Brake and taillight not working.

[LSU Tiger]

I have a 2000 VS800 Intruder with 75,000 miles. My headlight sheared off at the mount. I have ordered another one. When my Dad and I took the wires off we wrote down which wire goes to which. Apparently we got something wrong. We have a brown female left over. When I turn the ignition on my rear tail light and brake light do not work. The wiring schematic shows a brown, B/W, and a W/B going to the brake and taillight. Any idea which wire I need to hook up to make the brake and taillight work? Thanks. Joey Broome

[WintrSol]

The brown wire is the tail light, B/W is ground, and the W/B is the brake light.

[navigator]

The brown wire is the tail light, B/W is ground, and the W/B is the brake light.

Those wires that WintrSol mentioned are all in a white plastic connector in the rubber boot under the rear seat.
The female brown in your headlight is a spare wire, originally connected to nothing.
Check your fuses, shearing off the headlight should not have affected your brake/tail light.

[LSU Tiger]

The brown female connector and wire in the headlight does not have a brown wire to go to it.There is also a black and white female wire connector that does not have a wire to it. I assume these are accessory wires. I put a new bulb in for the tail light and the brake light. The tail light works but the brake light does not. Is there an inline fuse? We checked all fuses in fuse box on side and they are good.

[LSU Tiger]

I found the connector with the brown, white and black, and black and white under the seat. There is no power to the white and black wire at the connector (which is the brake light) when the ignition is on and either the front or back brake are depressed. All five fuses are good.

[Herb]

I found the connector with the brown, white and black, and black and white under the seat. There is no power to the white and black wire at the connector (which is the brake light) when the ignition is on and either the front or back brake are depressed. All five fuses are good.

The white and black is the ground for the whole bike. Take a look at the wiring diagram in the downloadable manual that is pinned at the top of this forum.

[LSU Tiger]

I did a visual check of all the fuses. I will check them with a tester.
I checked each fuse with tester and all are good.

[navigator]

I found the connector with the brown, white and black, and black and white under the seat. There is no power to the white and black wire at the connector (which is the brake light) when the ignition is on and either the front or back brake are depressed. All five fuses are good.

The white and black is the ground for the whole bike. Take a look at the wiring diagram in the downloadable manual that is pinned at the top of this forum.

B/W is a common ground, W/B is the brake light.
Pull the fuse and meter it.
Check at both brake light switches.
Two spares in the headlight hook to nothing, Br and B/W.

[LSU Tiger]

I checked all fuses with a meter and they are good. I have an old harness and the front brake switch connection seems to be at the handlebar by the kill switch. Where is the stop light switch connection (rear brake)?

[navigator]

I checked all fuses with a meter and they are good. I have an old harness and the front brake switch connection seems to be at the handlebar by the kill switch. Where is the stop light switch connection (rear brake)?

Right side of bike below side cover, a cable pulls on the lower end of the switch....cable runs to pedal.
Connection on top. turning the plastic nut adjusts when the lamp comes on.

[LSU Tiger]

I found my owner's manual and instructions showing front and rear brake light switches. I have 11.7 volts thru the orange wire at the front brake light switch. I will check rear brake light switch tomorrow. Thanks.

[Herb]

I found the connector with the brown, white and black, and black and white under the seat. There is no power to the white and black wire at the connector (which is the brake light) when the ignition is on and either the front or back brake are depressed. All five fuses are good.

The white and black is the ground for the whole bike. Take a look at the wiring diagram in the downloadable manual that is pinned at the top of this forum.

B/W is a common ground, W/B is the brake light.
Pull the fuse and meter it.
Check at both brake light switches.
Two spares in the headlight hook to nothing, Br and B/W.

Sorry about that, brain fart in the way I stated it.

[LSU Tiger]

The front brake switch is good. The stop light switch (rear brake) switch is good. Voltage to front brake switch and stop light switch (rear brake).The tail light wire has 12 volts. No voltage to the white and black wire (rear brake) at the three connectors that run to the brake and tail light. It seems to me the problem is between the switches and the three connectors. But what could the problem be? Looking at the wiring diagram in my Clymer repair manual there seems to be a connection where the two white/black wires come together from the front and rear brake switches and then go to the three wire connection that goes to the brake light. I can not find that connection. Am I reading this correctly? Where would that connection be? Thanks.

[navigator]

IMO a broken wire. you may need to unwrap the harness.
Keep in mind that a wire can break inside the insulation, not visible to the naked eye.
Try running 12v volt to the W/B leading to the tailight, see if the brake filament lights.
Also try pushing a straight sewing pin through the insulation of the W/B wire near the connector and check for voltage. the connector itself may be broken.

[LSU Tiger]

IMO a broken wire. you may need to unwrap the harness.
Keep in mind that a wire can break inside the insulation, not visible to the naked eye.
Try running 12v volt to the W/B leading to the tailight, see if the brake filament lights.
Also try pushing a straight sewing pin through the insulation of the W/B wire near the connector and check for voltage. the connector itself may be broken.

Navigator, thanks. I will try that later today when I can get my dad to help. Joey Broome

I just tried the sewing pin through the insulation and did not get voltage.

[LSU Tiger]

I have brake and tail lights. My Dad and I checked the voltage on the white/black leg of the front brake switch and it was about 8. So we put the white /black wire back on the switch leg and checked voltage at 3 connectors. We had voltage so we connected that and we have brake and tail lights working correctly. I think the problem was the connection of the white/black leg to the switch. I do not know why the rear brake switch did not work. I guess the front and rear work together. Thanks.

I sincerely appreciate your help. This website shows there are still good people in this world.

[navigator]

Glad you got it sorted out.

[LSU Tiger]

I went out to the bike tonight and checked my brake lights and the rear foot pedal did not trigger the light. I tightened the switch spring up and it is working fine. I did not realize you could tighten the pedal switch spring up without taking the small cover plate off. Again, thanks.

[-DC-]

Thank you guys for helping my buddy LSUTiger out.... It’s great to see the spirit of the original board’s tech section lives on! Thanks again y’all!