Flasher Relay vs Resistor... input

So I recently did a Brake/turn/marker mod and had two options here...

1. Locate a 7 pin flasher relay.. (Very difficult here in Canada, only options was UK ebay basically.)
2. Resistors.

I've been to several custom shop's around my area and also 2 dealerships and none of them ever heard of a 7 pin LED flasher relay (had to print off a page to show them.)  But the did recommend Resistors.

I've done a bit of research and it seems the biggest concern with Resistors is heat.  But all the shops I've talked to swear by them, saying they've never had any issues with them..  I chose to mount mine along the frame behind the chrome trim by the rear shocks... this way it's nowhere near any plastic and they will get good air flow for cooldown...

I'm trying to get an idea here if I should scrap the resistors and order a relay or if I'm good with the resistors... side note I've had them on for about 5 min and they don't get overly hot held them in my hands...

Surely if you can hold them in your fingers that is not hot at all. Is there anyway to wire them up to something to see how much it will take before they get hot to put your mind at rest?

I connected them directly to the battery and a bulb at the other end and ran them like that...
Got the bike back together now so I'm going to put the battery back in and sit with the lights on and feel again... if I'm not satisfied I'll probably purchase a flasher relay....

What do you guys run when you swap to LED's

over in the UK at least, the most common practice is to switch over to the 7 pin LED friendly plugs.

My guess is that due to our bikes being metric.  All of the LED flashers have been from the UK..

North America as a whole generally caters to the americans and their imperial system....  Oh well, I'll see how these go for a bit then might just remove them and go with the relay.

Hiya

If I can wade in this post?  I went through this dilemma a couple of months ago.  Not sure how to link to my posting so have a look at this Link.

The one I ended up with slotted straight in & works a treat

I'm sure that if you have any problems with ordering, sure someone can sort something out for you.

Yeah saw that posting... Managed to find a seller here in Canada that has relays... I'm most likely going to order one... not to keen on the idea of resistors and the constant worry of heating up...

Make sure they'll accept a return - the first two I had from a large bike motor factors just didn't work & I was about to go down the resistor route, but like you, had an overheat fear.  
Good luck !!

In Canada it's law that any "New" product can be returnable for either a replacement or refund, depending on the sellers policy.  The company that's selling the relay is located in British Columbia so they are subject to this consumer law.  But yes before ordering this is something that should be looked into..

As I said, any problems sourcing one, give me a shout - Dave

will do.. :)

just ordered a relay from Canadian Cruiser Customizing... LINKY not too badly priced $15.99 CDN + $14.99(shipping, not bad considering it's coming from the west coast across 4.5 provinces).  Nice that it's all in CDN funds so I don't get dinged on conversion...

I've spoken with them and in the event that it doesn't work I can get either a replacement or a refund.
went to a "Friday 13th" event here and spoke with a couple riders about the resistors and Flasher... one guy that did his with resistors was ticked.. He said that the resistors work great until they start to go... he had one tarnish the chrome finish from behind because I started to overheat.

Hopefully no issue will be had, I would be surprised if there was. I know someone (sorry forgot who) wrote they had bought several that were bad but it was probably due to a bad batch they had got from a supplier.

Yeh - that was me Dave, had two from M & P - lousy fit & didn't work.  Tried another supplier & spot-on.  I know that relays tend to work out a bit more than resistors, but it's sooooo easy !!

I thought it was Dave, sorry I was not sure & didn't want to say the wrong name. Even the usually good sellers like M&P can buy shite.

katsd.... did you wind up using the resistor?

No - I'd always intended to go for relays as I really couldn't be bothered with having to wire in resistors & I'd heard some right horror stories of the damage they can do if they're too close to plastic. Found these on ebay      Compared to the first two I tried, the pins lined up spot-on & it worked - which was a bonus!!

Most of my searching resulted in finds over in the UK... but was trying to find something local...(North America at least).  The site I'm getting from says (email and called) they haven't had any issues with their products... it's worth a shot.. if it's a no go then I'll check out the above link...

Thanks..

I went for the relay for two reasons....First, resistors is just a few extra component that can give you potential problems. And second, there aint  that much free space to hide the resustors since modded the bike.

just got my relay today... so far it looks good.... unfortunately can't test it until snow melts and I can get the cover off the bike.  But I agree it was a pain to find a good place to stash the resistors...

Hey Cruiser. You still got your bike in the house?

If he has he will be typing from his phone while sat in the cowshed  

Or the Dog House  

No... got it back together and covered up... just in time to.. next day we got dumped on and been snow covered since... sigh spring can't come soon enough...

BTW Happy New year all!