Motorcycle Repair: Brake light rear / foot peddel, intents and purposes, factory paint

Question
I own a 1992 FXR superglide I purchased from a guy whom for all intents and purposes was a hack ! I'm restoring the bike to original with factory paint and decales.. The bike looks great ! I now have no rear brake light from the foot pedal.. I do however have it from the front hand brake.. I called my local HD dealer and they said time for a hydrolic rear mastercylinder brakelite switch...ie: $30.00 for the switch and almost an hour labor.. I've learned they are a bit excited to sell me something that is not allways needed... What is your experance with this switch? the bike has 43,000 miles on it and a fresh motor upperend rebuild...

Answer
Find the switch first. It will be in your brake line. It will have two wires to it. One is always hot, the other goes to the brake. Make sure the one is hot. Depress the foot lever and see if the other one gets hot. If it the one isnt hot, then you dont have any power going to the switch. If its hot and the other one doesnt get hot then the switch is bad. If they both get hot then you hae a short down the line
Good luck and happy riding
Mike