Hitchcocks Forum

I need some advise and any help would be much appreciated. I have a 2005 Bullet 350 and to put it simply, the indicators stop working once I get over 50mph. Now, this wouldn't ordinarily bother me as I'm highly unlikely to be overtaking anything! However, I have to negotiate a 4 lane carriageway every morning on my way to work and I have to cross 2 lanes of traffic to get to where I'm heading. This problem makes absolutely no sense to me. If there's an electrical contact, then the 'winkers' should work. Any ideas anyone?

I assume you mean all indication left and right?

Sounds as if a connection is affected by vibration at that speed.

I would perhaps start with the switch on the handlebars, waggle the wires or dismantle and check integrity.

It has to be before the circuit is split to the two separate sides, so switch or flasher relay..

Use your multimeter, don't guess..

My first thought is not enough volts to operate the flasher relay - but that is symptom not cause. Check fuses and relay connections. Check battery voltage and electrolyte level.

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, neither left or right work. Seems like connectivity with the vibration I suppose. When the engine is at idle they flash quite merrily away. If I hold the switch hard in, left or right it still won't work at speed. Only when I slow down do they start working again. Just a bit odd. I do have a new left hand switch gear to fit. But I'll check the connections first.

check your charging voltage when the engine is running fast.



It may be that your regulator is on the way out and the electrical system is getting too much voltage at 50 MPH. does it happen if you run the engine at the same speed in the next lower gear? (or just put on centre stand in neutral and give the throttle a good twist for a couple of seconds.)?

Scallyback, that's a good point. I shall test it as you suggest. Would you simply test the volts across the battery at different rpm?

Dave, test the voltage at the battery at various engine speeds and with/without a load on (lights etc)
The voltage should not exceed 14.5v (I think the ideal is 14.2v)
You'll not get that at tickover of course. Without the engine running you should have at least 12v.

I just thought I'd follow up with a reply. I checked the connections in the headlight (as I was installing a new speedo) and all was OK. Anyway, as I had removed the seat I swapped out the Flasher unit and hey presto it works and that has solved the problem. The flasher unit was malfunctioning at higher revs in all of the gears but not anymore. Many thanks for your helpful thoughts and suggestions, I very much appreciate it.