Duff indicators and possible charging system issues

Hi All,

I have a very bizarre problem that I have been trying to overcome for ages with no luck. My indicators have been acting up. Firstly they were rubbish on cold mornings, then they would only work when another light was on e.g. headlight or brake light. Now all those things apply but they will now not work when the engine is revved. They work fine at idle or when riding if you pull the clutch in. No luck otherwise.

I have replaced the flasher unit twice and cleaned all the electrical connections with switch cleaner as well as the control switch. Is this now pointing to a duff regulator/rectifier? The charging system is the only common system I think of to connect indicators with engine RPM. The reg/rec looks like it is original. Definitely not one of the ones with fins either way.

On a related note, is the revised Honda reg/rec with the fins a good way to go and is £50 a good price for replacement?

check the charge rate on the battery when running with a multimeter, reg/rec could be gone. failing that, although all your connectors may be clean, you could have a bad earth or a short somewhere.

Te handlebar switches are fairly notorious for this. Spraying a load of WD40 in whilst operating the switch sorted mine out.

The other you check is to take the rectifier off and check the plate it bolts onto isn't corroded around the bolt holes. The recifier earths through these and if it's not good, can cause overheating. One mechanic I know recommends fitting a connection between oneof the bolts and the negative of the battery to provide a really sound earth.

My indicators didn't work at all then they were solid and then the would flash then I'd leave the bike and repeat the process. I solved mine by spraying wd40 in my switch gear and then indicating left and right as much as possible and it's solved it ever since.

I did give the switch gear a good cleaning with switch cleaner. It made a small difference but I don't think that is where the problem lies. I did also sand down the corrosion from the back of the reg/rec and sand down the mounting area as stooby2 suggested. That also didn't seem to help much.

Anyone else come across this issue?

If you are concerned about the charging system, do the charging voltage test and stator resistance test (from Haynes - I can go into more details if requried) - this will at least prove it works or doesn't. You will have to buy a multimeter if you don't already have one.

Once you've done that it sounds like it might be worth checking the wiring to the flasher unit - from the diagram it has three connections - one to the fusebox (12 V), one to ground and one to the indicator switch. With the bike switched off, remove the flasher relay and measure the resistance between each connetion and its 'other end' i.e. the fusebox, battery ground and the indicator switch respecively. They all should be 'low resistance' (say, less than 1 Ohm).

Thanks ET,

I had forgotten to check the connectors under the right panel. I got 2 new Tourmax regulator/rectifiers off ebay for cheap so I will be installing those as well. I remember someone on here recommending those. Even if thats not the culprit might as well get rid of my original considering how much grief they have caused others.