Issued warning-no front brake light!

[Anonymous]

Went for a ride this a.m. Was stopped at a red light. using my front brake...city police blue light me...I pull off road and policeman says I have no brake light...foot brake turns it on, front brake won't...wrote me a warning...came home, got out the clymer manual....disassembled the front brake switch on my '81 GS650GLX...cleaned the copper looking thingy...put it back together...adjusted it(the whole 9 yards), still nothing...ANY SUGGESTIONS? Thanks for any help!!!

[Anonymous]

Take it back apart and short across the connections to see if the light works. If so, the problem could be 1-The spring is gone from the copper contact 2-wrong lever 3-Not adjusted correctly.
If it still doesn't work, start tracing back. The switch goes into the headlight bucket, check those connections first. Work back from there.

[Anonymous]

Are you sure you put all the parts back in? There's a tiny little copper thing with a spring, that goes up the break lever.
If in doubt, I would buy a new switch. Should not cost more than $ 20.

Jojo

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys for the quick reply...everything is there - spring, etc. I'll give your ideas a try...if all else fails, I guess I'll be buying a switch...where would I look to find one, any ideas? Thanks again...

[Anonymous]

This is a shop in Indianapolis, Indiana. I just bought a front brake switch for my '82 650 from this place. To the best of my knowledge they do ship parts.

http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/Index_Main_Frame.htm

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info kobyj

[earlfor]

I just bought a new front brake light switch for my 750 a couple months ago. I get a lot of stuff from the people KOLBYJ gave the link to. Real good people to deal with, real good service. I think my switch cost me 12 bucks. Youre probably better of just to buy a new switch as once those little parts in the switch start to wear thin theyre more trouble than its worth. BTW...a tip for installing it.
Loosen the clamp bolt on the handlebars that holds the brake lever. make sure the brake resovoir cap is on tight and then rotate the assembly upside down. Then you can drop the parts in standing over it and see exactly that everything is as it should be.
Screw it together and then rotate the whole thing back to rightside up. :-)

Earl

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Earl...really is hard to do from under neath...lot of cussing went on this morning when I was trying to do the repair!!

[Anonymous]

I just went through reinstalling my switch after a master cylinder rebuild and I definately suggest using a dropcloth under the bike if working on a gravel driveway.
Steve

[redliner1973]

Boomer, Don't even bother trying to fix it, I 'fixed' mine, and it worked for about a week before doing the same thing again. took it aprt and 'fixed' it a number of times, to no avail. replacement time for mine...

[Anonymous]

BTW...a tip for installing it.
Loosen the clamp bolt on the handlebars that holds the brake lever. make sure the brake resovoir cap is on tight and then rotate the assembly upside down. Then you can drop the parts in standing over it and see exactly that everything is as it should be.
Screw it together and then rotate the whole thing back to rightside up. :-)

Earl

I just used a small pocket knife to hold the small parts up in the handle. I would then hold the piece that the wires attach to up in place and slide the knife out. Just make sure the key is off when you use a knife. You may get some nice sparks and a blown fuse if you don't.

Yes, turning the assembly upside down would probably be a little easier, but if you don't have a wrench to loosen the assembly, you have to find another way to put the bike back together.

[Jay B]

The cop should have let you off with out the written warning. I think he was being an a$$hole since the light worked with the rear pedal.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all for the help, especially jeckler...How dumb can I be??? the problem was in the headlight bucket....loose connection...
Thanks for your support words Jay B...I thought he should have not written anything either...Oh well, live and learn, something new everyday!