Tail light question

[bigdog88]

New to the forums and also a just made a recent purchase of a 1982
GS580L and just love it. Only had 8,000 miles and looks great. Had some carb work done and runs perfect now.

One problem, the brake light does not work. It lights when you turn the key on, but when you push on the brakes it does not brighten. I replaced the bulb with another 23/8W bulb and no change. I am not mechanical at all so just wondering what the next thing to look at is? Sorry for the dumb question, I'm just one of those guys that love to ride and leave the wrenches to more qualified people(I know my limitations.) Thanks for any help on this!!

[Macmatic]

Do you have one bulb or two in the tail light? I have two, one is always on and the other is the brake light. If you only have one and replaced it with a known good bulb you must have bad wiring going to the light or a bad/ misadjusted brake light switch.

Does it fail to work with both the rear brake and the front brake or does it work with one but not the other?

/\/\ac

[bigdog88]

I have just one bulb in the tail light and it does not work with either the front or rear brake. I replaced it with a brand new bulb from NAPA today that was the bulb called for in my manual.

I figured it is probably a bad wire or switch but as I said, I'm pretty mechanically deficient and was hoping maybe somebody had this problem and had a quick fix:-D

Thanks for the reply!!

[DaveDanger]

bigdog... Tell us again whether or not the brake light works with either the front or back brake, or neither.

If it works with one but not the other, the problem will be the brake light switch at the pedal/handle that doesn't illuminate the light. If neither pedal or handle makes it work, it's more than likely a broken or corroded wire to the light receptacle.

(Edited) Ok, just re-read your previous post. It does sound like your wiring is the problem. If the tail light side of the bulb works, then the ground is probably Ok into the receptacle, so it's probably the positive wire going to the base of the brake light bulb. Chase that wire as best you can and see if you can find any obvious damage. A pinch, a stretched bullet connector, greenish corrosion, etc.

G'luck and post back.

(I have lots of family out in the Lubbock/Tahoka area... you're not far from there I think? At least not far in Texas miles =D>)

[Macmatic]

What about a fuse? My bikes and manuals are all on Atlanta right no so I can't check a diagram...but is the brake light on a fused circuit?

Bigdog, do you have a digital multimeter? You can get a pretty good one at Radio Shack for $35 or so or a "good enough for most stuff" one at Lowes or Home Depot for $15 or so. You could use this to check continuity and resistance on the brake light wires, check the switches to make sure they are working...all sorts of things. I think you said this is our first bike and you don't do a lot of wor yourself, well this is a handy tool to have around and solving one problem like this could more than pay for it in saved labor costs.

good luck!
/\/\ac

[bigdog88]

My bike is actually had a friends house right now getting a Windjammer put on and he is going to check it out for me. Like I said before, I know just to get me in trouble when it comes to that stuff. I'll let you guys know what we find out. Thanks alot!!!

[bigdog88]

Found the problem today. The switch on the hand brake is bad and was actually keeping the brake light on at all times. Since I had never seen the light any other way that didn't dawn on me. We disabled it and it works correctly now with the foot brake. Will tear in to it at a later time to get that one to work. Thanks for the help guys!