[mungface78]

I bought one of those brake light license plate bracket deals off of ebay and I'm trying to get it working. This will be going on my 85 vt700. I took off the brake light and license plate light off of the bike, there are 5 wires. Brown with red stripe and green from the license plate tag light, and for the brake light there is a brown, green and green with yellow stripe. From this cheap light there is, red, black, brown. It says black is ground, the red is the brake light and the Brown is the running light, I wired it all up and it just lights up, when you hit the break nothing happens but the lights stay on. What didn't I do right? What do I do with the brown with the red stripe and the green from the original tail light license plate light?

 

["Captain D"]

Got a manual on your Bike???
There MAY be one in the manuals sticky

I bought one of those brake light license plate bracket deals off of ebay and I'm trying to get it working. This will be going on my 85 vt700. I took off the brake light and license plate light off of the bike, there are 5 wires. Brown with red stripe and green from the license plate tag light, and for the brake light there is a brown, green and green with yellow stripe. From this cheap light there is, red, black, brown. It says black is ground, the red is the brake light and the Brown is the running light, I wired it all up and it just lights up, when you hit the break nothing happens but the lights stay on. What didn't I do right? What do I do with the brown with the red stripe and the green from the original tail light license plate light?

Did you wire it up to a battery to check it for operation???
I would...
These are common colors for standard replacement tail light assemblies > red/br/bl...

Our Bikes uses separate ground wires for each circuit > gr...

Not knowing IF the brakelight works > this is the FIRST test I`d do is check it...

Good Luck

 

[mungface78]

Thanks for the reply, yes the brake light works. Its on all the time but when I go to hit the break nothing happens. When I bought the bike the brake light switch didn't work so I bought another one. You see when I first got the bike when you would hit the break , the brake light would just go dim, then when you release it it would get bright again . I have a clymer manuel not an FSM. I will look through the manual in the AM.

 

[White Dog]

You might take a look at the wiring diagram circuit for the brake light in the back of your manual. Sounds as if the factory brake switches are not wired correctly.

 

[jpr1968]

I don't know about the 85 but my 82 Magna had a brake/running light controller and that LED light might not work with it without a load equilizer.

 

["Captain D"]

I was referring to the "new" tail light assembly when I asked "does it work?"...
BUT now you tell us that you had a problem to begin with, LLLL Bring it over, the lift is empty...
I`ll get the coffee going

I woke at 2 am to pee, put another log on the fire, and got back in bed;then this thread came to mind
5 wires to the taillight? is this stock wiring???
Did you check bulbs???

Then went back to sleep

 

[mungface78]

Thanks for the response guys, captain d, the wiring is stock. when I "bobbed" my bike I removed the tail light and license plate light. The license plate light wiring which i wont be using looks like this...
Here's what my tail light looks like....
I'm stumped, I hooked the 3 wires up and it lights up good but just stays on.

 

["Captain D"]

I hafta ask (again)...
Does the light work correctly when testing by hooking it to a battery???
(or other 12VDC source)



LLLL bring over, I can have coffee on and the lift empty by the time you get here

 

[jwinker]

Does the light work correctly when testing by hooking it to a battery??? (or other 12VDC source)

If black is ground, connect this to your (-) battery terminal.

Connect each of the other two wires to the (+) side, one at a time.

One will be dimmer & one will be brighter. Dimmer is your running light & brighter is your brake light.

Once you've done this, do you have a multimeter? Do you know how to use it?

 

[big poppa pump]

How are the wires connected from your brake light assembly (A) (green,brown,green/yellow) to the new license plate (B) (black,red,brown)? Which wire connects to which wire from A to B?

 

["Captain D"]

Thanks for the reply, yes the brake light works. Its on all the time but when I go to hit the break nothing happens. When I bought the bike the brake light switch didn't work so I bought another one. You see when I first got the bike when you would hit the break , the brake light would just go dim, then when you release it it would get bright again . I have a clymer manuel not an FSM. I will look through the manual in the AM. UNQUOTE>>>>>>>>

Next question >
Did you get this issue sorted out and working correctly????

We`re here to help you

Next post with pics>>>
I see two green/one brown...
Did these two green tie together at one time?

Br/r with a green...
Probably need to use br/r for running light???

Then my final question I hafta ask, thus far >
The license plate brakelight? Is this one ONLY a Brakelight???
EDIT> Naah, not with R,B & Br wires it HAS to be run/brake!

 

[wlmmrtn]

By your post you should be connected like this:

Factory -----------------------------------------New light
Green (doesn't matter it's ground) ------- Black (ground)
Green/Yellow (stop lamp) ----------------- Red (stop lamp)
Brown (running lamp) --------------------- Brown (running lamp)
Green (2nd ground) ----------------------- Not used
Brown/Red (ignition hot) ------------------ Not used

You do not need the wiring for the license plate light as these usually use the "running light" as the license plate light also. If this is how you have yours hooked up then reverse the stop and running lamp wires as they may be mislabeled.

There is a catch to this however. If your new light also provides the lighting for your license plate you may want that light to come on when you turn the ignition on (personal preference) and in that case you would use the Ignition hot Brown/Red as the "running light" wire instead.

 

[mungface78]

Captain D the new brake light is a dual filament bulb. Wlmmrtn, I had the lights hooked up like you wrote but both elements are lit up so I reversed the red and brown and now it's Dim. So I think the issue is with the brake light switch, what I don't get is it is a new brake light switch, well "in good working order" switch. When I press on the break nothing happens, so tomorrow morning I'm going to ride over to my brothers and get my meter. Thanks guys for your help so far! I love this forum nothing but cool cats!

 

[mungface78]

You know what it was guys up by the throttle the previous owner had it jumped that white with green and green with yellow stripe. I unplugged the jumper and what do you know I have working brake lights. However the running lights aren't working but I have no plans of riding it at night.

 

[jwinker]

First off - running lights? Do you mean the rear turn signals? Stock lights are amber & not legal for running lights. If you replace them with reds and dual-filament lamps or an RTB (run-turn-brake) controller, you can have rear running lamps.

Second - good to hear it was nothing more than a jumper wire! But, don't forget, you have TWO brake switches, one for front (handlebars) and one for the rear (right foot). Your rear lights now work with both brakes, right?

Sounds like you're getting much closer, though!

 

["Captain D"]

I`d double check the bulb, just for kicks & grins to be sure both filiments are still good...
Just my $.02

Glad to see you got it figured out!...
You NEED a rear light even though you aren`t planning on riding at night...
Some days are dark

 

[Rocs]

Did you figure out how to get this working? I have a 2001 VLX and I am trying to hook up a similar light. Having the same issues...

 

[Cre8ive Cycle]

I'm having a similar headache getting a seperate license plate led light to work off the same circuit as the dim tail light marker light function. The led tail light is doing both bright brake and dim marker but same out put that makes my 05 vt750dc brown and green for ground. How In the bleep does the tail light function off this circuit but nit the tiny led for my side mount plate.
I'm going to bet that the aftermarket tail light must have a chip or isolators in side it?? Wonder if one of those tail light adaptors that Uhaul sells for some goofy towing situations won't fix this pain. I can just run a seperate switch to it or hot wire to ignition on... but I'm determined to make this work

 

["Captain D"]

I can just run a seperate switch to it or hot wire to ignition on... but I'm determined to make this work UNquote..........

Yeah, Big Dawg called last night stating that his passing lights are not working...
This is after I wired them direct to the battery???

He has had trouble with these lights since I met him 6 years back in time, so this does NOT surprise me that they`re not fixed yet...
BUT we DO KNOW what ain`t the problem

There is more to rewire is all...
THEN we can hook it up the right way, to operate off the High Low switch

Good Luck....
Don`t lose faith!
Dennis

 

[Furball Zen]

I don't know about the 85 but my 82 Magna had a brake/running light controller and that LED light might not work with it without a load equilizer.

No, LED's will work regardless, its for turn signal use that you might need a resistor so they dont flash as fast.