No Turn Signals - None!

[Guest]

I'm still in the middle of my '83 GS650GL restoration and I'm finally on the electrical stuff.

Got a brand new fully-charged battery in it. I've got headlights (hi and lo beam), and I've got brake lights. But NO turn signal lights at all. Zilch!

Last night I completely disassembled the left handlebar switch down to the last spring and ball inside each individual switch, and cleaned and lubed them, and hit the contacts with DeoxIt contact cleaner. Contacts actually looked pretty clean when I opened up the switch. Bike's wiring is actually in pretty good shape throughout.

I put it all back together and still no turn signals. Fuse is good.

So, what do I check next. Bulbs "look" good, but maybe not. Bulb sockets are clean. I don't think it could be the flasher unit, since the lights don't come on at all.

What is the protocol here, does just one bad bulb equal no turn signals on the whole bike, or just no turn signals on that particular side of the bike?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[rustybronco]

What do you do at this point? You get a wiring diagram and a voltmeter and start checking voltages from the fuse box to the turn signals.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/gs650wiring.html

[barnbiketom]

take the flasher out and jumper the two terminals. if the lites lite then flasher is bad. the flasher is nothing more than a circuit breaker. and YES if the lites don't lite up, the flasher can be bad.....easy peasy quick check

[WingMan71]

take the flasher out and jumper the two terminals. if the lites work then flasher is bad. the flasher is nothing more than a circuit breaker. and YES if the lites don't lite up, the flasher can be bad.....easy peasy quick check

Tom,

You don't happen to know where the flasher unit is located on a GS650GL do you? (Not at home at the moment.)

Hanging off the side of the battery box perhaps?

Thanks for the help!

[Steve]

The flasher will be in one of three places.
1. right side of battery or airbox
2. front of battery box, towards left side
3. somewhere else that was a bit more 'convenient' for a previous owner.

I am leaning toward #2, but the flasher on my son's bike is NOT in the stock location, so I can't say for sure where it is supposed to be.

.

[barnbiketom]

I have the exact same bike (mine's 82) and I can't remember where it is. maybe later I can get to it and see but another member may recall better than I but it is somewhere under the seat/LH cover..?? sorry i'm old HEHEHEH

[eil]

This happened to me on my 850. Cleaning all of the connectors in the wiring harness is what fixed it.

Does your bike have a turn signal control unit? These don't often go bad, but it has been known to happen.

[WingMan71]

This happened to me on my 850. Cleaning all of the connectors in the wiring harness is what fixed it.

Does your bike have a turn signal control unit? These don't often go bad, but it has been known to happen.

Charles,

The wiring diagram for my bike shows a "turn signal relay", which I think is what most people call the turn signal "flasher unit".

I'm gonna check that tonight when I get home.

On your advice, I'll find all the wiring harness connectors I can find, disconnect them and hit them with some contact cleaner.

Thanks.

[cowboyup3371]

Don't forget to check your grounds for each of your turn signals.

[WingMan71]

I STILL CAN'T FIND THE DARN FLASHER UNIT!

I have a factory service manual for an '82 GS650, that shows the flasher unit is mounted on the bottom left-hand side of the battery box.

Nothing at that spot on my '83 GS650GL. In fact, there is no room for anything to be mounted there on my bike. The frame and the battery box are in the way.

Can anybody tell me just exactly where the flasher unit is located on an '83 GS650GL?

Can't fix it if I can't find it!

[rustybronco]

There's only so many connectors on the bike. Look for the wire colors shown in the diagram.

[tatu]

I STILL CAN'T FIND THE DARN FLASHER UNIT!

I have a factory service manual for an '82 GS650, that shows the flasher unit is mounted on the bottom left-hand side of the battery box.

Nothing at that spot on my '83 GS650GL. In fact, there is no room for anything to be mounted there on my bike. The frame and the battery box are in the way.

Can anybody tell me just exactly where the flasher unit is located on an '83 GS650GL?

Can't fix it if I can't find it!

Was it ever there, have you ever had them working? It is only a small box. Have you got a couple of wires hanging or a plug? As dale says, check the colours and trace them.

[barnbiketom]

Yeah if they never worked then who knows.. the flasher might be missing? but the plug and wires may be stuffed somewhere..it is left side of bike VERY CLOSE to the rubber boot over the driveshaft..within 1 inch of the top of it.. at least on my bike.
It is attached to the bat box i think. no self canceling so only TWO WIRE connector, one wire BLUE and the other blu/red i think, (kinda color blind dammit)
here's a pic:

[WingMan71]

Was it ever there, have you ever had them working? It is only a small box. Have you got a couple of wires hanging or a plug? As dale says, check the colours and trace them.

It's certainly possible that it's not there. I have never had them working before.

I bought the bike out of an estate sale with intent to restore it. It was ridden for ten years from '83 to '93 by its original owner, who stopped riding it and put it in the garage in 1993! He recently died. Thus the estate sale. It was supposedly running when it was put up. It has never run since '93. The restoration is now almost to the point where I can see if the engine runs, but I pinched the oil filter cover o-ring under the cover when I changed the oil, so I'm waiting on a replacement o-ring right now before I can crank her up.

I don't see a connector hanging loose anywhere, but I certainly could have missed one.

Not really that easy to trace wires by their color when they're wrapped up in a wiring harness and you can see them. I'm trying...

Really hoping that somebody with an '82 or '83 GS650GL can tell me where the darn thing should be.

***

[rustybronco]

The wire colours are always showing next to the connector.