Brake Light Problem
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From: Missouri
Brake Light Problem
Hey all. Just bought my first Harley ('87 XLH883 Hugger with wide glide front end kit, sport bob tank and rear fender, mini apes) and the previous owner gave me a new rear tail light assembly because the rear brake light won't light up when the brakes are applied. However, it does light up to the normal dim setting when you turn the lights on. So, I installed the new rear light tonight and I'm still getting nothing when hitting the brakes. Anybody have any suggestions? There is only a red and black wire that go to the tail light. If I match them up with the red and black from the light assembly, I get just the dim setting. If I reverse them, I get only the bright display (what I would expect to see if the brakes were applied). If I connect the black wires and leave the red disconnected, I get the dim setting, but if I touch the red to the black wires in this setup, the light gets brighter. I traced the wires back under the seat and didn't find any loose connections. I don't think it's one brake or the other because the light doesn't work when either brake is applied. Any help will be greatly appreciated! I need to get it inspected so I can go ride...without worry of the law anyway 
Tourer
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 447
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From: Bronxville ny
There should be three wires to the brake light assembly red green and black. I know black is ground or neg. red and green are running and brake but I don't remember which is which but it should not be too hard to figure it out. Trace the wires back to the module should be under the seat. Hope this helps
Last edited by stuart1270; Oct 6, 2009 at 11:26 PM. Reason: missed spelled word
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From: Missouri
Funny that you bring up the green wire...
I have traced the red/black to under the seat as you mentioned. I haven't taken the rear wheel off, but from what I can tell, the red/black wires are in one sheathing all the way through the rear fender to underneath the seat. However, under the seat there are two wires that come out of the sheathing; one green and one red. The green wire then runs under the tank up to the tank controls (I have a sport bob tank with spedo/light/ignition control on the tank) and the red wire is split. It looks one of the red wires runs towards the rear brake and the other joins the grouping of wires that runs towards the headlight.
If there is supposed to be all three (red, black, green) at both ends, then I'm not sure what to do. Somewhere between the rear light and under the seat the colors switch from green to black though. Regardless, I think my problem is in the red wire based on my previous post where I tried a bunch of different arrangements and got it to work on the black wire.
I have traced the red/black to under the seat as you mentioned. I haven't taken the rear wheel off, but from what I can tell, the red/black wires are in one sheathing all the way through the rear fender to underneath the seat. However, under the seat there are two wires that come out of the sheathing; one green and one red. The green wire then runs under the tank up to the tank controls (I have a sport bob tank with spedo/light/ignition control on the tank) and the red wire is split. It looks one of the red wires runs towards the rear brake and the other joins the grouping of wires that runs towards the headlight.
If there is supposed to be all three (red, black, green) at both ends, then I'm not sure what to do. Somewhere between the rear light and under the seat the colors switch from green to black though. Regardless, I think my problem is in the red wire based on my previous post where I tried a bunch of different arrangements and got it to work on the black wire.
Last edited by Outlaw44; Oct 7, 2009 at 10:55 PM.
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From: Missouri
Ok...so I'm pretty sure I figured out the problem tonight...bad brake switch. I put a voltmeter on the wires and it has 12 volts to the rear brake switch, but when the brake is applied, the 12 volts is not transferring to the contact for the wire that runs from the brake switch to the brake light. To confirm this, I pulled the wires off of the contacts of the brake switch and made a jump connection b/t the power supply to the switch and the wire to the tail light. It lit up bright right away, so the problem has to be inbetween the two in the switch.
I did not take apart the front brake, but I'm guessing this is the problem there as well. I'm getting 12 volts just fine up to the right grip (start/stop and turn signal working fine), so I'm guessing the brake switch is bad.
I previously mentioned that I bought the bike a week ago with the tail light not working. I'm assuming one of the brake switches went out and the previous owner did not realize it until they both went out. You are supposed to apply both brakes anyway
so you wouldn't really notice it not working until neither brake activated it.
Hopefully, this helps someone in the future that runs into the same problem!
I did not take apart the front brake, but I'm guessing this is the problem there as well. I'm getting 12 volts just fine up to the right grip (start/stop and turn signal working fine), so I'm guessing the brake switch is bad.
I previously mentioned that I bought the bike a week ago with the tail light not working. I'm assuming one of the brake switches went out and the previous owner did not realize it until they both went out. You are supposed to apply both brakes anyway
so you wouldn't really notice it not working until neither brake activated it.Hopefully, this helps someone in the future that runs into the same problem!
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From: Missouri
Oh yeah...just an FYI for you guys & gals, I called the local HD dealership to talk to them about this and they said they don't like to work on anything pre-1990. I'm not sure if this is the policy everywhere, but the nice gentlemen told me that they've found most bikes older than that have too many custom mods and they are more familiar with how the newer bikes are setup. He mentioned that HD made quite a few changes in the mid-90s with wiring, etc.
He also mentioned that after 1994, there are three wires running to the tail light as stuart1270 mentioned. Of the three wires, one is a ground. Before that, the two hot wires were ground to the frame somewhere else in the series.
He also mentioned that after 1994, there are three wires running to the tail light as stuart1270 mentioned. Of the three wires, one is a ground. Before that, the two hot wires were ground to the frame somewhere else in the series.
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