Blinking Lights

My scooter had it's first significant failure: the turn signals started not blinking. Some of the time. I hate "random" failures.

First stop for trouble-shooting: the internet. Less than a minute of digging revealed that most motorcycles and cars have a special little part that tells the lights how to blink and since both left- and right-hand signals would check-out on occasion, I decided this little guy was the culprit. The tricky part was finding where he lived and, on top of that, finding a replacement part for my "Chinese" scooter.

Well, it only took an hour or so to tear off the front of the scooter. ( I have removed nearly every single exterior body panel on the scooter now; this should make future repairs easier.) When confronted with the mass of wires and connectors, I decided to resort to my keen sense of hearing to find the faulty part. I turned the ignition, flicked the blinker switch and after a few intermittent blinks, had found the part. Next stop: motorcycle shop.

I stroll up to the very official-looking parts counter, plunk down my broken blinker module and ask for a replacement. The clerk begins to type stuff into the parts database and is halted when I tell him I've got a "Chinese" scooter.

"Oh, we don't carry parts for stuff like that. That has wires hanging out of it. All of ours just plug in."

I assure him that I feel comfortable making my own wiring harness and ask to see what he's got. He brings out two options, I choose the one that looks easiest to work with, and $20 later I'm on my way home.

Making switch was pretty easy. The part has a connection diagram on the back of the package. A few minutes of voltmeter action and I knew the corresponding wires on my harness. Solder up the connections, coat the thing in hot glue to avoid any shorts due to moisture and I was done.

Except for putting all the body panels back on. I'm getting better, I swear, but it still took another hour or so to get everything back in place.

Monday was the full road test to and from work and the new module is great. The turn signals blink like a charm.

One thing is bothering me about all of this though: should a failure like this occur after only 1000 miles? Me thinks this does not bode well for the future.