Brake Light question.

[FreepZ]

This may seem like an odd question, but:

Does the brake like on your Empulse get brighter when you press the foot brake or pull the brake lever?

Because on my Empulse, the brake light intensity does not change at all, while on every other vehicle that I have owned, the brake light is activated when the brake is activated.

I wonder if that was done by design (which seems to me to be a bit dangerous), or if something isn't working. Note that I tried with the kickstand down, the kickstand up, and even when moving slowly (which isn't easy, since I didn't have anybody following me to tell me what they saw). As far as I could tell, the intensity didn't ever change.

[Brammofan]

Are you saying that when you pull the lever or push the foot brake, that the brake light does not come on?  That the only light you have is the tail light?  Is it possible that the brake light bulb is burned out?  Because it should definitely get brighter when you put on the brakes.

[Shinysideup]

Something is definitely amiss. You NEED a brake light!

In addition to checking the bulb with a continuity tester, you could also check the wiring connectors to the unit by removing the bottom cover of the tail section. The connectors are bayonet fittings and the one to the brake light may have not been properly seated and worked itself loose.

If it's neither of these, I'd take it to your dealer or, if not near you, email Adam at Brammo service.

Having been rear ended twice in city traffic, I can't imagine being on a bike without a working brake light.

[Richard230]

I have had this problem before on other motorcycles.  It is usually caused by a malfunctioning or incorrectly adjusted brake light switch.  Zero's first formal safety recall on their 2012 models was to replace a defective brake light switch that (on some models, not mine) would not operate under normal braking pressure.

[Shinysideup]

I have had this problem before on other motorcycles.  It is usually caused by a malfunctioning or incorrectly adjusted brake light switch.

If there's no brake light when both the front and rear brake switches are activated, wouldn't it be highly improbable that BOTH switches were not working?

[Richard230]

If the switch is mechanical, and if it is mis-adjusted, it might be on all the time and what you are seeing is both the tail light and the brake light being activated.  I agree that it is highly unlikely that two switches would malfunction, but if what you are seeing is a brake light that is on all of the time, it could be due to a single malfunctioning switch.

I suppose that there could be a short in the wires, perhaps due to the insulation rubbing on some part of the frame, that might cause the brake light to stay lit all of the time. (I think that is how these lights work.  If they are grounded then the bulb lights up.)

[FreepZ]

After a bit of investigation, I found out what the trouble was.

The front brake switch is not connected to the brake lever. I.e. it looks to the switch like the front brake is always being pulled. There's supposed to be something that fits between the lever and the brake switch, but when my brake lever got replaced (after it got damaged in shipping), that part must have been lost.

I am confident that this is the problem because after I had dismantled the switch, and I was able to press it (as if the lever was fully released), the brake light dimmed.

The missing part should be pretty small, so I hope the dealership will be able to mail me a replacement soon.

This is what the switch looks like once it's been detached from the handle bar. Notice the small hole where the missing part should be. The button on the switch is that white thing that's on the left of the box with the wire coming out of it.

[flar]

It's there an equivalent part on the clutch handle that you could swap over?

The bike is wired for a clutch switch,  but the switch signal isn't used for anything right now (they recommended it to me for controlling a garage door switch because of that).  Clutch switch must mean clutch part to depress the button, no?

[Richard230]

The sort of the same thing happened to me, I think it was on my 1997 BMW Funduro.  The little switch has mico screws that allow it to slide around somewhat.  The screws loosened and one fell out, resulting in the switch sliding out of adjustment. That kept the brake light on all the time.  I seem to recall that I I tried to order the screws, but BMW did not sell the screws or the switch as separate parts.  They wanted to sell me an entire brake lever assembly, which I declined.  I found a little screw somewhere and managed to bodge the switch well enough to get it working again for as long as I owned the bike. What flar recommends sounds like a good plan to try.

Adjusting the switch so that it works properly is not easy, BTW.

[00049 (AKA SopFu)]

I would call back the dealer and explain to them "you sold me a bike with a non-working brake light, putting me at risk of serious injury or death. What are you going to do about it?" The dealer's PDI should have caught the problem, and this isn't one of those times to play the helpful customer, in my opinion. My guess is their service manager will be interested in knowing they let a bike leave with a non-functioning brake light, too, especially since they sell to more demanding customers than a typical dealer.

I would not monkey around with it any more-especially if there is potential to need a replacement parts like Richard experienced.

[flar]

If you lead with "I see this situation as something that I could sue you over" then most businesses will generally "lawyer up" either literally or figuratively and help you with that problem and try as hard as they can to deny any responsibility or involvement beyond correcting the problem.

If you approach them with "I just discovered this big oops" then they'll likely be very apologetic and go out of their way to not only fix the problem, but make sure you are and will remain a happy customer.

Just my experience dealing with businesses in the gray areas of liability.  You don't want to be labeled a customer with a legally antagonistic attitude until it is really warranted.  If they aren't going to go the extra mile to fix the problem, then ramp up the legal aspects as a corrective approach, not as a proactive tactic to set the stage. The next time you have a problem that isn't life threatening and/or doesn't involve legal liability you don't want them to take a conservative approach to avoid looking at fault.

Someone who came back to them with "your bike could have killed me" doesn't really appear to be a repeat customer.