How To: Super Tenere LED turn signals (basic info)

[stevesweetz]

The LED turn signals used on the Super Tenere (and FZ-10 and other higher end Yamahas) look really good on FJ-09.
 
Using the Tenere signals will give you running light functionality without needing a Blinker Genie or similar product, but they are unfortunately not "plug-and-play" because they use different connectors.  You will need to know how to splice wires with a butt splice or (preferably) by soldering.
 
This is not a step-by-step guide, it just covers the less obvious info - the rest is generally easy to figure out if you have basic mechanical knowledge.  There are other guides out there for how to remove the signals from the bike.
 
 
What to Order
The Tenere signals are identical between left and right (the actual light part I mean).  However the wiring on the left front signal makes it a bit easier to work with for the purpose of installing on the FJ-09, therefore instead of ordering a left and a right front signal, just order two lefts.
 
The rear signals are weirdly more expensive than the fronts despite having less functionality (no running light).  You could probably order all front signals and then just not use the running light wire, but the resistors (more on that later) on the rear signals are better placed for how the wires need to route in the FJ, so I might recommend getting the actual rear signals.  The wiring on the rear signals is identical, so if one is cheaper than the other for some reason, just order two of the cheaper one.
 
Front - two of these:
2BS-83310-10-00  
 
Rear - two of either one of these or one of each, doesn't matter:
2BS-83330-10-00
2BS-83340-10-00
 
 
For the connectors, you can cut the connectors off your stock signals, or if you want to keep your stock signals intact, order Yamaha 3-pin turn signal connector from Custom LED or similar.
https://www.customled.com/products/yamaha-oem-turn-signal-connectors-3-wire
 
 
Wiring
When you get the Tenere signals, you'll notice they have a hard plastic shroud over a section of the wire.  This is because there are some small resistors on the signals and this is to protect the solder points from flexing.  You'll need to remove these shrouds because there is not enough room to fit them where the wires needs to route on the FJ.  The routing on the FJ doesn't require the wire to be bent where the resistors are installed so this shouldn't be an issue.  The shroud is just held on with electrical tape and can be easily removed.
 
Here's what you need to know for the connector.  The wire colors are different if you cut the connector from the stock signals versus buying replacement connectors, so instead of me telling you wire colors which may not be consistent, just refer to the image below.  The positions are identical for left and right.  The rear signals obviously don't have a running light wire, but the positions of neutral and the blinker wire is still the same.
 

 
On the Tenere signals the wire colors are:
 
Solid Black = Neutral/Ground
Black & Red = Running Light
Black & Blue or Black & Green = Blinker
 
Same colors apply to the rear signals, they just don't have the black & red running light wire.
 
 
A Note on the Resistors
As mentioned above, there are small resistors on the blinker wire of the Tenere signal.  I thought that these were load equalizing resistors to maintain the same blinker speed since the Tenere once had incandescent signals as well - so I kept the resistors intact with my install hoping that I wouldn't need a blinker relay.  However, my blinker speed ended up being much faster anyway (on par with aftermarket LED signals without resistors or a LED blinker relay), and in comparison to the aftermarket resistors sold for the purpose of LED turn signal load equalizing, the resistors on the Tenere signals seem much too small for that purpose. Therefore, I'm not entirely sure what purpose they serve - I'm out of my knowledge base here.
 
Completely unqualified guess - maybe the stock electrical system supplies more power to the turn signals than the LEDs can safely operate on and the resistors are for preventing the signals from being over powered, not regulating blinker rate.
 
In any case, I recommend keeping the resistors intact - if only because, like I said, the Tenere originally had incandescent turn signals as well and Yamaha clearly deemed these resistors necessary for whatever reason.
 
However, you will also need an LED blinker relay like the below if you want the stock blinker speed.  This is a nice one that exactly matches in the OEM relay in shape and size so it's a very direct replacement:
 
https://tstindustries.com/TST-LED-Flasher-Relay-Gen2.html

Pics





 
 

[nsmiller]

Can you post a pic (preferably at night or sun set) of what the front signals look like with the running lights operating? And maybe another picture of what it looks like with a signal flashing illuminated? Thanks for sharing.

[stevesweetz]

 
@piotrek
The LEDs are amber and the running lights are dimmer than the blinker.
 
@nsmiller
I don't have nighttime footage, but here's a video.  The iPhone seems to crush brightness differences pretty heavily so the signals look unrealistically dim here - note that the headlight running lights and the tail light look equally dim, so use those as your relative basis of comparison for the real world.
 
The signals aren't gobsmackingly bright or anything, but they're not quite so weak as the impression this video might give.
 
[video src=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHn7pZAn81U]
 
 
PS Regarding the resistors, I found a thread FZ-09 forums from owners who did a similar signal swap, and there's a great deal of discussion about the resistors there, which pretty much boils down to this:
 

As discussed earlier, the resistor packs aren't for controlling the flash rate, but are for reducing the current the the LED's. If you trash the stock resistors, the LED's will receive too much current and will turn red/burn out.

So that seems to agree with my theory.  No clue whether the people stating this have any more authority on the subject than I do or are just making the same guesses, but unless any new info comes to light, I would stand by my recommendation to keep the resistors on the Tenere signals in place. 
 

[koth442]

Nice write up thank you!
 
How much did it cost?

[texscottyd]

Nice write up thank you! 
How much did it cost?

 
 
I figure it's right around $300 all in, based on some quick online shopping research.
 
http://www.yamahapartshouse.com/oemparts/a/yam/5626462987a86602c84a316a/flasher-light
 
Front signals around $50 each
Rear signals around $75 each
Two pairs of connectors at $15 total
Flasher relay is about $20
 
That's about $285, plus shipping and/or taxes. Not a cheap upgrade, but it looks great and I think I'm going to do it.

[hailwood]

The LEDs are amber and the running lights are dimmer than the blinker. 
...The signals aren't gobsmackingly bright or anything, but they're not quite so weak as the impression this video might give...
 
...Regarding the resistors

Thanks for the video... good thing you explained the brightness thing, because as you note... looks a bit underwhelming. I had to use a 100ohm resistor to mute my RUN light a bit from full bright (it was stupid bright). Are the resistors on the RUN wires? If so, that could be just to tone them down so there's a noticeable difference between RUN and TURN intensity.

Interesting regarding the resistors.  I cut mine out since I assumed they were for controlling the flash rate and had replaced the flasher relay.  I'll keep an eye on them and report back if I have any issues.

[stevesweetz]

@piotrek :
The resistors are most definitely on the blinker wire, front and back.
 
There's two of them close together and they are just the little beige ones judging by size, but they are covered in heat shrink which I didn't want to bother removing, so I don't know their impedance rating.
 
@koth442 :
@texscottyd got it right, it's not cheap; mostly due to the weirdly high cost of the rear signals.  However, what's "funny" is that these same exact signals are used on the FZ-10 and if you check the price on those, they're over $115 each. So Yamaha plays some kind of game with part prices.  
 
You can of course save a little money by cutting the connectors from the stock signals and whether you need the relay is a subjective choice.  I did give a thought to trying the sell the stock signals on Ebay - but I doubt there's anyone that actually wants those pumpkins, so I don't expect to recoup any money on the old signals.  I kept them intact pretty much just due to a long time paranoia when working with electronics - I wanted to keep them as "backups" just in case I did anything to screw up the Tenere signals. 

[stevesweetz]

BTW. I ended up getting the flasher relay. It was some night riding that finally made me a little annoyed with the blinker speed.
 
However I found one from a different company that's actually a bit better than the Custom LED one. It has the same form factor as the OEM relay so it's a very direct replacement and its rate is adjustable.
 
https://tstindustries.com/TST-LED-Flasher-Relay-Gen2.html

[pmason718]

Ok so before I came across this thread today earlier I placed an order for the Super Tenere signals bought I brought a right and a left front signal will I run into issues? I know you recommend two left ones but I had already placed my order before seeing this thread.

[stevesweetz]

Ok so before I came across this thread today earlier I placed an order for the Super Tenere signals bought I brought a right and a left front signal will I run into issues? I know you recommend two left ones but I had already placed my order before seeing this thread.

The wiring on right side signal is just slightly more annoying to work with, but it's not a big deal. 
On the right side signal, the blinker wire with the resistors has a little loop separated out from the neutral and running light wire, which are very short - shorter than needed for the FJ.  If you want to keep the resistors in place, you can't cut the blinker wire down to match the length of the others.  This just means that you'll need to make up for the shortfall and differing lengths on the connector side of things.  Need to measure carefully so that once spliced everything comes out to the same length overall.
 
On the left hand signal, the wires are all routed together and there's plenty of extra length versus what you need for the FJ, so you can just cut all 3 wires at the same spot on both the signal and connector side of things and not worry so much about everything coming out to the same length.
 
 
 

[pmason718]

Ok so before I came across this thread today earlier I placed an order for the Super Tenere signals bought I brought a right and a left front signal will I run into issues? I know you recommend two left ones but I had already placed my order before seeing this thread.

The wiring on right side signal is just slightly more annoying to work with, but it's not a big deal. 
On the right side signal, the blinker wire with the resistors has a little loop separated out from the neutral and running light wire, which are very short - shorter than needed for the FJ.  If you want to keep the resistors in place, you can't cut the blinker wire down to match the length of the others.  This just means that you'll need to make up for the shortfall and differing lengths on the connector side of things.  Need to measure carefully so that once spliced everything comes out to the same length overall.
 
On the left hand signal, the wires are all routed together and there's plenty of extra length versus what you need for the FJ, so you can just cut all 3 wires at the same spot on both the signal and connector side of things and not worry so much about everything coming out to the same length.
 
 
 
 

 

[pmason718]

Just finished the install and it wasn't difficult at all but I do wish I ordered the two left signals just for the extra length and to avoid that loop.

[texscottyd]

@stevesweetz - Thanks again for getting all the relevant information together in one location for the Super Tenere signal swap. I have all the bits & pieces ready to go, and am hoping to get it done over the weekend.

[texscottyd]

Roughly a year after I initially thought about doing this, I finally got around to doing the Super Tenere LED signal upgrade on Sunday.  Overall, I really like the visual improvement on the bike, and the signals & running lights work perfectly... exactly as I would expect from OEM Yamaha parts.
 
The information that @stevesweetz provided in this thread is very helpful, and worth reading over in detail prior to digging into the project.  I ordered the two left front signals as suggested, and it definitely simplified the installation process.  
 
A couple of points I would add:
- Soldering the small-gauge wires is the only way to go.  It's really easy to solder, and I personally don't think butt splice connectors would work in this situation. 
- Pay very careful attention to the original wiring routing (especially on the rear signals) to determine the correct location to splice the signal and connector wires together.  That way you can avoid trying to bend the wiring at the resistor pack or the new wiring splice.   Common sense, but look and measure, THEN cut and solder.
- For me, the rear signals were a lot more work than the front.  The wiring length needs to be exact on the rear signals, and the routing is kind of a pain.  On the plus side, it looks 100% factory now that it's all back in place. 
- The front signals give you a lot more flexibility for wiring length and routing.  I left enough wire on the new connector end that the solder splice is inside the side panels along with the signal resistor pack.   The overall length end up being several inches longer than the stock FJ signals, but it worked out fine. 
 
I took my time, and did the entire thing in about four hours.  I'm kind of meticulous about stuff like this, so it could certainly be done faster if you're in a rush. 
 
Nice - but not cheap - upgrade for the FJ.  I'm glad I finally did it. 
 

[stevesweetz]

That reminds to give one word of warning about these signals - I don't want to scare anyone off because I still think these signals are among the best looking for the bike - but they are pretty fragile.
 
There's really no give to the short rubber mounting block, and the thin plastic around stalk part is susceptible to breaking without much force applied.
 
They made it fine through last year, but this year I snapped both of my rear signals just by being careless when walking around by the rear of the bike. Since they stick out so much with the stock tail, I just kind of caught them on my thigh and didn't notice before they snapped.
 
Now luckily, the plastic just split a bit and didn't break into pieces and the wires didn't tear or anything, so I just epoxy'd them back onto the mounting block and you'd never know they were broken. So not a big deal if you do snap them, but just be careful around these things - they're definitely not as hardy as the old floppy pumpkins.
 
 
Funny enough, I went to a Yamaha demo event and both rear signals on their FZ-10 (which uses these same signals) were held together by tape. The bike showed no signs of being dropped so I ask the demo rep and he said sure enough they had been broken just by being bumped either by customers or when they were loading and unloading the bike.
 
I think Yamaha could stand to make the rubber part a bit longer and beef up the stalk thickness to make these signals a bit more forgiving to the odd bump here and there.