Anyone install the STS self cancelling turn signal module?

Just in from road testing the STS,,, and wow,, this thing put a smile on my face !! I rode for an hour,,, testing various turns,,, lane changes and delays. I could only fool it on a lane change by moving so gradually that it was not really good driving. Everything else was spot on. I am impressed,,, but will continue to evaluate. Reliability of the unit can only be tested over time. Sorting out my turn signal switch was critical to the successful install,,,, cheers,, Cat'
 
After a week of commuting in urban traffic I have a few observations about the STS unit.

1) Overall I'm generally happy with how it works.

2) It does not always work as expected; a slow lane change will not turn it off.

3) I previously reported that mine turned off if traveling in a straight line. I'm not sure how I came to that conclusion as mine is definitely not doing that.

4) These inconsistency's have me checking the lights after every use which feels less safe than before. Worse, I'll see them blinking so I'll hit them again just as they go off so then I've reactivated them.

5) Finally, my turn signal switch may be the culprit as the right seems to be the side I have trouble with.

I'm going to head out to the garage to further clean the switch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Cleaning the switch may help, but that's not the real culprit. The pad thickness has to be just right. Even the thinner pads that come with the unit are really thick. Luckily I had some foam spacer bars left over when I had installed a lithium battery in my Valkyrie. Took an exacto knife and started slicing up the foam bar, it was either too thin or too thick. Took multiple tries till I got the thickness right. And it's true, it doesn't turn off if you do a slow lane change, however I've made it a habit of slightly dipping the bike when making a lane change.

I have no issues at all with this unit now!
 
I cleaned the switch and it definitely moves more smoothly now.
And I trimmed the pads down. And as you said that's what makes the difference.
Road test maybe tomorrow as it's pouring rain here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
DavidR8 said:
2) It does not always work as expected; a slow lane change will not turn it off.
Click to expand...

I think it was Cat that mentioned mounting it as high as possible to so its side-to-side movement is more pronounced.

Making the turning movements themselves more exaggerated (Tally ho!) as pumper mentioned would also help. Ok he said 'slight dip' but exaggerated turns make me feel a Tomcat driver. :grin:
 
I think I'll be much happier with it now after cutting down the pads.

I have it mounted as high as I could place it under the fairing.

Is that where you put yours?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hey David,,, hope your sts test shows improvement tomorrow. When you cleaned your switch,, did you get right into the contactors ?? When I was in there, I found that the grease had turned to gum,,, and was not allowing the contactor plates to move freely,, which led to intermittent connection failures. There are two of the tiniest springs you will ever see in there,,, trying to push the plates into position. I find my switch is very smooth now,,, but still have the habit of verifying that my effort to turn a signal on is successful. This habit is from before the sts,,, when my switch performance was not entirely reliable. I am quickly forgetting about checking that the sts has auto-switched a signal off,,, as it has been very reliable. I look forward to hearing how your shaved discs perform,,, as I am still using the velcro hook-side strips, in place of the supplied discs (so far that is working very well). Cheers,, Cat'
 
I'm currently out running errands and the switch is performing exactly as I want.

I mounted it in pretty much the same spot as the photo above. Maybe a bit further forward.

The switch now has buttery smooth actuation, the notchiness is gone.
The shaved discs are working great.
I will say that I because the foam is hard to make a precise cut, I basically sliced a bit of a wedge off the disc, akin to a crooked cut on a dowel.

I did take the switch right down to the little spring state. Very. Carefully. Nothing lost and no leftover parts!

The only thing I can't verify is that it turns off if no changes are made.

Cat, do you have a sense of how long it takes?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
DavidR8 said:
Cat, do you have a sense of how long it takes?
Click to expand...

I just got in from an evening ride,,, but the one thing that I did not road test is a "time out" feature. I did just check in the garage,, and the sts did not time out at all, when stationary. I think I remember seeing a video test,,, where testers bike self cancelled after about 15 flashes. I let mine go for about 60,, before giving up on it. I will road test it tomorrow, and report,,, Cat'
 
Catmandu2 said:
I just got in from an evening ride,,, but the one thing that I did not road test is a "time out" feature. I did just check in the garage,, and the sts did not time out at all, when stationary. I think I remember seeing a video test,,, where testers bike self cancelled after about 15 flashes. I let mine go for about 60,, before giving up on it. I will road test it tomorrow, and report,,, Cat'
Click to expand...

The STS will not time out / cancel if the bike is stationary (in case you are sitting at a junction).
Mine does self cancel if you operate it while moving, and then don't do a manoeuvre, I can't recall how long it takes, but 15 flashes sounds like it may be about right.

+1 on cleaning the switch mechanism, mine now works extremely smoothly and reliably with the original foam buttons.
I did try replacing them with thinner items, however whatever I made was either too thick (no operation) or too thin (it latched).
I was going to strip the switch down and remove the little spring / ball that latched it, however just cleaning it worked.

Don
 
Portpandon said:
The STS will not time out / cancel if the bike is stationary (in case you are sitting at a junction).
Mine does self cancel if you operate it while moving, and then don't do a manoeuvre, I can't recall how long it takes, but 15 flashes sounds like it may be about right.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. Remember,,, different bulbs and flasher units operate at various speeds. But the total time to cancel should be about the same.

I should also mention that I also have a set of Walmart LED's mounted inside my mirror housings. The STS does not seem to mind their presence,, and the rest of the bulbs and flasher are stock, as far as I know. Cheers,, Cat'
 
I just had a good exchange with Mark of STS,,, who I contacted because my STS was not "timing out",,, as David's does. I had sent him this photo of what a solid and level mounting job I had done, say compared to just zipping it to a wiring harness. Turns out I did too good a job. I used some velcro (as well as zip ties) between the frame and the STS,,, and that insulates the unit from the vibrations that it needs to determine that the bike is moving. Since the ST's are very smooth running bikes anyway,,, my using velcro (or double sided tape) insulates the STS from the frame and fools the STS into thinking the bike is stationary. I just wanted to post this up for others doing the install. I am not unhappy,,, actually am pretty impressed with the STS. Not sure when I will be finding time to dig back into the cowlings,, Cheers,, Cat'20180411_114354.jpg
 
I installed mine this week, took the power from the quarter harness(red plug). In mine Pan European 2007 , the turn signal and the power for the turn signal relay(gray and pink/white) are in two plugs. The system work perfectly , the install it self took about 1 hour. The gray and Pink/white are in black connection, and the orange and light blue are in a white connection.
I was in Bratislava Slovakia for four days in april and STS send me the system to my hotel, no problem. STS is in Slovenia.

So I can say that the STS work as they say. And my hazard light work also.

Best from Iceland:07biker:
 
Last edited:
Catmandu2 said:
I am not unhappy,,, actually am pretty impressed with the STS. Not sure when I will be finding time to dig back into the cowlings,, Cheers,, Cat'
Click to expand...

So just to update,,, I did put on my rubber arm today,,, and snaked up in through the front of the bike,,, cut two zip ties,,, and peeled away the offending velcro,,, that was the easy part. But getting a new zip tie in place,,, was not much harder,,, and soon I was off to test the "time out" feature. And,,,, it works !! So the STS has delivered,,, and as I said before, I am pretty happy with it. Okay,,, next farkle,,,, Cat'
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom