K11 Owners Group

Flying Duck

I run Kisan Signal Minder SM-6 units in several of my Ks. They are a great well-designed replacement for the factory flasher relay.

1 - It allows you to run LED turn signal bulbs "out of the box" w/o load resistors or any other special mods.

2 - You cancel each side's turn signal by just hitting the same side's turn signal button again. No need to use the somewhat awkward factory turn signal cancel button. I find this to be very convenient.

3 - You can set the auto cancel to 8, 30 or 45 seconds. That auto cancel is paused when the brakes are applied so if you're sitting in a turn lane at an intersection with the brakes applied for 90 seconds then your turn signal will not auto cancel.

4 - The "undocumented feature" is described on their web page (link below) but is not documented in the printed/PDF instructions. If you hit both turn signal buttons at the same time then it turns on/off the hazard flashers. You can turn on the hazards without having to remove a hand from the handlebars to hit the factory dash switch. That way when you need to use the hazards in traffic you can do it quickly, easily and safely. (I only learned about this after a fellow K rider pointed it out to me.)

5 - You can also set the turn signals to run dimmer all the time as running lights but I prefer not to use that feature.

A few cautions:

The aluminum body of the SM-6 is grounded. If you're messing around in the relay box and it brushes against the "hot" terminal to the starter relay it will generate a nice big spark, let all of the Lucas smoke out of it and destroy it. I learned this the hard way so now I wrap the body of the SM-6 in a couple of layers of electrical tape to keep that from happening again.

It comes with a Scotchlok connector to tap into the brake light wire for the auto cancel pause. Scotchlok connectors can cut through the wire they tap into so I prefer to use a Posi-Tap connector instead.

It doesn't have a "memory." If you disconnect the battery then you'll need to reset the running lights and auto-cancel pause from their defaults. Not a big deal but worth noting.

The bad news is that back in the day when they came out they were $99 but now they cost $149. (Or $50-60 if you can ever find one on Ebay.)

Link: https://kisantech.com/sm-6.html

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93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

Scott_Anderson · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 6:18 pm Post subject:

I've got one(SM-5) on my R and I'm getting used to it. I don't have the brake signal connected, nor did the P.O. provide the plug/pigtail to connect it.
I've had the battery disconnected a few times and it seems to have retained it's settings.... however, we will see how it reacts soon as I've had the battery out for about a month now doing some repairs and maintenance work.
I like it so far. The P.O. did change all the turn signals to LED.
The hardest thing for me to get used to was having the cluster turn indicators glowing as they get the same DRL signal as the front signal lamps.
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Ride safe.

1995 K1100LT 0302044
1997 R1100RT ZC62149
2017 FLHTK Ultra Limited
Garmin StreetPilot 2820
Garmin Zumo 550
Garmin Zumo XT
"One who does not ask questions is ashamed to learn" Danish proverb
1997 K1100LT 0302488(R.I.P.)

Flying Duck · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 6:36 pm Post subject:

The same thing happens with K cluster turn indicators and the DRL feature. The turn signals and cluster indicators are share the same source so there's no way around them glowing in DRL mode. That's one of the reasons that I don't use the DRL feature. The other reason is that I think turn signals are more noticeable to other road users if they go on/off/on/off rather than dim/bright/dim/bright.
_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

flybd5 · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 8:22 pm Post subject:

Funny... I put LED's on all my exterior lights on my Land Rover LR2 (and switched all interior lights to red LED's to save my night vision) with the load resistors where needed, but for some reason the stop lights go bananas when I hit the brakes. I was about to getting around to fixing it when someone yelled at me from another car to tell me my stop lights had gone bonkers, I realized that is exactly what I want. Better to have that than someone plow into the rear of my car late at night for not paying attention.
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To err once is human. To do so repeatedly is incompetence.
1995 K1100LT SE

Flying Duck · Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:25 am Post subject:

flybd5 · Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:28 am Post subject:

Absolutely nothing. It's called a "random rumination" brought on by the mention of LED lights and load resistors.
_________________
To err once is human. To do so repeatedly is incompetence.
1995 K1100LT SE

Flying Duck · Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 2:25 am Post subject:

I'd love to meet you in person. If you ever come to western Washington state then I'd be happy to put you up in my guest room and cook you a great dinner.

If you come between the 4th of July and Labor Day then I can feed you the best crab on the planet. Dungeness.

This offer is open to anyone on the K11OG site. Take me up on it. You won't regret it.
_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

flybd5 · Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 2:34 am Post subject:

Oooohhh. Crab. I may just take you up on that if the VA ever gets around to vaccinating me. Same offer in Mass. But only after this COVID thing dies down. New England crab and lobster is dirt cheap these days compared to when I was last here in 2015.
_________________
To err once is human. To do so repeatedly is incompetence.
1995 K1100LT SE

flybd5 · Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:05 pm Post subject:

I spoke to Kisan Sales. I asked them about a veteran's discount and they said they don't have any, but gave me a 10% discount code you can use at checkout. It is "Upgrade-2020". They said anyone can use it and the code is good until the end of January.
_________________
To err once is human. To do so repeatedly is incompetence.
1995 K1100LT SE

Acentistaha · Brick Rider Joined: 28 Sep 2017 Posts: 48

Flying Duck · Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 12:14 am Post subject:

And I keep a laminated copy of this "cheat sheet" with the registration for when I need to reset it if I've disconnected the battery. (I also keep a copy of this on my mobile these days.)

_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

John Clauss · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2021 1:10 pm Post subject:

I have had the signal minder for a long time. I only used the flashers once, but I used the factory switch, which caused them to stay on afterwards until I was able to go under the tank and unplug the Kaisen unit. I wonder if I had tried the other method if they would have shut down? Hmmm.
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1997 K1100LT
1975 R75/6

It will bring you so close to nausea, it will make you sick! - Big Al