My throttle was a little sticky, so I pulled apart the controls and lubed everything up.

I got everything back together, however I'm having issues with the brake light switch, and the brake lights turning off. I've taken it apart and put it back together at least 20 times in different ways to try and get it correct, but it as soon as I tighten everything down and pull the brake lever the light comes on and stays on.


Any tips, tricks, ideas, etc?

 

Well, Capain Obvious here... Check some simple stuff:

Does the lever work freely back and forth before and after tightening everything up?

Perhaps the switch is damaged. Did you put a spacer in the lever before pulling the entire hand control? The switch is known to get damaged if you don't follow that simple step...

BTW: How's the throttle working now? Did you at least get the sticking issue solved?

 

I second that. Those switches are fragile. Could just be in wrong though. I've had similar problems from it being positioned wrong. Bought a new one and then realized later I didn't need it after finding it was just in wrong. They can and will give you trouble if they don't go in exactly how they're supposed to. Also I'd check the switch itself (if you haven't already) and see if the button/actuator is actually sticking. Keep us posted.

 

Yeah, what he said. I also had a sticky throttle when it went back together wrong. This was a lesson of things not to do when your buddies leave at midnight on a Saturday night after drinking, still wide awake, and bored with nothing to do... Fail.

 

yeah, the lever works fine... the last time i did it i pulled the lever 5 or 6 times and it worked correctly, and the 7th time it stayed on. this is why I think it's just put together incorrectly, not an issue with the switch.

yeah, the throttles better. I left it out in the rain when I had to go to work the other today, so it just needed a little bit of cleaning and lube.

 

Live it and Learn it,,,,

You wrecked the switch.
I had to learn this one myself,,
The manual tells us to pull the front brake lever back a bit and put a piece of cardboard in the gap to hold the switch depressed during dis-assembly.
If you don't do that, the rubber covering that little switch get's torn when you put it all back together.
You need to replace the switch. If you don't you'll be running down the road with the brake light on all the time,, not a good thing.
In this situation the best case scenario is a cop will pull you over,, worst case you'll get rear ended by some idiot.

Band-aid fix;
Pull it apart again and snip one of the wires to the switch,, pull the wire insulation a bit so no wires are exposed or you'll blow fuses.
This will at least let you run without the brake light on,, but keep in mind you won't actuate the brake light with the front brake lever.
A replacement switch can be found on ebay for under $20,, or there's a dealer cost of over $30

 

I took everything apart again last night, and I think my issue is actually the brake lever not returning and pressing the switch.

 

[QUOTE=EricInNCa;14083650]Perhaps the switch is damaged. Did you put a spacer in the lever before pulling the entire hand control? The switch is known to get damaged if you don't follow that simple step...
QUOTE]
I usually just remove the lever before removing the control housing, this is another way to avoid breaking the tiny little tab on the brake switch. Just food for thought.

The switch button itself, I believe, is within a rubber boot, if it is broken inside the boot, it might be moving around on you inside there giving the speratic signal. I can't remember if the boot comes off or not, but if it does you could probably put a dab of RTV where the switch broke, after it hardens it might work for you, if not replace the switch all together.

 

That is the exact symptom,
Think about it, the lever didn't change, the pivot point didn't change,, you don't need to now "extend" the lever to make the switch work because something has changed with the dynamics of your brake lever.
This is from the manual, Ok,, you didn't "remover the master cylinder for service,, but you had to break it all down for the grips;
Good luck, but you'll have better luck if you repair/replace the part that's actually the problem.

 

Probably ripped rubber boot when installing controls......need to always use a spacer. A piece of card board or washer between the button that deactivates the brake light and the brake lever