97 - Strange Brake lights?

Today at Walmart I saw some 1157 LED flashing brake lights, so I figured I would give them a shot. Threw one in, and I could get running lights, but no brakes (from either front or rear). Tried flipping it around, obviously wouldn't go in, but it lit up for the brake light. Gave up and put the old bulb back in, and it does the same thing.

Neither brake light comes on, from either pedal, but both bulbs will light up to the brighter filament if I put it in backwards.
Any idea what's going on here? Where do I even start to chase it down, since horn and indicators work, and I can get all 3 bulbs I tried to light both brake and running lights, but not when I pull the lever...

 

Have you checked the fuses? The running lights and brake lights are on separate fuses.

 

No, I haven't yet. I had read that the brake lights were on the same fuse as the horn and indicators, but I might be mistaken on that. I'm new to VFR's, where is the brake light fuse located? The fuse block in the right front fairing near the cockpit?

 

Looks like Fuse E - 10 A, is for the brakes lights, turn signals, and horn, and fuse B - 10 A is the front position, meter light, and tail light. My turn signals and horn work, and as I mentioned in my original post, I can get the brighter brake light filaments to light up if I plug the bulb in backward. Confident the fuse isn't bad.

If I had a bad connection to the light sockets, I wouldn't see the brighter filament, correct?

 

First I would only troubleshoot with the original bulbs, assuming that they worked before. The LED bulbs are an unknown at this point. Do you have access to a voltmeter or multi-meter?

 

I am back to using the original bulbs. I haven't had the bike long, so I can't confirm that the brake lights have worked correctly while I've owned it.
And yes, I have a multimeter.

 

Do you have a copy of the Service Manual? I couldn't find it here on VFRWorld, but found it at VFRD.

https://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index.php?/files/file/2-vfr-750-service-manual/

I would use the ohmmeter to double check the bulb,
Then I would check for voltage at the socket and work backwards until I found the problem. Since the horn works we know that it is not the fuse.

 

Alright, so I had a combination of issues going on!



First, the biggest, was the mini-switch under the front brake lever. The switch itself was fine, just unplugged. The PO had a RAM mount on the brake lever bar mount, and in pulling it off, he must have had those come loose. After plugging that back in, I had brake lights, but only from the front!

The rear brake switch just needed adjusting as you had to be all the way stomped before it lit, but I think having the open circuit before may have been causing the rear brake to not flip the lights on.



I ended up installing just one of the flashing LED's and left one incandescent in there. I guess I'm worried the cheap flashing unit could go out and leave me stranded!