Turn Signal Beeper

As my mind gets more full of information, it sometimes forgets that I have activated my turn signals. About two miles after making the turn, I look down and see the indicator light and cancel the turn signals. All joking aside, this is a dangerous thing because it causes others to question my intentions.

To correct this problem, I first considered a fully automatic, self-canceling circuit. But that both became very complicated and it depended on setting a turnoff time which might not conform to the need. So I looked for sounders. Being cheap, I thought that $40 for the couple I saw was just too much.

I "designed" this beeper some years ago. (This is a simple circuit in common use and not proprietary.) It depends on having regular filament bulbs, at least one on each side, in the turn signals. This works on almost all scoots and motorcycles. All the parts are available at Radio Shack at a total cost of about $5-6. It does require soldering four points. Soldering is becoming a lost art and if you can't do it there are two possibilities: Find someone who can. (Any HAM radio operator can probably do it, as can many others.) The second is that it could be assembled with crimped connections. Crimping has drawbacks; crimping requires specialized tools and it is more susceptible of corrosion than a soldered connection.

Use stranded wire (22-18 gauge is fine) for the leads because motorcycle vibration can cause failure in solid wire. The leads are interchangeable. You can connect either lead to left or right. I usually "Pot" the back of the unit by encasing everything in gray epoxy cement. Regular epoxy cement is an insulator. Just bring the leads out. This protects the parts from damage, shorting, and it provides strain relief for the leads.

You can substitute any 12 v piezoelectric sounder. The one specified just happened to be in stock at Radio Shack. I've made more than a dozen of these for myself and friends and have found some sounders are much louder than others. Even the loudest don't draw much current.

This circuit does not need a ground. (Actually it uses the filament in the dark bulb to complete the ground.) This simplifies things and makes installation easier. (This is also why it will not work if the motorcycle manufacturers go completely LED.)

Feel free to ask any questions.



Since putting this out on several motorcycle groups I have found someone on eBay is now selling them for about $30.