'95 Speed Triple rear signal relay

[Larry]

I find myself in need of the knowledge of the elders. I replaced my
'95 Speed Triple (single headlight carb model) turn signals a month or
two back with some aftermarket jobbies (non-LED), and they worked
fine. Just got back from a 5-day trip, and toward the end, both the
rear turn signals stopped functioning. I checked all fuses (good) and
tested one
bulb directly to the battery and it worked fine, so I am suspecting
the relay. Can't read the part number any more on it, but the 3 pins
have a 49, 49a, and 31 next to them respectively. I'm sure it's
common to most or all of the carb model 885 triples. Not knowing the
correct way to test a relay, I compared resistance from 49 to 31 vs.
49a to 31 and got two different readings, separated by several ohms.
When the signals are activated, I can still hear what sounds like the
relay clicking in a normal signal fashion. Any clues? Anyone know
the proper way to test a relay? My local dealer looked up the part
and it's $67, so I hate to buy one without knowing that's the
problem. I guess I would try Baxter's first for a used one if
possible (or does anyone know a similar Kawasaki or other cross-listed
part no.?).
Thanks for any suggestions, Larry

[Larry Plass]

I'm attempting to post this reply from Kit to my email:
-------------------------------------------------------
Hi Larry,

I have no idea why, but I haven't been able to post to the Triumph
list ever since the Google shift. Anyway, below is the email I tried
to send to the group, feel free to post it up there if you like.

-----

I can't remember the part number, but I replaced my relay with a $10
or $12 part from Pep Boys.

Ah, happy search function... From my TRAT post on the subject in March
of '07:

"Found a Tridon Stant brand EP36 flasher for $11 that was marked 31,
49, & 49a just like the original Hella.

I installed it in the parking lot & it behaved properly on the way
home. Not a conclusive test, but it's looking like it might do it.

Note that the Tridon relay fits the electrical connector on my bike,
but does not snap into place on the frame like the original. The
Tridon is a little smaller than the Hella."

A little bit of followup- never had another problem with the turn
signals in the 6 months between replacing the relay and seizing the
motor.

Cheers, HTH,
-Kit

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[willi...@comcast.net]

I don't know if the part is the same as on the Bonneville (and at 9:30 on Friday night I'm too pooped to go out to the garage and dig down into the '96 Sprint and the '05 Bonnie), but the Bonnie flasher can be replaced with the Borg Warner R4147, which, among others, fits'90-'92 Audis. They run about $20.

Bill

[Dave Harrison]

Larry,

 

You did not mention if the front turn signals worked.  On my Sprint, both front and rear run from the same contact; a quick check of my service manual shows that the Speed Triples of the same vintage (93-98) have identical wiring to the Sprint.  When I had one rear one go out, the front one flashed a lot quicker, a giveaway that I had to do something.

 

My problem was traced to the contacts in the little white 2-pin connectors on the rear turn signal pigtail cables.  If I pushed the wires into the connector, making better contact, the light worked fine.  Now and again I have to push them in, do it every time I take off the saddle as a preventative measure.  Oddly, I have not seen this on the right side, just the left. 

 

With your seeing this on both sides, you may want to look for a bad ground connection, supposedly a Blue-Yellow wire on the harness side of the turn signal (aka indicator) connectors is the common ground for both sides.

 

Dave

98 BRG Sprint Exec

[Larry Plass]

Thanks for all the replies so far, I've managed to fix the issue. I checked
my Thruxton for a similar relay per Bill's suggestion and found a smaller
relay but with the same pin readings and layout, so I swapped it out. This
time the right rear worked and the left didn't (fronts worked fine all
along). I put the original relay back in, and the right rear still worked,
so I ruled out the relay. Prior to doing this, I had tried to pull the
right rear bulb out of the housing socket insert to test it, but it appeared
to be melted in somewhat and would not budge, so I just ran wires to the
housing contacts to test the bulb (which worked). So then I disassembled
the right left blinker and even though the element looked good, I tried to
free that bulb and found it would not budge as well, and concluded I could
not remove it without breaking it like the first one. I swapped the signal
housing inserts from left to right, and now the left rear worked (the one
that had originally started working on the right after I messed with the
bulb trying to free it). So now I started to suspect the crappy housing
socket inserts had caused the problem by slightly melting and causing
contact to be lost. I wiggled the non-working bulb some more, and
eventually got it to work. So they both work for the moment for the
princely sum of $0, but I suspect I will have to replace them soon. I
bought them a couple months back from Chaparral:
https://www.chaparral-racing.com/Chaparral/product_family.asp?family%5Fid=10650&gift=False&mscssid=3E2979B2787548B896FC337185F790AE
(iridium lense, black plastic housing). They came in Lockhart Phillips
packaging but I think they must be no-name signals. Too bad they suck, they
look good, illuminate pretty brightly for small signals, and were cheap
(hence the problem).
thanks again, Larry

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Harrison" <harris...@gmail.com>
To: <triumph_m...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: '95 Speed Triple rear signal relay

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