have ever given. Your BassCliff website is amazing as well! This bike was my late father in laws, it sat for a number of years and is in need of some TLC so for someone who is decent mechanically but hasnt worked on two wheelers much, these resources have been an amazing god send..........a huge thankyou!!!
Also thanks for the "mega welcome" and the info that comes with that, great stuff!

[Charlie G]

What is up here? I just went throught the same thing today, only my left side wouldn't blink ( Stubborn liberal?). In the end, one of the new after market blinkers I bought had a short in it. I was considering changing it back to OEM, so I just put back on the OEM lights. I wound up hooking the working side lights up to the non-working side wireing and visa versa. Only the right side of lights would work on both circuits. All bulbs good. Good luck and don't be as grumpy as I was today.


Charlie G.

[lucabond]

Im thinking a bad, loose, missing ground maybe in the fairing on that side. Good luck

[Redman]

Cross,

I think what BassCliff said is the important thing here.

The flasher (yes, THE flasher) flashes at a rate based on the amount of current that the bulbs draw. If not enough current flowing (say one bulb burnt out, or lower wattage bulbs) then flasher will not flash or will flash slow. I think your observation of it flashing with headlight off is that with the headlight off, is less load on the charging system, so the voltage is higher, and with the higher voltage then do get a bit more current flow in the bulbs and that is just enough to get the flasher to flash.

So I think the one side may have lower wattage bulbs and so current is less on that side. As an expereiment, try swapping bulbs from one side to the other, and then see which side flashes and which side doesnt.

Other possibility here is that maybe the charging system is not operating as it should and voltage of system is low.
You have a volt meter?

.

[kingofvenus]

Bad auto-cancel controller?