Date reviewed: September 2023 | Tested by: John Milbank | Price: £114 | www.indimate.info
Early in 2022 we reported on 19-year-old Warwick University student Nicolas Rogers’ Indimate forgotten indicator system, which we’re delighted to report is now in full production, and available to buy from his business in Germany.
The Indimate on review here is a simple-to-fit, small box that pairs with your mobile phone to provide a clicking sound like a traditional relay (or any sound of your choice) via your connected Bluetooth intercom, or any audio device from your phone (like earbuds if you use them instead). The clever way it connects to your phone means it’s unobtrusive and doesn’t conflict with other devices, always providing that valuable sound to remind you to cancel your indicators…
Pros & Cons
- Easy to fit
- Simple, yet customisable
- Potentially life-saving
- You need to tap into your bike’s indicator wires
- Some minor glitches in some specific circumstance
Fitting
Indimate is supplied with clear, simple, printed instructions that take you through the fitting process. A fused live and negative need connecting to the battery terminals, and a pair of wires are attached to the live feed of the bike’s left and right indictors. These two leads allow the device to ‘listen’ for power going to the indictors, whether they’re traditional incandescent bulbs or LEDs, and regardless of whether the bike has CANbus or not.
I fitted Indimate to my Honda VFR800, but the process would be the same with anything; as long as you can find the correct wires, it should take no more than a few minutes.
The connections to the indicator leads are made using ‘Positap’ connectors, which screw down on the lead, piercing the insulation to provide a circuit. These are fine, and preferable to the more open ‘Scotchlok’ connectors, but they are still providing a potential point for moisture to find its way inside the wiring and – possibly – cause corrosion over time.
I know of plenty of people who’ve used connections like this with no issues over many years, but I prefer to solder where possible. Still, wrapping the connectors in insulation tape or – better still – using liquid insulation tape should prevent any damp from finding its way in.
The box measures just 45mm x 30mm x 20mm, so is easy to tuck out of the way, though it’d be nice to see a piece of adhesive foam tape supplied (you get two zip-ties) to secure it somewhere. Bullet connectors complete the circuit, which again I don’t tend to like using on a bike, but they can always be soldered if you prefer.
I did find that the wires were only just long enough for where I fitted it on the VFR, though it’d be easy to lengthen them, or you can buy extensions of 30cm, 60cm or 1m for £5 to £7. There’s also a £16 quick-release connector kit that uses ‘Tyco’ style connectors and an extra power/indicator loom, so you can easily swap the unit between two bikes, rather than buy a second one.
A 10A fuse is fitted, which seems rather high, especially as I measured the Indimate to draw just 65mA when the indicators are running, with a peak of around 150mA. When it’s not in use I couldn’t detect any current draw at all, so you needn’t worry about it draining your bike’s battery.
Once installed, simply download the Indimate iOS or Android app, follow the on-screen instructions and that’s it – you never need to think about it again.
Settings
The Indimate app is very clean and simple, yet with a surprising amount of control. Here’s what it’ll let you do:
- Set the volume
- Set the delay in seconds after the indicators start before sounding
- Activate stereo or mono sound – in stereo, you can hear which side the indicator is flashing
- Choose the sound you want. ‘Rubidium’ is my favourite as it sounds like a modern indicator relay sound effect, and ‘Copper’ actually sounds like a traditional indicator. You can also use your own sounds here if you like
- Choose whether to disable the sound during a phone call
- Activate auto-volume, which adjusts the sound level based on the speed detected by the phone
- Activate experimental settings, including a volume boost that switches to a loud ‘beep’
The bottom of the screen also tells you how many times the unit’s flashed, how many turns you’ve made and what percentage were to the left.
Scroll the page up to find further settings, including the ability to reverse the indicators (if the left is coming out of the right speaker), reset the device and update the firmware.
Reliability of connection
I’m using the Indimate app on a Google Pixel 7 Pro, and despite the app having gone through an update, the phone having been restarted a few times and the bike not having been ridden for several weeks, I never have to touch anything on the phone to get it working – turn on the bike, indicate and it’s off. At most, there’s occasionally a delay of a few seconds as the app first boots itself (it automatically shuts off after 30 mins), but that’s no problem at all.
Indimate uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), which transmits much less data than ‘classic’ Bluetooth and makes setting up easier as there’s no pairing of different devices. It also means that the phone can detect when Indimate is in range and connect in the background without any need for you to launch the app or even unlock your phone.
Clarity and use with other devices
Because Indimate is paired to your phone, as long as your Bluetooth intercom is paired to that, you’ll always hear the indicator clicks (or beeps, or whatever you chose), and this doesn’t use another channel on your intercom.
If you have a Garmin sat-nav paired to your phone, you’ll likely need to have the media from your phone set to play through the sat-nav. Without it, I did have the Garmin crash, but I went through a period while reviewing the new Garmin XT2 of having to try lots of different connections before I could get it right, so I don’t think this was due to the Indimate. As long as media is routed through the Garmin, it works fine.
Multiple devices on Bluetooth can always raise issues, not least because each one will be affected by its own – and all the other – updates. The only real ‘glitch’ I’ve found is that when using a Cardo intercom, if I’m listening to music and turn the indicator on, then turn the music off, the indicator stops sounding too.
This doesn’t happen on Sena intercoms (and the ‘clicks’ are even louder there too), though Nicolas is extremely proactive in his updating of the app, and is already looking at solutions. As it is though, it’s a relatively minor issue that needs specific circumstance to occur.
When listening to a Cardo’s FM radio, Indimate’s sound interrupts it, then the radio comes back on a short while after they’re cancelled. On the Sena 50S I tested it with, the Indimate can’t be heard while the radio’s on.
On both Cardo and Sena, when streaming music from your phone the clicks can be heard over the music without any issues. And of course, if nothing is playing, as long as your intercom is on and paired to your phone, you’ll hear the Indimate.
Indimate is small enough to tuck easily out of the way
Ease of updating
Indimate has been designed to be firmware updateable if needs be (for instance if an unusual trigger signal is used on a bike’s indicators in future), which should make it future-proof.
The last firmware update was released in March 2022, so any new devices won’t need anything doing to them at the time of writing. Updating can apparently be done via your phone’s app, after connecting to a WiFi hotspot from the Indimate, though for now I was unable to find this (likely because it’s unnecessary at the moment).
The app is kept updated automatically (depending on your phone’s settings), and a new version was deployed just a few days before writing this review.
Three alternatives to the Indimate
There aren’t many alternatives to the Indimate, and certainly none that work this way via an intercom, so if you do ever forget to cancel your indicators, this could be a great option. Still, here are some other choices
- ST2 Turn system | This is a self-cancelling system that you wire into your bike while modifying the indicator switch. There’s potential there, but our tester found it flawed. Check out the full review of the ST2 Turn System here.
- DIY buzzer | While you’d need to be very careful on bikes with CANbus, some riders have fitted their own buzzers to the bike, which sound when the indicators are flashing. Check out this video for one example of how to fit an indicator buzzer. I also found this buzzer on eBay, which only sounds when the brake light is off.
- Change your habits | I’ve made it almost a nervous twitch to keep thumbing the indicator cancel button on any bike I ride, to make sure I haven’t left the flashers on. I do still forget sometimes though…
The Indimate is fully potted inside, meaning it moisture has no way of getting to the circuit board
Indimate review: Verdict
My R1250GS has self-cancelling indictors, but I had them turned them off as they’re just annoying and – I think – potentially dangerous as they often turn off when I’m halfway around a big roundabout, potentially making drivers at junctions think that I’m no longer coming round.
Indimate is of course intended to warn you when you’ve forgotten to turn your indicators off – which is even more likely to be dangerous as a driver could pull out of a junction thinking you’re turning in – and it does so incredibly simply as long as you have some way of hearing your phone.
It’s unlikely you’ll hear it even with the phone mounted to the handlebars, but if you have a Bluetooth intercom there’s nothing more you need to do; whether you’re listening to music or on a phone call, Indimate will remind you that the indicators are on through your choice of sound. Most of us spent many years hearing proper mechanical relays in our cars, so having the option of replicating that here is great.
There is the odd minor glitch, but it’s nothing major and I have every confidence that Nicolas will continue to enhance and refine the Indimate app. Despite it being shipped from Germany where he lives now, there’s no VAT or import duty to pay, you get a one-year warranty, and a 30-day money-back guarantee with all shipping costs covered.
This really is a brilliantly thought-out solution that can offer a very valuable layer of safety when riding.
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