GUIDE: Add Four Ways and a Blinker Beeper for ~$10 (Image Heavy)

First of all I'd like to say Hi, as I'm new 'round these parts. Brought home a shiny new (to me) 2003 with 9k on it yesterday and put about 300 miles on it so far, loving it!

Anywho, my last bike was a '78 Suzuki, which had an old-stlye blinker lever which held itself to the left or right, and you had to move it into the center to cancel after the turn. This was nice for me because I could feel if the blinker was on with my thumb, no looking down to check instruments.

Needless to say the VFR has me forgetting to cancel, a LOT. So much so that I've already had two people cut me off because they thought I was turning. I looked around the internets for an aftermarket beeper, and found this simple DIY solution: Chet's Blinker Buzzer

The mod works fantastic and cost me around $10 total for parts, and around two hours to put together, most of which was testing wire runs and figuring out wiring/device setup.

First, a quick video of the final operation. Note the beeper does not activate when the brake light or the flashers are on, and the switch has a neutral position for total deactivation of the beeper and the flashers if desired.
[video=youtube;uccbrHlD9z8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uccbrHlD9z8[/video]

Now the Guide!

Things You Will Need:

-1x 6 way flasher unit (local auto parts store help section)
-1x Heavy Duty DPDT Switch-Center Off (radioshack 275-0710)
-2x Diodes (doesn't really matter, so long as they are rated for at least 1A or so)
-1x Piezo Beeper (I used radioshack 273-059, but higher db sounders are also available)
-1x inline fuse holder (I had one laying around, anything 5-10A is probably fine here)
-1x Spade or Ring terminal if the fuse holder doesn't include one
-Wire (duh)
-Soldering device of some sort, I use a little butane torch
-Heat shrink (preferred) or electrical tape.
-Wire ties
-Wire strippers
-Double sided mounting tape
-Silicone Glue (optional)

To start with, remove the left lower fairing, seat, and left side cover (battery cover).

Once you have that done, locate the your blue connector and cut the BLUE and ORANGE wires (NOT the wires with the white stripes! Those are power for the front running lights) and solder/heatshrink in two lengths of wire as shown. These are the power leads for the left and right blinkers. Leave enough wire to get underneath the battery box where the switch will be mounted.



I found the wire tucks nicely behind the radiator mounting ears/coolant reservoir:




Once you have the wire at the battery box by the lock, find the green wire with a yellow stripe connected to the tail light plug, cut it and solder/heatshrink in another length of wire long enough to get to the battery. This will become the negative for the piezo.


I found it was easiest to route the wire with the factory harness and seat release cable in the left side of the ducktail.


Next we're going to wire and mount the flasher and piezo:

Wire two leads to the flasher, one to connect to your switch under the battery box, and one to connect to the fuseholder and then the positive battery terminal. Once you've done that you can mount the flasher with a wire tie as shown.

Now wire your negative from the brake light to the negative of the piezo beeper, and wire a lead long enough to reach around the battery and underneath to the switch. Mount the peizo with double-sided tape to the side of the main seat rail. I used a little silicone glue for good measure here.

Next gather all your switch leads (Four wires in total: One from the flasher, one from the piezo, and two from our blinker wires) and route them as needed to the little pit in the battery box where the seat release tumbler sits. Make a small hole in the plastic from underneath (far enough back that the switch will not cover it when mounted) and feed your wires down through it. Once you've done that tie up any loose wires with some cable ties.



Your battery box should now look more or less like this:


Now to wire the switch! You make want to scroll back up to Chet's link at the top to refer to the wiring diagram for this step. *IMPORTANT* Don't forget to sleeve your heatshrink on you wires BEFORE you solder them on the switch. I lost quite a bit of heatshrink and forehead/palm skin here.

First solder your two blinker leads to the common terminals on the switch (white heatshrink- labeled 2 and 4 on the switch itself).

Now solder your flasher lead to one of the other terminals and bridge the adjacent terminal to it with a short piece of wire. It doesn't matter which side of the switch you use for this step, so long as you use two adjacent terminals (either 1+4 or 3+6)


Now it's time to wire in our diodes and piezo lead. Solder one diode to each of the remaining terminals with the silver bar facing AWAY from the switch. Splice the two leads from the other end of the diodes together, and to the piezo lead, solder and heatshrink.


Now you just need to mount the switch! I chose to drill two holes in the battery box and thread a wire tie around the switch, but double sided tape and glue would probably work equally well, so long as it was allowed to dry. Note the wire tie method requires removing the battery:


DONE! Your new new four ways and blinker beeper should now function exactly as in the video. Pat yourself on the back and enjoy a celebratory beverage of you choice!

 

Good job bro. Looks like a lot of work. I do not always cancel mine like I should but looks it like a lot of work. Maybe this winter in late January when I am bored to death I will do this. Thanks again.

 

Thanks guys! I've modified my exhaust since first installing this and had to upgrade to a louder piezo to compensate, but other than that I'm really liking it so far, no more cruising for 10 miles signaling a left turn like a dumb@ss .

Oh and don't let the wordy nature of my guide scare you heros, it realistically should only take a couple hours to put together. Good winter project for some weekend/afternoon.

 

where is hudson Valley?

 

Hudson Valley region, not a specific town. I'm actually in Poughkeepsie. It's ~1.5 hrs north from the city.

 

That's actually kinda cool
Good job

 

Awesome!!! Thanks!!!

 

I am up in north country.... no snow here ...yet.....but I know it is coming...
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