Do I have a faulty indicator switch?

[Guest]

Hello everyone,

I joined yesterday, thinking it would be useful being a member of the community in case I need help in the future with my new purchase, little did I know I would need help the following day!

firstly let me introduce myself, I'm 47 years old and have been riding (on and off) for the last 30 years. I live in Lincolnshire UK and currently own a '08 Triumph T100 Bonneville, as well as my new ( and first!) Suzuki.

last week I bought a '79 GS850G in nice original condition. The pervious owner acquired it 6 years ago after it had stood in a shed for 14 years. He stripped it and changed the parts that were in need of replacing.
During his ownership he did 2,500 miles on the bike taking it to 66,000.

And now to my question... I took the bike out for a spin today and noticed when I indicated to turn left, the front left indicator was not lighting up nor was the Orange light on the consol. I stopped and checked the rear left hand indicator and that was not flashing either. When I moved the indicator switch to the right all lights for a right turn worked as normal. After trying the switch a number of times there was no change, the left side indicators and consol display refuse to work. The right side is ok.

My question to other Forum members is, has anyone experienced this before? I am wondering if the likely cause is the switch mechanism and if so can it be taken apart for repair, or could it be a faulty relay?
There are a number of indicator relays on eBay for little money.

I look forward to, and gratefully receive any advice given.

Steve

[tom203]

Probably the switch itself ,but this is a good time to review/inspect wiring layout in case it's just a connection issue along path from switch to signals.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/1979_GS850GN_wiring.gif

[posplayr]

By design unless both lamps on a side are operational the lights/flasher will not blink. Any bulb that is intact will rain on but not flash. Since you groun this not sctive but the rear comes on it is primarily an issue that the front bulb element is burnt out. Off hand I'm not sure about the indicator light but it is probzbly burned out as well. Replace the ftount bulb first. As a general rule you should keep all electrical connections clean. The easiest way is to give a spray with somthing equivalent to DeOxit.

[Cyrano]

Hi Steve,

first off, it's not your relay.

Easy things first, check the bulbs and connections. Switch the wiring connections from left to right and see what happens. Don;t forget to switch them back again.

Though from your description it sounds like a dirty switch connection to me. Strip it down and give it all a good clean.

If you have a multimeter check for continuity when you activate the switch.

[steveL]

Thank you for the replies so far!.. I haven't been able to have a close luck due to work commitments, the only thing I've tried so far is replacing the front and rear flasher bulbs tonight with no change. I'll hopefully be able to spend time Saturday trying to get to the cause.

[steveL]

The problem has been sorted! I sprayed some WD40 into the recesses either side of the indicator switch and the left side flashers worked again.. Must have been a dirty connection !

Thanks guys for the advice!

[posplayr]

The problem has been sorted! I sprayed some WD40 into the recesses either side of the indicator switch and the left side flashers worked again.. Must have been a dirty connection !

Thanks guys for the advice!

This type:

http://www.amazon.com/WD-40-110057-Multi-Use-Product-Spray/dp/B0083V8H0I/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1426883686&sr=1-1&keywords=Wd-40

Or this type:

http://www.amazon.com/WD-40-Specialist-Electrical-Contact-Cleaner/dp/B00AF0OFVU