I have an 86 Sportster and want to bypass the turn signals. When I disconnect them, the tail/brake light no longer works. Is there a way to bypass the signals so this problem doesn't occur?

 

Exactly what are you disconnecting? The tail light (running light) is not on the same circuit as the turn signals.

 

Thanks for the reply Dan89FLST, thats what I thought too. I have disconnected each wire near each signal (the previous owner must have done some work because they were already spliced there, so I just used those points as an easy disconnect location). I double checked to make sure I didn't touch anything that should go to the brake/tail light. I re-connected the signal wires and the brake/tail light worked again (ruling out a bulb issue). Any suggestions?

 

The wiring diagram shows the tail light to be fed by the lighting circuit breaker, it is a single wire running from the breaker, through a connector and then to the light.

Does the bike have any type of aftermarket lighting module, maybe LED lights?

 

There is a single wire casing that has two wires inside (green and red) that attach to the two wires coming out of the tail light assembly. Those are still connected correctly as they were before I disconnected the turn signals. If I reconnect the signals, the tail light works as it should. (its worth noting that the reason for bypassing the signals is that they don't work, The front ones stay on and the back don't work at all.). There are no after-market lighting mods at all. I appreciate your input.

 

Trace the wires from the turn signals. The previous owner may have done some wacky stuff with the wiring...

Re connect the rear turn signals, and see if they light up when you step on the brake.

 

Thanks for the advice, I tracked everything the best I could but I don't know enough about it to tell if something is weird. Other than the spots where the wires were spliced into the signals, everything else looks original. In a weird twist of fate, I decided to just put my fender back together without the signals and take it in to a shop. When I got everything back together, the tail/brake light worked again. Who knows, maybe there was a ground issue. Im sure it still need looked at, so I will go that route. Thanks for your responses.

 

When the tail light was not working, was the fender not mounted to the frame?

 

not fully, I had it resting in place, held up by a bar across the frame.

 

The tail light did not stop working because you disconnected the turn signals. It stopped working because you did not have the fender mounted to the frame, so there was no ground.