Why, why, why,

T

timtune

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Won't manufacturers put self cancelling signals on bikes! Was out Sunday with a buddy and he left his signal on every second turn it seemed.

All the new electronic whiz bang but a safety feature like this is left out. Riddle me that one.

Goldwings from the early 80s had them - not rocket science. Took the system off my last dragwing. The whole thing would pretty much fit in a shot glass.
 
Multiple thoughts:

-Pshaw, I don't need self-cancelling signals because I spent a few decades learning to cancel them myself
-These days it'd be like maybe 100 lines of code to add it to the existing electronics. No additional hardware required ... well probably not. The IMU could do it, but I bet most bikes still have a real directly connected turn signal circuit
-Why did the stupid fiddly left thumbswitch for turn signals become the norm? I've always disliked it, it sucks
 
timtune said:
Won't manufacturers put self cancelling signals on bikes! Was out Sunday with a buddy and he left his signal on every second turn it seemed.

All the new electronic whiz bang but a safety feature like this is left out. Riddle me that one.

Goldwings from the early 80s had them - not rocket science. Took the system off my last dragwing. The whole thing would pretty much fit in a shot glass.
Click to expand...
Does your KLR have them?

Touring Harley's do, mine did. They worked some of the time.
 
My buddy’s 1980 Kawasaki Z1R had self canceling turn signals which was quite unique at the time. if my memory serves me correctly, it was a tiny little device about the shape and size of a matchbox directly below your turn signal switch on your handlebars. It had a pendulum in it that sensed when the bike tipped over to go into a turn, and when it straightened up, it canceled the turn signal. very simple and primitive, but it worked. I don’t recall ever seeing that on any other bikes, Kawasaki or otherwise.
 
TwistedKestrel said:
-Pshaw, I don't need self-cancelling signals because I spent a few decades learning to cancel them myself
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Feel the same.

But everyone's red line is different. For some it's cruise control. Others it is electrical start vs kick. Or EFI vs carbs.

Personally, for me, the riding experience is the most important thing. If the bike rides and handles the way I like it to, I don't care how you turn on or cancel the indicators, whether you need to kick down on a big lever to start it, or whether you need to flip the fuel petcock to reserve to know how much fuel you've got left in the tank instead of looking at coloured bars slowly disappearing on a computer screen.

I'm riding a bike, not playing a video game.

TwistedKestrel said:
-Why did the stupid fiddly left thumbswitch for turn signals become the norm? I've always disliked it, it sucks
Click to expand...

I didn't mind the old BMW/Harley switchgear where there's separate buttons, one on the left handlebar for left-turn-signal, and another on the right handlebar for right-turn-signal. Cancel was a smaller button above the right turn button.

rightturn.jpgleftturn.jpg

Self-cancelling turn signals aren't infallible though.

Some work on lean sensors, others on distance or time travelled since the indicator was activated, for example, self-cancelling after 200 meters or 30 seconds later. Some bikes allow you to change these values in the settings.

Sometimes you don't lean enough for lane changes for the sensor to cancel the signal.

Other times, you signal early for a turn coming up (like lane changing into a long left turn lane) and by the time you've reached the turn, the indicator has already self-cancelled without you realizing it and you end up turning without a signal.

I just do it manually. It's totally not a big deal for me.
 
Yes, Harley-Davidson self-canceling turn signals primarily use the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) combined with a bank angle (tilt) sensor to determine when to turn off. The system calculates distance based on speed and cancels signals after a set number of flashes (usually around 20) or after completing a turn.
 
Bobo said:
My buddy’s 1980 Kawasaki Z1R had self canceling turn signals which was quite unique at the time. if my memory serves me correctly, it was a tiny little device about the shape and size of a matchbox directly below your turn signal switch on your handlebars. It had a pendulum in it that sensed when the bike tipped over to go into a turn, and when it straightened up, it canceled the turn signal. very simple and primitive, but it worked. I don’t recall ever seeing that on any other bikes, Kawasaki or otherwise.
Click to expand...
I think I may have been wrong, inside that little box is a coil that is energized to cancel the turn signal when the bike has traveled a specific distance after activating them. I just watched a Z1R guru repair one on YouTube, I’m semi retired so I have time to watch that kind of stuff.
 
I installed a simple AliExpress piezo buzzer on the flasher relay. $3

1777398958043.png
 
When I started riding. signal lights where not even mandatory.
The thing about hand signals was they where hard to foget to cancel.
The next thing you will be demanding is self driving motorcycles!
 
Also these as well:

photo_jun_27_2024_4_47_09_pm.jpg


Serves double-duty as rear indicators and a reminder that your signals are still on.
 
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