Had a blinker ghost in the left blinker of my 02 FXDX for about a week. The
blinker would come on as soon as I turned on the ignition and would only
sometimes self cancel. Sometimes I could manually cancel it by punching the
left switch, sometimes not. Sometimes I could cancel it punching the right
switch, sometimes that would activate the four-ways. Some days were worse
than others with me having to split concentration between riding and keeping
my signaling accurate way too much. I was hoping it was just water in the
switch and eventually it would dry up and go away. I decided to open the
switch housing yesterday to see what was what. I loosened the screws holding
the clutch lever against the switch housing and moved it away from the
switch housing then removed the switch housing screws and peeled it off the
handlebars. I put my key in and turned the ignition on. No blinking. I hit
the switch and the blinker came on. I hit it again it went off. I repeated
this a number of times and it seemed the ghost was banished. I reassembled
the housing and retightened the clutch lever assembly and retested the
switch operation. Working like a charm so far. This is the first repair I
have attempted on this bike. The only other work it's required was bearings
in the frame neck and usual maintenance items like tires and brakes. I
haven't even had to replace a light bulb yet. This has been a most excellent
and dependable machine for nearly 50,000 miles. I am very pleased with this
bike.

--
74 CB 450 - STOLEN; 74 Z1 900 - TRADED; 76 FX 1200 - STOLEN; 78 FX(E) 86 CI
DAILY RIDER NICE WEATHER; 02 FXDX 88 CI DAILY RIDER OTHER WEATHER

"Harold Gailey" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:2MSZm.16149$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Had a blinker ghost in the left blinker of my 02 FXDX for about a week.
> The blinker would come on as soon as I turned on the ignition and would
> only sometimes self cancel. Sometimes I could manually cancel it by
> punching the left switch, sometimes not. Sometimes I could cancel it
> punching the right switch, sometimes that would activate the four-ways.
> Some days were worse than others with me having to split concentration
> between riding and keeping my signaling accurate way too much. I was
> hoping it was just water in the switch and eventually it would dry up and
> go away. I decided to open the switch housing yesterday to see what was
> what. I loosened the screws holding the clutch lever against the switch
> housing and moved it away from the switch housing then removed the switch
> housing screws and peeled it off the handlebars. I put my key in and
> turned the ignition on. No blinking. I hit the switch and the blinker came
> on. I hit it again it went off. I repeated this a number of times and it
> seemed the ghost was banished. I reassembled the housing and retightened
> the clutch lever assembly and retested the switch operation. Working like
> a charm so far. This is the first repair I have attempted on this bike.
> The only other work it's required was bearings in the frame neck and usual
> maintenance items like tires and brakes. I haven't even had to replace a
> light bulb yet. This has been a most excellent and dependable machine for
> nearly 50,000 miles. I am very pleased with this bike.
>
> --
> 74 CB 450 - STOLEN; 74 Z1 900 - TRADED; 76 FX 1200 - STOLEN; 78 FX(E) 86
> CI
> DAILY RIDER NICE WEATHER; 02 FXDX 88 CI DAILY RIDER OTHER WEATHER
>


Now you're talking Harold.

Welcome aboard!

...louie

"Edward Grant" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:2009122723070116807-egrant@sbcglobalnet...
> On 2009-12-27 18:15:23 -0600, "Harold Gailey" <(E-Mail Removed)> said:
>
>> Had a blinker ghost in the left blinker of my 02 FXDX for about a week.
>> The
>> blinker would come on as soon as I turned on the ignition and would only
>> sometimes self cancel. Sometimes I could manually cancel it by punching
>> the
>> left switch, sometimes not. Sometimes I could cancel it punching the
>> right
>> switch, sometimes that would activate the four-ways. Some days were worse
>> than others with me having to split concentration between riding and
>> keeping
>> my signaling accurate way too much. I was hoping it was just water in the
>> switch and eventually it would dry up and go away. I decided to open the
>> switch housing yesterday to see what was what. I loosened the screws
>> holding
>> the clutch lever against the switch housing and moved it away from the
>> switch housing then removed the switch housing screws and peeled it off
>> the
>> handlebars. I put my key in and turned the ignition on. No blinking. I
>> hit
>> the switch and the blinker came on. I hit it again it went off. I
>> repeated
>> this a number of times and it seemed the ghost was banished. I
>> reassembled
>> the housing and retightened the clutch lever assembly and retested the
>> switch operation. Working like a charm so far. This is the first repair I
>> have attempted on this bike. The only other work it's required was
>> bearings
>> in the frame neck and usual maintenance items like tires and brakes. I
>> haven't even had to replace a light bulb yet. This has been a most
>> excellent
>> and dependable machine for nearly 50,000 miles. I am very pleased with
>> this
>> bike.
>
> Probably just enough dirt and grime in there to cause an intermittent
> short. Probably
> would be a good idea to clean the switches every year along with changing
> the smoke
> detector batteries. :-)
>
> Ed

I had some contact cleaner around here some place. I was going to flush the
switch out good once I got in there but after seeing it blinking correctly
after just opening the housing I didn't bother trying to find the cleaner.

--
74 CB 450 - STOLEN; 74 Z1 900 - TRADED; 76 FX 1200 - STOLEN; 78 FX(E) 86 CI
DAILY RIDER NICE WEATHER; 02 FXDX 88 CI DAILY RIDER OTHER WEATHER

"louie" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:hhapoe$65k$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Harold Gailey" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:2MSZm.16149$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Had a blinker ghost in the left blinker of my 02 FXDX for about a week.
>> The blinker would come on as soon as I turned on the ignition and would
>> only sometimes self cancel. Sometimes I could manually cancel it by
>> punching the left switch, sometimes not. Sometimes I could cancel it
>> punching the right switch, sometimes that would activate the four-ways.
>> Some days were worse than others with me having to split concentration
>> between riding and keeping my signaling accurate way too much. I was
>> hoping it was just water in the switch and eventually it would dry up and
>> go away. I decided to open the switch housing yesterday to see what was
>> what. I loosened the screws holding the clutch lever against the switch
>> housing and moved it away from the switch housing then removed the switch
>> housing screws and peeled it off the handlebars. I put my key in and
>> turned the ignition on. No blinking. I hit the switch and the blinker
>> came on. I hit it again it went off. I repeated this a number of times
>> and it seemed the ghost was banished. I reassembled the housing and
>> retightened the clutch lever assembly and retested the switch operation.
>> Working like a charm so far. This is the first repair I have attempted on
>> this bike. The only other work it's required was bearings in the frame
>> neck and usual maintenance items like tires and brakes. I haven't even
>> had to replace a light bulb yet. This has been a most excellent and
>> dependable machine for nearly 50,000 miles. I am very pleased with this
>> bike.
>>
>> --
>> 74 CB 450 - STOLEN; 74 Z1 900 - TRADED; 76 FX 1200 - STOLEN; 78 FX(E) 86
>> CI
>> DAILY RIDER NICE WEATHER; 02 FXDX 88 CI DAILY RIDER OTHER WEATHER
>>
>
>
> Now you're talking Harold.
>
> Welcome aboard!
>
> ..louie

Thanks Louie. My blinker still turns itself on when I turn on the ignition
but so far today it did not come on while riding.

--
74 CB 450 - STOLEN; 74 Z1 900 - TRADED; 76 FX 1200 - STOLEN; 78 FX(E) 86 CI
DAILY RIDER NICE WEATHER; 02 FXDX 88 CI DAILY RIDER OTHER WEATHER