Dumb question about LED turn signals

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

SO i've chopped the rear fender on my '84 V65 and re-positioned the rear tail light....  in the process, I replaced the rear turn signals with LED

(Disclaimer: I dont understand SQUAT about electrics, don't have a multi-meter or know how to work with one.)

I used the 'mark and cut' method on all the wires, just plug & play
The bike is not running (no gas) but I have the new, fully charged battery from my breva installed to check the lights

With power applied, almost everything works....  running tail light, brake light, low beam, front turn signals

Two weird things are happening...

1. My LED headlight flickers like crazy on HI BEAM, fine on low beam (i think this is simply because the alternator isn't running? It's not getting enough juice on battery alone?)

2. Rear turn signals don't work at all (I thought they were going to fast blink, because i dont have a resistor in-line and switched from incandescent to LED?) but they just stay dark


I THINK there are two possibilities... 

A) either I have the turn signal wires mixed up (the old incandescent ones and the new LED ones had different wire colors and I didn't know which was plus/minus)

or

B) the turn signals are wired correctly, but without a resistor, the electrical system doesnt 'see' them to blink them?

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Currently I have it all crimped together to ride for the last few weeks of decent weather, this winter I plan to disassemble it and solder & seal all the connections
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the old incandescent turn signals had a black wire & a black/white stripe wire.... 

the new LED has 1 red & one black wire each; the reds were tied together & run to ground, the blacks ran to either a yellow or blue wire, per side

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I DO have a wiring diagram, but it doesn't make much sense to me. If you have a suggestion for what to look for, I can check it


Fire away if you have a guess, I left myself a little extra wire in case I need to cut & re-connect a couple times.. but I can't do that more than 1-2x without running short.

[Wayne Orwig]

Likely you just have the wires reversed. LED lights are polarity sensitive.
If they blink fast, or just come on and do not blink at all, then you may need a resistor in parallel (across) them to increase the load on the flasher. Or simply a different style flasher.

The LED headlight thing sounds like a bad headlight.

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

Likely you just have the wires reversed. LED lights are polarity sensitive.
If they blink fast, or just come on and do not blink at all, then you may need a resistor in parallel (across) them to increase the load on the flasher. Or simply a different style flasher.

The LED headlight thing sounds like a bad headlight.

Thanks wayne, this is what I'm getting on ADV too....  just need to swap the wires after football today.

If I do end up needing a resistor on the signals, do i get 2 and wire one into each turn signal? or can I get one and wire both of them thru it? (trying to preemptively plan wiring length & run before I cut again)

[Moto]

If you could post a photo of the wiring diagram that came with the new signals maybe the electrical gurus here could give more informed advice.

[Wayne Orwig]

Thanks wayne, this is what I'm getting on ADV too....  just need to swap the wires after football today.

If I do end up needing a resistor on the signals, do i get 2 and wire one into each turn signal? or can I get one and wire both of them thru it? (trying to preemptively plan wiring length & run before I cut again)

For the turn signal, if you need a resistor, the power does not go through it. You will need two resistors, and you place one across each light. But I would look into a different flasher unit first myself.

[Muzz]

For the turn signal, if you need a resistor, the power does not go through it. You will need two resistors, and you place one across each light. But I would look into a different flasher unit first myself.

This.

I bought an cheap adjustable one that they use on those little Chinese pit bikes. I wired it in the feed from the flasher to the switch. Only need the one resistor.  This was on one of those mini chopper things that the grandson uses to duck around to see his mates on.  they don't need a Warrant of Fitness as they are "supposed" to be 50cc or under  but if PC Plod pulls you up they must be of WOF standard. I wired on a set of cheap LED indicators and adjust the flash to suit.

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

For the turn signal, if you need a resistor, the power does not go through it. You will need two resistors, and you place one across each light. But I would look into a different flasher unit first myself.

that would probably be the logical route, one flasher.. but the fronts are still incandescent...  but these LED rear ones were only $6.... so I guess I could get another pair and make them all match 

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

If you could post a photo of the wiring diagram that came with the new signals maybe the electrical gurus here could give more informed advice.

unforch this is like a $6 amazon set right off the boat.. no literature... just a ziploc bag with two signals

[Moto]

unforch this is like a $6 amazon set right off the boat.. no literature... just a ziploc bag with two signals

Ah. Sometimes I go back to the listings on Amazon or Ebay in a case like this and find that there is wiring information in the description or one of the photos that I missed earlier or forgot about after ordering. Might be worth a look if you haven't already given that a try.