[cgieselman]

Hey guys, hoping to get some help.

I just intstalled a BikeMaster Integrated sequential tail light on my '08 M109r. I had the hyper blinking issue as can be expected but when I installed the supplied flasher unit is where I run into my problem.


The rear turn signals now flash, albeit VERY slowly but the front signals (as well as the indicators on my instrument cluster) do not flash, they light and stay on.


The instructions they provided made sense except for a step where they said to "switch the red and black wires on the flasher unit"...there are no red or solid black wires in either my factory harness where I got the light blue and brown wires to attach to their new unit which has yellow and black wires.


It is probably worth noting that the front signals are also LED and were installed by the previous owner. I don't see any evidence of any other additions to the wiring that might have gone with them.


I'm wondering if it is possibly a grounding issue? I've burned out two tail lights and a headlight in the last year and a half. The first tail light was another sequential LED installed by the previous owner, not sure what brand, and the second was another BikeMaster one, not sequential that time, that they were kind enough to warranty for me. Both experienced the hyper blinking but this new sequential one was the only one that needed to be fixed because the ambers wouldn't blink every time. The headlight that burned out was a 35w HID that I've since replaced with LED (bright as heck, not sure about the coverage though).


If anyone has any experience with this or a similar kit or can shed any light on the situation I would greatly appreciate it. My bike won't pass inspection until this is fixed and it is due in July.


Thanks for your help!

 

[Board Support-1]

Moved from How To to Shop Talk, as this is a question not a how-to.

 

[cgieselman]

So an update to this thread. The new tail light has now stopped working, the running lights don't light up but the brake and turn signals still work.


Am I possibly having a grounding issue? In the past 12 months I've replaced the headlight which was a 35W HID and two tail lights. The tail light that I got with the bike (aftermarket from the previous owner) was an integrated LED and several columns of the diodes stopped working. The first replacement that I got had the same problem I'm not experiencing with the second replacement, no running lights but brake and turn work fine.


Bikemaster was good about sending a replacement the first time but I want to make sure it isn't a problem with my bike before asking for another replacement or asking for my money back and getting a different brand.


Very frustrated.


Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[BradSmith]

Check your fuses? All ok?

Put your original flash module in, do the lights all work (they will go back to blinking fast) ?
If yes, then sounds like your have a bad flasher module. EBay for $20-25.

If no, then something wrong in your wiring, which should trigger a fuse.

 

[cgieselman]

Sorry, are you trying to help with the first issue (non flashing turn signals) or the new issue (no running tail lights)?


I haven't checked the fuses but don't suspect that is the problem as the current tail light worked for about a month before experiencing this problem when the original had the exact same problem.


I will check the fuses anyways for hairline cracks and will try the other flasher module that I got with the first new tail light and if I experience the same issue with that I will try the stock one again.


Let me know if you have any other ideas as well.


Thanks

 

[BradSmith]

Sorry, was working mostly from the first post in the thread.


Best tool for tracing issues like this is the cheap 'bulb in a screwdriver' circuit tester.
It looks like a screwdriver with a bulb in the handle and a cord to an aligator clip. The end is pointy so that you can pierce the rubber insulation of the wires to see if the circuit is live without cutting the insulation open.

I would trace from the rear lighting socket (under the fender on the left side and follow the lines there.
See if you have power all the way up to the LED. Often rear LED brake/running lights have a 2 into 1 diode/resistor circuit that combines the running and brake wires into 1 (controlling the intensity of the LED by resistance). That could be a problem there.

 

[cgieselman]

I have one of the testers which is how I know (at least as of replacing the tail light last time) that I have power up to the factory connection.

If there is the two into one you are speaking of it is inside the sealed tail light housing. The three wires that come off the factory connection (as I understand it running/brake/ground) all run independently to the tail light.


I don't know if it makes a difference for trouble shooting but the turn signals use the same ground wire as the rest of the unit, the grounds for the factory turn signals are taped off and only the hot wires are connected to the unit.


As I said, I have power to the factory connection (connecting the tester makes the bulb light) so I would imagine with my limited knowledge base that the ground is good. Is there any situation that you are aware of that could be causing the tail lights to burn out given that information?


Unfortunately I'm at work so I can't get my hands on the bike and test too much further until later.


Thanks

 

[BradSmith]

The grounds should all come back to ground....

I have not seen one of these lights, assuming they come with a triangular connector for the brake that fits the suzuki plug, then additional wires for the signal lights?
Are there only 2 wires for the signal lights or 4. If only 2, then they must share the ground.... but I assume there is only 5 wires going into the unit (shared ground)

If you only connect just the 3 wire connect for brake and nothing else, the running light and brake light operate correctly?
If you test the wires coming from the bike and they work (running and brake, you need extra person unless you have aligator clips )

A few alligator clipped wires are always handy (radio shack) as sometimes testing straight from the battery eliminates the wiring.

If everything is all enclosed and you test the wires going into the unit straight from the battery,

I have not heard of BikeMaster, but its possible these are the same units from China that you can get cheap on EBay. Take a video of you testing all 4 wires (running, brake, left, right) straight from battery and send it to them so they can suggest something else or more likely be convinced that unit is bad.