One of the front turn signals has been driving me nuts by being droopy. I am also not exactly excited with their looks. So, I picked up a couple of Biker's Choice amber bullet turn signals on Amazon. They are part # 490171. I already had a Biker's Choice headlight because the stock light was way too dim.
First mod I had to make was to drill the mounting holes a little larger, since the BC bullet lights have thicker stems. Then, I attached the bullet connectors and mounted the lights.
That was easy. I did, however, have two problems. One, the BC lights are square to the mounting bracket, and the stock lights were canted to the rear. Since the BC headlight is smaller the brackets squeezed together and the lights pointed towards each other. The bike was cross-eyed. Two, the blinkers stopped blinking. They were lit solid. Apparently, the BC bulbs, not even being LED, don't draw enough to trip the relay.
The cross-eyed problem I solved with two stainless bolts and steel spacers from the hardware store.
As to the blinker, I checked the threads here, and decided against the recommendation of the EL3-something flasher. I didn't want to rewire. So, after some research, I figured out that the best way to go was EL-12, also called Tridon FL32. This is an electronic flasher that works on a wide range of loads. It has two prongs, plugs in directly in place of the OE flasher, and even fits into that rubber ring where the OE flasher was. Works great. Auto-cancel, of course, is gone. Good riddance, if you ask me.
$10 at Autozone.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/_/N-9cjef?itemIdentifier=6413_0_0_
First mod I had to make was to drill the mounting holes a little larger, since the BC bullet lights have thicker stems. Then, I attached the bullet connectors and mounted the lights.
That was easy. I did, however, have two problems. One, the BC lights are square to the mounting bracket, and the stock lights were canted to the rear. Since the BC headlight is smaller the brackets squeezed together and the lights pointed towards each other. The bike was cross-eyed. Two, the blinkers stopped blinking. They were lit solid. Apparently, the BC bulbs, not even being LED, don't draw enough to trip the relay.
The cross-eyed problem I solved with two stainless bolts and steel spacers from the hardware store.
As to the blinker, I checked the threads here, and decided against the recommendation of the EL3-something flasher. I didn't want to rewire. So, after some research, I figured out that the best way to go was EL-12, also called Tridon FL32. This is an electronic flasher that works on a wide range of loads. It has two prongs, plugs in directly in place of the OE flasher, and even fits into that rubber ring where the OE flasher was. Works great. Auto-cancel, of course, is gone. Good riddance, if you ask me.
$10 at Autozone.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/_/N-9cjef?itemIdentifier=6413_0_0_
Nice write up!
