Brake light switch

[reaper]

Anyone have a problem with the foot brake light switch sticking?
Mine was today, sprayed it with dry lube to see if that helps.

[kenb]

Mine took a bit of a hit when the bike fell over. The stop light would work intermittently. adjusted the switch/pull wire and all is good. there was one on ebay for $5 recently. I bet some adjusting will do the trick.

[zoom45]

Mine stuck too but it's threaded where you can adjust it in the bracket.
Zoom45

[glwilson]

Two years ago my switch was sticking.

Another biker riding behind me noticed it and mentioned it to me when he came up from behind.

I touched the tail-light and it was extremely hot because mine was stuck "on". I swear it would have melted the lens if this guy wouldn't have said something.

I got under the bike and got it released but it continued to stick the rest of the day; thus I was afraid to use my back brake.

Here is the deal. The switch is poorly designed with an open-end that allows dirt and grime to enter into it. I know where mine came from -- it happened when I trailered the bike up north on a long trip on an open-bed trailer in the rain. (I will never trailer my bike without cover ever again -- I swear.)

Anyway; road grit and grime was "driven" into the switch.

The solution: You will have to repeatedly spray something like WD-40 into the open-end of the switch and manually move the brake pedal (or cable if you can do so) back and forth repeatedly. I had to do this many times to get it to loosen-up. I did not get 100% results at first and was going to just get a new one; but didn't have time (or didn't get around to) ordering a new switch -- so every time I rode the bike I would get under it and repeat what I said above.

The switch would occasionally still stick; but infrequently. Eventually, the switch never did stick again. Thus the problem has been resolved.

However; I still to this day; turn around briefly to look at the tail-light to see if it is sticking. It did not stick all last season -- but I still looked and will likely do so for as long as I own the bike.

Hope this helps some.

[damark115]

Mine stuck last winter. Took it all apart at about 25 degrees in the garage. Yep I like cold rides. It was all full of dirt and crap. Lots of lube. swore it was getting replaced but had forgotten about it till now. Had thought about running a little tell tale light that I could see while driving. I would be able to see when the light was on and conversely when it wasn't. Figured a small single led or something.

[wheelie]

I noticed mine sticking if I lightly released the brake. If I did a side step it would snap back and the brake light would go out. I sprayed it with PB Blaster and worked the crud out of it. It seems to work fine if I include this as part of the oil change routine. I do like the idea of a indicator light. Seems to me my 1975 Yamaha had one on it from the factory.