Turn Indicators

I am a bit too wide for the left arm across the body, right turn signal. People apparently don't see 45-ton bright red fire trucks with lights and sirens, so arms and even blinkers are not to be relied on.
 
Shajota said:
not sure if the flasher unit will be much good with those little leds.
Click to expand...
Nah. That old thing won't work with LEDs. You'll need a LED compatible flasher relay.

The little indicator globe in the dash will also need rewiring with a couple of diodes and an earth connection.

That little globe in the dash bridges across the left and right indicator circuits. when one side is energised, current flows through the idiot lamp globe to the other side where it finds an earth connection via the off side indicator lamp filaments, but it doesn't flow enough current to illuminate those lamps. If you simply replace the indicator lamps with LEDs, they don't require much current, so the dash lamp might flow enough current to light them up. You could end up with all the LED indicators flashing together like hazard lights.

LED indicators.jpg
 
Dellortoman said:
Nah. That old thing won't work with LEDs. You'll need a LED compatible flasher relay.

The little indicator globe in the dash will also need rewiring with a couple of diodes and an earth connection.

That little globe in the dash bridges across the left and right indicator circuits. when one side is energised, current flows through the idiot lamp globe to the other side where it finds an earth connection via the off side indicator lamp filaments, but it doesn't flow enough current to illuminate those lamps. If you simply replace the indicator lamps with LEDs, they don't require much current, so the dash lamp might flow enough current to light them up. You could end up with all the LED indicators flashing together like hazard lights.

View attachment 102963
Click to expand...
Hi Cam. I presumed that unit wouldn't work but in regard indicator globe, there isn't one!
 
Take the turn signals off and bin them!

Of my six Laverda's, only two have turn signals, both are 120's. The other four if they had them when I got the bike, were removed as they are ugly and give a false sense of safety.

I rode to work for 37 years, 90 miles a day and have seen about 10 dead motorcyclists on the road. A few I witnessed them getting run over. If you are relying on turn signals to keep you alive, you will be dead. People in cars on their phone with the radio also going don't see or hear anything. There was an article in Cycle World magazine written by a doctor who worked in an emergency room and rides a BMW. He stated that he has treated many police and fire officers who were hit by a car with the emergency lights and siren on. So if a person in a car does not see a big fire truck making lots of noise and lights flashing, a turn signal on your bike will not help. Same applies to wearing a yellow vest, does nothing but make you think you are safe.

My wife and I one day were on our 1962 Velocette in Arizona (we live in California) in the summer. I could see behind me a very, very loud Harley Davidson. Even 25 yards behind me I could hear his bike and he also had the radio as loud as possible. Well traffic slowed down and we were getting ready to split lanes. The Harley rider wants to pass me and we let him. His bike is so fucking loud with straight pipes and the radio that we think he must be deaf. He gets about a mile and is hit by a car changing lanes in front of him. So we catch up and see he and his wife on the ground unconscious or dead? They are wearing shorts, a t-shirts and sandles. No helmets, Arizona does not require any saftey gear, not even a helmet unless you are younger than 17.

And his Harley is really fucked up. The driver of the car who tried to kill him said I did not see the bike.

So did having the loudest bike in the world keep them safe, hell no!
 
We are definitely divided into two camps on the turn signal issue. Some say chuck the useless things away, others prefer to have them on safety grounds.

I'm in the second group. Anything that makes you more visible (a flashing orange light definitely does that) and lets other traffic know your intentions has to be a good thing. I don't think the safety benefit of indicators can be disputed.

1200ts said:
If you are relying on turn signals to keep you alive, you will be dead.
Click to expand...

Of course no sensible rider would rely on their indicators to keep them alive. You should always ride defensively. The best advice I got when I first started riding bikes over 50 years ago was to make yourself as visible as possible, then assume you're invisible. The indicators are simply an additional tool in your visibility kit. It's facile to dismiss the safety benefit as useless.

Most other drivers are conditioned to respond to a flashing indicator. If you don't have the option to flick the indicator switch, then you leave yourself poorly equipped for negotiating traffic.

To me it's similar to the helmet argument. Some people prefer to ride without a helmet, others would never dream of it. I've heard the spurious argument that it's safer without a helmet because your vision and hearing are unobstructed. But the safety issue has been so well supported by statistics that it's beyond dispute.
 
The bane of my last few years in the Building Game was the focus on Safety from every walking Semi-conscious robot around me. To me, it was counterproductive, but only specific to me after 40 years without accidents. It got to a point where I was almost frozen or catatonic from overthinking. Its the same thing for my riding. I made tons of stupid decisions while riding in my first few years and have the scars to prove it. It's rare for me to be surprised, seen a lot and avoiding most. I use every trick I know, active and passive, including blinkers, as just in one case it helps thats a good thing. Now, how we shepherd newbies through those first few years is the big trick. As said, those tiny, powerful LED blinkers remove their ugly argument.
 
Dellortoman said:
We are definitely divided into two camps on the turn signal issue. Some say chuck the useless things away, others prefer to have them on safety grounds.

I'm in the second group. Anything that makes you more visible (a flashing orange light definitely does that) and lets other traffic know your intentions has to be a good thing. I don't think the safety benefit of indicators can be disputed.



Of course no sensible rider would rely on their indicators to keep them alive. You should always ride defensively. The best advice I got when I first started riding bikes over 50 years ago was to make yourself as visible as possible, then assume you're invisible. The indicators are simply an additional tool in your visibility kit. It's facile to dismiss the safety benefit as useless.

Most other drivers are conditioned to respond to a flashing indicator. If you don't have the option to flick the indicator switch, then you leave yourself poorly equipped for negotiating traffic.

To me it's similar to the helmet argument. Some people prefer to ride without a helmet, others would never dream of it. I've heard the spurious argument that it's safer without a helmet because your vision and hearing are unobstructed. But the safety issue has been so well supported by statistics that it's beyond dispute.
Click to expand...
No, I don't believe turn signals or any other things to make you more visible work at all. I have ridden over 1 million miles on motorcycles since my first bike in 1976. So 900,000 miles just riding to work of which I probably split traffic lanes for 200,000 miles and I am still alive. It was not fun and I am glad to be retired. Also another 100,000 miles on old bikes that never had turn signals.

I have seen riders on new bikes with all the modern safety gear that is available including wearing a very viable safety vest get run over by a driver who did not see them. I have seen a police officer on a BMW get run over by a car who did not see them. The turn signals mean nothing if the driver of the car is staring at their phone.

Call me crazy but I still ride bikes with no electric lights at all. I have a 1929 AJS with acetylene lights that I have ridden at night without worrying about it. The headlight is not much brighter than a candle.
 
Your battery would be charged more easily if you disconnected the brake light as well. Just extending the logic. I am being a bit of a Dick, I like people to make any decision they feel comfortable doing. For now its almost a free world.
 
Those Tridon flashers need at least 11 volts at the input to flash reliably. That's something you could check easily.
 
Safety measures are for others... until you are affected yourself. Only then are they fully appreciated.

A carpenter mate of mine was so proud he was still in possesion of all his fingers at age 35, I visited him in hospital afew weeks later after he had surgery on his mutilated hand after it went through the table saw. It was only a second of distraction while working without a push stick(?). I lost a finger tip because I was momentarily quite stupid and threw all concerns overboard while searching for the source of a ticking noise in a SF750. Never ceases to amaze me how careless my wife is in the household on stairs, chairs, ladders, etc.

Seatbelts and helmets prevent thousands of fatalities annually, yet still many refuse to use them on grounds of freedumb.

FAFO.

piet
 
Spent a lot of time using massive table saws, one smarty aqused me of being frightened of it. I definitely was after seeing the state of old Wood Machinist's hands. That same smarty, a couple of months later, lost the last joint on his right index finger. For the remainder of his life, using a cordless drill or holding a pen was an issue. He didnt even notice it was gone till he noticed something wet squirting on his face.
 
I'm getting the impression we all live in quite different 'safety' environments in our respective countries and cities. I could easily fang around Melbourne without indicators, swapping lanes like I'm in a video game, but I like the fact that the indicators afford me some legitimacy with drivers ... eg, if I ride up a left turn lane to the front of the queue turning right (left-hand driving) then put on my right indicator to pull into the right lane ahead of the lead car, It's nice to know I've 'indicated' my intentions. A little less 'renegade' :cool:
 
Laverdalothar said:
I wouldn't drive in England at all, they are all on the wrong side of the road... :eek:


;):ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
It is the roads that are built ass about. The right side is the wrong side.
"I wouldn't try driving in overcrowded Southern England every day without turn signals if you want to stay alive." Where is your sense of adventure :ROFLMAO:?
 
Laverdalothar said:
I wouldn't drive in England at all, they are all on the wrong side of the road... :eek:


;):ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Worse than that, most drivers, here, appear to struggle with the concept of an "indicator". They stop, in the middle of the road, start to turn, and only then use their indicator!
I've been riding motorcycles, with indicators, for fifty-three years now. Bought an SF2 without any fitted, last year, and that was one of the first things I corrected. I don't ride with daytime headlights, but I do use my indicators, including on entering and leaving roundabouts.
Back in '74, a copper pulled me over and tried to give my failure to use my indicators as a reason. I pointed out to him that they work by flashing "on", then turning "off".
"Perhaps, you glanced at them while they were "off", Officer?"
He then, thankfully, 'ed off.
 
When I get on my motorbike, I always remember the words of my instructor (again 47 years ago🫣): "When you get on your motorbike, someone somewhere gets in their car to run you off the road." That one car has now become 10 or more, but keep your wits about you and anticipate the behaviour of others on the road. You may be right, but if you end up in hospital or in a coffin, that "right" won't do you any good.
Drive carefully and keep the rubber on the road.😉👍
 
piranha-bro2 said:
I'm getting the impression we all live in quite different 'safety' environments in our respective countries and cities. I could easily fang around Melbourne without indicators, swapping lanes like I'm in a video game, but I like the fact that the indicators afford me some legitimacy with drivers ... eg, if I ride up a left turn lane to the front of the queue turning right (left-hand driving) then put on my right indicator to pull into the right lane ahead of the lead car, It's nice to know I've 'indicated' my intentions. A little less 'renegade' :cool:
Click to expand...
It's one thing to ride the back roads of Montana or somewhere out back o' Bourke without a helmet or indicators, venturing into densely populated cities is another, you'll only survive with luck unless you do everything possible to protect yourself from the stupidness of those around you.

piet
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top