Turn Signal, Brakes Lights And Horn. Oh My

Hey there VFRD buddies! I have been off the forum for a bit. But still on the bike.

I need some help with an electrical issue. My brake lights, turn signals and horn don�t work. Replaced the fuse, blows again. My 98 has all of these items on one circuit. The Fuse blows immediately. Hoping somebody has had a similar issue so I can start there first.

I did a fenderectomy and have LED lights instead of the standard License plate light. But those appear to be on the regular light circuit. I did trailer the bike back from Utah a few weeks ago, it rained on it, and I have not ridden the bike since then. The bike had all three items working fine when I put it on the trailer.

Any Hints?

Hey there VFRD buddies! I have been off the forum for a bit. But still on the bike.

I need some help with an electrical issue. My brake lights, turn signals and horn don�t work. Replaced the fuse, blows again. My 98 has all of these items on one circuit. The Fuse blows immediately. Hoping somebody has had a similar issue so I can start there first.

I did a fenderectomy and have LED lights instead of the standard License plate light. But those appear to be on the regular light circuit. I did trailer the bike back from Utah a few weeks ago, it rained on it, and I have not ridden the bike since then. The bike had all three items working fine when I put it on the trailer.

Any Hints?

Narrow down the problem first. They are all on the same circuit. Replace the fuse, then one at a time work backwards to identify the problem. Horn..........does that blow it? Turn signals...............left work?right work?..........then the brakes. Front brake, back brake.

I had to go through this recently. I had been moving the front brake assy. Turns out I had created a short in the switch and it was easy to fix.

If you buy a box of fuses with several different amp fuses, put the lower ones in if you are going to blow it. Save the 10 ammp for after you fix it. Either way, have several, it can take a few to get to the root cause. If you just did some work, I would start there. Funny how we often create our own problems.

Hey there VFRD buddies! I have been off the forum for a bit. But still on the bike.

I need some help with an electrical issue. My brake lights, turn signals and horn don�t work. Replaced the fuse, blows again. My 98 has all of these items on one circuit. The Fuse blows immediately. Hoping somebody has had a similar issue so I can start there first.

I did a fenderectomy and have LED lights instead of the standard License plate light. But those appear to be on the regular light circuit. I did trailer the bike back from Utah a few weeks ago, it rained on it, and I have not ridden the bike since then. The bike had all three items working fine when I put it on the trailer.

Any Hints?

My initial thought was "you blew a fuse". But you know that already.

Please excuse me if this is too elementary, but it has been my experience that a wiring short can cause a fuse to blow immediately. I think you may have to track that down (which can be a pain, if it's not something obvious).

If you have added an LED light instead of the standard license plate light, try disconnecting that, and see if you can successfully replace the fuse (or just connect up a multimeter in place of the fuse, to look for connectivity).

If not, then leave it disconnected & try disconnecting another something (say, horn) and then see if you can successfully replace the fuse (or, again, see if a multimeter detects a circuit).

If not, you get the idea - at this point, you are checking to see where you have a short.

Good luck. No, make that best of luck - tracking down a wiring short ain't fun.

Ron

If you strapped the bike down onto the trailer around the handlebars, there is a micro-switch on the front brake that would be easy to short if under pressure.

If you strapped the bike down onto the trailer around the handlebars, there is a micro-switch on the front brake that would be easy to short if under pressure.

Did that one myself once trailering back from DC. Seems like my Canyon Dancer put my horn button & wiring into a bind on the left handlebar. It had minutely cut through a wire but that's all it took.

I was thinking it has to be in the Left Control pod. I will check that out tomorrow. The Tail Lights and LED's are on a seperate circut so it seems odd that they would effect each other... But then you never know. It is the only mod I've done to the electronic side. The Switch in the brake could be the first place to look.

I guess I can get more fuses, and try disconnecting each peice until i do not blow more fuses.

I was thinking it has to be in the Left Control pod. I will check that out tomorrow. The Tail Lights and LED's are on a seperate circut so it seems odd that they would effect each other... But then you never know. It is the only mod I've done to the electronic side. The Switch in the brake could be the first place to look.

I guess I can get more fuses, and try disconnecting each peice until i do not blow more fuses.

You don't have to disconnect anything. Don't make more work for yourself. Change the fuse. Then pick one. Say the horn. Hit the horn. If you can operate the horn several times, that's not it. When you operate something and it blows the fuse, Bingo. I noticed in your first post you say it blows instantly. Does this mean that you can change the fuse and as soon as you power the bike, the fuse blows? If that is the case, than the problem is linked to the running light you were messing with. Reverse the work you did and re-group.

I was thinking it has to be in the Left Control pod. I will check that out tomorrow. The Tail Lights and LED's are on a seperate circut so it seems odd that they would effect each other... But then you never know. It is the only mod I've done to the electronic side. The Switch in the brake could be the first place to look.

I guess I can get more fuses, and try disconnecting each peice until i do not blow more fuses.

You don't have to disconnect anything. Don't make more work for yourself. Change the fuse. Then pick one. Say the horn. Hit the horn. If you can operate the horn several times, that's not it. When you operate something and it blows the fuse, Bingo. I noticed in your first post you say it blows instantly. Does this mean that you can change the fuse and as soon as you power the bike, the fuse blows? If that is the case, than the problem is linked to the running light you were messing with. Reverse the work you did and re-group.

Yes it blows instantly. The running lights and PLate lights were done over a year ago. Everything was fine until today.

Interesting. If it blows when you power up, it is a problem with just that circuit and the mod shouldn't have anything to do with it. You might want to try the disconnection method, it may be a better way to isolate the issue. The interesting part of this is averything on that circuit requires input from you to close it. If I were a betting man, I would say that the front brake lever switch is the culprit. Look under the bfake fluid reservior and you will see a pair of wires heading to a high limit switch. The brake lever holds this button in, when you pull in the lever, the button is released, closing the circuit that turns on the brake light. If your strapping was in this area, it could have crushed the switch, closing the circuit.

That's my $.02 from thousands of miles away.

It won't be the actual switch, it will be one of the two wires is shorting out against the metal object right at the switch, pull the two wires off of the front brake switch and see if the fuse blows now. Chances are very good it will not blow now. Take a good look at the wire that was closest to the metal part there (sorry, cannot remember exactly where it sits anymore, and I no longer have the VFR to look at), and you will find a very small hole in the rubber insulation. Simply bend the connectors out from the metal part and reconnect the wires. Does not matter the order of the wires, it is a simple on/off switch.

I rotated my front brake lever down for comfort and pinched the black female
connector on the bottom of the switch. It took a year for it to wear through and
short that same circuit. Hope you find your short quick.

Flip

I rotated my front brake lever down for comfort and pinched the black female
connector on the bottom of the switch. It took a year for it to wear through and
short that same circuit. Hope you find your short quick.

Flip

I also rotated my brake lever down and weeks later had the same issue. Yes the horn, turn signals and brake light are all on one circuit. Your headlights, tail lights gauges will still work. Instead of blowing fuses as you chase it down get hold of a multi tester and set to amps. Make up an attachment to attach the leads across the fuse holder. If the amp meter pegs when you switch on the ignition you still have a short. This method saves a lot of fuses. The first thing I would do is pull the wires off the front brake light switch and see if that clears the short. The left hand controller is harder. You need to pull the front fairing off to disconnect the wires. I sure wish I had started on the right side rather than the left side. It would have saved me a lot of work.