brake light bulbs

[fourthgear]

I was told today when I pulled into work , that it looked like one of my brake lights was not working on my 03 Ultra . Well all three are out , must have been the monsoon I rode home in , Tuesday night . Any one have this happen . I check them weekly , I'll be doing it daily from now on , as I guess I should have any way. Today was the first day the monsoons let me ride & got to ride home at mid . with no brake lights . Lucky for me its a straight shot down I 95 to home .

[truck]

Sounds like you lost ALL your brake lights.
Do they not work with either the brake pedal or the front break lever?
Sounds more like a switch or wiring problem.

[RK101]

If your using the turn, stop, and running light POS from Harley it could be that. I had one on my softail and the POS lasted about a year and like you someone told me I had no brake lights.  Who knows long they were out. Like you I check them every once in a while now. 

[fourthgear]

They work , I put some 1157's in there to make sure . What is the right bulb to go in there ?( I have the HD part # ) I will do a search to see whats right .It looked like the brake filament was on all the time like the running lights , took one off & the filament was broken off and hanging down & grounding or completing the circuit on the running light / tail light filament . The other two were like that too, when I took a good look at them ,you could tap them with your finger and the would flicker.
Let me tell ya how hard of a rain I road home in , I couldn't see for most of the 20 mile trip home. Good no one was on the road ,didn't want to stay at work ,I might have been there all night . Just one of those dumb ass decisions ya make at the spur of the moment.

I see that the 1157 will work in the tour pak, wasn't sure if they would be exotic some thing or other , ya never know .
I see that the main tail light is the wedge type , any one know the automotive type for that one ?

[road-dawgs1]

[quote author=fourthgear link=topic=8675.msg89289#msg89289 date=1238870647

I see that the 1157 will work in the tour pak, wasn't sure if they would be exotic some thing or other , ya never know .
I see that the main tail light is the wedge type , any one know the automotive type for that one ?
[/quote]

1157 tour pak, 3157 brake light

[Hossamania]

I've been told that motorcycle bulbs are more robust than automotive bulbs. Maybe that was just so they could charge more!

[Evo160K]

If you need robust, the Harley heavy duty "1157" with the extra post is worth every penny.  Haven't broken a bulb on the dyno since I started using them.

[chengdave2003]

A 2357 bulb will directly replace a 1157 bulb, and the brake light is a bit brighter.  Going by a Sylvania website ( http://tinyurl.com/de5hp7 ) the 2357 has a MSCD (average value of the luminous intensity of a light source in all directions) of 40/3 (40 being the brake light and 3 being the tail light) whereas the 1157 is 32/3.  I'm not sure how much the additional 8 is, but I'll take every little bit I can get (I can't eyeball the difference).  The trade-off is the brake light lasts a two-thirds less than the 1157 (400 hours verses 1,200).  That's 400 hours of continuous operation or over sixteen days verses fifty days.  I check my brake light before I ride anyway and I always have an extra (but then I have extra 1157's in the shop also).   I bought a replacement tail light lens for Christmas and it came with a replacement LED light.  I could visually see that it was half as bright as the 2357 so I took it out and never used it again.

Dave Young

[mark61]

If you need robust, the Harley heavy duty "1157" with the extra post is worth every penny.  Haven't broken a bulb on the dyno since I started using them.

    Get the same bulbs for less with a different number-I forget what but it is xx57- from a Tractor trailor or heavy truck. You can see the differnce if you hold them up side by side.

mark61