The difference between self-cancelling turnsignals in bikes and in cars is simply the time quotient. Early versions of self-cancelling turnsignals in bikes used both distance and time as shut-off triggers. Both were bad design elements as they were far too short--they often turned off while you were still in the left turn lane. Ingrained in my memory is the frustration of having to turn them on a second time while waiting to turn. Later motorcycle systems corrected this by allowing more of both distance and time, but my last experience with them proved they still shut off too quickly. The argument could be made that the designers of these systems don't believe in the ethic of using your turnsignals hundreds of feet before your turn, and/or do not know that left turns in urban areas often take two stoplights to accomplish.

All of the car self-cancelling (we are so used to them we don't even use that term) turnsignal systems I am aware of use a purely mechanical method of shut-off triggered by the steering. The turnsignals stay on until the turn is completed and the steering wheel is at the straight ahead position once again. I like that. Simple lane changes of course require manual shut-off, but to me that is preferred to a shut-off criteria that is anti-human, though I am well aware of the danger posed by an unconciously left on turnsignal. It's a classic hazard. Hondas incorporated a straight ahead steering input in their self-cancelling turnsignals equipped motorcycles at one time. The Gold Wing and some cruisers had it. I don't know how effective that was. And I admit that all of my angst about self-cancelling turnsignals may be relevant to only the first generation of them on motorcycles, which soured me on them and I probably should have got some counseling. I'm kidding. But I don't like them. About that I am not joking. But this should not surprise anyone who knows this website is all about my love of 1970s Hondas.

Nor is it accurate to write me off as some kind of Luddite, a person principally opposed to technology for the principle's sake. I was a very early adopter of PDAs. I am a high level user of the iPad. I have bluetooth stuff all over my house. I switched to an Android phone years ago. As a factory Kawasaki technical trainer I taught motorcycle inertia systems and ride-by wire and RF-based keyless entry. I use Zoom and medical patient portals, buy nearly everything on Amazon, bank online and find AI incredibly useful. I am the creator and admin for this website, which has existed since the late 1990s. The point is I am not tech adverse. But I am strongly skeptical of tech for tech's sake.