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[coppit]

In an effort to try to prevent myself from buying the SR/S, I thought I'd install an aftermarket turn signal control. I get annoyed by not having one. I installed it on my 2015 Zero DS.

I chose the STS system: https://safer-turn.com/smart-turn-system/

The basic operation of the system is that you insert it between the signal control and the relay. There are two other connections to give it power from a 12V switched source. Finally, you modify the turn signal so that it can't "lock" to the left or right.

The wiring harness from the left control unit disappears into a bundle of wires behind the front headlight. Here's what I did to get it installed:

• Take off the seat
• Remove the front fender, to give better access to some screws holding the tank plastics
• Remove the tank plastic unit. 2 screws inside the storage, 3 on either side of the wing-like front fairings, 2 underneath near where the front fender was, two at the rear where the seat was.
• Remove the 2 black screws holding the left control unit to the handlebar, then remove it from the handlebar
• Remove the 4 brass screws holding down the switch unit. (Actually, 2 are holding the bracket that secures the wires leaving the unit.)
• Pull out the switch and note the wire colors. See attached pic.
  Red with black stripe = left
  Black with blue stripe = flasher
  Cornflower blue = right
  
• Insert the 2 smaller spacers provided with the STS into the spaces on either side of the movable cam. Secure them with some tape while you reassemble, so that the spacers don't fall out. These spacers prevent the cam from moving so far to either side that the switch "locks" to that side.
• Reassemble the control unit
• Remove the front headlight. 4 screws.
• Cut the zip tie that is retaining the bundle of wires.
• Locate the connector at the end of the wiring bundle that comes from the left control unit. Find the 3 wires, which are reversed if the connector is facing down. See  attachment.
• Cut back some of the plastic sheathing to expose more wire. Cut the 3 wires, and install the crimped connectors that come with the unit. Consult the instructions to get the right ones. Use a proper crimping tool.
• Look to the left of the wiring bundle to find the cigarette lighter shaped 12V power. Remove some electrical tape to expose more wire. Install the vampire-like tap connectors. (There might be a better switched 12V power source, but this was conveniently located.
• Connect up and test the unit as described in the instructions. If you disconnected the wiring bundle, don't forget to reconnect it before testing.
• Finish the connections.
• Turn on the ignition, and test it. Note that you may have to press pretty hard to the left or right to get the blinker to come on.
• Route the control unit to the left, into the space under the storage. Route the cable bundle behind the metal bracket at the front of the space. If you put it behind, then the storage box won't be able to go down properly.
• There's a squarish box in the front of the space. Maybe that's the DC voltage converter? The right side isn't quite flat, but is a good mounting point. I taped a 1/4" chunk of wood to the control unit so that it would sit more flat against that box. Then I daisy-chained 2 zip ties around that box to secure the control unit. I did that again with some zip ties of my own to double-secure it.
• Check the left-right handlebar movement to make sure that the cables don't pull.
• Re-assemble the motorcycle.

Some thoughts on the unit:

• There should be an accelerometer in the unit, and it should be able to self-calibrate about which way it's oriented relative to gravity. That would make the installation much easier. As it is, we have to route the wires back and then forward in a "U" shape so that the unit can point forward.
• The unit is very good about detecting normal stop-turns. It's not as good about detecting lane changes at speed. If the blinker is left running, then you have two choices (1) wait about 10-15 seconds for the timer to cancel it, (2) briefly flip your hazards on/off. The normal cancel doesn't work because it is based on the "locking" feature of the switch, which has been disabled.
• I was worried that the spacers inside the switch wouldn't stop it from locking in position. It turns out that I have exactly the opposite problem... I have to mash pretty hard to the left or right for the signal to start. In fact, after I got it wired up my tests failed because I didn't push hard enough. I'm hoping that it softens up a bit over time. If not, I might have to open it back up and replace the shims with thinner ones.

Sorry I didn't take more pictures of the installation process. I only thought about posting instructions after it was all done.

I might do an update to this post after I've lived with it for a while.

If anyone can recommend a good after market traction control system, how to upgrade the engine, etc., perhaps I can get an SR/S "One Piece at a Time" ().

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Wow, that's impressive. I'll try to add this to the wiki.

Relevant unofficial manual articles:
- https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Turn_Signals
- https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Turn_Signal_Flasher

There's no way you're going to get an aftermarket traction control system, although custom Sevcon programming can do a bit to try to limit wheel spin-up when traction is lost. (The setting is present in RPM/sec - there's some dispute about whether it's effective at highway speeds.) I generally recommend a crampbuster so it's much easier to know exactly what position the throttle is in which makes control much more precise - and it also relaxes your hand so it's easier to react.

Even upgrading your DS to a DSR would take some significant work, upgrading both the motor and the controller and there's some work to make sure the larger controller will fit and mount correctly. And there's the cabling required.

[Hero on my Zero]

I bought this one (and the brake light blinker) as well and need to install it on my 2015 SR. Hope the colors are the same so that I can use your very helpful description.

Thanks for sharing!

[scottwstevenson]

For those who might install / use this product, I thought I'd toss in some information, as I just finished an install today.

I tapped into the signal control wires just behind the headlight.  Rather than use the plug-style adapters they provide (they don't seem to crimp to well, IME), I just cut, stripped, hand-twisted the wires together, shrink-wrapped each and then re-wrapped he entire bundle of wires with electrical tape.  This saved a little space compared to using the plugs, which was important because I didn't tap very far deep into the wiring, and couldn't afford to have a big bulky chunk of connectors, space wise.

I chose this b/c I already had a 12V tap right there (a double USB port with outside temperature that I added a while back) and found I had a good mounting space for the accelerometer in the storage area (see below).

And reading the OP's comment about difficulty in initiating the turn signal (I noticed this too when setting things up), I used a pair of pliers to compress the two spacers that are provided, and it seemed to solve the issue.

The wiring was the same in my 2020 DSR, which is great, but according to the unofficial manual there may be a different relay at work in my unit vs. previous. This seems like it's even better, because (I'm guessing this is the relay being different) I can terminate the turn signal if I like, but just pressing the switch a second time in the same direction. There is no waiting for it to self cancel if I change my mind about a turn.  This a  GREAT feature b/c it allows you to easily stop unwanted turn signals which is important b/c those can happen when navigating new territory (and not sure where to turn).

I mounted the accelerometer unit in the storage compartment, which may not be an option for those with a charge tank or power tank.  You'll see in the picture I'm attaching that it's just in front of an EVTricity 3.3 kW charger (FB Marketplace purchase) that I mounted  there which works great, because I can still store some things (and not have them lost in the bottom of the compartment), and I can charge at 6 kW in total at one charging station using the built-in charger, as well as that one.  I just used heavy duty double side tape (Gorilla glue brand) and it's just barely pinned under the charger, so it's not going anyplace.    It is at a bit of an incline: Correct side up, pointing straight ahead, but I saw that kind of orientation in the official STS install video and figured I might lose some sensitivity, but it seems to not be much.



--------

As far as performance of the unit, I just drove around the neighborhood a good bit and took 20 or 30 turns. It works decently well. I would say maybe 10% of the time it doesn't cut the turn signal off right away after I made a turn (lingers for 2-3 sec), but also it terminates perfectly if I make a turn from a stop or do  U-turn (no lingering turn signal once I hit a straight-away).  As I said, I can terminate on my own by pressing the turn signal a second time (when it's still blinking), as opposed to pressing the button on the center (as it's done to terminate a blinker in the stock set up).  Small learning curve there maybe, but I believe I've ridden MC's where that was how the signal was terminated anyway. (Seems natural.)

Overall, I dig it.  I have the tendency now n' again to leave my blinker on (maybe 5% of the time), so I'm hoping that this will reduce the possibility of a false signal causing someone to pull out in front of me.

-Scott

[scottwstevenson]

pic 1

[scottwstevenson]

pic 2