82 gs750e - Brake light on - headlight out?

[mret430]

Hi, I have been reading various posts on related items. So my brake light stays on and flickers off and on when i press the front brake lever or foot pedal. My headlight is also now not working. Are these related electrically? I replaced the front brake lever switch a couple years back but when I played around with that wire the brake light did go off intermittently however, that was not a fix.

Thanks!

[tom203]

Flickering brake light might just be bad ground or bulb.
Ok,headlight out- does taillight still work?

edit. "Brake light stays on" stuff.. You mean even before you use brake?

[mret430]

Thanks. Tail light not on - changed bulb and yes brake light on without using brake. When I squeeze the front brake lever the brake light goes off, then on when released.

[tom203]

Thanks. Tail light not on - changed bulb and yes brake light on without using brake. When I squeeze the front brake lever the brake light goes off, then on when released.

Is this a two filament bulb? One for taillight and one for brake light? Or two seperate bulbs?
maybe someone switched the wiring around.... the bulb body is supposed to be the ground, otherwise it will behave oddly. Did you install new bulb correctly?

take a look here..

http://zeus.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS750_schematic_color.pdf

[mret430]

2 separate bulbs. Wiring is correct; I even had a backup extra tail light assembly that I switched in and still the same situation. I'll pull the headlight bulb today and see what happens. What about the brake pedal switch?

[mret430]

Also, let's say the front brake lever switch is shot, wouldn't the rear brake pedal still activate the brake light?

[Brendan W]

It should. Usually the switches are wired in parallel so if the front is not making the rear will anyway.
What you are describing sounds to me like there is a ground problem and the reason the brake light goes off when you close the supply switch is that there is already 12V on the other side of the bulb.

[Brendan W]

Just noticed this is your first thread, Welcome to GSR and if you haven't already found it this will have wiring diagrams, service manuals etc etc

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

[mret430]

Thanks very much. Electrical is not my strong suit other than the basics. This is weird that it just started happening. I removed front lever switch and its definitely corroded out so I will replace. I will keep trouble shooting and check on the link you provided. Anyone else have ideas or similar situation feel free to weigh in!

Thanks

[mret430]

Quick update - it seems that if I press very, very hard on the rear brake pedal the brake light does work. Do I need to adjust the brake pedal and/or switch?

[Brendan W]

Switch most likely. You can move it up or down to get it to make at different pedal positions. I like them coming on just as the free play in the pedal is used up.

[mret430]

Success! After adjusting the pedal play and the switch I've got brake lights. I still will replace the front lever switch. Thanks for working alongside me on this!