As mentioned in another thread, I tested this simple LED bulb/LED compatible flasher set up on a Yamaha Enduro 6 volt system with turn signals with good results. They flashed brighter, faster, more consistent with either key on / or engine running. Pilot light works with both left and right turn signals. Less drain on these small 6 volt 2ah batteries and flasher relay makes a clicking noise similar to the original Yamaha flasher.Here is a picture of what i used. I used green wire as that is what i had extra laying around. You can use what ever color you like. 



I have tried many different 2 prong flashers over the years including the one Pobits sells and although they work ok using standard 1129 6 volt bulbs, they do not work with LED bulbs and are not as versatile as this 3 wire ELF33-6 flasher from Memotronics. You can use this flasher with stock bulbs as well. Just ground the black wire to it. No need to do any other changes. Use it as a 2 prong flasher. 

If using this flasher with LED bulbs in place you will need to do a few simple changes with the turn signal pilot light wires due to them being polarity sensitive and reverse ground depending on which side is flashing. This is most likely 71-73 enduros with 6 volt electrical systems and you have turn signals on your bike. Could apply to other bikes as well so check your wire schematics.  

In general this is what you need to do for all connections:

1. your going to unplug the dark green and dark brown wires at there 4 wire connectors coming from the turn signal pilot light inside headlight bucket.
2. your going to run a ground wire to the dark green wire coming from pilot light and connect.
3. your going to run a wire from the P terminal on flasher to the dark brown wire going to the pilot light in headlight bucket and connect.
4. your going connect the brown wire from bike harness at flasher relay location to terminal X on flasher relay.
5. your going to connect the brown/white stripe wire from bike harness at flasher relay location to terminal L on flasher relay.
6. your going to connect ground wire comming  from back of flasher relay to 6mm threaded stud or other good ground.
7. install all LED bulbs into turn signals. 
8. mount new flasher relay in existing round mount that original yamaha flasher was in. 

What i did for the ground to dark green wire in headlight bucket was i made a simple 6" wire with a female and male bullet connector. ( see 1st picture)
I connected it to the 3 wire rubber connectors unused ground wire. Don't crimp male bullet connector to wire until you run wire thru rubber connector first. (see pictures)
Or if your bike doesnt have this unused terminal you can simply run a wire out the back of headlight bucket and to any good ground of your choice. Of coarse your wire will need to be longer so figure where your going to connect your ground before making your new wires.

For the long wire going from P terminal on flasher relay to brown wire in headlight bucket i ran the wire along stock wire harness and tape every 6 inches or so then under gas tank ran the wire up thru the factory grey harness protector going straight into headlight bucket.  Again, do not crimp female bullet connector onto long wire until you feed it thru the grey harness protector and it comes out in the headlight bucket like the other wires.

 



Now make your 2 shorter brown wires ( see 1st picture) with correct spade and bullet connectors to connect from bike harness brown and brown/white wire to new flasher relay. 

To mount the new flasher relay to the original flasher mount simply wrap some 3m 2 way tape or any good tape and slide it in and snug the clamp screw. Not to tight. The 3m tape is the perfect thickness. 



I tried this set up and used my 71 DT1 as a guinea pig and this worked flawlessly. Much better then the stock slow flasher and dull power robbing incandescent bulbs! If i wasn't selling this bike i would have left it on there for sure. Wish i had turn signals on my 1970 DT1 250 now. 

LED bulbs can be purchased on Amazon. be sure to get the white not warm white color. i see they have an amber and red as well but the Yamaha lense are colored and i did not try any other colors. See picture below.
Flasher relay can be purchased from Amazon, E-bay or direct from Memotronics part number  ELF33-6
Extra wire and bullet/ spade connectors from Amazon or  hardware stores. 






 

 

I really debated bringing this up...  the topic of using LED's for the signals has been brought up here many times.

Three wire flasher and stringing wire to the pilot light is one solution that works well.  

Another solution is a two-wire LED flasher and a simple pigtail y-adapter added to the pilot light you can make with a diode and a couple of wires.  Or you can buy the diode adapter already made from several places.  I think the original was "Bikemaster Metric Turn Signal Diode kit".  Here's a knockoff on Amazon that's about $9.  www.amazon.com/dp/B0BLK3XYPC

You install the two wire flasher to the brown (power in) and brown/white (load) wires. 

Then you install the "diode kit" at the pilot light in the gauges.



Connect the two wires (Dark Brown and Dark Green) that come out of the harness and go to the original pilot bulb to the "Wyed" red wires.  Connect the blue out of the wye to the "positive" wire that goes to the center terminal of the original pilot bulb socket.  (If you are using an LED that is not polarity sensitive, this doesn't matter)  Use the black wire to ground the other wire that goes to the pilot bulb socket.

Done.

Mark,

I will give that a try too and compare with the same flasher. Either way is easy to do and the results are good. The reason i brought it up now is due to so many people having issues with slow or non flashing turn signals here and on facebook.( more on facebook)  As you know i usually don't alter from a stock original bike so i don't do alot of testing on this aftermarket stuff  but after testing this set up i concluded it is a better then stock if riding on the road and using turn signals. 
  
Like i said in another post, it also elimanates the dimming brake and tail light issue either because of another problem or not. I myself have seen 2 bikes that do this and seen over 8 cases mentioned here and on facebook in the last 6 months. All the testing i have done on the one bike has come up empty handed so far. I'm no stranger to multi meters either. Been using my fluke 87 for many years in automotive electrical testing and diagnostics. I don't have it anymore since retirement but do have another i use on bikes and what ever i need it for. These bikes are so simple yet nothing tested so far is showing up out of the ordinary. Will keep plugging away till i come up with the answer or problem if there is one. I may post some information when i get time on Daves thread since he is going thru this on his bike.    

Thanks so much Skydancer MarkT for the write up my son rides his bike a lot and he has the dreaded dimming so now I can resolve it. Thanks again.  

Skydancer,

Yes, going to LED's would almost certainly fix the taillight dimming in most if not all cases.  Great idea!

I'm a little confused on your "I know how to use a meter" comments.  Are you saying that you have a taillight dimming issue with signals on and don't see any voltage drop anywhere in the system that is causing the dimming?   Not even right at the battery?

I've often wondered if some newer batteries have higher internal resistance than the originals did or something that prevents them from delivering enough current when signals light up? 

I have the stock turn signal setup on my 6V CT-1, but put in a new 2 wire flasher to replace the original one, that was shot. The tail and brake light did pulse badly when the turn signals were on, but since I installed a voltage regulator, that lessened greatly. In fact now when I hit the brakes, the brake light pulses once, then steadies out, just very slightly pulsing. I also ran a wire from the headlight and now have the tail light on the mag (though it's not CA compliant) and that seemed to help reduce the brake light pulsing as well, with less draw on the battery. This bike did not come with a regulator, and it seems to try to keep everything in balance. BTW the signals and brake light are plenty bright, so no issues there.

Still waiting on the new diode wire kit so i can compare it. 

Mark,
To answer your question,

No, There is a voltage drop at the battery and anywhere in the system related to the red, brown and blue wire curcuit. As you know they are all DC connected at the key switch in position 2 and or 3. This is why i keep asking the question, why doesn't  ALL these bikes have a dimming issue when turn signals flash? Any current draw is going to affect the other bulbs unless the battery has good reserve capacity and can handle the extra load? I don't see these wimpy 6v 2ah having it. "BUT"

I have seen bikes with corroded fuse holders, bullet connectors and grounds, have a low charged battery and they will light the turn signals up slow (not blink) with key on then start the bike up and the turn signals slowly flash and the brake light doesn't dim. Or at least never noticed it. 

Then i seen bikes like the 2 i tested with no visual issues, no corrorsion anywhere, battery is new /full charge and the instant the turn signal flashes the brake light or tail light dims in perfect sequence relative to the flasher. stock or electrical flasher. makes no difference. As we all know now many others are seeing this issue as well.

Here is what was measured at the battery. Nothing jumps out at me except maybe the battery.... for one of these small 6 volt 2ah batteries . See what you think?

battery key off - 6.39 volts
battery key on - 6.39 volts
battery tail light lit - 6.29 volts
battery brake light on - 6.12 volts
battery turn signals flash - 5.97

Voltage drop at flasher relay brown wire terminal when flashers blink on - 5.59  Blue wire the same.
Ran jumper wire direct from postive terminal battery to brown terminal flasher relay back to 5.97. tail light or brake light dims either way. no diifference between the voltage figures.  

Here are some other findings and things tested with meter.

All 4 turn turn signals and bike harness grounds- tested for continuity and high resistance. 000.0 continuity
All red, brown and blue wires curcuits tested for continuity, high resistance and voltage output at each point. 000.0 continuity / 6.39 volts at all points tested.
6.39 volts at battery, red wire at switch, brown and blue wire at switch comming out, brown wire at flasher relay, blue wire at rear connection point.
All wires tested from left hand switch to connection points. brown/white wire flasher to switch, dark green and dark brown from switch to 4 wire connector in headlight bucket. all 000.0 continuity
All turn signal bulb sockets were taken apart and checked. all wires tested from flashers to there connection points. 000.0 continuity
Turn signal switch disassembled, cleaned and inspected -  like new
Ignition switch removed, disassembled, cleaned and inspected.- like new,  even resoldered red, brown and black/white wire at ignition switch just for good faith. solder was looking old and briittle. 
Tail light removed, disassembled, cleaned and inspected for any problems. Like new, all 3 wires tested  000.0 continuity. ground point clean, bulb socket inspected.Yellow wire curcuit tested. 
Tested with original flasher and 2 prong electrical flasher. same results.
Tested with 3 different batteries including a dry cell 6 volt 4 AH battery with higher sitting voltage. Same results 
Tested with bike running, charge wire on white or green, 5000 rpm. still dims.
Tested with battery charger connected. still dims

 

By the way you can by-pass most all of of this testing for a quick test for those that don't have a meter.
Make yourself some jumper wires with good quility alligator clips

 Run a jumper wire from battery positive terminal to flasher relay brown terminal. By pass ignition switch.
 Run a jumper wire from brown/white terminal at flasher relay direct to 4 wire dark green or dark brown connector. by-pass the turn signal switch.
You can even run a jumper wire from positive battery terminal to turn signal itself and see what happens. still dims.
Run 4 jumper wires to each ground at turn signals to battery ground point 
Run jumper wire from rear tail light ground to battery ground point

All easy to do. if your problem goes away doing any of these then investagate that paticular curcuit for the problem. 

I agree with Mark, everyone should have a multi meter and learn the basics of testing  curcuits, wires, grounds and components. It's a tool. If a problem exist then the meter will help find it. If a problem doesn't exist, then you eliminated that part of your testing and can move on. 

This is why i was hopful Dave ( BRZN ) with his 72 DT2 replaced his complete harness as he said he was going to do and see if it solved his issue. I don't see it happening but who know's at this point. 

So far switching to LED is the answer. But i have not given up on finding this issue. Next test maybe go find a large capacity 6 volt battery and do the same test. Doesn't need to fit the bike for testing. But is it a fix or just hiding the real issue?


 

Skydancer super write up again Thanks for sharing!! I’m glad you are on a mission to find out once and for all what’s going on.  

Nice write up.

Make sure meter is connected to battery terminal itself to make sure the wire to battery post connection is not the culprit.  You can also test various grounds.  You can also use the voltmeter in place of the jumper wire to directly read the voltage drop between two points.

Or you can find a bad ground by using voltmeter as jumper...  one meter lead to battery negative and use other lead to probe the various grounds with the load (lights) on.  If ground is solid, meter will read zero.  If ground is not perfect, meter will read the voltage drop caused by the bad ground. 

My experience is if the voltage drop is the same at the battery as it is at taillight or any point in between when the signals come on means the battery has to be the culprit...  it can't deliver enough power and you're seeing the taillight dim as the evidence of the voltage drop under load

 

MarkT another super write up Thanks now between you and Skydancer I’ll be a wiring pro before it’s over with   double  beers