brake light

i have a problem with no brake lights so i changed the bulb anyway and ran the bike for a minute at the most with the bulb holder removed. still no brake light, only tail light lit, but the bulb is literally too hot to touch. is this normal?

1st these are old style bulbs they get fairly hot, if your meter/gauges and horn works is not the fuse, not a short, if not check fuse "B", if burnt, replace, but it may fail again if there's a short somewhere ??, otherwise it could be brake levers, brake light switches, yes, they can both fail/get dirty contacts/loose connectors, usually not at the same time, you usually notice when 2nd one fails, a jumper across connectors on wires should illuminate brake light , the switch is the one with spades facing in on either side. Sometimes spraying switches with WD40, etc. can restore them, Good Luck.

WD40 is a light oil and not the best thing for electrical work. Most auto parts have specific electric switch cleaning sprays. That is what I prefer. Something like this:

https://www.maxwarehouse.com/products/crc-qd-electronic-cleaner-11-oz-1?variant=40279823745075&adlclid=79d5f902742b1092f7a89fa853fd2c4c&msclkid=79d5f902742b1092f7a89fa853fd2c4c

GHM-PM wrote:

WD40 is a light oil and not the best thing for electrical work. Most auto parts have specific electric switch cleaning sprays.  That is what I prefer. Something like this:

https://www.maxwarehouse.com/products/crc-qd-electronic-cleaner-11-oz-1?variant=40279823745075&adlclid=79d5f902742b1092f7a89fa853fd2c4c&msclkid=79d5f902742b1092f7a89fa853fd2c4c

Yes, you're right about "regular" WD40 been a poor choice strictly for cleaning electrical contacts, but "quick drying", "No lubricant", dedicated contact cleaners do little for stuck/rusted mechanical parts of the switch, WD40 IME is way better for that, it lubes/frees-up the mechanical portion of the switch, that usually causes the contacts failure. On a switch that sees frequent use WD40 residue is not really an issue as the lubricants are very volatile/short life. That's why WD40 is a better (not the best) for loosening rusty parts, but poor for lubricating.

BTW, I have CRC on my shelf, only use on contacts.

well ive tried fiddling with various things but as i hate electrics, i'm dropping it off with my local garage tomorrow to fix. they are very good usually