Installing LED indicators turn signals

Step 3.

Connect Your LED Turn Signals. Using your +ve marking connect the red wire there and the black to the ground wire. This can be completed by way of either:

1. Using the connectors removed from your Old Indicators and joining them with a soldering iron and covering with heat shrink or tape.
2. Using standard Bullet connectors and crimping the wire. This is more common on older model motorbikes

Take care when stripping the cable back as it is far smaller than your standard bulb type indicator wire. LED lights use a lot less power and therefore operate with smaller cables. Double back the wire before you crimp the connectors to give it a bit more purchase. After connecting give the cable a gentle “tug test” to make sure it’s connected properly and plug in.

Step 4.

Making your LED lights flash properly. If you turned the key and hit the switch 80% chance that your LED turn signals would enter a “hyperflash” state. This is because most bikes run on an analogue capacitive timer relay.  In times of old these were analogue timing circuits, with a capacitor. Your indicator flashes on draws 30-46 watts and slowly charges the capacitor, once charged it turns your indicator off and repeats. With new LED lights, they draw 3-6 watts, this charges your capacitor a lot faster. This results in a very quick flash or a flicker in some cases, adding a load balancing resistor slows this back down to a normal pace. Newer flasher relays use MOSFET switching which is a digital solid state unit that is not load dependent and will flash at the same rate regardless of what lights you use.

I explain more about this in my Motorcycle Electrics 101 Blog if you want to learn further, read that. The long and short of it is, if that’s the case you will need to modify or replace it.

1. Modify: Head down to your local electronics store and buy 4x 5Ω 20 Watt resistors, They shouldn’t cost you more than $0.50-$2 each. Connect these at each light between the +ve and –ve connections. Generally if you search for LED load balancing relays you’ll end up paying way more than you need to, being informed saves you $$$.
2. Replace: At the same electronics store you can buy a replacement LED flasher relay, these come in 2 or 3 pin depending on your bike. They will cost your around $10-15 and make the job a lot easier and neater.