When I bought it the flasher worked fine! Two months later; it will only work if you continuously hold down the button.
I'm betting on the switch! It will stay on 1 out of 25 times. Any ideas?
I would think it more likely the cancel unit. The switch is just a momentary switch, when you push it left or right it springs back to center then the cancel unit takes over & keeps the signal on until a certain distance or a turn is completed.
I would say that the switch is dirty. It's a very common thing. Clean it out with spray electrical cleaner inside and out. There is a how to in the how to section under cleaning switches.
Go to your auto parts shop and get some CRC electronic spray cleaner. Avoid wet lubrication - it will catch dust and dirt compounding the future problems but I have use WD-40 in a pinch until I could CRC spray the switch out. Spray CRC in and around the edges of the switch and work in 5-10 times and spray again. Our switches do collect dirt and grime, and they're original contact lube internally dries out and gums up the works. Most find that spraying in and around the switch and working it repeatedly will clean it up and return it to working status. In the worse case scenario a switch needs to be disassembled and cleaned or even replaced. With 20+ switched contacts on the handle bar pods and then those off the pods you will want to keep a small can and rag handy. Most common are the Hazard, Start, Cruise, Reverse and Mute toggle switches; some actually have two sets of contacts internally and work only partly from time to time indicating its time to clean em up.
Tom, in Mountain Home, Idaho
2002 GL1800 (Illusion Red) Non-ABS, 128k miles
Retired Air Force
If you go to CRC electronics cleaner be careful not all are plastics safe. Same with silicone spray some have acetone in them. I prefer to use Radio Shack tuner cleaner and lube which is plastic safe. A can will last a long time and work on all of your wings switches. https://www.radioshack.com/products/rad ... -lubricant
I understood the OP and thought he was quite clear. He said flasher, not blinker, and he also mentioned holding down the button, not pushing it sideways, as needed for a blinker. I had an issue with my flasher sticking on. It finally stopped after pushing the button many times. It was a classic case of use it or lose it. Others have issues with the cruise on/off button not working. The work around is to leave it on and just use the set button. The CRC spray can work wonders as stated earlier.
You can start by spraying it in around the edges whithout taking the switch apart and pushing the switch on and off a few times to work it in. If that doesn't work, the switch can be taken apart BUT BE CAREFUL. It has a spring that is lost easily when it flies across the room. It looks like an ink pen spring. I have not experienced that, I've only seen the youtube videos that were made after it happened to others. You can learn what to do on forums like this, but seeing a vidoe can show you how it's done and what it actually looks like.