Why to Install LED Blinkers
There are many reasons why one would want to install LED blinkers on their motorcycle. They are often smaller, brighter, and in some cases better looking than the factory blinkers.
Manufacturers, by law, have to sell motorcycles that follow strict road laws. These include, having mirrors, headlights with high and low beams, blinkers, fenders, and so on. Because they have to follow these laws, some of those bolt-on parts can look a little silly and over-sized.
Installing smaller and brighter LED blinkers and help streamline the look of the motorcycle and make it better looking. Also, good quality LEDs can be brighter and easier to see at night. This allows other drivers to see you more clearly.
Installing new blinkers into most motorcycles is pretty straight forward. It usually just requires you to remove some plastic body panels, disconnect 2-3 wires, swap out the blinkers, and reverse the process. More information on this later.
If you your motorcycle’s blinkers have regular light bulbs and not LEDs, you will have a few extra steps in installing them to make them work correctly. If all you do is just replace non-LED blinkers to LED blinkers, you will notice that the lights blink faster than normal. This is called Rapid Flash. To fix this we need to modify the motorcycle a little more, but don’t worry, its pretty simple.
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What is Blinker Rapid Flash?
In short, blinker rapid flash is when the blinker flashes faster than normal. This can be caused by a few things including bulbs, relays, or bad electrical connections.
The basic blinker system operates using a relay to cause the light bulbs to turn on and off. The current running through the system is what causes the relay to operate. If this fine electrical balance is upset, the timing of the relay will change, which in turn will cause the blinkers to operate strangely.
Troubleshooting Rapid Flash
There are a few things you can do to find out the cause of the blinker not working correctly. If this problem started after you modified your motorcycle (or car) then I would check all your modifications to make sure nothing is incorrect. However, if this started out of no where, check the following below to pin point the problem.
Light Bulbs
The first thing you should check is the light bulbs in the front and back. If any of these bulbs are burned out, it will create a open circuit in the system. Without the current being drawn by the light bulb, the blinker relay will not work correctly.
Light bulbs are usually the easiest to replace and tend to cause the problem the most. These can fail for many reasons. They are fairly cheap and you can get most bulbs in any store that sells automotive light bulbs.
Check your service manual for your make and model of vehicle to replace these light bulbs.
Blinker Relay
The blinker relay is the component that actually turns the blinkers on and off. It is the item that causes the “double click” sound when you turn on your blinker. If all your lights appear to be working, but they are flashing incorrectly, this could be the cause.
The basic three wire blinker is made up of a relay and a flasher circuit. The relay chunk is what selects the left or right side lights. The flasher circuit has a thermostatic switch that turns the lights on and off. This usually runs about ~$3 dollars at most auto parts store.
Bad Connections
The last common issue, that causes rapid flash, could be a bad connection somewhere within the circuit. This could be a corroded light bulb socket, rusted grounding wires, or even a bad battery.
A sign of a bad connection will be lower voltages across the wires. You can check for this using an Multimeter. If this is happening, look for any loose wires, or grounding wires that have a lot of rust on them. If this is the case, clean up the connection point to get a proper grounding.
Installing The Blinkers
The process of installing new blinkers is usually straight forward. Each motorcycle is different and there is no way I could spell out every way to install the physical blinkers.
You can usually buy the blinkers is sets like this LED Blinker set on Amazon. Most of the blinkers you can find are a universal fit, but you may have to adapt them for your motorcycle’s needs.
My 1984 Honda Nighthawk 650 requires me to take apart my headlight to install them. As long as you get the 2-3 wires connected to your motorcycle correctly, you are almost done. Next we will go over installing the blinker resistors or relay.
Installing the Blinker Resistors / Relays
There are two ways of eliminating rapid flash. You can either use resistors or a special relay designed for LED bulbs. Either of these methods will work to fix the rapid flashing issue.
The resistors get tapped into the pre-existing wiring for each light bulb and the relay would just replace the relay in your motorcycle. The resistors are more of a universal fit, while the relay will be more specific to an motorcycle.
Installing Blinker Resistors
You will need one resistor per light bulb that you replaced with an LED. You can buy they in sets of two or four. On my motorcycle, I only replaced my rear blinkers with LEDs and I left my front blinkers as regular light bulbs. So in my example; I only needed two resistors.
If you are replacing all four blinkers with LEDs, you will need four resistors to completely fix the rapid flash problem. I used this Resistor Set from Amazon when I switched my blinkers to LED. EVen though I only needed two, I got the four pack just in case something went wrong.
To install the resistor, you need to connect one end of the resistor to the positive (+) wire and connect the other end of the resistor to the negative (-) wire on your motorcycle. It does not matter which end of the resistor you use, they can be installed in any orientation.
This needs to be done for each bulb that was replaced. They usually come with a tap that allows you to splice it into your factory wiring very simply. I find more comfort in actually soldering the resistor wires to the factory wiring. This gives me piece of mind knowing that the connection is solid and cannot become loose.
The final step is to mount the resistor to a piece of metal on your motorcycle. This will generate a little heat and it is best to have it attached to metal and not up against plastic.
Installing Blinker Relays
If you do not want to install all those resistors into your motorcycle, you can see if they make a special LED blinker relay for your motorcycle. If you are lucky enough to get one of these relays, installation is very simple. All you have to do is locate the factory blinker relay and replace it with the new one.
In most cases it should just be plug and play, but if the connector is different you may have to splice in a new connector for the relay your purchased. If you have to go this route, refer to your service manual to identify which wire is which.
Conclusion
To wrap things up, installing LED blinkers onto your motorcycle can make it safer by having brighter, longer lasting lights. Since most LEDs last a very long time, you will not have to change your bulbs as often.
Updating your lights to LEDs on your motorcycle will allow you to draw less power from your motorcycle and keep some maintenance costs down. Some light bulbs for older motorcycles can be a bit pricey.
And last but not least, changing the blinkers can make the motorcycle look nicer by replacing the large factory blinkers that came with the motorcycle to a smaller and sleeker looking design.
If you are interested in what Motorcycle and gear I own, you can check it all out on the Bike and Gear page!