blinkers acting funny

the blinkers work fine while im riding, but when i slow down too much or come to a stop they turn on but don't flash. its the same for the left and right sides. whats going on?

 

Check your battery, it may be weak.

Wasn't too long after I got mine that it started to do the same thing, turns out it had the original battery. A new one cured that problem and the bike started easier too.

 

You're running out of power - generator isn't putting out enough at idle to keep everything going. Which isn't an uncommon thing, but when combined with a weak battery, this is what you get.

Check the battery first - probably needs a good long charging.
Then check the voltages across the battery when running - should be around 12-12.5 volts at idle, and around 14.2 volts at 2000 rpm. If it's not, you may have other issues that need troubleshooting.

 

i just charged the battery the other day but its losing charge pretty fast, around .1-.2 volts a day. ill check out the running voltages and see if it just needs a new battery

 

so i get 12.5 while the bike is off, 13.8 during idle and while revving. theres no change from when its idling and revving what does that mean?

 

13.8 is a touch low but not so much u should worry about it much. clean the battery connections and make sure they are secured well. check after u do that and if u get improvement then thats good,if not dont worry about it,if your issue continues buy a new battery.
the tolerance is within .4 volts so that shouldnt be problematic.
Another consideration is too fast a charge shortens the life u want a trickle charge for a long time,3-5 hours @1.5 or 2 amp is good. more than 45 mins @ 10 amps isnt so good for such a small battery. And make CERTAIN u refill battery water with distilled (pure) H2O. pure water is an insulator much to many folks suprise,the minerals in the water is what conducts the electricity, and shorts out your battery if u use tap water or ANY other kind other than distilled.

 

You should be getting about 14.4 to 14.7 at higher revs. Anthing over 14.8, and you have a regulator/rectifier problem.

As far as it only showing 13.8, it can be a number of things, from the regulator/rectifier, to wiring, to the stator, to the rotor, to just the brushes. I had the same problem with my bike only charging to about 13.8 at higher revs and another set of alternator brushes fixed it right up. I'd like to say a new set, but I didn't replace mine with a new set, just another set. I think my originals were displaying excessive resistance due to some fine green corrosion that had worked its way into the alternator brush wires.

The Clymer manual has a pretty good section on checking all of that stuff. I would write it out here, but it would take me too long. I will see about scanning the couple of pages so you can see what to check. I would actually see about getting a Clymer manual anyway. With a bike this old, you are going to be performing plenty of maintenance.

Also, you need to load test your battery in order to determine if it is bad. Reading the charge coming in isn't going to tell you if the battery is bad. All that is telling you, is how much charge you have coming from the regulator rectifier. Whether the battery is accepting it or not, or holding it, is entirely another matter. You need to load test in order to determine that.

 

i had the same problem with my 82 xj650rj seca. it ended being some very badly corroded connectors in the turn signal stems. you may find they are near gone, i did. it was an easy fix, basicaly open, inspect and clean/repair as needed. i used some dielectric grease on the connectors before closing them up too and ensured the turn signal lens gaskets fit well too. check the connection at the left handlebar switch housing too, i had a bit of trouble with it but again cleaned and connected better and it has been working very well since. best of luck with it.

 

well the blinkers are new and the connections on it are fine. ill check out the handlebar switch when i change out my handlebars, if they ever show up.

 

Ahhh. So now it gets interesting. Are the blinkers OEM replacements, or did you just pick some up that you thought would work?

 

not oem, got em at cycle gear. they worked perfectly on my honda, and the blinkers were doing the same thing before i swapped them.. the stock ones that is

 

Mine do this too. Brand new battery, 13.8 at idle and 14.4 revving.