Car vs. Moto Vibration - Coil Relay Mod?

[greg78gs750]

this thread is fascinating....i am taking the bike for my 1st longish outing tonight, i spent last night making sure i could go back to stock in case of failure with the relay. i ahve ALSO wondered why the turn signal relays in our bikes can last for, well, 30 + years, yet so many have had failures with the coil relay mod. maybe i will order a few nice relays from the headlight relay guy (or try to find them elsewhere...). thanks guys!

greg

[markdjr]

The turn signal relay is an interesting point. I have an aftermarket flasher relay set up, as per basscliff's instructions, and have had no problems, however I guess it is hard mounted to the rubber (dissipation of vibration but restricted movement I suppose. I will try one more relay and hard mount it to some rubber. For those curious, the backup I have used it just two piggyback leads off the coil relay connections. I have a male on the ignition side and a female on the coil side, if the relay goes bad, I just unplug and hook up the old connection.

[Roger P.]

I'm thinking that these relays were probably not meant for a 100% duty cycle. They work fine for intermittent loads like horns, but can't cut it when asked to run for extended periods.

[salty_monk]

Yes as a 100% fail safe you can carry a small jumper cable. markdjr is doing a similar thing. You then just unplug the relay & "hotwire" the switched live input (Terminal 86 on the relay) to the output on terminal 87 in the relay socket & you are back to "as OEM".

Obviously all this requires is a short length of wire about 2" with a male spade at each end. You could zip tie or tape this to the bike anywhere, very simple.


This would be safer than carrying a spare relay as your spare "could" be dead from vibration already from sitting around on the bike but you'd never know it till you needed it....

Dan

[Matchless]

Yes as a 100% fail safe you can carry a small jumper cable. markdjr is doing a similar thing. You then just unplug the relay & "hotwire" the switched live input (Terminal 86 on the relay) to the output on terminal 87 in the relay socket & you are back to "as OEM".

Obviously all this requires is a short length of wire about 2" with a male spade at each end. You could zip tie or tape this to the bike anywhere, very simple.


This would be safer than carrying a spare relay as your spare "could" be dead from vibration already from sitting around on the bike but you'd never know it till you needed it....

Dan

....The way to go!

[Skateguy50]

Thats what I was looking for, need to know what to do if it comes to that.

[salty_monk]

Doesn't mean I've got round to making up my own "jumper cable" yet though But I am carrying a spare relay.

Dan

[chef1366]

Cut 86 and 87 and tape them together in a jam.

[Planecrazy]

Here's a thought ... why not use the same type of relays used to control electric radiator fans on modern autos? They are designed for continuous use (unlike the horn style relays that are generally triggered for short periods of time). These types of relays are generally triggered by a temperature sensor of some sort, and I haven't looked at one so don't know the form factor - maybe they're way too big for a bike application. Still, something along those lines would seem to be the ideal solution if they can be wired up similar to the "cheapo" horn relays.

Any thoughts?

Regards,

[salty_monk]

They are exactly the same as horn relays in my experience....

Dan

[Sandy]

These style relays are designed for continous use. Just look under the fuse box/relay box lid on just about any import car and you'll find them being used for anything from fuel pump relays to headlight relays. I think our '01 Outback even has some although I haven't had any reason to look in there. LOL.

[82Shafty]

These style relays are designed for continous use. Just look under the fuse box/relay box lid on just about any import car and you'll find them being used for anything from fuel pump relays to headlight relays. I think our '01 Outback even has some although I haven't had any reason to look in there. LOL.

I was going to suggest a fuel pump relay.

[Planecrazy]

Well so much for my "brilliant" insight - hehe!!!

Regards,

[Matchless]

don gibb6512 found that it was not his relay after all

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=130268&page=3

Turned out not to be the relay after all. My first test was to swap it out with a good one and the bike started. I swapped it again with what I thought was the bad relay and the bike wouldn't start, so my conclusion was the relay was bad. It was coincidence. Had I tested one more time, the bike wouldn't have started. I disassembled the relay and have attached a couple of pictures. It tested fine and by the looks of it, is very well made. I now doubt that unless these are mounted directly on the engine, they are not going to be effected by heat and it would take a lot of vibration to damage these. The case was very tight and the odds of water getting in is slim to none. IMHO, the relays that are malfunctioning prematurely are most likely manufacturing defects in the relay itself. My problem was (I hope) just corroded contacts on the starter.

I have a feeling the relays may be blamed, but may not be the culprit in may cases. If anyone can just test the relay after removing it would maybe help to find a solution to this problem.

[82Shafty]

don gibb6512 found that it was not his relay after all

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=130268&page=3

I have a feeling the relays may be blamed, but may not be the culprit in may cases. If anyone can just test the relay after removing it would maybe help to find a solution to this problem.

I believe P_S on here said that in all three cases, the coil wire inside broke.

I run a frowned upon Pilot 40 amp relay on my bike and I have been over some very nasty potholes, the ones where you hope you don't go down. I have been down land mine road plenty of times, rough RR tracks, and my bike doesn't exactly ride like a Caddy.