Brake light
- Thread starter johnnyg50
- Start date
TripleJ
Senior Member
Good chance you have a bad rear brake light switch. Unplug the switch and put a jumper wire between the wire terminals and see if that illuminates the rear brake light. If so replace the switch. If not look for a broken/pinched/corroded wire in the rear brake light wiring.
Not sure about your model and year but on my 08 Heritage the rear brake light switch is activated by brake fluid pressure. If I pushed harder than normal the light would illuminate but would not if using normal pressure. If it is that type of switch you will need to bleed the brake system when you replace the switch.
Congrats on the new bike and welcome to the forum!
Not sure about your model and year but on my 08 Heritage the rear brake light switch is activated by brake fluid pressure. If I pushed harder than normal the light would illuminate but would not if using normal pressure. If it is that type of switch you will need to bleed the brake system when you replace the switch.
Congrats on the new bike and welcome to the forum!
Welcome Johnnyg50 to the HDtalking forum, Triple J has you covered...use this diagram to help you sort out the parts if you do not have a schematic.
Last edited:
J
Jack Klarich
Guest
To find your rear brake switch first find the master cylinder the brake pedal is attached to it
then find the brake pipe coming off the rear of the master cylinder and follow it till you find a barrel attached to the brake pipe with 2 wires attached that is the switch
it is sometimes a wee bit difficult to locate some components on a motorcycle
Brian
then find the brake pipe coming off the rear of the master cylinder and follow it till you find a barrel attached to the brake pipe with 2 wires attached that is the switch
it is sometimes a wee bit difficult to locate some components on a motorcycle
Brian
Just be happy you don't have drum brakes as it is so nice to have bikes with stong hydralic brakes front and rear...so as the previous posters stated, you have to physically look at the master cylinder to find the mechanical to electical switch actuator. Common for the rear to go out because it is usually located where road mud or water splashes on it, especially in the rear.
ProF
Junior Member
My rear switch on my fxrs went out some years back. I checked with HD for replacement....$$$$. So I went to Pep Boys, bought the cheapest one they had (for MUCH less than HD) and it worked fine. Didn't even have to bleed the brakes! I don't remember anymore, but I think I had to make some small modification to mount it, but it was simple.
BTW, if you have an older single sealed headlight like the fxr, you can save big bucks on replacement by using the low/high lamp made for the cars with the dual headlights. It fits perfectly on the fxr and because it's the low beam half of the duals, it has low and high built in. The high lamp is high beam only. Also, get the right side light, as it's aimed a bit to the left.
BTW, if you have an older single sealed headlight like the fxr, you can save big bucks on replacement by using the low/high lamp made for the cars with the dual headlights. It fits perfectly on the fxr and because it's the low beam half of the duals, it has low and high built in. The high lamp is high beam only. Also, get the right side light, as it's aimed a bit to the left.