1982 Suzuki FZ50 moped: indicators and horn not working.

[ninja_butler]

Any ideas? This thing has turned out to be a bit of a money-pit. I bought it for £290 with 11 months MOT, but I found out the throttle cable had been bodged and needed attention, not a big deal but sourcing a cheap replacement throttle assembly saw the moped end up in the shed for a long while.

2 years later I make my mind up to put it back on the road, so I though sod it, take it to the local bike shop and leave it for them to sort out.

Engine seized. Among other things. Fcuk.

Total bill £280 cash. I wish they'd called me, I did say I could go up to £300 but FFS, I could have picked up a replacement engine for peanuts rather than have the old one overhauled. God I feel irritated. I'm not going to complain about the mechanic too much because I don't know how much labour and parts costs went into fixing up the moped, but I feel cheated. It doesn't even have an MOT and it's more than I wanted to spend on a rusty old 50cc runabout.

And now, the indicators and horn aren't working. Why that should be I don't know, I only rode the thing once two years ago and the lights were working fine. The mechanic replaced the coil on the FZ50 but I don't know if that has anything to do with it. Unfortunately I'm no good with electrics and the only guy I know who could fix it (and he could probably figure it out on 5 minutes if he was home) is out of the Country for 6 months.

The battery seems to be okay, headlight is fine, rear light is fine, but no indicators or horn.

[Nobby the Bastard]

Probaably a fuse but you'll get the same adice that everyone else gets who comes here with electrical problems.

Get hold of a multi-meter and then come back
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[ninja_butler]

Thanks Nobby. I do have a multimeter. I was thinking maybe I should disconnect the horn and check to see if there is power there. Would that be a good place to start?

[Islander]

[ninja_butler]

[smegballs]

[ninja_butler]

Progress! I think I killed the horn; I unscrewed the nut on the front and now it won't go back in. But I followed a tip I read and tried shorting across the wires that go into the flasher unit (disconnected from flasher unit) and the front indicator lights do light up. Not the rear ones, but still, defintitely getting somewhere.

I opened up the flasher unit and took a look inside. It's a lump of rust! I reckon that must be the culprit.

[ninja_butler]

Bugger. Still doesn't work.

Oh, and it's a 1980 Fz50, not 1982, but I did order the 1980 flasher unit. I guess I'll have to start poking at the fuses and check the bulbs. It was all working before though.

[Meatybeaty]

[ninja_butler]

[Meatybeaty]

Have you got the supplimentary manual that sows the turn indicator relay, the wires to that are Light blue/orange and the horn are orange/green . The only White/red wire I can see goes from the magneto to the rectifier, and the red wire comes from the battery to the rectifier

[ninja_butler]

Thanks Meaty. Yes, the manual I downloaded is the supplementary manual. I'm not very good at reading wiring diagrams, but I'll have a look for those wires on the moped.


edit* You're right, the only red/white wire comes from the rectifier, so I guess that black plastic thing must be the rectifier. do you think I should replace it? Looking at photos of new ones, it looks like I've got half a rectifier, or is it okay like that? The bike starts okay.

What it's supposed to look like:
https://www.stuff4bikes.co.uk/ekmps/shops/stuff4bikes/images/regulator-rectifier-suzuki-fz50-n-x-z-suzy-80-86-5817-p.jpg



(edit)

Update: New rectifier fitted, aaaand..... nothing.
More investigation required.

A tiny bit of life in the front indicators, so maybe it's a rusty connection between the front and rear. Not sure why the headlight and brakelight fade in and out with the indicators.

[ninja_butler]

*Bump*

Quick question: this is probably an obvious one but after 30 minutes of hunting for the answer on Google I concede defeat; the 6-volt battery is showing about 7 volts with the engine running, but only 4 volts with the engine off. Is that normal, or is it a duff battery?

Short clip of the moped if you want to take a look at the lights:
https://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc469/Ninja_Butler/Random%204/th_20160611_153737.mp4

[Meatybeaty]

Hi Ninja , must of missed your last post , did you get the new reg, and how old is the battery, i would have thought it should hold more than 4v at rest, possibly a drain somewhere ,will have a look at the wiring , could you take the battery off the bike and charge it up and see how much it will lose sat on the shelf

[ninja_butler]

[Meatybeaty]

Hi noticed in your little video that the headlight was dimming with the operation of the left indicator, could be a good place to start, the indicators on the left side run off a black wire and indicator to earth and the right hand side run of a light green to indicators and the headlight should run off a black/white ,white and yellow (3 wires) maybe theres a short across those wires interfering with the headlight and indicators , could also be the drain on the battery

[ninja_butler]

Thick, thick,thick! I am as thick as two short bloody planks! Fecking heck, I should not be trusted to change a lightbulb. Bloody idiot.

It's the battery.


I put the battery on charge, it went straight to green. Let it charge for 10 minutes, put it on the moped, lights working fine. I need a new battery.

Thankyou Meaty, you've been a sport.

[Meatybeaty]

Hi mate, glad about that , just found the parts manual for that bike,if you need it, I like to use them when stripping down and assembly can never remember how i took the parts off and in what order
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hbdr90g05g19oum/Suzuki-FZ50-parts-manual.pdf?dl=0

[ninja_butler]

[andyscooter]

only just seen this thread but could of told you it was the battery from the first post

had the same probs with a Suzuki ap50 we did up
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gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[ninja_butler]

[ninja_butler]

epilogue:

I cleaned up the brackets holding the indicators to the frame - the most obvious earthing point but I didn't think about it. Now the indicators are working quite happily at full brightness.

edi* Oh, and a bonus point to Meaty: There was a drain on the battery; I removed a rather rusty indicator warning buzzer. I don't need it but it's cleaned-up now so I might try it again.