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Old 01-07-2018, 07:08 AM
Blambo Blambo is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 17
Post Brake light problem resolved in part, but a challenge remains

Hi all, many thanks for your thought which were right on the money as always. This will teach me to work without my glasses in a poorly lit garage; I should have looked more carefully, but I still need some advice with the getting round some damage, please see below...

Yup, the 'wire' I disconnected from the front brake is a plunger type switch, so out of position, the light is always on.
Progress
The bike now has a brake light that is off, until I use the front brake.
Nothing doing at the back however, the wires emerging from the switch embedded in the master cylinder are in very bad shape.
one is totally detached and one is hanging by a thread.

So, options:-
1/. Attach a 'pull-for-on' sprung switch (that I happen to have in my box of parts) to the brake pedal; the movement pulls the plunger out and makes the contact.
This will get me through the annual MOT inspection that's due at the end of the month but will be very vulnerable to knocks and mud on the trail.

2/. I'd rather repair the original switching setup.

How to connect the wires to the tiny stumps of wire that disappear into the plastic f the switch body ?
I am minded to solder very small washers to the ends of the wires that connect the switch to the wiring-loom and to screw tiny screws into the stumps of the wires in the switch, to compress these washers and hence, the wires into place and be in electrical contact via the screws..

Or, I could 'excavate' (dig/melt away) some of the plastic and try to solder the wires to the stumps of the existing wires.

The switch certainly works; if I dig the contacts of my multimeter into what's left of the exposed wires it makes the contact when I depress the lever; I just need to restore connectivity to it.

Any thoughts on this, or alternative approaches most welcome as always.

The difficulty getting parts for a 2002 GasGas does mean that some bodges and old-school first-principle approaches are required now and again
If I wanted an easy life I'd buy a KTM like all my mates, but I think my Pampera will outlast them all.
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