[cyrusb]

Here we are in the 21st century and motorcycle directional lights still don't self cancel. My harleys answer to this was to have them on only when you held the button down, and I think this was a pretty good answer to the problem.  The reason for the rant is that I think this is a heavy contributor to the old "Car made a left turn in front of me and nearly killed me" problem. If there are bikes out there with self cancelling signals please fill me in. I am surprised the the Insurance Industrial Complex has not picked up on this. Rant Over.

[t120rbullet]

I canceled mine permanently by taking them off.
My 03 Electra Glide had self canceling signals. They had a time limit and a tilt switch if you leaned the bike over so many degrees they would turn off too.
CJ
 

[HRAB]

My 1986 K100RT and the 1987/90 Frankenbike K100LT both have self cancelling turn signals. Its coupled to the speedo, which is driven by a hall effect off the third member gear. Works great, but often cancels too soon.
 jim

[CMB]

The Triumph self-cancelers work well (2010 Thunderbird).

[singhg5]

I like it the way it is - keeps me awake  

Turn off, turn on and check if the light is blinking etc. keeps my mind active. The rider is in control  of buttons - means You are incharge - not the machine.

As HRAB pointed out that these self-cancelling 'things' have their own mind (problems) - such as not cancelling when you want them to, or cancelling too soon, and more parts mean more break down repair expenses !  

My rant over  

[2bikebill]

Replace the warning light in the speedo with a green LED. Much more visible even in bright sunshine and you're less likely to leave em winking.

[HRAB]

As HRAB pointed out that these self-cancelling 'things' have their own mind (problems) - such as not cancelling when you want them to, or cancelling too soon, and more parts mean more break down repair expenses !

Yup, and every time the Speedo quits I need to take the sensor out and clean the metal dust from it, change the 3rd member oil to restore function.

jim

[ace.cafe]

Good rant!

I give it about an 8.5 out of 10.
Marked down because of insufficient cussing, and too short to really get a good blood pressure rise going.
 

[GreenForce82]

I consistently check the status of my blinkers when riding, probably every few minutes I hit the cancel button to verify that I turned them off after the last turn.. I also use my horn like a forklift driver whenever in traffic, I probably piss a few people off but they know I am there... On that note I really want an "aaoooggaahh" horn. any tips?

[ERC]

Put a small alarm horn on the turn signal relay.  ERC

[The Garbone]

I have one bike with and one without signals,, I use them on neither.  After you get used to hand signals they start to be part of the routine.   Stick out arm, look over shoulder , change lanes.

[cyrusb]

Well, I don't use mine either, especially when wearing gloves.  Glad to hear that there are some bikes with self canceling. My "newest" bike was a 77, so I'm way behind the times.  And yes, I allmost flattened a dude the other day at an intersection. It made me think of the times it allmost happened to me.

[singhg5]

I consistently check the status of my blinkers when riding, probably every few minutes I hit the cancel button to verify that I turned them off after the last turn..

I also use my horn like a forklift driver whenever in traffic, I probably piss a few people off but they know I am there... On that note I really want an "aaoooggaahh" horn. any tips?

Took the words out of my mouth.  I do the same - Hitting my turn signal button every few minutes, even when I have cancelled it earlier, Just in case it tripped !!!

As far as HORN - I do honk and so far no body seems to have pissed off.   When I see someone entering my road, from a side street in FRONT of me and do not stop in time I HONK and let them know to look at the STOP sign and also see me coming.  Many drivers do not want to stop under any circumstances because a motorcycle will not hurt them.  I honk BEFORE they enter in front of my bike. Better a honk than a thud - motorcycle and motorcyclist will always lose against a car or SUV. 

[single]

Oogah horns available at Harbor Freight,like everything else.I turn off my signal when I am signaling another turn,mostly.Really annoyed by this and intend to do something about it,a loud beeper of some sort,I allow.Most beepers are on the level of sound that I cannot hear as a result of firing M14 without earplugs.Mite get an oogah horn and hook that up to the friggin' turn signals.

[rideOn]

wifey's v-star self-cancel just fine. you have to watch them at a long red light.

i'm still a big believer in hand signals. i think hand signals help to 'keep your mind in the game.'

[oldsalt]

I have one bike with and one without signals,, I use them on neither.  After you get used to hand signals they start to be part of the routine.   Stick out arm, look over shoulder , change lanes.

Same here. My prewar HD, and some others, will never have signals even if Obama dictates it.  Even on my more 'modern' bikes I see no reason for their existance when judged against the added electracal/mechanical complexity, the relative poor on/off performance, inability to use with gloves, and often the danger of riding around with a turn signal on.   I never use them in favor of hand signals.  Why should I risk a ticket [and danger] if a bulb happens to be blown?  Plus they look like hell on any proper motorcycle. 

ace.cafe.  Was that a better rant?   

[Geirskogul]

Same here. My prewar HD, and some others, will never have signals even if Obama dictates it.  Even on my more 'modern' bikes I see no reason for their existance when judged against the added electracal/mechanical complexity, the relative poor on/off performance, inability to use with gloves, and often the danger of riding around with a turn signal on.   I never use them in favor of hand signals.  Why should I risk a ticket [and danger] if a bulb happens to be blown?  Plus they look like hell on any proper motorcycle. 

ace.cafe.  Was that a better rant?   

Oh shut up Obama has nothing to do with things like that.  Philistine.

[Chuck D]

Same here. My prewar HD, and some others, will never have signals even if Obama dictates it.  Even on my more 'modern' bikes I see no reason for their existance when judged against the added electracal/mechanical complexity, the relative poor on/off performance, inability to use with gloves, and often the danger of riding around with a turn signal on.   I never use them in favor of hand signals.  Why should I risk a ticket [and danger] if a bulb happens to be blown?  Plus they look like hell on any proper motorcycle. 

ace.cafe.  Was that a better rant?   

Another gratuitous swipe at President Obama. Sigh.
Chuck.

[ace.cafe]

Same here. My prewar HD, and some others, will never have signals even if Obama dictates it.  Even on my more 'modern' bikes I see no reason for their existance when judged against the added electracal/mechanical complexity, the relative poor on/off performance, inability to use with gloves, and often the danger of riding around with a turn signal on.   I never use them in favor of hand signals.  Why should I risk a ticket [and danger] if a bulb happens to be blown?  Plus they look like hell on any proper motorcycle. 

ace.cafe.  Was that a better rant?   

OldSalt,
I'm with you.
No turn signals for me.
Good rant.

+2 Extra points for dragging a political argument into the mix for added agitation!

[oldsalt]

O.K., O.K. Change the 'Obama' to Reed and,or Palosi if that's somehow more accurite. 

[Tiny Tim]

These people do a replacement turn signal module that has an inbuilt cancelation option.

https://www.kisantech.com/

It operates after a preselected time which can be set to be over-ridden by the brake light.

Therefore, if stopped at lights, the turn signal continues for ever with the brake light on. Once the brake's released, the counter starts.

It also has option for day run lights and hazard 4-way flashers.

Now if only it could be set up to pour Guiness...........

[rideOn]

there are no inspections here in s.c., so electrical signal d o not matter if you use hands. however, i checked with a couple of states that do inspections and they require blinkers to work if they came factory. i was thinking of 'jumpering' the blinker control and stick some leds in the fixtures for coinstant 'on'.

[stipa]

OldSalt,
I'm with you.
No turn signals for me.
Good rant.

+2 Extra points for dragging a political argument into the mix for added agitation!

   
Uh, what's the "political argument?"

As far as turn signals go, what about just not using them?  Skirt the Law, live life on the edge.

Steve

[boggy]

I see only one issue with no turn signals.

You know what hand signals are.  I know what hand signals are.  Thinking that your average Joe, Jane, 16 year old, 60 year old knows what hand signals are is wishful thinking.  It's a biker thing.  The sheer lack of proper driver education means that trusting in your hand sigs means you are just waving that sucker in the wind.

You stick you hand out, Larry Cell Phone has no clue what you are doing.

You:  "Son of a BITCH... I signaled RIGHT!"
Car driver: "Um... I thought you were waiving hello to that mail box."

You maybe be totally in the right, but just be super carful in trusting the world with your hand signals. 

No one misses the post-close-call hand signal though.  For some reason, that middle finger shines like a beacon in the night.

[Anon]

Yeah, hand signals are great when people know them, but so many people don't.  Both on my bicycle and my Bullet, I really do sometimes get people waving back at me when I signal right.  I agree that the stock signals are a little dorky looking and want to replace them with something that suits the bike more (like the bullet ones in the catalog), but as for myself, I'm keeping signals on it.  Rather than turn signals vs. hand signals, I often use both together.  I don't think you can count on it being a certainty that anybody sees either, but doing both covers you bases better.

Eamon

[oldsalt]

   
Uh, what's the "political argument?"

As far as turn signals go, what about just not using them?  Skirt the Law, live life on the edge.

Steve

I added Obama's name to my rant to give it an unnecessary political component.  Got two extra points by doing that!

[stipa]

Then there isn't any argument and you're the only one playing.

My take on the signal lights is most of them look like crap, but what's going to hold up in a court, if it turns into that?  Bike riders need to make themselves as visible as possible.

[2bikebill]

If you seriously imagine most or even any car drivers are going to notice hand signals, let alone know what they mean, you must be living in a parallel universe where all other road users are trained and licensed by bikers.
Or you have a death wish.
Or you're simply a whacky dreamer dangerously detached from reality.
As for wiring them so they're permanently on - see above.   

[stipa]

If you seriously imagine most or even any car drivers are going to notice hand signals, let alone know what they mean, you must be living in a parallel universe where all other road users are trained and licensed by bikers.
Or you have a death wish.
Or you're simply a whacky dreamer dangerously detached from reality.
As for wiring them so they're permanently on - see above.   

Bingo!!

[REpozer]

I've seen motorcycle turn signals wired to flash like a hazard light.
That is both side flashing together. Seemed strange to me.

[t120rbullet]

If you seriously imagine most or even any car drivers are going to notice hand signals, let alone know what they mean, you must be living in a parallel universe where all other road users are trained and licensed by bikers.
Or you have a death wish.
Or you're simply a whacky dreamer dangerously detached from reality.
As for wiring them so they're permanently on - see above.   

And on the other hand if you think for one minuet that any car drivers are going to notice your turn signals your living in a parallel universe also.
Face it, your invisible to anything but yourself when your on the road and the second you think your not it's not going to matter what kind of signaling you do.
CJ

[2bikebill]

This is more or less true. That I am invisible to many motorists has never been doubted or denied by me. That flashing turn signals more clearly signal my intent than hand signals to those motorists who do see me - this too is true.

[cyrusb]

Yeah, a lot of truth to that. You might as well just wave to people here in the NY metro area. Maybe 1% of the drivers know what a hand signal is.

[2bikebill]

Do they still do hand signals on the motorcycle test? Over forty years since i took my test, we only had hand signals then! Oh, and a bloke walking in front with a red flag of course....
No theory test first either. You got on the bike and rode round a route while a bloke with a clipboard spied on you. At one point he'd jump out in front of you and you had to do an emergency stop.  Silly bugger!  A few questions from the Highway Code and that was it. You were let loose! 
Mind you, some of the twats I see driving cars. Nothing can have changed that much....  Do they have cars in the USA with no reverse gear? Plenty of em round here in summer. City cars far from home.

[1Blackwolf1]

  We had much the same test here in the 70's through 80's.  And we had to use the three major hand signals as part of passing the test.  But agree most "kids" wouldn't have a clue as to what they are.  I've had cagers cut me off no matter what signal I used, hand or blinkers. 

[oldsalt]

If you seriously imagine most or even any car drivers are going to notice hand signals, let alone know what they mean, you must be living in a parallel universe where all other road users are trained and licensed by bikers.
Or you have a death wish.
Or you're simply a whacky dreamer dangerously detached from reality.
As for wiring them so they're permanently on - see above.   

Pretty good rant.  As you added name calling into your rant it should be worth at least 3 extra points, but I'll let ace.cafe make the decision as to actual score. 

Here in the U.S. of A. turn signals on autos were not all that common as standard equipment from the factory until the very early 50s.  My 50 Stude or 40 Ford does not posess them. Sure a 39 Buick or Cad or Packard had them but certinally not common.  I believe most had them by 1953.  When I started riding on the road more than 50 years ago there were few cars with turnsignals.  Bikes?  Seems it was not until the later 70s that they were 'mandated' for all two wheelers.  Maybe earlier, but you get the point.  There were a lot of years that car drivers were useing flashers and bikers were useing hand signals and were sharing the same road.  You may be 100% correct that few drivers, nowadays, would recognise a hand signal.  But I have my reservations based on the fact that I've never owned a bike, until I bought the Bullet, that had flashers.  Have never used them.  Honest, I really believe that IN DAYLIGHT hand signals are better.  If a person really believed that hand signals were safer to use at night he could properly be considered a whacky dreamer.   

In my estimation the only signalling device on a motorcycle that the majority of car drivers will ever pay attention to would be something on the order of exploding flares or or flame thrower.   

[2bikebill]

"....In my estimation the only signalling device on a motorcycle that the majority of car drivers will ever pay attention to would be something on the order of exploding flares or or flame thrower....."

Or as someone has mentioned in another thread - a large caliber handgun  

Early cars here had "idiot sticks"  -  an almost invisible semaphore arm with a cosy 6 volt glow which lifted from out the side of the vehicle, as long as you thumped the door pillar from the inside of the car!

Hand signals in daylight on a quiet road - yes, perhaps a good belt & braces approach. Try it in town......   and the best of luck  

Name calling? I didn't think so. Heavy Irony always a little risky online of course, but I've been running with those Enfield boys. They aint fragile. 

[enfield freddy]

i made one of those kits up , http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=3315 , just set it for 30 seconish , seems to be a good backup incase i forget to turn them off