GS wiring turn signals

[gunitgs550]

Hi i have a 81 GS 550 T i bought some shorty turn signals but when i went to put them on i found that the new ones have 2 wires a positive and negitive and the original ones have just one. i can get the new ones to light up but not blink is there anyway to make this work, thanks

[Matchless]

Hi i have a 81 GS 550 T i bought some shorty turn signals but when i went to put them on i found that the new ones have 2 wires a positive and negitive and the original ones have just one. i can get the new ones to light up but not blink is there anyway to make this work, thanks

Usually the ground on the single wire types are via the bolt to frame. If they are lighting up they are connected properly.
If they are not flashing it may be because the wattage of the bulbs are too low for the flasher unit. You would also need an electronic flasher unit, 2 pin, that is not load sensitive. These are available at any auto parts store and if you do a search on the forum you will find many threads on the subject.

[Nessism]

Are your new signals LED type? If so, you need a different flasher.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. gunitgs550,

The stock electrical systems on these bikes want to see a particular amount of load (or resistance) in the blinker system. If you change to different value bulbs (LEDs for example) then there will not be enough resistance to make the flasher blink. It's possible to replace the flasher with an off-the-shelf electronic flasher (they don't care bout the load, they just blink). Sometimes you can even plug a cheap 2-prong can flasher in the existing socket. Check the electrical section of my website for more information.

Anyway, let me dump a TON if information on you and share some GS lovin'.

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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!

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Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

Are your new signals LED type? If so, you need a different flasher.

Even if they have incandescent bulbs, many times the aftermarket lights have lower-wattage bulbs that simply won't trigger the stock flasher units.

.

[tom203]

Even if they have incandescent bulbs, many times the aftermarket lights have lower-wattage bulbs that simply won't trigger the stock flasher units.

.

Yeah, lots of small incandescent signals are 10 watts, not the 23 watts of the originals.