My quest for the best blinkers

Suzuki's OEM turn signals are big, bulky, and just plain ugly. In my quest to replace them with something sleeker and [hopefully] something brighter, I've bought just about every aftermarket turn signal I can find. Of the 7 or 8 different pairs of blinkers I've purchased in the last couple of years, they've all been junk. For the rear, I have been using some Lockhart Philips surface mount micro indicators. While these are cheaply crafted junk blinkers, too, I must admit they are very bright (10 watt halogen bulbs), and they don't get in the way. So for now, they'll stay.

Lockhart Philips surface mount micro indicators:

For the front, I've been especially frustrated with the stock blinkers because my nylon motorcycle cover always gets caught on them when I put it on or take it off. I had been considering Rizoma Zero-11 LED turn signals for quite some time. Everyone who has every bought Rizomas will say the same 2 things about them: 1) they are very good quality, and 2) they're expensive. Well, now that I've bought my own, I agree with both statements. Although I'm still not convinced they're actually worth the nearly $100 price tag. Good quality doesn't have to be expensive, but often it is.

If you look at these things from straight on when illuminated,

you'll temporarily go blind. They are bright.

The really funny [read: frustrating] thing with these expensive and good quality blinkers is the fiddling I had to do just to install them. For $100 a pair, I never expected I'd have to screw around during the installation. I bought Rizoma's fairing adapter plates (for Suzuki bikes) a few months ago at the Toronto Motorcycle Show (they were in a clearance sale bin with no price marked, so the guy let me have 'em for $5). The hole drilled in the center of them for the turn signal stalk is too small. I actually had to drill the hole larger. In fact, the little plastic connector on the end of the wiring lead is an even larger than the diameter of the stalk. To avoid drilling the hole larger than necessary, I used a sturdy safety pin to remove the delicate pins from the plastic connector.

Something else worth noting with these Rizoma blinkers is that they operate on 6 volts, not 12. Therefore, Rizoma includes a small box (about a 1 1/2" x 1/2") to reduce the voltage. You must absolutely install these or you'll burn up your $100 investment as soon as you turn them on. They also include thermal resistors to slow down the blink rate should you need it. In my case, however, I didn't need the resistors because I replaced my OEM turn signal flasher a long time ago with an electronic flasher when I had a previous set of LED blinkers on the rear of the bike. The nice thing about these Rizomas is that they include everything in the package: the blinker, the resistor, and the voltage converter -- and they all connect together with cute little plugs.

In conclusion, yes, they're expensive but they're good quality, bright as hell, and can be seen quite easily on a sunny day. They are particularly bright when looking straight on from the front, but still quite visible from an angle. I've learned that if you stare directly at these things when they flash on, you will temporarily go blind, kind of like looking into the bright light of an arc welder. Probably not good for your eyes.

For anyone who may be interested, I bought my Rizomas at PJs Parts. There is no longer a distributor of Rizoma products in Canada (or so I'm told). PJs had the best pricing I could find and they were very good to deal with. Price was $72 for the pair, plus $21 shipping to Canada. Convert that to Canadian dollars, and it added up to $107 CDN.