TOPIC:

On my "83 KZ 1100 there are two brakelight switches..one for the front and one for the rear...all of a sudden I have NO brakelights! but I do have tail lights..what I'm asking is....If one (either front or rear) stoplight switch is out does that affect the other?? I have used a continuity light to check exposed leads on the rear switch and when I activate it the light shows current on both poles(blue & brown) snf sdjusted the switch for maximum contact as well as cleaning all connections but still NO brakelights !!! would appreciate your input!!
thanks,

RTG
Rancho Mirage,Ca.

Your tail light running light is on a completely different switched circuit than the brake light. There is a RED wire that comes off the ignition switch and goes straight back to the tail running light. That is about all that the red circuit does. When you turn key on, the tail light WILL light unless the red wire or a connection is broke, the bulb is burned or the ground is bad.

The brake light switches work independently. There are two; as noted. Front and rear. Both work off the BLUE switched circuit which is also used for other things. Once of these will be the headlight. The blue subcircuit (not sure how it runs exactly on your bike so look at a schematic) powers both the headlight hi and lo beams and the two brake light switches. The blue wire that runs to the headlight actually goes to the hi/lo beam switch and from out of the switch are red/black and red/yellow wires to the headlight itself. This means that if you have a headlight, the problem is with the leg that feeds the two brakelight switches. If both are gone, then it is likely between the point on the harness where the blue wire separates to power the switches and either of the switches since both are affected. Get a wiring diagram... It isn't likely a ground problem as both switches are grounded by plugging into the main ground loop on the harness and if both were bad, most likely all the other grounds on the bike would be too...

WG ; thank you for the help! what you say makes perfect sense ... again ..muchas gracias
rtg

replace the bulb, see if the parts store has a 2057. its a hvy duty 1157

MISTAKE MISTAKE MISTAKE... was looking at a brakelight switch... the BROWN circuit powers the switches and a BLUE wire comes off both the front and rear brake light switch and goes to the rear light. The BROWN subcircuit is where the problem most likely is since there are two separate paths for the front and rear switches via the blue wires to the rear brake light. BROWN is also switched and used for horn, emergency lighting and something else so if those things are working, the leg off the brown switched circuit will be the area where the problem is occuring. There may be a connection in the headlight shell or the brown may come off the right hand switchgear. It varies by model. Get a wiring diagram for your bike and trace the brown subcircuit off the ignitiion switch to where it splits to feed the brake light switches. This is where you will find the issue. Sorry for the confusing and misleading initial info. There is a blue feed for the hi/lo beam but is has NOTHING to do with the brake lights.