Problem - No increase in intensity of light when brake lever (front and rear) are depressed/ pulled. The rear light seems to be stuck on 'bright'. I'm pretty sure it's not my front microswitch, although my bike went over and those of you who saw my bent brake lever query will already know but I took it off last night and the switch seems to be absolutely fine. I'm not exactly sure about the rear one. The problem developed in the last week sometime. Is there any other kind of problem that could cause this? A short somewhere?
If anybody has experienced this before or has any ideas your input is much appreciated!
The high filament on your brake light could be burned out.
I may have the same problem. I thought my rear brake light was not working , checked all the fuses and they were all ok and put back in tight ,pulled the bulb to go get a new one and both filaments are ok ? So I dont know what I've got ....a none working brake light ( light glows bright when the key is turned on but doesn't change any w/ pulling the hand lever or depressing the foot lever ) or a brake light that is stuck on as your post states ? I have a '07 S4Rs I found the person who posted about their tach needle falling off and repairing it , you can send them a personal message JDS 07S4Rs . If you look on page 3 under Tech where I posted about( '07 S4Rs speedometer problem ) and go down through the thread you'll see the Person you want to send the pm to. Good luck and I'm glad you made it fairly ok. Very sorry about your bike.
I just bought a new 1157 for my SS. I had nothing but trouble with it, so I tried another new one. Same thing. It occurs to me that this may be a problem with the removal of lead from all things electronic. The two little silver balls at the bottom of the light are solder. In the good old days, this was a mix of 60% lead and 40% tin. Now it's pretty much 100% tin, which isn't as malleable as lead. As a result, it doesn't conform to the contacts as well, and may appear to be an open circuit. My solution was to use a small screwdriver point to shine up the copper on the connector. Seems to work, but if it fails again, I'm going to resolder the bulb with some 60/40 solder.
I know you said it's not, but it could be the switch. I had the opposite where it wouldn't come on at all. I sprayed a lot of WD40 into the switch and tapped with with screwdriver handle and that fixed it. It's an easy thing to eliminate before you start chasing shorts.
err, that sounded bad.
Andy
When I changed my brake lever there was a small metal pin that depressed the micro-switch that fell out. I had the same problem, the brake light stayed on. I found the pin and replaced it...working fine since.
Quote from: Hedgehog on June 21, 2008, 03:05:12 PM
I just bought a new 1157 for my SS. I had nothing but trouble with it, so I tried another new one. Same thing. It occurs to me that this may be a problem with the removal of lead from all things electronic. The two little silver balls at the bottom of the light are solder. In the good old days, this was a mix of 60% lead and 40% tin. Now it's pretty much 100% tin, which isn't as malleable as lead. As a result, it doesn't conform to the contacts as well, and may appear to be an open circuit. My solution was to use a small screwdriver point to shine up the copper on the connector. Seems to work, but if it fails again, I'm going to resolder the bulb with some 60/40 solder.
How do you know if your brake light is stuck on ....or doesn't work and all you are seeing is your running light ?
Quote from: DoubleEagle on June 21, 2008, 06:12:14 PM
How do you know if your brake light is stuck on ....or doesn't work and all you are seeing is your running light ?
There are two filaments in the bulb. One is thin, that's the running light. The other is thicker and a bit shorter, that is the brake light.
Quote from: Hedgehog on June 21, 2008, 03:05:12 PM
I just bought a new 1157 for my SS. I had nothing but trouble with it, so I tried another new one. Same thing. It occurs to me that this may be a problem with the removal of lead from all things electronic.
I've always had a lot better luck with P21/5W bulbs (the EU version of an 1157) in my vehicles.
(http://www.powerbulbs.com/images/medium/p215w_1.jpg)
They have a nickel plated body instead of a brass one and it's much less likely to corrode in the socket. DAMHIK.
Quote from: RandyFloyd on June 21, 2008, 05:15:59 PM
When I changed my brake lever there was a small metal pin that depressed the micro-switch that fell out. I had the same problem, the brake light stayed on. I found the pin and replaced it...working fine since.
I don't know if you guys have the same set-up as Randy and I, but that pin is critical. Also, the switch is adjustable. There are two tiny screw/nuts that loosen it, then it moves closer and further from the lever to adjust. The switch is open (brake light ON) further away and off when moved closer. The pregnant dog is that you can get it working perfectly, then it moves when you tighten the two screws. I've found that a certain mix of pr-tightening the screws, then setting the switch so that it BARELY opens (brake light on) at the end of the lever travel will net good results after the screws are tightened back down.
It's a PITA, and it takes a bit of patience and trial and error, but I think that's what you've got going on, unless you lost the pin taking the switch off.
Test the switch(s) detached from the master/rearset.
Also, inspect the microswitch actuating pins, and how they actuate.
I had a similar problem on my 05 S2R803.
The front microswitch worked, but the mount had flexed out of spec (for no apparent reason).
I was able to fix the problem with a zip tie.
I had the same problem, ended up being something wrong with the rear brake switch, so I just unplugged it, I don't use that brake much and never without the fron also so its ok
Same problem when I replaced the ft break lever; a couple of things i noticed; theres 2 small screws that hold the swithch onto the break lever holder; the switch has very fine adjustment; so I found loosening one screw and rotating the switch is the easiest way to adjust it.
Ths switch is pushed in by a bearing; the bearing fell out when I took off the lever the first time; this bearing also had alot of dirt / oil built up around so it was sticking; clean & lube, and watch you dont loose the bearing; the nub pushes the bearing out when you pull the lever and letting go of the lever pushes the bearing onto the nub pushing the nub in, turing the break light off.
[moto]
when I took delivery of my 06 s2r1k the front brake microswitch was installed facing the wrong way, so nothing depressed the plunger and brake light always on.
Check your fuses guys...
Also, if you're messing w/the tail-light (tail-chop or what-have-you), be sure to connect the yellow and red/grey wires correctly. Otherwise, the brighter filament will be on and when you actuate the brake it will be hard to see the dimmer filament.
Also, the 2357 bulb is a heavier duty 1157...
Quote from: Hedgehog on June 21, 2008, 06:44:19 PM
There are two filaments in the bulb. One is thin, that's the running light. The other is thicker and a bit shorter, that is the brake light.
Both filaments are ok. Fuses are fine.
two quick and easy checks to rule out the switches.
un-plug one at a time, the brake light should go off when you disconnect the faulty switch from the circuit. if you have both disconnected and the light is still on it could be the wiring at the bulb, the bulb installed 180deg out or even the wrong bulb .
good luck
When mine stayed on it was right after I did a partial tail chop so I rechecked all the wires, connectors etc. Finally, I figured out that it was actually the rear brake pedal switch. The actual pedal piece had been bent at one point ( i just got the bike at that time) and needed to be slightly bent again. That's all mine was.
Ok, so after checking filaments/ fuses connections etc I decided to find the rear micro switch and after poking around a little with my finger I realized the cause of the problem - the flat headed screw that touches the rear microswitch was misaligned - now this is a big problem because it is directly attached to the rear brake foot lever. So my foot lever is obviously bent.. Upon closer inspection I determine that it definitely is because it's touching the *insert correct term* (the silver metal thing that bolts on with 5 big bolts that holds the exhaust and both foot pegs and the rear brake master cylinder).
Here's the kicker - I tug on it a little to see if I can maybe slip it back into place and to check just how badly misaligned it is and SNAP! the bolt that holds the foot lever breaks where the thread meets the head and a washer and spring jump off the bike and fall to the ground, so now I'm stuck with the foot lever hanging on by the master cylinder plunger and half a bolt stuck in the thread with no way of removing it while it's on the bike. I'm assuming the easiest thing to do is take the *correct term (bracket?)* off and work on it that way. I'm supposing I'll have to tap out the screw. :'(
If anybody has any experience with this problem or similar, any advice at all is very welcome. Maybe I should make a new thread seeing as this has turned in to a completely different problem haha. So now it looks like a replacement foot lever is what's called for, unless I can bend it back (if you read my thread about a bent front brake lever you'll know my luck with this procedure haha).
Thanks for all the input guys, much apprecieted :)
If you haven't already, get to know Chris at Motored-Sports. Chances are he'll have the parts you need. He's got a few threads in "Parts for Sale"..
Or shop for a set of rear-sets.
Quote from: DarkStaR on June 21, 2008, 08:23:28 PM
Also, inspect the microswitch actuating pins, and how they actuate.
I win.
What bike do you have?
I may have a part you need.
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=2443.0
Quote from: RandyFloyd on June 21, 2008, 05:15:59 PM
When I changed my brake lever there was a small metal pin that depressed the micro-switch that fell out. I had the same problem, the brake light stayed on. I found the pin and replaced it...working fine since.
HAHAHAHAH!!! Same thing happened to me two weeks ago. I took the lever off to grease it b/c it was squeaking a bit. Next thing I know, brake light 'on' all the time!! On my 05 S2R, it's a small cylindrical steel pin. Looked at the exploded diagram in the manual and noticed the pin missing from my assembly. Found it a few days later on the garage floor. Happy ending!! The pin cold have come out when the lever took the bender.
Alright, just to let you all know - I found out that the brake lever isn't bent at all, it was just the mounting screw that was, probably cracked half way through, which is why it broke by just pulling on it. This whole thing was working against my intuition anyway - It's a motorcycle!! It shouldn't break because you tug on something! It doesn't evidently, unless the part you're tugging is already broken haha.
So the mounting screw costs $10 (only part I needed) and the biggest problem was getting the return spring back on, had some trouble working it out but got it in the end. The little nub screw that depresses the microswitch is in line again and all should work well as soon as I mount the bracket. I'm waiting till tomorrow when I can get my hands on a torque wrench and some white loctite (which was all over the mounting bolts when I took everything apart, I'm going to use it when putting everything together to return things to 'normal').
Hope this will be helpful to anyone who has the same problem in the future. Thanks for all the input guys!
If anyone can tell me what I should torque the mounting screws for the bracket at that would be great too.