85 GS550E brake light doesn't work..

[Anonymous]

Yes, I've checked the bulb and it's ok. At one time the front was a bit sketchy but the rear worked. Now neither works. I don't feel real good driving down the road without a working brake light. NOTE: the regulator was recently replaced. Someone mentioned a "switch" to me. Where do I find this and what do I look for? Thanks!

[bwringer]

You can get a new switch for the front brake here:

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

It's a touchy, fidgety, failure-prone mechanism, but it's pretty simple in principle. It's on the bottom side of your brake lever.

Often, you can loosen the two mounting screws a bit and move it enough to engage properly.

The rear brake switch is pretty simple, and usually pretty trouble-free. Can you disconnect it from the pedal and activate it by pulling on the plunger?

Of course, there's an excellent chance you have some other wiring problem that's causing all this, like a bad ground to the tail light, or just a bad bulb or socket.

[Anonymous]

It turns out the bulb was out and I replaced it. Here's the disturbing part, though. Recently the rectifier/regulator was replaced. Tonight I took a ride with a new bulb and by the time I got home the new bulb was out. It's the only bulb that is out. Did I get a bad bulb or do I have too much voltage? Please please PLEASE tell me it's the bulb. PLEASE!!!! [-o<

If it's too much voltage, can I get a stronger bulb that would be less prone to failure?

[Planecrazy]

Could just be coinkydink that the new bulb failed ... try one more and see if it fails after a day or two of riding. If not, you just had a bad replacement bulb.

If it does fail, check to see if the light housing is vibrating, or if the rubber "feet" that help to isolate it against vibration (assuming it has some) have hardened or disintegrated. Could be that the bulb is being destroyed by vibration. If the housing appears to be in good shape, check the fender and see if it's shaking beyond the norm.

If all that checks out, time to start evaluating the electrics ... make sure the contacts look good and clean. Make sure the bulb socket has the proper "spring" left in it so that the bulb sits snugly.

Hope these ideas help!

Steve 8)

[bwringer]

A volt meter would help you determine if your bike is overcharging. You could even hook it up then bungee it to your tank temporarily and go for a quick ride to get an idea of how it's charging.

Just don't get too wrapped up in watching the volt meter...

Light bulbs are often very inconsistent, low quality items -- I've seen them fail in quick succession many times. You could also have a problem with the socket.

A heavy duty bulb will withstand vibration a little better -- they usually just have extra supports for the filament. But if your bike is really overcharging, you need to fix the problem. Blown light bulbs are the least of your worries, compared to acid damage from boiling batteries.