I recently finished the ryca conversion.
The kit comes with an LED rear tail light that has turn signals and a brake light integrated all together.
The rear signals worked after initial installation, although the blink rate was faster than stock.
I installed ebay front signals with bulbs--they worked after installation, with the same fast blink rate as the rear.
I accidentally buggered up the lens on on of the front signals and decided to swap them out for somethting of a little higher in quality.
Shortly after installing the new front signals, the relay fuse blew (they worked initially).  I attributed this to the insulation being rubbed away on one of the 3 wires leading to the signal.
I used heat shrink tubing on all 3 wires and no more blown fuses.  However, when activating the turn signals, the front and rear signals no longer blink--they light up with a constant glow, but no blink.
Your thoughts?

OK, dumb question--is that an upgrade that replaces the stock relay, or do I need a new stock relay?

And, where is the relay located?

I would like to get this sorted without relying on taking it to the shop, so any help you can offer is appreciated.

Stock 21W turn sig bulbs draw 1.71 amps each (I = P / E), but LEDs typically use far less.  The stock relay is mechanical and load dependent.   In other words, it depends on the current draw to click the flasher contacts.   Solid state flashers are not load dependent, but instead work from a timing circuit.

The flasher is just a set of contact points that alternates between a short and open.  You can manually flash your signals by unpluging the flasher connector and shorting and unshorting the contacts yourself with a length of wire.   This will ensure your wiring works OK, and also separates the components for troubleshooting.

Pull the turn signal relay and refer to my part B above.   In other words, remove the connector from the flasher and see if you can flash the signals by shorting the connector on and off with a piece of wire.

If they work manually, then either the flasher has gone bad by permanently fusing the contacts together, ORRR, since you are using LEDs, you aren't loading the flasher unit enough to cause it to make/break contact.

Thanks!

bikertrash wrote on 07/22/12 at 20:26:34:

stock flasher looks like a relay but with only 2 terminals.  it's square and black. Original location was on the right side of the bike just under the forward edge of the fuel tank.