Schmiggie Posted September 30, 2009 Posted September 30, 2009 I've been putting back together a 79 XS400 and I'm almost done but now I've noticed the brake light does not light up. Its not the brake filament in the bulbs as I have a few different taillight assemblies and lots o good bulbs for testing. Neither the front brake lever nor the rear brake peddle light up the brake light. Should I replace the switches? I've seen both front and rear brake switches from Mikes for $6.00 each. Fuses are good-turn signals and running lights are good. I'm so close to being street legal-this might be my last obstacle(hopefully) Any help is greatly appreciated!!! Thanks, Dave
duaneage Posted September 30, 2009 Posted September 30, 2009 I've been putting back together a 79 XS400 and I'm almost done but now I've noticed the brake light does not light up. Its not the brake filament in the bulbs as I have a few different taillight assemblies and lots o good bulbs for testing. Neither the front brake lever nor the rear brake peddle light up the brake light. Should I replace the switches? I've seen both front and rear brake switches from Mikes for $6.00 each. Fuses are good-turn signals and running lights are good. I'm so close to being street legal-this might be my last obstacle(hopefully) Any help is greatly appreciated!!! Thanks, Dave Buy a voltmeter for around 10 dollars and determine what the problem is first. Voltage going into a switch but not going out can be tested. Any old bike has electrical issues and a voltmeter is essential. Or you can throw parts at the problem without fixing it. You could have a broken wire in the harness, a bad connection somewhere in a connector. Any number of things.
Moderator drewpy Posted September 30, 2009 Moderator Posted September 30, 2009 just recheck your connections and earth wire/s have you isolated the switches, they can be adjusted. You can manually pull the rear brake switch and see what happens and also bridge the two wires to switch to see if its the switch its self. All the wires do is complete a circuit! drewps
Schmiggie Posted September 30, 2009 Author Posted September 30, 2009 Thanks for the input guys! I have adjusted the rear brake switch and pulled on it-no luck. I need to go to Napa anyway to get a electric flasher relay so I'll pick up a voltmeter at the same time. Getting the temp plates tommorrow while I send in the application for Hobbyist plates. We had the first frost up here this morning so hopefully I'll get this figured out before its too cold. Dont want to freeze on the first ride-but I will if I have to! Thanks again, Dave
Schmiggie Posted October 1, 2009 Author Posted October 1, 2009 Wonderful-more issues...Just got an electic flasher relay so I can put on some led turn signals-figured it should just be "plug n go" but alas...that is not the case. Now every time I turn the signals the fuse blows. It was kind of hard to find the old AGX fuses but I found a variety pack at Advance. Thinking of switching the fuse box out for one with blade fuses-maybe over the winter. Should have just figured out the brake lights first-then moved on. Now to figure out this voltmeter...
Schmiggie Posted October 5, 2009 Author Posted October 5, 2009 Buy a voltmeter for around 10 dollars and determine what the problem is first. Voltage going into a switch but not going out can be tested. Any old bike has electrical issues and a voltmeter is essential. Or you can throw parts at the problem without fixing it. You could have a broken wire in the harness, a bad connection somewhere in a connector. Any number of things. Thanks duanage and drewpy! The wire going from the front break lever to the switch is where the problem was-the switch thought the brake was always "on." Mounted the brake light too so I'm pretty much street legal now! Installed the electric relay flasher also but all that does is blow fuses...maybe tommorrow I'll figure that part out.
Cy Welch Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 Thanks duanage and drewpy! The wire going from the front break lever to the switch is where the problem was-the switch thought the brake was always "on." Mounted the brake light too so I'm pretty much street legal now! Installed the electric relay flasher also but all that does is blow fuses...maybe tommorrow I'll figure that part out. Did you get a 2 or 3 prong flasher? A 3 prong flasher will NOT work on these bike, you will need a 2 prong, and just plug it in with 2 of the prongs plugged in, if it doesn't come on at all, then try it the other way. The flashers in these things are SPECIAL and are not ordinary automotive flashers.
Schmiggie Posted October 9, 2009 Author Posted October 9, 2009 Did you get a 2 or 3 prong flasher? A 3 prong flasher will NOT work on these bike, you will need a 2 prong, and just plug it in with 2 of the prongs plugged in, if it doesn't come on at all, then try it the other way. The flashers in these things are SPECIAL and are not ordinary automotive flashers. Thanks Cy! I had a three prong one-I actually bought a 2 prong first then when I pulled the old one out I saw it was 3 pronged so I took the 2 back and exchanged it for a 3. I'll go grab one today-I've gone through many fuses and wiring configurations and have just been using hand signals. Thanks again!
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