DIRECTION INDICATOR WARNING LIGHTS

I'm having the same problem seeing the green warning lights on the dashboard as I had on my Piaggio X9.The X9 L&R warning lights were situated on the handlebars with all the other lights and were completely out of the riders normal line of sight and were almost impossible to see with a full face helmet on without deliberately looking down from the road ahead.I cannot understand how any right minded designer could have overlooked such a fundamental design flaw which I suggest is potentially dangerous.The X9 owners manual claims "they self cancel after 900 meters" which is not much comfort to anyone laying flat on their back (or worse) after hitting a vehicle that turned out in front of them 800 mtrs. beforehand after seeing a left indicator flashing and wrongly assuming the rider was turning left.

The same sight line problem also applies to the S/wing although admittedly its not quite so bad, as the warning lights are slightly better positioned further forward on the dash panel although in my opinion still not perfect.In bright daylight its all to easy to leave the indicators flashing without realising it although of course at night it isn't a problem.I know a lot depends on height of the rider as shorter riders may have a slightly better line of sight and find no problem.

On the X9 I resolved it by fitting 3 green LED's just inside the far corners of the screen surround and wired them in parrallel with leads connecting the front indicator lights which incorporated a resistor in each lead L&R.It would'nt be impossible to fit a similar warning light if there was room maybe just at the lower L&R corners of the S/wing screen surround with the wiring dissapearing beneath the bodywork.
I wondered if anyone has done a similar mod by fitting extra warning lights to their S/wing and if so has any UK model wiring info/pics/technical data on whether its feasible.
Any info acknowledged and hope this is of interest to anyone over 5'9" and a bit
Brian

If no-one has, I'll ask Jim C to take a look and see if he can come up with something.
He's coming over in a few weeks to do some other wiring bits for me.
Some people fitted buzzers from Maplins IIRC.

As a recent convert to the Silverwing and not having that many miles as yet under my belt I find no problem with the positioning of the green turn indicator lights. They are well within peripheral vision and easy to observe once a signal has been made.

I had buzzers on my old X9 but soon got tired of them

kissantech makes turn signal cancelation device.

I will admit to the rare time leaving my turn indicators blinking after making a turn, but I'm aware that this can happen and work hard to remember to cancel. It is very much second nature by now. This is an active part of my riding routine. The dash indicators are positioned well for me. I only lose track when I let my mind wonder off of the task of riding.

Self cancelling might be a nice feature, but I'm not sure it is a necessity at least not for me.

Just curious... it seems that the UK models have "Green" indicator light. Mine are yellow...
Gary

..........except for Waspie's; he has red on the left and green on the right so he knows which way he's going!

Have you considered an audible alert? Before I collect my first Silverwing at the end of the week (hopefully) I'm getting the dealer to fit an Audicator system. (Datatool used to make one, but apparently no more). This is a British product which emits an audible alert after a pre-set number of indicator flashes (which the user can set themselves) but if the brake is operated then the system resets and starts counting down again. The site is www.audicator.com/audicator.htm or the American distributor - whose site has videos showing the thing in action - is www.audicatorusa.com

Hope this is of interest.

I like the look of that, thanks Steve!

XJ series Yamahas had auto cancelling based on a timer which started after a specific speed had been reached.

A diagram of one that can be built for around $10 can be found here.

http://silverwing.org/cgi-bin/topic_show.pl?tid=455
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A universal turn signal alert with directions for the Honda can be found at:

http://www.rvtoys.net/motormate_002.htm
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JC Whitney has one here:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/tf-Browse/s-10101/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2002171/p-2002171/N-111+10211+600014765/c-10111
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One that fits in the seat and quietly vibrates the seat to tell you the blinker is on can be found at:

http://www.blinkerbuddy.com/

MikeO wrote:

..........except for Waspie's; he has red on the left and green on the right so he knows which way he's going!

Ha Ha, thanks for that Mike.

I thought of adding a flashing anti collision light as well.

Now there's a thought!

Mike... that WAS really funny... made me smile...

Gary

Opalsboy wrote:

Mike... that WAS really funny... made me smile...

Gary

Being a Brit I am undecided Gary as to wether you are genuine or being sarcastic.

Mike and I both share the same cultural humour and having spent time in the states I still never managed to master your sense of humour!!!!!!!!

Not a criticism just a genuine comment, same language but meaning has been lost in the written word.

No ... I am having a problem lately expressing some things without being misunderstood... I knew Mike meant that to be funny and it WAS funny to me. Sorry, I did not mean to be taken any other way ... I am going to post something about myself in a little while I hope you will read it. I guess I am having a problem mastering a sense of humor as well. May be my medication. I did not mean to sound sarcastic at all. I am going to have to cool it a while to keep from losing a lot of friends.
Give me a little while to post what has been on my mind for a few days on this problem of mine.

Gary

Could someone explain the joke to me?

Opalsboy wrote:

No ... I am having a problem lately expressing some things without being misunderstood... I knew Mike meant that to be funny and it WAS funny to me. Sorry, I did not mean to be taken any other way ... I am going to post something about myself in a little while I hope you will read it. I guess I am having a problem mastering a sense of humor as well. May be my medication. I did not mean to sound sarcastic at all. I am going to have to cool it a while to keep from losing a lot of friends.
Give me a little while to post what has been on my mind for a few days on this problem of mine.

Gary

It was a genuine question regards the humour - sarcasm thing nothing to do with you at all Gary. My apologies if it caused concern. I use the Emoticons in an attempt to get the meanings across on boards such as this.

Writing on forums is always fraught with mistaken context due to it being kind of two dimensional. Without direct face to face contact it can be difficult to read the manner in which things are written. We can't all be Tom Clancy after all.

Well I'm glad we sorted that one out so we can get back to the matter of Wings!!!!!!

dspevack wrote:

Could someone explain the joke to me?

Mike knows a little of my past. The clue is in my avatar.

Aircraft as you may be aware use red and green lights to indicate port and starboard, (left and right). Military aircraft use a red flashing light at the rear, this in the UK is called an anti collision light. You may use another term in the States I don't know!

Mike suggested I use red and green lights rather than the green indicators and I coughed up with the anti-col light post.

'Clear as mud' as we say in Britland!!!!

Waspie wrote:

dspevack wrote:

Could someone explain the joke to me?

Mike knows a little of my past. The clue is in my avatar.

Aircraft as you may be aware use red and green lights to indicate port and starboard, (left and right). Military aircraft use a red flashing light at the rear, this in the UK is called an anti collision light. You may use another term in the States I don't know!

Mike suggested I use red and green lights rather than the green indicators and I coughed up with the anti-col light post.

'Clear as mud' as we say in Britland!!!!

Okay, I get the concept. Now I have a question about your avatar. Is that a helicopter with 4 wheels to land, instead of the usual skids or pontoons? I've never seen that b4.

As Waspie's not here:

Yes, that helicopter has four wheels, castors in fact, to enable it to land safely on the small flight-deck of a warship other than an aircraft-carrier.

That's it in a nut-shell - I'm sure Waspie'll explain better.

Google wasp helicopter for more info.

dspevack wrote:

Waspie wrote:

dspevack wrote:

Could someone explain the joke to me?

Mike knows a little of my past. The clue is in my avatar.

Aircraft as you may be aware use red and green lights to indicate port and starboard, (left and right). Military aircraft use a red flashing light at the rear, this in the UK is called an anti collision light. You may use another term in the States I don't know!

Mike suggested I use red and green lights rather than the green indicators and I coughed up with the anti-col light post.

'Clear as mud' as we say in Britland!!!!

Okay, I get the concept. Now I have a question about your avatar. Is that a helicopter with 4 wheels to land, instead of the usual skids or pontoons? I've never seen that b4.

It is a Westland Wasp. Primarily used on Royal Naval frigates in the 60's to mid 1980's. It did have a quad wheeled undercarriage to assist with operations off the back end of frigates.

The wheels could be rotated for operating over land. The front wheels would be locked fore and aft and the rear set turned in at 45 degrees to act similarly to toeing in skis when slowing down. The principle was the same, to act as an emergency brake when landing.

There was a skidded version of the helicopter called the 'Scout' operated by the British Army. They were a very basic airframe but reliable.

Once landed on an American Nuc Carrier in the Med and they lost us on the flight deck we were so small. Our rotor disc was smaller than the width of the landing centre line.

Yep, The bigger the better. Its the American way.
Prolly said to themselves, "What's that toy doing on the flight deck?"

Actually my first guess was the ability to push it around a flight deck.
Then I thought,
"Couldn't be! One big wave to rock the boat and it would roll right off."
From the picture it looks like freewheeling casters without brakes.

Is that landing gear retractable? Doesn't look it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Wasp

dspevack wrote:

Yep, The bigger the better. Its the American way.
Prolly said to themselves, "What's that toy doing on the flight deck?"

Actually my first guess was the ability to push it around a flight deck.
Then I thought,
"Couldn't be! One big wave to rock the boat and it would roll right off."
From the picture it looks like freewheeling casters without brakes.

Is that landing gear retractable? Doesn't look it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Wasp

Sounds like you may have been there. They did think we were a 'toy'. They sent a massive aircraft tug to tow us away but we pushed it off the line before the tug arrived.

The rotor system had a degree of negative pitch. That is instead of creating lift it pushed the helicopter onto a deck therefore not allowing it to be washed overboard.

The landing gear is fixed, it remains suspended bellow the helo during flight. The wheels are indeed free wheeling castors with a small hydraulic hand brake. To maneuver we locked the rear wheels fore and aft, allowed the front to rotate fully. A small steering arm was used on one wheel to steer. Simple is best.

It was small, antiquated and extremely fun to play with. One interesting fact, the single hydraulic system used to operate the flying controls was from the aileron of Lancaster bombers. The engine was unique in that it used both a centrifugal and axial flow system. It worked!!!!!

Phew - so much aviation on a bike forum!!!!

Fascinating stuff, though, Doug - keep it coming!

dspevack wrote:

One that fits in the seat and quietly vibrates the seat to tell you the blinker is on can be found at:

[url=http://www.blinkerbuddy.com/

http://www.blinkerbuddy.com/[/quote[/url]]

Hmm, vibrating seat, that sounds tempting. ...I might even leave blinker on intentionally.

Miro wrote:

dspevack wrote:

One that fits in the seat and quietly vibrates the seat to tell you the blinker is on can be found at:

[url=http://www.blinkerbuddy.com/

http://www.blinkerbuddy.com/[/quote[/url]]

Hmm, vibrating seat, that sounds tempting. ...I might even leave blinker on intentionally.

Well, someone had to say it, I suppose. Just glad it wasn't me...

I am sorry, it was hard to resist...

As Oscar Wilde said: 'I can resist everything except temptation'. But let's not go off topic.

dspevack wrote:

One that fits in the seat and quietly vibrates the seat to tell you the blinker is on can be found at:

http://www.blinkerbuddy.com/

Miro wrote:

Hmm, vibrating seat, that sounds tempting. ...I might even leave blinker on intentionally.

For that, try this (Warning: Not safe for work or kids!):
http://www.viberider.com/index.asp?headinfo=null


P.S. Can anyone tell me why the fairy is made to look like Wilma Flintstone?

The fairy is Tinkerbell, from Peter and Wendy by J Barrie (1904), but this version is for a Walt Disney creation loosely based on Marilyn Monroe. She was a star in Peter Pan

Wilma Flintstone has red hair and no wings and was based on Alice from the Honeymooners.

Anyhow, why buy a Viberider when you can just take her out on a Harley

Thanks everyone for all the feedback - seems like everything from Westland helicopter undercarriages to Walt Disney has been covered so I'm sure to find some useful ideas amongst that lot!
Seriously though the location of the warning lights may not be such a major problem but I do feel the positioning could be improved a bit.In bright sunlight its all to easy to miss cancelling them them and I'm sure it can happen to many of us no matter how much we concentrate so any extra visual warning would make some sense.I fitted buzzers to my X9 before I realised I could also fit extra LED's.The buzzes worked fine but can drive you nuts!

I'm thinking that a couple of LED's could be planted neatly just inside the corners where the S/wing screen surround fits which is slightly ahead of the existing lights, and, for me it would provide a marginally better field of vision.
I've still got 18 LED's remaining from the X9 installation so these could probably be used.It might seem a lot but they are sold in strips of 24, divided up into 8 x 3 sections, and each section has its own resistor wired in. 3 were installed on each side to balance out the electrics and although as several people have mentioned there are commercially made self-cancelling devices available,LEDs and a dollop of solder would seem to be the cheapest way to achieve what I aiming for.
So - anyone with any further hints would be welcomed,especially with any wiring info even though it seems a simple job but I'll have to check whether the Honda warranty would be infringed before I do anything too drastic.
Thanks again everyone for the feedback.

The annoyance of buzzes would not be an issue with an Audicator - mind you, I'm only picking up my Silverwing today, so haven't yet tested the device - because it only buzzes if you forget to cancel the signal. It kicks in after a pre-determined (set by the user) number of flashes and resets when the brake is applied. In other words, you'd only have to endure one or two buzzes, and then only on those occasions when you'd forgotten to cancel. Of course it's much more expensive than LEDs and solder dollops.

How's Bromley these days, Brian? It's where I was born and raised - Freelands Road, Tweedy Road, and London Lane.

KurtPerthWA wrote:

Anyhow, why buy a Viberider when you can just take her out on a Harley

And just how do you propose to mount the Harley on the passenger seat of the Silverwing?

Viberider: $140 w/shipping--Causes passenger fluid to leak.
Harley: $14,000--Fluid leak built in at the factory.
Which do you think is the better buy?