Why didn't anyone tell me bike indicators don't self-cancel?

Whilst riding round the block to line up for my emergency stop, I managed to
forget to cancel my indicators on 3 out of the 4 turns - twice. ;-)

Apart from that, didn't have any particular problems pootling around on a
Honda 125 today to do my CBT. The gears did my head in a bit when slowing
down and I kept going *up* through the grears rather than down but I dare
say a bit more practice will sort that.

Tim

 

heh heh - in the days of the man standing by the side of the road, if
he'd seen one of my right hand turns I'd have never passed!

indeed it will. Then ride a race spec bike with an upside down gear
box and back to square one (so says my mate who managed to get a go on
a "3 years old" WSB a few years ago - of which I'm still jealous).

cheers

SS

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Spinning Spanners

A British bike will do the job very nicely. "Upside down" *and* on the
other side.

It suddenly occurs to me that I really don't know why the Japanese went
with their orientation and side for the gears. But I'm certain someone
here will enlighten me.

 

Just make the indicators part of your "new road check". You'll get
it. I've no idea why all bikes don't have audible indicators by
default. It's got to be a 10p part, Shirley.

 

70's and 80's Yamahas had self canceling indicators.

 

Yes, it it still works on my XJ900F.

And on the Peg, but I don't think it is meant to

 

Yes, it it still works on my XJ900F.

And on the Peg, but I don't think it is meant to

 

My bloody k1200s does and it's a pain in the arse (well could be a pain
in any part of the body as they choose to self-cancel midway round a
roundabout).

 

Apparently:

"..., in America, the DOT (Department Of Transportation) deemed that
any bike made or imported into the U.S. from 1975 on would have the
brake on the right, shift on the left."

 

Mine didnt?

Well, it might have....

 

And 1980s-90s Kawasakis (some). And plenty of BMWs.

 

snip

But only some Brit bikes, I seem to remember that Triumphs were one up
and three down, BSA on the other hand were one down and three up. Both
of course were on the correct side (right). It took me ages to get
the hang of the foriegn layout, lots of wheel locking as I went for a
higher gear on the right hand side.

Brian

 

I rarely give advice on how to ride, but i will give you one bit that as a
car driver you probably wont do from the start. Right turns from a main road
onto a narrower road i observe many riders going too far wide & almost
clipping the kerb. When approaching the right turn, dont put your front
wheel adjacent to the middle white line of the right turn road IYSWIM, stop
a little further back & & it just gives you a bit more room to turn
smoother.

Works for me.

 

It all depends. I have BSAs that are up for up, and also one that is
down for up. Then I have a Triumph that is down for up, but only because
it has rearset footrests and the gear lever is flipped around.

 

The one on the XS250 I had years ago was such a PITA, I pulled the wires off
that go to the reed switch in the speedo.

IIRC the indicator button returned to the centre position by a spring and
the indicator was manually cancelled by pressing the indicator button
without ant sideways movement - which was also a PITA.

 

Makes sense and a modicum of safety, too.
I don't know if this is the reason, but it's merely one I put up for
consideration...
If you're cornering hard left and a bump or object knocks your foot up,
you will change up mid-corner and be a fair bit safer than a sudden
down-change, which might break rear wheel grip in wet conditions.

As to the orientation and side, that was legislated in the USA, some
forty or more years ago, so the Japanese (and any other nation of bike
makers) had to comply if they wanted to sell in N.America.

 

My 15 year old K1100 has self cancelling indicators that still work...

Many years ago I was told that the Yamaha ones from the '70s were
dropped because they had an audible warning that might have confused
blind people into believing they could cross the road at a pelican
crossing and all of a sudden they'd be wedged on the front mudguard of a
motorbike.

 

They were audible? I don't recall that. I'm pretty sure my RD's self
cancelled though.
My R100S had the bleeper, was one of the first things owners ripped out.

 

Just make the indicators part of your "new road check". You'll get
it. I've no idea why all bikes don't have audible indicators by
default. It's got to be a 10p part, Shirley.

====================================

You can do a "clicking" audible indicator with a mylar cone speaker and a DC
blocking capacitor.

There used to be frequent reworking of bleeping indicator warnings in
various electronics hobby magazines, but as someone else mentioned
elsewhere, these have been known to confuse blind pedestrians into thinking
its the cross now signal on pelican crossings.

 

Or a lowly CZ 250, for that matter.