indicators

Richard tea

Wont get a chance to investigate until I get home this evening but I had a problem with the indicators this morning. Basically some of you may be aware that my bike cb400 has an american style front Indicators as In they stay on all the time and blink when engaged. This morning the the front left indicator would not stay on but would still blink when engaged. Is this a relay issue? Or something else?

CJhaughey

Richard tea wrote: »

Wont get a chance to investigate until I get home this evening but I had a problem with the indicators this morning. Basically some of you may be aware that my bike cb400 has an american style front Indicators as In they stay on all the time and blink when engaged. This morning the the front left indicator would not stay on but would still blink when engaged. Is this a relay issue? Or something else?

I doubt that the indicators are actually meant to stay on all the time and only blink when switched.
This would be totally opposite to all the Honda bikes I have ever seen, including my own which is a US market import.
I am open to correction on this but I haven't seen any other Honda's with this feature.
What I suspect is that your flasher unit is sticking and needs to be cleaned/replaced.
Many older Honda's used an electromagnetic flasher that actually has a moving strip inside that can get sticky from lack of use/age etc.
If the flasher unit has two terminals on the back in an L shape then you should be able to at least open the case and spray electrical contact cleaner inside and clean the contacts.
Or fit a new flasher unit.

Richard tea

Thanks cj. Yep the indicators are like that since I owned the bike. I remember wondaboy mentioning that they were always on and when I checked it out someone from this site mentioned it was set up the american way.

CJhaughey

Richard tea wrote: »

Thanks cj. Yep the indicators are like that since I owned the bike. I remember wondaboy mentioning that they were always on and when I checked it out someone from this site mentioned it was set up the american way.

But isn't yours a Japanese model?
There is something wired wrong if they don't go off, maybe two power wires connected together somewhere.
Can you check how many wires come out of each indicator?
If there is three wires then they are wired as running lights and indicators. If there is only two wires there is a fault.
Normal Honda practice is to have a common wire and another coloured wire, the flasher relay will be on the common wire circuit

lennymc

I seem to remember having a gl1000 that had a similar 'always on' indicator setup, and, it was a US import. Not sure if that helps you tho OP.

blade1

I had an American import cx years ago and they were on all the time.

Faing

My bike is an American import and has front indicators and headlight on all the time. There isn't an on/off switch for the headlight, just high and low beam. This is normal USA spec on many models.

BrokenArrows

Since the flashing still works i would think the wire leaving to the "always on" connection on the relay has come loose. I would think a failure in the relay itself would cause a complete failure of the system and not just one of the states.

Chippy01

Richard tea wrote: »

Wont get a chance to investigate until I get home this evening but I had a problem with the indicators this morning. Basically some of you may be aware that my bike cb400 has an american style front Indicators as In they stay on all the time and blink when engaged. This morning the the front left indicator would not stay on but would still blink when engaged. Is this a relay issue? Or something else?

Both Jap and U.S. imports have the front indicators lit constantly until you want to use it as an indicator.
The front indicator bulb is a dual filament bulb, 12V 23/8W. The rear is just a single filament bulb, 12V 23W.
Sounds like you've just lost a filament. New bulb needed.

Richard tea

Chippy01 wrote: »

Both Jap and U.S. imports have the front indicators lit constantly until you want to use it as an indicator.
The front indicator bulb is a dual filament bulb, 12V 23/8W. The rear is just a single filament bulb, 12V 23W.
Sounds like you've just lost a filament. New bulb needed.

Good man chippy. That's exactly it. Filament is gone. What confused me was it would stay on for 5 seconds and then go out. Filament must have been dying.

CJhaughey

Well I stand corrected, I didn't know the CB1 was a US market bike, had a quick look on a few websites and sure enough any that had a pic of the bike with lights on showed that the indicators were on at the same time as the headlight.
Odd that Honda used this on some bikes but not all.
Mine is an 1988 and has single filament indicators, maybe the low stator output made Honda wary of having too much draw considering the headlight is always on as well?
Every day is a learning day.