Brake lt woes

The tail section is stock 78 the light itself is 05 zx10r

do u have any more pics? from the side maybe? how do u like the lines, do the lt's lines follow the tails lines?
maybe i'll have to switch lts to a zx10.
the zx12 follows the lines of the z1 tail best, but i will still have to do some cutting.
thanks.

Its actually tucked up and in and hidden you cant see any of the lines. Its at an angle tilted down and really visible and bright from behind day or night. The wiring runs in to the rear section storage through a hole drilled the size of the plug on the back of the light. I have pictures of us doing the conversion I just cant find them. On the picture with the primer and hanging the light is under the tape
If you click the piture it will zoom in!

I'm pretty sure that tail light will get you pulled over and written up out here in California. The tail lights are required to have some visibility at right angles to direction of travel.

The other thing is the turn signals: the code is the center of the turn signal lense has to be about six or eight inches left or right of the center of the tail light. Guys always want to build "integrated" tail lights with the turn signals on the sides but they are not legal here.

jayw704 , that baby realy tucks up in there nice. i may go with 1 of them now.
thanks for the pics.
bountyhunter u may very well be right about the law. i dont mind taking my chances on some mods though. i did get a ticket for having a K&N filter as a extra vent on my kick start hole. so i had to remove it and come up with another less obvious method of venting.

I know what the law says about lots of mods Example= noise deciple level v&h 4-1 sidewinder drag spec only, not legal. Government epa and emmission test not even close Licence plate in all lower 48 has to be the furthest thing to the back of the bike (even the tire) and be lit. Not really a good look for a streched bike. And rear view mirrors and blinkers on all bikes but most of us that chop our bikes use hand signals... So some risks are being taken by chopping and customizing your bike. I can tell you in FL, MO, and MI as long as your tail lights can be seen from 75 yards you are legall no laws about side view.
But all states are different so check with your local police station if you wanna play it safe;)

You guy's probably won't like my opinion.
I really think that Visibility is most important. Sure its a Trend to modify the lighting, but when visibility is cut it is dangerous. In this lawsuit happy age, you may find that your mod gets you sued by another driver saying they couldn't see a signal when you changed lanes or when they did, since side few is nothing, that is if you survive the wreck anyway. Some of those laws are there for a reason, and I know I would really hate it if I changed lanes right into a bike, or car. With all the Cell phone texters and GPS setters on the road, it has probably never been more dangerous on a bike. Some small but bright flush mount LED's might be a wise choice to put on the side of the rear cowl, this would satisfy the Law, and be safer, while looking great. My 2cents.

Regarding the red dash brake bulb idiot light ---

With the brake dash bulb (idiot light), here's the way it's supposed to function:

Ignition ON with no brake applied --- dash bulb stays dark.

Apply either brake --- dash bulb glows steady during brake application. Regardless of whether the brake light is shining, or whether the rear bulb is missing altogether.

Whenever dash bulb flashes, that's a warning.
And such flashing would typically occur when just riding along normally without either brake applied, and happen to notice the flashing dash bulb.
It's flashing to warn the rider that something's wrong in the rear brake light circuit, whereby the rear brake won't shine upon application of rear brake. For whatever reason, such as for example a burnt out brake light filament in the rear bulb.
If the rear bulb is simply missing, the warning dash light is supposed to flash while neither brake is applied.

Good Fortune!

Motor Head wrote:

You guy's probably won't like my opinion.
I really think that Visibility is most important. Sure its a Trend to modify the lighting, but when visibility is cut it is dangerous. In this lawsuit happy age, you may find that your mod gets you sued by another driver saying they couldn't see a signal when you changed lanes or when they did, since side few is nothing, that is if you survive the wreck anyway. Some of those laws are there for a reason, and I know I would really hate it if I changed lanes right into a bike, or car. With all the Cell phone texters and GPS setters on the road, it has probably never been more dangerous on a bike. Some small but bright flush mount LED's might be a wise choice to put on the side of the rear cowl, this would satisfy the Law, and be safer, while looking great. My 2cents.

all very valid points MH. i agree. it is best to be seen.
maybe i can let the tail light poke out a little. when i convert the bilkers to LED maybe i can set them up like the tail lt , and have a running lt in the blinkers .

Patton, thanks for the explanation on the brake lt sensor. i want aware of how it actually worked.

Here is a recap of the problem .
my running light burned out and brake light kept working. i changed the bulb, thinking nothing of a burnt out bulb. now just a few rides latter, my bud stops me and say my rear running lt is out again, but the brake lt is good.
any suggestions as to where to start with this one. electrical is not my strong suit. come to think of it , i dont have a strong suite. Lol
I’m more of a jackass of all trades.



Ok i checked a few things. i have a 76kz900 with what appears to be 73 to 75 wiring, only 1 fuse.
wires to tail have good ground (0, Resistance)at wires leading to the light. i have not taken the light apart to check the bulb connections.
I only 10.2 v.at the red tail running lt wire. the bat has 12.7, and 14.7v when running.
i tested the voltage from the white fuse wire up to the ignition (key)switch and have 12.7 there. i am confused about tracing the wires back further. there are 4 wires in the block to the switch.white, red, blue, brown.the wht(power straight from bat) goes in and when i turn the key on it energizes a brown coming out.if i turn the key all the way right it energizes the red and i get 12.7 v to the tail lt.with the key in run and i turn on the running lt's , it energizes the blue at 10.5v. at no time does it energizes the red. the red at the tail gets 10.5 for the running lt. so at some point the blue at the key must join to the red for the tail lt? but i dont see that in the wiring diagram? the blue goes to the headlight switch.
at no time does the red at the switch get power?
it shows the red going directly to the tail lt.
the blue goes to the head lt switch .i dont understand the head lt switch power? the blue is on booth sides of the switch , but 1 side is actual a red that comes back to the blue.and a brown is on another terminal that leads to the kill switch.

I don't have the diagram for your bike. But it sounds like you have got a large loss along the rear light circuit. Does your book show the Ignition Switch contacts, at Off/ On/ and park if it has park? This will show which wires the switch connects at each position. The brown is the main one that powers the coils, brake light switch etc. Blue should be the tail light, can you do a jumper at the fuse panel to put Battery voltage to the tail light fuse. Then see if the voltage comes up at the connector. If it does then it is in the switch and connectors near the Ignition and left hand control.