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Tail light wire issues

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Old Jun 6, 2025 | 05:49 PM
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Default Tail light wire issues

I have a 93 Dyna wide glide i bought from my uncle recently. It was totally rebuilt motorwise along with a few cosmetic things. The bike sat immediately for 5 years until i towed it to my house. The taillights work but the brake light does not come on when I hit either brake and I think I've narrowed it down to electrical. My uncle removed the blinkers on the bike and I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it? Looking at my Clymer manual, all the wiring kind of coexists. Are both brake switches bad after sitting? Maybe. Bad fuse? Also maybe. I'm not too electrical savy but any direction would help. Thanks for reading
 
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Old Jun 6, 2025 | 07:04 PM
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Look at brake light bulb.
Are both element's in the bulb ON?
Reason: sometimes individuals break the brake light switch tip when changing grips, levers or handle bar.
Switch works backwards of common button.
out is ON and pressed is OFF.
 
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Old Jun 6, 2025 | 09:08 PM
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At first yes, the front brake would turn off the light. Then I realized the two tires coming off the taillights were wired incorrectly under the seat, they were backwards. So I fixed that, and thats when I saw I have nothing now!
 
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Old Jun 7, 2025 | 11:35 AM
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You suspected a fuse, one of the simplest electrical components. Check it. If it looks intact it may be ok but the best way to test it is with a DVM. Or just replace it with a new fuse.
 
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Old Jun 7, 2025 | 03:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Blue92
At first yes, the front brake would turn off the light. Then I realized the two tires coming off the taillights were wired incorrectly under the seat, they were backwards. So I fixed that, and thats when I saw I have nothing now!
If possible....Can you rethink and explain in simpler terms.
Keep in mind we can not see your project and only have your words to work with.
"At first yes??? the front brake would turn light off??" What does this mean to you?
"The two wires coming off TAIL LIGHTS"..Does the bike have one tail light or more than one tail light since you used the word LIGHTS?
How were the two wires incorrect?
What did you fix and how did you fix it?
The tail light generally has two wires and ground.
+ for running light...one filament of 1157 bulb stays ON
+ positive when brake is activated...on a dual filament bulb like an 1157 the second filament will light if brake is activated
negative-/ground is a constant.
The metal barrel portion of bulb is negative-/ground.
The two nipples on bottom of bulb will be separate positive connections.....one for + running and one for + brake.
 
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Old Jun 7, 2025 | 08:22 PM
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At first, the brake light was stuck on. Then I started to dig into the wiring, my red wire coming off the single tail light was connected to the blue/black wire, and green was connected to the 2 red switch wires. After correcting the wires, the brake light is off, it is just a tail light. Now I when I hit either brake, it doesn't get brighter.
 
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Old Jun 8, 2025 | 06:36 AM
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Cut that rats nest and start over, I'll refrain on commenting on your splices.
Put power first to the green then to the red and see what the tail light does.
Then check voltage at the blue and the red with and without the brake activated.
The wires to the rear all come from a molex plug under the seat and a plug on the backbone under the tank from the bars.
Time to start tracing wires, has a run/brake, turn module been added, those green and red wires look non OEM?
 
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Old Jun 8, 2025 | 07:08 AM
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Temporary splices hoss, relax there. Once I get it figured out I'll solder and heat shrink like I normally do. There's no tail/brake module added but I'll check the fuse, run power to the wires and go from there
 
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Old Jun 8, 2025 | 07:20 AM
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See image below:

Originally Posted by Blue92
...At first, the brake light was stuck on...my red wire coming off the single tail light was connected to the blue/black wire


BE/BK is 12V from 15amp circuitbreaker and runs to taillight

Originally Posted by Blue92
..and green was connected to the 2 red switch wires
The two red wires are 12V comming from stoplight switches and going into red to the stoplight bulb

Originally Posted by Blue92
.. Now I when I hit either brake, it doesn't get brighter.
Now check if you have 12 V at the orange wire at the stoplight switches and if you have 12V at the acc circuit breaker
If you have 12V at the circuit breaker and the stoplight switches, activate the stoplight switches and check if you have 12V at the read wires of the stoplight switches



 

Last edited by FXD2003Rider; Jun 8, 2025 at 07:21 AM.
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Old Jun 14, 2025 | 09:27 PM
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Sorry it's been a minute, finally had a chance to dig into it a little more. Assuming I used the multimeter correct (as i said earlier, I'm not very electrical savvy), the orange wires read 11.4-11.5 with just the key power on and only jump to about 11.6-11.7 volts when I engage the switches
 
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