ninjette.org

Go Back   ninjette.org > 2008 - 2012 Ninja 250R > 2008 - 2012 Ninja 250R Tech Talk

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old July 11th, 2020, 10:55 AM   #1
arthury
ninjette.org member
 
arthury's Avatar
 
Name: Arthur
Location: Sammamish , WA
Join Date: Jun 2020

Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja EX250J; 2005 CBR1000RR

Posts: 108
Front Brake Light Switch: 250R 2008-2011

I googled this and it looks like a weak link in the Ninja 250R makeup. Quite a lot of people have replaced this part to get their brake light to work again from the front brake lever.

Did you guys encounter this issue in your years of ownership?
arthury is offline   Reply With Quote




Old July 11th, 2020, 12:17 PM   #2
arthury
ninjette.org member
 
arthury's Avatar
 
Name: Arthur
Location: Sammamish , WA
Join Date: Jun 2020

Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja EX250J; 2005 CBR1000RR

Posts: 108
Just went to the nearby Kawa dealer and they are closed for Racing Day.
Urgh ...
arthury is offline   Reply With Quote


Old July 11th, 2020, 01:17 PM   #3
DannoXYZ
ninjette.org certified postwhore
 
Name: AKA JacRyann
Location: Mesa, AZ
Join Date: Dec 2011

Motorcycle(s): CB125T CBR250R-MC19 CBR250RR-MC22 NSR350R-MC21 VF500F CBR600RR SFV650 VFR750F R1M ST1300PA Valkyrie-F6C

Posts: A lot.
MOTY - 2018, MOTM - Nov '17
Nope, never had problem with brake-lever switch. In fact opposite. Using new-gen brake-lever on pre-gen bike caused loose/wobbly lever that turned ON brake-lights randomly all the time.

Replacing perfectly good working parts with brand-new perfectly good working parts changes nothing and symptoms will persist. Don't replace perfectly good working parts until you've tested and confirmed it's bad. Otherwise you end up accumulating so many perfectly good working spares that you can build 2nd complete bike after a while.


1. I assume your brake-lights turns ON with rear-brake switch?

2. Pull out meter and test if there's power going INTO brake-lever switch first (red/blue).

3. IF you have power going INTO brake light switch, squeeze lever and test for power going OUT of lever, blue/red wire.

4. Another test is unplug connector to front brake-lever. Use jumper to bridge red/blue to blue/red on harness-side connector. Does brake-light turn on?
DannoXYZ is offline   Reply With Quote


Old July 11th, 2020, 01:30 PM   #4
arthury
ninjette.org member
 
arthury's Avatar
 
Name: Arthur
Location: Sammamish , WA
Join Date: Jun 2020

Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja EX250J; 2005 CBR1000RR

Posts: 108
Yes, brake light works with Rear Brake.

Thanks, Danno, I'll checked out these diagnostic steps.
arthury is offline   Reply With Quote


Old July 11th, 2020, 02:08 PM   #5
DannoXYZ
ninjette.org certified postwhore
 
Name: AKA JacRyann
Location: Mesa, AZ
Join Date: Dec 2011

Motorcycle(s): CB125T CBR250R-MC19 CBR250RR-MC22 NSR350R-MC21 VF500F CBR600RR SFV650 VFR750F R1M ST1300PA Valkyrie-F6C

Posts: A lot.
MOTY - 2018, MOTM - Nov '17
If #2 doesn't test for power. You've got wiring problem upstream of switch that's not sending power.

Another thing to check is mis-alignment of switch-to-lever button.

If #4 above checks out, then switch really is not working, but it may not be broken.

5. with harness-plug re-connected, manually push button on brake-lever switch. If it turns on brake-light when pushed by hand, then lever is not pushing on lever-switch button for some reason. Could be switch not screwed in proper location. Or might be wrong-lever installed where little pad is not contacting switch button.
DannoXYZ is offline   Reply With Quote


Old July 11th, 2020, 02:18 PM   #6
arthury
ninjette.org member
 
arthury's Avatar
 
Name: Arthur
Location: Sammamish , WA
Join Date: Jun 2020

Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja EX250J; 2005 CBR1000RR

Posts: 108
Step#2: I am assuming input power is the wired connector that plugs into the switch?
I just tested that and it’s around 12.4V and it drops to 3.5V when I depress rear brake.

Step #3: Not sure where is the output of the switch?
arthury is offline   Reply With Quote


Old July 11th, 2020, 02:57 PM   #7
DannoXYZ
ninjette.org certified postwhore
 
Name: AKA JacRyann
Location: Mesa, AZ
Join Date: Dec 2011

Motorcycle(s): CB125T CBR250R-MC19 CBR250RR-MC22 NSR350R-MC21 VF500F CBR600RR SFV650 VFR750F R1M ST1300PA Valkyrie-F6C

Posts: A lot.
MOTY - 2018, MOTM - Nov '17
Quote:
Originally Posted by arthury View Post
Step#2: I am assuming input power is the wired connector that plugs into the switch?
I just tested that and it’s around 12.4V and it drops to 3.5V when I depress rear brake.

Step #3: Not sure where is the output of the switch?
#3. you can back-probe harness-connector to touch terminal of blue/red wire. I believe that bundle of wires near radiator cap (green connector)?



#2. yes red/blue input-wire to switch gets power from#4 tail-light fuse. So this test seems to indicate you have power going into brake-lever switch. Also seems to show something's working due to voltage-drop. If bulb doesn't light, voltage-drop is due to short somewhere between switch and brake-light bulb.

Do test#4 with manually connecting input & output of brake-lever switch at harness-connector. Does voltage drop there also? Does bulb light?
DannoXYZ is offline   Reply With Quote


Old July 11th, 2020, 03:45 PM   #8
arthury
ninjette.org member
 
arthury's Avatar
 
Name: Arthur
Location: Sammamish , WA
Join Date: Jun 2020

Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja EX250J; 2005 CBR1000RR

Posts: 108
I think the switch is busted.
Essentially, the internal of the switch is quite simple: when you depress it, it breaks the circuit (open circuit).
I'm assuming that somehow bumps up the voltage to the bulb a little to increase the light intensity?

I have actually unscrewed the switch and disengaged it from the handle-bar and did some experimentation with me manually depressing the switch to see how it behaved. It was erratic. Some times it works and more often than not it did not. I have also popped open the switch to see the internals of the switch and it is a crude little thing. It's all mechanical tiny levers held back by springs and small (magnetic electrical contact points). A 13 year old spring is old.

I looked at the switch and it was factory dated at 2008 Mar. If I dig this far, for a 12 year vehicle, I usually replace parts along the way so as not waste future time. It's time for that switch to go and besides, it's cheap. So, I'll replace it and see what happens. If it does not solve the problem, I will continue to go down the rabbit hole.

Thanks, Danno, for the kind help.
arthury is offline   Reply With Quote


Old July 11th, 2020, 07:45 PM   #9
DannoXYZ
ninjette.org certified postwhore
 
Name: AKA JacRyann
Location: Mesa, AZ
Join Date: Dec 2011

Motorcycle(s): CB125T CBR250R-MC19 CBR250RR-MC22 NSR350R-MC21 VF500F CBR600RR SFV650 VFR750F R1M ST1300PA Valkyrie-F6C

Posts: A lot.
MOTY - 2018, MOTM - Nov '17
Ok, certainly doesn't behave as it should.

Circuit is normally open. Pushing button closes switch and sends power from red/blue wire (power) to blue/red wire which is connected to brake-light bulb.

Last futzed with by DannoXYZ; July 12th, 2020 at 10:22 AM.
DannoXYZ is offline   Reply With Quote


Old July 17th, 2020, 11:02 AM   #10
arthury
ninjette.org member
 
arthury's Avatar
 
Name: Arthur
Location: Sammamish , WA
Join Date: Jun 2020

Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja EX250J; 2005 CBR1000RR

Posts: 108
I said in my other thread that the switch "self-healed" while I was replacing brake line and fluid.
It's not working again after 2 days.

Good thing the new switch is arriving in a couple of days. Will update after it is installed.
arthury is offline   Reply With Quote


Old July 18th, 2020, 03:09 PM   #11
arthury
ninjette.org member
 
arthury's Avatar
 
Name: Arthur
Location: Sammamish , WA
Join Date: Jun 2020

Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja EX250J; 2005 CBR1000RR

Posts: 108
Light Switch arrived and I installed it. Brake Light turned ON immediately when I depressed Lever.
arthury is offline   Reply With Quote


Old July 18th, 2020, 03:15 PM   #12
DannoXYZ
ninjette.org certified postwhore
 
Name: AKA JacRyann
Location: Mesa, AZ
Join Date: Dec 2011

Motorcycle(s): CB125T CBR250R-MC19 CBR250RR-MC22 NSR350R-MC21 VF500F CBR600RR SFV650 VFR750F R1M ST1300PA Valkyrie-F6C

Posts: A lot.
MOTY - 2018, MOTM - Nov '17
Awesome!
DannoXYZ is offline   Reply With Quote


Reply




Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Need front brake light switch part number justdrew 2008 - 2012 Ninja 250R Tech Talk 1 May 25th, 2013 07:52 PM
Front Brake Switch Doesn't Light Tail Light ajcadoo 2008 - 2012 Ninja 250R Tech Talk 19 January 30th, 2013 07:06 PM


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


Motorcycle Safety Foundation

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:16 PM.


Website uptime monitoring Host-tracker.com
Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Except where otherwise noted, all site contents are © Copyright 2022 ninjette.org, All rights reserved.