Turn signal cancellation

[skipperT]

No, a hair drier won’t get hot enough. 
Harbor Freight in the US sells a cheap one made by Chicago Pneumatic. You don’t need an expensive one. 
-Skip

[SKYFLIX]

23 hours ago, maximNikenGT said:

Didn't know these existed. Will look into these. Actually don't have a heat gun. Might be time to get one. Any suggestions? I'm assuming these don't work with hair dryers. 

Negative. They do not. A heat gun is one of those tools that everyone should have in their disposal. Incredibly useful for all sorts of applications. Even if you "splurge" on one, you won't spend more than about 40 - 50 US doll hairs for them.

And those previously mentioned connectors are incredibly easy to use, and provide a quality connection, if not a bit pricey.

[andz]

On 5/4/2021 at 3:35 PM, micah2074 said:

It’s always fun to tinker. My turn signal canceller thing-a-ma-gig is much simpler and, so far, very reliable. 

agreed, FFS if you can't remember to press the button 5-10 seconds after turning should you be out unsupervised?

[maximNikenGT]

Update on my STS install. Had to get some positap connectors and order some right sized  electrical automotive wire to test a theory as to why I was not getting consistent turn signal operation nor startup blink sequence on the STS module. 

Without the STS connected, I swapped the bullet connectors with positap for the signal wire and now my turn signals operate normally whenever I activate the left thumbswitch. That part was fixed. 

I then added the STS back into the wiring. Now with the STS connected, I was not getting an initial startup blink sequence to occur at all. So I ran across another YouTube installation of the STS module where the owner had identified that it was possible that the wire being used to source power possibly wasn't supplying enough current for the STS to operate is sensors correctly.
 

I ran a separate dedicated cable to one of the available circuit ports on my Neutrino Black Box power distribution module to test this. Lo and behold, the STS module ran it's initialization blink sequence! So the switched power wire another Niken owner had utilized in their YouTube video to supply STS power was incompatible on my 2019 Niken GT (am assuming the other one was a non-GT version). 

Only remaining issue is that my turn signals don't consistently activate when thumb triggered - my guess is it's either my left and right turn signal connections all need to be positapped and/or the foam washers inserted in the turn signal assembly need to be shaved down a little bit more to allow the signal contacts to connect easier. 

Now that I've confirmed the source of the problems, time for me to repackage and secure all the wiring, retest all wiring with everything in place, and put in the fairing and retest on the road.  Almost there...

Edited May 17, 2021 by maximNikenGT
Updated spelling

[maximNikenGT]

I've attached a wiring schematic based upon what the STS wire colors should be for a 2019 Niken GT. 

 

Edited May 17, 2021 by maximNikenGT
Corrected spelling

[draco_1967]

I had a similar issue on my Tracer. The power wire I tapped originally did not supply constant current with the engine running. Luckily, I had a relay that I installed up there for my aux lights, and I tapped into those. STS works perfectly now. P

[maximNikenGT]

6 minutes ago, draco_1967 said:

I had a similar issue on my Tracer. The power wire I tapped originally did not supply constant current with the engine running. Luckily, I had a relay that I installed up there for my aux lights, and I tapped into those. STS works perfectly now. P

Did you end up having to run a dedicated ground or were you able to tap into an existing ground wire?

[draco_1967]

16 hours ago, maximNikenGT said:

Did you end up having to run a dedicated ground or were you able to tap into an existing ground wire?

The relay I tapped into went straight to my ground terminal block (which goes to the battery. 

[maximNikenGT]

Alright - I ended up not utilizing a nearby ground wire and running a separate ground to the battery since the quick tap connectors supplied for the power and ground in my opinion were too easy to potentially shake loose the connection. Used a Positap connection and after doing a final diagnostic check I used some dedicated automotive electrical wrap to tidy the cables before putting all the fairing and cosmetic bits back on.

Took the bike out for an hour long ride.

Initial thoughts: for something that took me that long to figure out how to connect, actual usage was pretty much invisible to me (a good thing). I was pleasantly surprised at how well the little STS box worked at detecting lane changes, turns, U-turns. What surprised me most was how little of a lane change motion that I performed and the STS box detected it and cancelled the turn signal after four blinks. 

I got this because a. I was used to having the convenience of turn signal cancellation on my other motorcycle, and b. I've had issues with repetitive stress injury from computer keyboards before and would like to minimize thumbstrokes where possible. 

For the style of touring riding that I do, it cuts down by half the steps needed involving turn signals. So in the course of city riding, if I perform 35 turns per hour, what would normally be 70 thumbstrokes to indicate the turn followed up with cancellation of the turn, I'm reducing by half. Over the long haul, well worth the reduction in my opinion. 

The beauty of this device is that it works and works well. Would definitely recommend.  

Aside from the challenges I ran into on the install, now that I think I ran into every possible weirdness, other Niken owners should be able to benefit from my mistakes/trial and error and have a much smoother install. 

 

[maximNikenGT]

Update: so far so good with the turn signal cancelation unit from STS. As  my confidence in my installation of the  STS unit increases over time, I grow further convinced that this accessory is worth it if you're keeping a bike for the long haul (at least five years). 

[maximNikenGT]

On 5/12/2021 at 1:39 AM, skipperT said:

No, a hair drier won’t get hot enough. 
Harbor Freight in the US sells a cheap one made by Chicago Pneumatic. You don’t need an expensive one. 
-Skip

Finally got my very first heat gun and only $22.99. Black and Decker HG1300 with two settings, hot (750 degrees F / 400 degrees C) and super  hot (1000 degrees F / 540 degrees C)  according to box marketing.  
 

Used this to smooth out reflective safety tape on my Givi topcase where the decal wasn't smooth and flat against the curved sections.  This worked great. Am planning to use this to shrink electrical tape connections in the future and remove stubborn adhesive. 
 

Really should have bought this tool years ago. Not that expensive and no need to get a super expensive one for light duty. 

Edited January 25, 2022 by maximNikenGT
Corrected specifications.

[2and3cylinders]

7 months later...

[maximNikenGT]

52 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

7 months later...