Took a look over the previous threads...couldn't find one that was relevant to the issue I'm having.

Here's the deal...the brake light will not go out on my 08 sportster 1200. I turn the ignition on, and both the taillight element and brake element illuminate. I checked the wiring that runs beneath the fender, and found the brown wire had been pretty terribly frayed. I fixed that, and inspected the taillight assembly, but can't find any other reason that this is happening. Any ideas?

 

check the brake switch in the lever, it could be stuck or broke.

 

Just going from the setup on my Nightster it should be similar the brakes rear and front levers push/activate little pressure switches that give us a stop light.one of these could be faulty not springing out to its original position.H.

 

Have you removed the control and lever any time recently? The switch can get damaged it you don't follow the cardboard shim requirement in the manual. If not, I'd follow the advice above and check the switches.

 

I had the exact same issue. The switch went out. It is a $50 part at the stealership. No big deal and pretty easy to replace.

 

I had the same issue once, turned out that a bee had got stuck between the front brake lever and the housing not allowing the lever to return quite enough to push the switch in.

 

Same thing happened to my 05 Custom, front brake switch was bad....

 

I swapped my grips over once and there's a little rubber thing inside that falls out really easily, might be that.

 

Thanks for the quick replies all around.
So if I'm looking to check these switches to see if they're stuck...where exactly should I be looking?
And I did recently swap out my handlebars, but after fitting everything in place, the lights still functioned properly, so I'm hoping there's not damage to the lever control itself.

 

It's a momentary contact switch covered in a black rubber boot, if you look from the front of the control with the brake lever squeezed you will see it, you can try pressing it with a flat tip screwdriver to test it.