Flasher relay problem - or flasher itself?

[CapeAnnGS450]

Hey there, GS folks. Long-time lurker who's finally registered.

I've found some relevant posts here already. But nothing that addresses this problem specifically.

I managed to pinch some wiring in my left rear blinker. Got it spliced up and working again (the connector ring was in bad shape), but now if I put any pressure on the flasher-relay box the bike quits. Is the issue still back in that blinker housing? Or is it likely that the relay is now bad/shorted? Some odd things happening, like the brights indicator coming on dimly.

All other wiring looks good; I've redone all of the grounds.

As a short-term fix, will pulling the plugs from the box disable the flashers and not wreak havoc elsewhere. (I wouldn't ride it long like that, and nowhere near a highway.) Many thanks.

1981 GS450E.

[CapeAnnGS450]

A p.s.

The blinkers are all working fine, so....

[tom203]

So you push on turn signal box and bike quits-if you stop pushing, will bike start right up? The turn signals blink normally and the fuse (just one?) doesn't blow?

[pete]

Welcome to the forums! Another 450 on here is always good

Man that problem is weird, however here's a though...

When you put pressure on it, what else around there moves when you do this? If it's on the standard electrics plate is it causing something else to move which causes a ground to lose contact or maybe it disturbs the dodgy stock glass fuse holder or something like that?

If it causes the bike to stop without blowing the fuse like Tom suggests, it can't really be a short...

[CapeAnnGS450]

That little plastic relay box moves around independent of anything on its little rubber one-point mount.

The bike will be idling, in neutral on the center stand, and when I touch the relay (or try to remount the plastic faring) the bike quits. It's been firing up again though. (Battery -- new last season -- had been low though, and it spend all night on a trickle charger and STILL indicated charging, not charged, which seemed odd. I've been riding a fair bit this summer even though it had been garaged maybe two weeks because of bad weather.)

I changed the fuse, though it didn't appear to have blown.

My sense is that there's some contact happening back in that blinker housing. It was surprisingly hard to work with that little wiring configuration in there.... Will look again in the light tomorrow.... Thanks for mulling it over....

[CapeAnnGS450]

And Tom, once I stop touching the box it either runs smoothly again or else has already quit - in which case for the most part it's been restarting.

[pete]

Man that's weird, unless of course whatever happened with the indicator has damaged the relay, and a newbie will sort that out quick smart.

[tom203]

Just remove relay- then if you poke your hand in same location, does bike die- i.e., does it have to do with relay itself or some connected wiring?

[CapeAnnGS450]

Back in business

Resolution (at least for now):

So I unhooked the flasher relay and started the bike. And yeah, I could handle the relay box, squeeze it, whatever, and the bike didn't hiccup. (Blinkers would just stay on solid, however, and not blink. Or blink once then stay solid.) Plug to the relay box was nice and tight.

I pushed on that metal panel near the starter and the engine would hesitate. Finally () noticed that the front top bolt on the mount plate was missing. Got a long bolt and drew the plate down nice and tight. Easy start, no disruption when I push on the starter area.

And now the flashers work. All that from vibrations? I just hope it stays put. I want to stray a little farther from home....

Thanks to you both for helping me talk it through. And hey, Pete, my not-quite-24-year-old son's in Australia now riding a Suzuki back and forth across Oz and up and down Cape York with the Airlie Beach-based expedition outfit he's working for. He's lovin' it. Who wouldn't?

[pete]

Resolution (at least for now):

So I unhooked the flasher relay and started the bike. And yeah, I could handle the relay box, squeeze it, whatever, and the bike didn't hiccup. (Blinkers would just stay on solid, however, and not blink. Or blink once then stay solid.) Plug to the relay box was nice and tight.

I pushed on that metal panel near the starter and the engine would hesitate. Finally () noticed that the front top bolt on the mount plate was missing. Got a long bolt and drew the plate down nice and tight. Easy start, no disruption when I push on the starter area.

And now the flashers work. All that from vibrations? I just hope it stays put. I want to stray a little farther from home....

Excellent! Glad you found it!

Now for the proper fix... that bolt will be providing the ground for all the electrics on that plate by the sounds, so if I was you I would make a lead with two ring terminals on it to go from there directly to your battery negative.

I would then move all the ground connections on your electrics plate to that same bolt so they all get the best possible ground connection.

This is one of the key ingredients in preventing/solving the notorious GS charging issues...

Thanks to you both for helping me talk it through. And hey, Pete, my not-quite-24-year-old son's in Australia now riding a Suzuki back and forth across Oz and up and down Cape York with the Airlie Beach-based expedition outfit he's working for. He's lovin' it. Who wouldn't?

That's pretty cool! That's a thousand km's north of me or so, getting up towards Simon Keuther's way actually What sort of Zuk is he riding?

[CapeAnnGS450]

I'll take your advice on that extra ground. Thanks, mate.

My boy's on a DR-Z (of one size or another) when he's not driving the big Isuzu diesel they use as a support truck.

Last post I saw I think he was on a DR-Z 400 in the Simpson Desert. Long way from the back roads of Massachusetts!

He's done so much work on bikes -- under tough conditions -- that I'm looking forward to having him give the GS a good going over when he returns, even though I know he'll mostly have eyes for his GSXR750.

[pete]

Sounds like a barrel of fun! And he gets paid to do this? Man I'm in the wrong job!