Turn signal reminder install

Motopilot

Guest
I ordered and am trying to install a SMIDSY turn signal reminder which "clicks" with the blinking light and after 20 clicks, beeps a louder tone to remind you to turn off the signal. Applying the brake resets the counter so it doesn't start counting until you release the brakes and start moving.

There are 4 wires to connect: one to ground, one to the brake light, and one for each of the turn signal lights.

I connected one wire to ground, and another to the right signal, and then turned on the ignition. I immediately hear a fast blip-blip-blip-blip (about 4x a second) and then it starts the louder tone after 20 blips. This is WITHOUT the turn signal on. If I turn on the signal, it then blips slowly in time with the turn signal light as it is designed to do.

It seems that there is a pulsing voltage on the line to "test" the bulb all the time when the light isn't flashing. When I connected a voltmeter to the line it reads about 3v, jumping around. (I don't have a scope to see exactly what's going on)

Does anyone know if this is how the turn signal lines work? Am I going to have to wire in a resistor or filter or something else to get it to "ignore" the low voltage blips and wait for the higher voltage of the turn signal light coming on?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
You will need to hook it up completely to both signal lights. Sounds like the way the lights flash when one of the turn signal bulbs is out. Different impedance thru the bulbs. Probably needs both sides (all 4 bulbs ) to operate normal
 
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Hey, I know... and I usually DO turn them off without needing a reminder... but the ONE time I forget and somebody turns right in front of me I'll be thinking... @*&#, If I would have just REMEMBERED to turn off that signal!!!! This is cheap insurance. Have you noticed how many other threads there are on this topic?
The other option is adding bright LED reminder lights like others have done. The NT signal lights on the dash are NOT very visible-- too much glare off my hi-vis jacket to see them in bright sunlight. (don't tell me they work fine for you.. they probably do if you wear dark colors)

As far as wiring goes, this can be mounted on the left side just under the turn signal light and each of the 4 wires runs about 6" to the connection points. Easy.

As an aside, I find that the turn signal switch isn't very ergonomic on this bike. I have to drop my wrist to hit it with my thumb... where on my Burgman it was a very natural thumb movement only to hit the switch. I'm going to try to rotate the switch housing up so the front is at more of an angle instead of vertical.. I want it perpendicular with my arm, not the ground.
 
Chucksklrst said:
You will need to hook it up completely to both signal lights. Sounds like the way the lights flash when one of the turn signal bulbs is out. Different impedance thru the bulbs. Probably needs both sides (all 4 bulbs ) to operate normal
Click to expand...

When I unplug a light and activate the signal, it makes the noise quickly (in time with the signal light on the dash) but not as quickly as when neither signal is activated. This is a low voltage pulse that isn't making the light come on when either signal is activated.

EDIT: The front signals ARE lit as running lights all the time. This explains the voltage on these wires that I'm seeing and they're doing this with a pulsed voltage instead of just supplying half voltage constantly.
 
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My 2 cents worth: The turn signal bulbs on the front run toggling voltages to a single filament bulb. Low voltage = run light, higher intermittent voltage = turn indicator. I wired my left and right turn "beepers" into the Turn Signal wires @ the TS "Relay" voltage thingamajigawhatamacallit located on the right side of the cycle underneath the seat. Another post I saw "somewhere" on NT-OWNERS.ORG about turn signal "reminders" included 3 photos and one was an excellent drawing of where to tap in for the 12V only pulses for the turn signals at the previously mentioned device. My "beepers" did the same as yours did when I tried to tap in to the actual bulb's feed itself up under the cowl.
 
JKOVAL said:
My 2 cents worth: The turn signal bulbs on the front run toggling voltages to a single filament bulb. Low voltage = run light, higher intermittent voltage = turn indicator. I wired my left and right turn "beepers" into the Turn Signal wires @ the TS "Relay" voltage thingamajigawhatamacallit located on the right side of the cycle underneath the seat. Another post I saw "somewhere" on NT-OWNERS.ORG about turn signal "reminders" included 3 photos and one was an excellent drawing of where to tap in for the 12V only pulses for the turn signals at the previously mentioned device. My "beepers" did the same as yours did when I tried to tap in to the actual bulb's feed itself up under the cowl.
Click to expand...
Thanks... this is a great help. I'll study the wiring diagram and see if I can find different wires. I don't ever remember seeing those lights lit up as "running lights" but will check again.
 
Motopilot said:
I don't ever remember seeing those lights lit up as "running lights" but will check again.
Click to expand...

When stock mine did not... When you install the Kisan SM-3R it gives you a running light option. Unfortunately the front lights are single filament bulbs wired in series with the Turn Signal Indicators. So if you turn on the running light option your Turn Signal Indicators stay constantly lit and then "flash" when the signal is active. I tried it for awhile and then disabled that option as looking at the bright Green indicators got really old fast...you can see pictures in my SM-3R review thread. Even if you if you don't go with a Kisan down loading and reading the SM-3R manual might give you a better idea how the Turn Signal lighting works... I think your best bet is just to wire your device to the rear turn signals at the flasher unit and avoid the front end mess all together...:D

Edit: The Rear Turn Signal wires at the Turn Signal Position Relay to tap would be the Orange and Light Blue wires.
 
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I guess 25 years of driving cars has spoiled me with an audible turn signal reminder too.... and they cancel!

Tonight I disconnected the wire from the lightblue/white wire that goes to the right signal bulb. I connected it instead to the light blue wire in the same bundle that goes to the dash indicator light. This time, it only "clicks" when the turn signal is on, just as it should. However, the turn signal indicator light is about half as bright as it used to be, and the audible sound from the reminder unit probably isn't loud enough to be heard with the motor running.

Looks like I'll tap into the orange and light blue wires that come directly out of the relay that go to the rear turn signals. However, I see that there are TWO orange and TWO light blue wires coming out of the relay. One of each of them goes to the front indicator light that I tapped into before, and the other goes to the rear bulbs. I can't tell which is which, but I know one of them isn't going to work. I'll have to do a continuity test to the rear connector to locate the right wire. I also found this thread http://www.nt-owners.org/forums/sho...ble-to-the-rider-in-bright-sun-and-sunglasses which seems to show which wire to use on the connector... I'll check that too.

That all will have to wait for later.. it is 105 in the garage at 10pm...
 
Motopilot said:
That all will have to wait for later.. it is 105 in the garage at 10pm...
Click to expand...


Aren't you guys ever going to cool down? It's been a miserable summer for you. I was there the first week of June and every day was above 100 long before noon. Plus, in June, it was very windy every day I was in Texas except one...and that one I wasn't riding!

I feel for you!
 
Here's the latest on this story...

Now that I check, the front turn signals indeed ARE on at half-brightness all the time, but the rear ones are not. Looks like they're using "pulses" to achieve this, and not a steady low voltage to light them up.

I also tried connecting to the wire that goes to the turn signal indicator on the dash. This worked, but the volume of the beeper is low and the dash light is about half as bright as before.

After a study of the wiring diagram again and the advice from the posts above, I decided that the best/only place to connect this is to wires that go from the relay to the rear turn signals. It turns out this is easy because all the wires I need are found in the connector that connects the tail light just behind the seat. I think I'll still be able to hear the buzzer even with it back there, and if not, will just route the two turn signal wires to the front and tap into the brake and ground at the front of the bike.

In any case, I created a simplified turn signal wiring diagram to help anyone else that wants to tap into the turn signal wiring on the NT700. :cool:
 

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Hi Motopilot,

Last week I bought a used NT 700 that the previous owner had installed the green LEDs. He placed them in a position that reflects back on the windscreen. For one that is always forgetting to turn the darn things off this is a mod worth a lot.
 
I installed my SMIDSY turn signal beeper two weeks ago. I used Motopilot's schematic and Posi-tap connectors. It worked the first time! It's under the seat right now for a road test. I can hear it at idle or low RPM's but not under moderate (or higher) acceleration or on the freeway. It's a start anyway. It would probably be more audible in the fairing. I'll see how I like it. Still might move it to the fairing.
 
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