Topic: tech 350

[heffay]

brake light... not enough movement in the rear brake pedal to pull the spring on the switch.  brake pedal hits footpeg and starts to push over the exhaust.  what should i do?  also, is there just no front brake light switch or am i missing it somewhere?

on a brighter note... i removed the defunct oil pressure guage and voila... much less oil on the outside of the bike 

[supersport_CB400F]

Heff if it uses rhe same switch as the 400 I think it does  you can move the switch up follow the spring wire up to the switch on the frame just above the pedal it attaches to the pivot 

The font switch is a pressure one that sits on you triple tree I think you call it, and works from the brake fluid pressure, but if the two brake pipe are gone and you have 1 SS pipe it’s probably gone….. If it is in place it’s probably stuck or broken. 

[tsflstb]

I had to add a little spacer under the rear light switch to get it just right.  It has an adjustable collar, but that wasn't enough in my case.  You may also want to index your brake lever a few degrees on its shaft to keep it from hitting anything.

The front switch is pressure actuated and mounted around the lower triple tree.  Follow your brake line down and you'll find it.

[heffay]

thats just it... the brake works perfectly... with very little movement, so little that by the time it gets to the point where the spring attaches... it only moves a millimeter, maybe two... the switch needs 10mm approx. to work properly. 

and nice suggestion about moving the lever... but, that's the only position it will go in... to hit the peg and pipe the least.  it doesn't really matter that its hitting either... the brake works properly.  (light excluded, obviously)

[supersport_CB400F]

Heff the switch can be moved up and down on the frame to make the pedal turn the light on or off it's a pull switch   

[tsflstb]

If you're not getting enough travel to pop the switch, you may try adjusting the brake rod at the rear wheel.  If it's hitting the footpeg, you won't get enough movement on that spring.

Another thought...maybe the spring is too "sprung"?  Is it stretched out?

[bill440cars]

      heffay, I don't hink you are understanding what's being put out. The brake light switch itself is
   adjustable in the bracket. You should be able to adjust it upward to take the slack out of the spring.
  And that's one thing I'd like to know, is it the correct spring or is it possibly stretched some? The
  brake light switch is mounted in a bracket and is adjustable in that bracket.

          As far as a front brake light switch, it should be in the small manifold (orwhatever you call it) on
  the front of the lower triple tree. I think most all of the older front disc brake set ups had this switch
  in the same location. Check it out below the headlight.  Later on, Bill   

[supersport_CB400F]

      heffay, I don't hink you are understanding what's being put out. The brake light switch itself is
   adjustable in the bracket. You should be able to adjust it upward to take the slack out of the spring.
  And that's one thing I'd like to know, is it the correct spring or is it possibly stretched some? The
  brake light switch is mounted in a bracket and is adjustable in that bracket.

          As far as a front brake light switch, it should be in the small manifold (orwhatever you call it) on
  the front of the lower triple tree. I think most all of the older front disc brake set ups had this switch
  in the same location. Check it out below the headlight.  Later on, Bill   

I knew it was a bad move learning French at school….I should have taken American....thanks bill

[heffay]

ok... i understand that everything is adjustable...
 
and if my pipes and footpeg were not in the way that would all be fine and dandy!  but, they are.  there is no more room to make the brake pedal go further.  that was a period end of statement.  there is not enough motion near the spring attachment area to make the spring move enough.  that was a period end of statement.  the spring is not worn out... let's put it this way... if it were a straight piece of wire as opposed to a spring, there would not be enough movement to switch the switch (a mm of pedal movement by the time it gets as close to the shaft as the spring attachment area)


i need a different setup.  probably the easiest would be to move the switch to where there is more movement out toward the end of the pedal. 

now, lets see what you guys do with that... come on guys, you gotta have a little more faith in me than that.

[Bodi]

You might get in trouble with so little free play in the pedal. The brake shoes expand when they heat up, and could start dragging. Then they heat up more and drag more and eventually you stop. Possibly in an unpleasant way.

[heffay]

at the part of the pedal that moves there is decent amount of movement (an inch and a half or 2 inches probably)... its just that the spring attach area is so close to the pivot point.

[Gordon]

Heffay, don't worry about the pedal movement, focus entirely on the brake light switch itself.  You should be able to temporarily unhook the spring, and then turn the brake light switch counter-clockwise so that it moves up and away from the pedal.  If there's no way for you to do that, then somebody has done some sort of homemade aftermarket job on it. 

[heffay]

this is hilarious... i think i need to make a video for all of you so you can see what i'm saying. 

spring/wire does not move

example:         ..                see those 2 dots... that's about as far as the switch plunger moves. 

i do have an idea though.  maybe i'll try to move the brake pedal out on the shaft so i can free up some more movement. 

just for the record... i know the switch can go up and down, i know the pedal can rotate on the shaft, i know the rear brake slop can be taken in or out depending on the rear drum adjustment nut.

the point is... these fixes will not work for the current setup.  the non-stock pipes do not allow the same range of motion while they do allow enough.  the range of motion that i get for the switch is not even enough to get it from off to on if it were perfectly dialed in... i think that if it were perfect... it would be always walking the line between switch on and off

[750goes]

raise the height of the switch by welding another bracket further up the frame.

grind off some of the brake pedal where it touches the footpeg, this may give you some more "movement" enough to actuate the spring switch.

if you don't want to do this, then change your pipes or peg, maybe another brake pedal with a larger bend in it

not really 2 cents worth in that.

[Gordon]

I just went out to the garage and checked the brake light switches on both my bikes and they both have the same amount of plunger movement as you're describing (in fact, the switch on my 550 hardly moves at all).  So I guess what I don't understand is why it won't work in your case?  There is a very fine line between on and off, but it's still either on or off.     

[Gordon]

Is there steam coming out of your ears yet? 

[clarkjh]

Hey heff, there is this really nasty tool that would work.  Its called a ball-peen hammer , one good whack with a 2 1/2 lb one in the offending spot should fix it right up.
You could try a different peddle that is bent out away from the pipe.

James

[750goes]

you nearly answered your own question

at the part of the pedal that moves there is decent amount of movement (an inch and a half or 2 inches probably)... its just that the spring attach area is so close to the pivot point.

how about you change or modify the spring attchment point to where it will increase the amount of movement to cater for it

[heffay]

you nearly answered your own question

at the part of the pedal that moves there is decent amount of movement (an inch and a half or 2 inches probably)... its just that the spring attach area is so close to the pivot point.

how about you change or modify the spring attchment point to where it will increase the amount of movement to cater for it

that was pretty much what i was getting at... was trying to see if anyone had run across the same problem and what they did to fix it.

now that gordon insists... i must fiddle a bit more.             but, only after the snow stops.