Turn Signal Won't Cancel

Was out on some dusty trails yesterday, with a bit of mud & water crossings. After a full day of riding I noticed that I wasn't able to cancel my turn signals... When pushing the switch in to cancel, nothing would happen. Also, I could feel it being really gritty when I tried to choose left or right signal.

I wasn't quite sure what happened at first. I did have a (few) off(s) but no serious damage. Wasn't sure if the switch was busted or something. Debated on bringing it into the dealer (still within the warranty period), but finally figured I could look at it myself.

Fortunately, the switch assembly is very easy to take apart... a few screws later I was able to clean the crap out of the contacts which allow the selector to move side to side.

Once complete, everything went back together just as easily and once the grime was out of there everything worked just fine.

So, if you run into a similar situation, do not feel intimidated to tackle this problem yourself!

Sorry, no pics on this one...

Did you manage to fix the signal?

Sounds like the switch got driven into the dirt one time too many. :)

SheWolf wrote:

Did you manage to fix the signal?

Yup. Once the crap was cleaned out everything worked fine again.

Funny thing, there was another WRR on the ride that seemed to have similar problems... either that or he was just really bad at remembering to cancel his signals!

YZEtc wrote:

Sounds like the switch got driven into the dirt one time too many. :)

Never directly... I think the combination of the heavy (but very fine) dust and going a bit too fast through the water crossings resulted in a nice sandpaper-like paste in the signal assembly.

Fortunately, it's all better now.

I had a scare on the road yesterday...made a left turn onto main street in town and a few moments later a car blew by me on my right ....she was way too close and moving way to fast for comfort (I could have reached over and knocked on her window) and i was pissed that she was passing me. I know I pushed to cancel but turns out it didn't cancel so she blew by me thinking I was making a left hand turn. This doesn't excuse the WAY she passed me but having my left blinker on defintly put me partially at fault. It was not the first time i've had cancel trouble and have a WR owning friend who's had issues as well. I have found that I need to look down to assure that the cancel worked but this involves taking my eyes off the road which is not always practical or safe. Anyone aware of WR switch cancel issues beyond the grit/dirt issue discussed above? Any recomended lubricants to help smooth the switch operation? Either way I plan to take mine apart to clean it up before hitting the road again.

Kenner - after you take the assembly appart, I think you'll see that there isn't much opportunity for anything else to affect the switch. It will likely be dirt ingestion that is causing your difficulties (with your turn signal at least, the other driver is a whole different issue!!). Likewise, once you clean it out it the switch will operate much smoother... Mine was a real PITA when it was full of gunk.

When I put the assembly back together, I didn't bother with any lube. Di-electric grease would be okay in limited amounts, but then it would also retain grit. Maybe some of the Dupont multi-purpose spray?

Let us know how it goes!

sounds like my favorite type of motorcycle repair....the easy and inexpensive kind. Thanks for the follow up!

took the assembly apart last night...cleaned things up...put back together with no lube ....rode to work this morning and the blinker worked and canceled smooth as butter

I too had this problem on TAT (east) section, I took it apart and cleaned it twice, it is better but still is not rite, will do it again I guess. Berwyn

Kenner - That's great news!!

Berwyn - Did you actually take apart the "selector" portion? You can remove the plastic part with the ball bearing from it's metal clip and clean the sand out of there so it can slide properly.

I wish I took a pic so I could explain it better. Sry.

No, I did not! I guess I have time to do it rite this time! thanks will get to it soon. Will be opening air box, removing smug stuff, installing FMFmuf. powerbomb pipe and installing MFM programer next week. Right now I need to go to a Beer and POOL party, catch you all later! Berwyn