LED Brake light problem.

[Beaver]

I have just recieved a nice little LED taillight in the post, but having tried to hook it up I only get a light out of it when I apply the brake. When just the lights are on, nothing. I can't figure out if this problem is related to the turn signal load problems or not. My brake light has neutral, a brown wire and another wore I can't remember the colour of. I have tried swapping the two 'other' wires around and only one combination gives any sort of result at all. But still not the right result. Can anyone shed any light (sorry about that) on this one?

It is this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LED-Motorcycle-Taillight-Tail-light-red-lens-gpz-xs650_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZQ7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a30QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em14Q2el1262QQhashZitem3352ff6481QQitemZ220435801217QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Cheers

[onchiman]

Assuming it has three wires a simple check of the unit would be to touch its ground wire to negative battery post then the other two wires one at a time to the positive post. I you get tail and brake lights to work that way, then the problem lies in the wiring on your bike. If you still get the same problem of no tail lights then the unit is defective.

[MacGyver]

From what I can see in the eBay ad, that is a running light and license plate light, NOT a brake light. The ad does specify 'Tail Light'. You won't have two intensities of red. If there are three wire connections, likely you can wire up the license lights and the tail lights separately.

[Steve]

Yeah, it does only say "tail light", but it does also mention three wires.

"Turn signal load" does not enter the picture at all, this light has nothing to do with the turn signals.

The three wires on the bike should be Black/White, Brown and White. Black/White is your ground wire, Brown is your tail light wire, White is your brake wire. Use a test light or meter to verify that you do have power on the appropriate wires, then decipher the wires on the new light. What colors are those wires? Can't tell much as there is no standardization on those after-market lights, but we can make some reasonable guesses.

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[Beaver]

Thanks guys for your replies. I had to laugh a little I have been ebaying for about 6 years now and felt like i had learned a bit in that time, but as they say you are never too old. Translating from american to english just makes things harder. I found the receipt from it at work today and he has written in hand on it 'yellow wire ground'. So I will try again tomorrow and see if I don't have a bit more success.

To be perfectly honest your pointing out of the difference in grammar between 'brake light' and 'tail light' really has made my night, even if it does mean I have potentially bought a dud

[Steve]

It only brags about being a tail light, but most tail (only) lights only have two wires.
The fact that this one has three tells me that it probably has a brake function, too.

I am often amused by the translations from Taiwanese/Chinese/Whateverese to American.
You really have to read between the lines sometimes to see what they meant and ignore what they said. :

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