Turn signal cancel

firefly

firefly

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I am now not using my turn signals for fear of forgetting them, I admit I forget them most of the time in surface streets & its getting very dangerous. the green indicator lights are placed very awkward & hard to see in bright day light. what are my options?

I am thinking of connecting two single LEDs & mounting them close to the top of the fairing at a comfortable line of sight, I am not sure how it will look but I definitely need to use the turn signals.

Any better ideas?

Thanks
 
I just put myself in the habbit of hitting the cancel after every turn. Obviously not after a high-speed sweeper on a backroad, but around town or whatever I cancel the signal every time the bike comes up straight. There are lots of 90 degree turns near my house that are not an intersection, so I don't signal. I still cancel when I come up out of habit. If you drill it in to yourself enough, it becomes a reflex. I spent months riding around reminding myself to cancel signals, and now it's just natural.
 
I have the opposite problem. I have TSOCD (Turn Signal OCD).

I used to be like you but now I am so paranoid that I randomly hit the cancel button whenever I ride. Also, when I see another vehicles' turn signals I hit my cancel button. Funny thing is, I belong to a club where I can borrow their high-end motorcycles so I do ride many different bikes... often the signal cancel and horn buttons are swapped over, resulting in me randomly blowing the horn while I ride :cry:
 
Thanks but that's not what I am looking for, I ride surface streets all day and paying attention to such a stupid thing is a big distraction when you're lane splitting, filtering & dodging text messaging driver, maybe on open roads with less intense riding you have time to focus on remembering to cancel it.
 
I just don't get how managing turn siganls is such a big distraction. It's like shifting gears. I don't think very hard about it, it just happens. I certainly can't think of a time I have "focused" on cancelling my signal, but I guess I am pretty small town. I ride in Toronto a few times a season, and it blows my mind. Thankfully, my bike will do almost 100MPH in first gear. I just plug it first and rev the piss out of it, all the while not signaling. It's the only way I can focus on keeping upright.
Obviously, I just having a little fun with you, firefly. All joking aside, it seems like a complicated solution to a simple problem. If you're not sure if your signal is on, just cancel it. You'll have to remind yourself a few times, but it will quickly become such a habit that you'll not even know you're doing it.
If you do attach LEDs in a more visible place, be careful of visibility from the front. I don't have the California Highway Code in front of me, but I know in Ontario, where I ride, flashing lights on the front of a vehicle can be a big no-no. There are restrictions on colour, number, and frequency. Green, for example, is reserved for volunteer firefighters. If you're not one and you have a green flasher visible from in front of your vehicle, you will get pulled over.
 
Maybe fit the bike with an air compressor and wire up two different air sirens. When you signal left or right you get a super loud noise that will remind you to cancel them! I'm thinking maybe 110dB per horn would do the trick

Or! Get an industrial-grade sifting machine and fix it to your seat somehow so it vibrates intensely whenever your signals are on

Or! You can fix a jack hammer to the rear of your bike and have it hammer the back of your helmet to remind you to cancel your signals

Or! Fix spotlights to each mirror, maybe 250W each. Have them facing you and make them go on when your signals are on! You could use the existing wiring and maybe add a few batteries to support the lights. I think 5 batteries would do the trick

Or! A nail gun! You could put a nail gun on your front fender and have it shoot the front tire whenever your signals are on for _____ seconds. When your bike starts getting wobbly, you'll know it's time to cancel the signals
 
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I think a device the turns signals off after a set time can be bought. my neighbors harley has it from the factors. I think i have seen them for sale in dennis kirk book.
 
jacobdahl said:
I just put myself in the habbit of hitting the cancel after every turn.
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This is what I do, I've even found myself hitting the button after a turn in the road at times. I'd rather cancel nothing than have someone actually think I'm turning and pull out in front of me.
 
Evitzee said:
My thoughts exactly .... rider in LA and he doesn't use turn signals .... crazy.
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In LA if you signal the cars speed up to prevent you from getting in front of them so in most cases its better not to signal & just pick the right timing to do it quick & painless. its a real jungle but 100% pure funnnnnn & a high level of skills is required. we can spot an out of state rider stopping behind cars inhaling exhaust "Its a very dangerous thing to split lanes" so they say.
 
firefly said:
In LA if you signal the cars speed up to prevent you from getting in front of them so in most cases its better not to signal & just pick the right timing to do it quick & painless. its a real jungle but 100% pure funnnnnn & a high level of skills is required. we can spot an out of state rider stopping behind cars inhaling exhaust "Its a very dangerous thing to split lanes" so they say.
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If you are happy not using turn signals then just keep on doin' what you are doin'.
 
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I don't exactly see what you're asking. Let me break down what I understand so far:

1) When you split lanes, you are worried about leaving a signal on because it takes too much concentration just riding to think about signals.

2) You don't signal when you're lane splitting because cagers will mess with you.

So, you want a solution so that you can remember to cancel your siganls without thinking when you're not using them?
 
firefly said:
In LA if you signal the cars speed up to prevent you from getting in front of them so in most cases its better not to signal & just pick the right timing to do it quick & painless.
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When I was in Washington State the drivers there would do the same thing. I found myself in a couple of situations where I tried to signal that I was doing a lane change only to watch as the cars beside me blocked any chance for me to move over. Once I turned off my signal they relaxed and I ended up cutting them off. I was in a car when this happened btw.

I have also seen where a van was in the turning lane due to the way the highway was set up between on and off ramps and had his turn signal on so he could get over in traffic but was forced to take the off ramp because no one let them get over.

On the East coast my experience has been most drivers will give you the space if you ask for it (by using your turn signal) on the west cost they will just try to get in front of you (block you off). I just ended up signaling while I lane change so they couldn't try to block me while driving in that type of environment.
 
jacobdahl said:
I just put myself in the habbit of hitting the cancel after every turn. Obviously not after a high-speed sweeper on a backroad, but around town or whatever I cancel the signal every time the bike comes up straight. There are lots of 90 degree turns near my house that are not an intersection, so I don't signal. I still cancel when I come up out of habit. If you drill it in to yourself enough, it becomes a reflex. I spent months riding around reminding myself to cancel signals, and now it's just natural.
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this^^^^ I do the same thing
 
I started riding again a couple years ago and it was a PITA remembering to cancel. Now it is second nature and I do it often, when it isn't needed out of habit.:rofl:
 
There was someone on this forum who mounted LED turn signal indicators in the fairing inserts as a huge easy to se reminder of when the signal is on. I will see if I can search up that post.
 
Hail said:
There was someone on this forum who mounted LED turn signal indicators in the fairing inserts as a huge easy to se reminder of when the signal is on. I will see if I can search up that post.
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I installed two single 8 mm LED at the base of the wind shield inside & that seemed to resolve my issue for now, will take some photos of it in there final position.
 
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