Rear turn signals—on all the time or only when turning?

[panamaniac]

My front indicators are on all the time but blink brighter when activated. My rear indicator bulbs have two filaments but only illuminate when activated. I swapped out bulbs and the front rear indicators still stay dark except when activated. So is it supposed to be that way or do I have a wiring issue? Thanks!

[Herb]

The wiring diagram I have shows only a single filament bulb in the rear turn signal.
I know that on the 1400 the rear TS light has turn signals and does not have running/tail lights.
BTW, if I am not mistaken it is illegal for rear running/tail lights to be amber so if your rear TS lights are not red they cannot be tail lights.

[WintrSol]

Stock wiring is single-filament, signals only at the rear. When you take the bulbs out, are there two contacts in the socket, or only one? If only one, someone put the wrong bulbs in.

[hillsy]

It's pretty hard to put a single filament bayonet bulb into a dual filament housing (and vice versa). The pins are at different heights. Can be done of course if the operator is ham fisted enough.

If there are dual filament bulbs in the rears it could be that someone has put front indicators on the rear as a result of a crash.

But at the end of the day your bike is doing the right thing.

[panamaniac]

Thanks all. Yeah, I noticed that some of my bulbs were single and some double filament. What was confusing was that, yes, there were double filament bulbs in my turn signals, AND the bulbs themselves (and I assume the signals as well) had 2 contacts instead of 1. So yeah I think someone installed fronts on the rear at some point. But no matter, since they only light for turning, so that's perfect