Brake light question

This is a simple question I'm sure. When I turn the bike on the tail light lights up. When I pull the brake handle it shows the brake light as it should. Now the dumb question. Is the brake light supposed to come on with just the foot brake depressed?? Cuz mine doesn't

 

Yes it should. You either have a dirty / corroded rear brake light switch (fairly common), or it is somehow not connected / adjusted properly.

 

Thanks Hillsy. Gotta redo the fuse panel and trace a horn short so I guess I will throw in the back light just for fun today.

 

Went looking for the brake light switch and haven't located it yet. The Haynes manual sucks at locating that part. But I did find this coupler (?) that seems to have a wire missing. My thought is if they put a connector there then it should be connected to something. Anyone know if theirs has a blank spot too? This is just behind the battery at the top of the frame. Thinkin this may be why my rear foot brake doesn't light up the light maybe.

 

here are the pics

 

Rear brake pedal has a tab with a spring attached to it going up to the rear brake light switch.

The wire connector you have a pic of, looks to be a ground(double connector) for the tail light or rear blinkers.

 

If the rear light and blinkers work does that mean I don't need it?

 

OK I found the brake tail light switch. Good news is that it works. I got in there with a pair of pliers and pulled the spring clip thing and the light worked as it should. Problem is that the pedal does not pull it down far enough. I don't want to loosen the peddle too much since I would like the rear brake to work so is there an adjustment screw for that spring clip thing or do I need to just take it off and shorten it some how?

 

Before you make any adjustments I'd squirt a little PB Blaster or other lube on it to make sure it's not sticking.

Look at how the switch sits in the frame mount. It has an ajustment nut on the threaded part of the switch. You can move the switch farther away from the pedal to put more tension on that spring by turning this nut. There may be on on each side of the mount where you would have to loosen both make your adjustment and then lock the other back down.

 

Well you were right, the nut fixed it. Talk about an awkward spot to put it though! Couldn't get a wrench in there very well so ended up using my fingers. Looks like it is a bit worn but it works now. Just need to find the horn short and redo the fuse panel and I should be ready to go.

Thanks for the help!

 

Glad you got it working !

The one on my turbo was all busted up , I got one ordered today. It's in an even tighter spot for adjustment.

 

If you're going to re-do the fuses, switch them over to the blade type fuses. They're more reliable than the old glass tube type fuses.
good luck.
baz

 

baz thats what I did. Actually looks really good and is definately more stable than those old ones. Every once in a while the old ones just wouldn't work.