• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Taillight but no Brakelight...

  • Thread starter Thread starter GS750cafe
  • Start date Start date
G

GS750cafe

Guest
I searched the forum and found one other post regarding this, but my situation is slightly different...

I am reassembling my '77 GS 750 and purchased a new brake/taillight to replace the broken original. The new light has red, black and yellow wires. The original has white, black w/ stripe and brown wires. My assumption is that red and white, black and black w/ stripe, and yellow and brown go together. Any idea if this is correct? Once hooked up, I'm getting the taillight but no brakelight. I tried numerous configurations with the wires and got bright and dim taillight, but never a brakelight. does this seem like a ground issue somewhere?

Thanks!
 
Sorry, but there is one big problem here:
GS750cafe said:
... My assumption is ...
Click to expand...
With three wires coming out of the light, it would be a good guess that it is, indeed, a dual-filament light setup.
You can play around with guessing what wire does what (my guess is that the black wire is the ground wire)
or you can simply open up the light and see what goes where.

You might also find that some Bozo has assembled your light with a single-filament bulb. :rolleyes:
Or you might find that your brand, spanking-new bulb has a bad filament.

Regardless, you will be able to verify for yourself which wire is for the ground,
then connect that to a battery and see what the other two wires do.

When you find what they do, the brown wire on the bike is the tail light, the white wire is the brake, the black/white is ground.


NEVER ASSUME. :eek:

.
 
The ground wire isn't hooked up correctly, find the combo of two wires that gives you a dim light when the headlight is on and then run a ground wire to the frame (or to the stock ground wire).
 
It's definitely a dual filament bulb. It gets brighter or dimmer with various configurations of wires, just not when the brake is actuated.

Toasty, I'll try your approach.

Thanks
 
GS750cafe said:
It's definitely a dual filament bulb. It gets brighter or dimmer with various configurations of wires, just not when the brake is actuated.
Click to expand...
OK, that tells me that the light is fine, look for a problem on the bike.

Do your turn signals work? Does your horn work? No, these are not silly questions, they are all powered by the same fuse.

If the light works with one brake (front or rear), but not the other, you have a bad switch.
If the light does not work with either brake, but your horn and signals work, you have a broken wire, possibly in the headlight bucket.

.
 
OK, signals and horn work, but I've got the headlight removed and am building a gauge mount - signal, oil warning and neutral indicators. I wasn't going to have a highbeam indicator or gear position indicator. Could it be that without all these hooked up, I'm not getting a brakelight?
Neither front nor rear brakes light it up...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top