Making blinkers blink

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TylerU26

New Member
New member, long time Honda lover.

I recently aquired a pair of 1975 ST 90's, one ran when it was put away 10 years ago. I have the bike running but need help making the blinkers blink. All the lights light up fine, they just don't blink... I'm sure it's something simple, but thought I'd ask anyway.

Thanks
 
red69

red69

Well-Known Member
Stop lights work? If so, it may be the blinker (winker) relay. Exchange it with the other bike's relay. Not full proof, since that one may be bad also. I don't have an ST90 wiring diagram, but on an ST70 wiring diagram, the relay has a gray and red wire coming out of it
 
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TylerU26

New Member
Tail light works, but it's on all the time even when the brake is released. I'll take a look tomorrow, I rode it tonight and it's a delayed or maybe long slow blink. Do you know where the relay maybe located?
 
kirrbby

kirrbby

Well-Known Member
Sometimes a brake light switch gets stuck, or malfunctions, etc. I would see if the spring is too tight on the rear brake light switch. Or if the front brake light switch is stuck...the mechanical part of it. Common problems, both. After that...you'd have to troubleshoot electrical problems :-/ I hate those.
 
cjpayne

cjpayne

Well-Known Member
With the brake light stuck on, it may be draining the battery to low all the time for the relay to function properly. Bad grounding on the blinkers can cause problems too. As for the brakelight, the lower brake switch may be out of adjustment and/or the mount may be bent upwards. I would unhook the little spring and see if that makes a difference. As kirrbby said, it could also be the front switch causing the problems.
 
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SanDogDewey

Member
Make sure all the bulbs are 6v. Someone had installed a 12v bulb in mine. I'm still sorting this out on my ST90. The battery has to be in good shape too. With a new battery, mine only blink when the motor is reving up. The blinker relay is in the left side of the toolbox.
 
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b52bombardier1

Well-Known Member
The ST90 (and I have two of them) has a problem with bad grounding at that tool box mounting location. Using a temporary ground wire, run a wire from the green battery wire to the metal base of the turn signal lamp - not the turn signal mounting stalk. My guess is that your lights will then flash with much increased enthusiasm. The signals at the front also get a lot of dirt buildup at the lamp base that could use some cleanup and conductive paste applied to help those minimally powerful six volt electrons out a little.

My long term solution for the rear turn signals here has been to discretely run supplemental ground wires out to an eye connector that gets tightened up using the 10 mm bolt at the base of the lamp assembly. The design that Soichiro Honda used for ST90 turn signal grounding definitely reflects the consumption of too much rice wine sake and I think we need to help him out a little.

Rick
 
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TylerU26

New Member
Thank you ALL for the tips and tricks. Looks like I'll be tracking through you comments to see what fixes the issue. I'm probably going to start with a new relay just to cross the simple things off the list. Thanks again!
 
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69ST

Well-Known Member
b52bombardier1 said:
My long term solution for the rear turn signals here has been to discretely run supplemental ground wires out to an eye connector that gets tightened up using the 10 mm bolt at the base of the lamp assembly. The design that Soichiro Honda used for ST90 turn signal grounding definitely reflects the consumption of too much rice wine sake and I think we need to help him out a little.

Rick
Click to expand...

My kind of solution. However, the credit (blame) belongs to the bean counters, imho. Profit motive is universal, no alcohol required...though it might help.
 
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TylerU26

New Member
Went to the spare/donor bike to get the relay, and it also was bad. Looked for a 6V flasher at several parts stores, with no luck, so I actually just left the other/old one in the bike.

So here's what else I found. Turns out the plunger on the front brake lever was stuck/broke. When I wiggled the spring the plunger, the brake light started to flash. Soooo just went on line to find another plunger. Thanks again for the help.
 
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TylerU26

New Member
Update: after a few different attempts, I managed to correct all the issues with the difficult lights. Turns out the front break actuator was the issue but the lever seems to be the issue. I need to drill a small whole into the lever to let the actuator rest, as currently the lever pushes the plunger to far into the actuator.

Also added a new winker, blinks perfectly!

Working on the second 90, and was looking for some replacement spokes for the rear wheels. Any idea where I can find some?
 
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SanDogDewey

Member
Did you get a new front brake switch? The little tit on one was chipped and it also got stuck when the brake was actuated. New switches are cheap and easy to change. Mine are blinking now too, although slowly.
 
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