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[Justin]

Hi all
Having resolved most issues I had with the bike, I still can't work out the indicators not working.
The bike has 150 miles on the clock (genuine) and had been dry stored since new.
During transit to my place I think the left rear indicator stalk was broken, seemed not to mess the wires. I put a new stalk on and switched the light internals over.
The right side of indicators were not working before I did this. The left were working. Now nothing is working.
I have checked the two fuses I can find! The main one and the one under the seat.
I posted here before and was recommended to check the earths but I am not quite sure where to check.
Thanks for any ideas,
Justin

[John G]

I have had rear indicators malfunction on my Bullet. I found the problem was the bullet !! connectors had pulled out. There is a rats maze of wires and connectors concealed beneath the rear number plate/ rear light housing, and this is where the problem was found. There is a 12 mm bolt in the mudguard which holds the housing on, undo that, and you can get a look at the connections. Another time I found a disconnected wire under the seat. Might be worth checking these possibilities.

[stinkwheel]

It may be quickest/simplest to go right back to basics and work through the whole indicator circuit from oner end to the other until you find the problem. Here's how I'd approach the problem.

I'd get a voltmeter, or if you don't have one, a bulb in a holder with two flying wires attached to use to test for the presence of power at veraious points in the circuit. Connect the negative end (or on wire of your bulb) to a piece of bare metal or the battery negative and use the other end as a probe. If you get a battery voltage reading or the bulb lights up, you have power there. You can tsts it's working on the battery positive.

On an AC/DC Indian bullet the indicator circuit goes like this. Test with the ignition on and the indicator switch on left turn.
Battery voltage goes to the flasher relay via a white on red wire. Check for voltage here.

The relay should flash on and off to give you a pulsing voltage at the white wire on the indicator relay. If it doesn't, temporarily connect the red on white and white wires together by disconnecting the relay connector block and inserting a short piece of wire to bridge the two terminals. (if the indicators come on without flashing, the relay is at fault).

Now look at the wires connected to the left hand switch gear (inside the headlamp). There should be voltage at the white wire. There should be voltage at the white on black wire. Move the switch to the right turn position. There should now be voltage at the green on white wire.

Now check for voltage at the indicator connections. White on black wire on the left indicators with the switch to the left. Green on black wires on the right indicators with the switch on the right.

If this is all ok, check for voltage on the black wires coming out of the indicators.

If this is all ok, it is an earth problem. The black wires on the indicators should connect back to earth to complete the circuit. This is either by way of a direct connection to the battery negative or to a piece of bare metal on the frame. If you have a multimeter, you can set it to measure resistance and check there is a low/near zero resistance between any of those black wires and the battery negative.

One other thing to try is if it has an indicator repeater light on the dash, remove the holder from the dash and remove the bulb from the holder and see if the indicators now work, I have seen occasions on other bikes where a repeater light bulb holder creates a short circuit against the inside of the clocks.

[Justin]

Brilliant! Thanks so much for these replies. I'll get onto it now.

[Justin]

Have tested all now. Last thing to find is the earth. No idea where it is yet.

[Justin]

HALF SOLVED!
I bridged the flasher relay and the left side lights up constant.
The right still doesn't work though.

[Justin]

HALF SOLVED!
I bridged the flasher relay and the left side lights up constant.
The right still doesn't work though.

[Justin]

Further investigation, I get the left to light constant but when I turn to right the ammeter hits the negative pin, HARD!

[stinkwheel]

Further investigation, I get the left to light constant but when I turn to right the ammeter hits the negative pin, HARD!

Ok, that's probably a partial or complete short circuit if it's drawing that many amps.

Check that repeater bulb on the dash because the outside of the bulb holder is live when switched in one direction and earth when switched in the other. I'd wager my customary maximum bet of 50p that it's live when the right hand indicator is on and is shorting against the inside of the speedo.

To begin with, take the bulb and holder out of the dash and see if the problem goes away.

My next biggest suspect would be damaged wires where they run under the rear mudguard.

[Justin]

Cool, thanks for the help. I'd no idea where to look anymore. I'll check those out.