Indulgence please, newbie here.
I'm wiring up some turn signals for my hack and I was wondering whether one normally keeps the right hand turn signals on the tug operational or disconnects them.
I did see in Hal Kendall's book that he recommends disconnecting the bike's RHS turn signals--this to avoid confusing other motorists, but I wanted to get some other opinions on this. I suppose that one might argue that anything to make the outfit more visible would be desirable and that having both the bike's RHS turn signals and the hack turn signals flash wouldn't really be too confusing.
Thoughts?
Thanks--Rich A, newbie
i disconnected them on both my rigs.........fly
hi Rich, I also disconected mine on my rig. Might look too much like a four way flasher if left connected. my opinion, Ron
I pull the RHS bulbs. I believe they are very confusing with the car bulbs flashing. But, if the car comes off the bulbs can go back in!
Thanks, all. I'll pull the bulbs from the tug's right side--hadn't thought about them looking like 4-way flashers! Glad I asked.
I'll try to post a pic in the next few days.
Rich
You may also want to check on local laws. Years ago, we used to run into a problem living close to the Minnesota border. In Wisconsin I was told that turn signals and tail lights must be mounted within ten inches of the outer corners of the vehicle. That caused me to remove the bulbs from the bike. Then I was stopped in Minnesota where they told me that any light on the vehicle, whether factory mounted or add-on, must be functional. Now I have a pair of golf club socks that I stretch over them when I go to Minnesota.
FWIW I also learned that a light socket without a bulb rusts in a very short time. I saved a few burned out bulbs and use them instead of an empty socket.
While you're wiring, I used a Wesbar Connector (4 wire trailer wire plugin) to facilitate easy disconnection of the sidecar electrics. If you do this, wire the left signal into it as well, even if the sidecar end of the wire is cut off. Down the road if you want to add a small trailer all you have to do is build a Y connection to fit between the bike and sidecar with the long end extending to your hitch and you're ready to tow.
"FWIW I also learned that a light socket without a bulb rusts in a very short time."
If you have rusting problems try coating the base of the bulb lightly with vaseline before putting it into the socket. (good idea for the trailer connector also) I was having a problem with my trailer electrical connector corroding and giving poor electrical contact. My brother-in-law, who's an electrical engineer at a local steel mill, told me this trick. The atmosphere at the mill is so corrosive they do this on all outside bulbs. I thought he'd popped one too many Coors Lights 'cause vaseline is a dielectric and you'd think it would tend to insulate the contacts from each other, but it works like a charm. The connections stay cooler, no corrosion, and the plugs and bulbs slide on & off with no binding whatsoever. I've started doing this to all the bulbs around the house, both inside and out.
Joe
