Well I did some searching and couldn't find anything specific on this issue. Last night I went for a short ride with some friends and once the sun started going down, the girl riding behind me noticed my tail light was out. The brake light works fine but not the tail light. Now I don't know if it went out at sometime during the ride or if it was out the whole time and she just didn't notice it being out in the daylight. But it was working just fine when I did my lighting check on Saturday. Looking through the service manual I couldn't really find this exact issue. It looks like usually they both go out since it's one bulb. They're suggestion is that I may have too many accessories. The only thing I have is a second small set of front turn signals and my HID, which having it's own ballast shouldn't effect the other light from my understanding. Anyone else have this issue yet? Will just changing the bulb fix the issue or am I looking at something more? I'm thinking about unplugging my turn signals when I get home to see if that solves it before I go through the hassle of buying and replacing the bulb.
My Tail Light (Not Brake Light) Is Out
- Thread starter JonKerr
- Start date
My friend's brand new 2009 Ninja 250 has this issue, it goes out and only lights up when he brakes.
Really dangerous at night, he actually got crap from a cop for it.
He doesn't have any mods installed on it either, when he took it back to the dealership it worked fine but every now and then it does it.
Really dangerous at night, he actually got crap from a cop for it.
He doesn't have any mods installed on it either, when he took it back to the dealership it worked fine but every now and then it does it.
+1 on what Pete said. Two filaments in one bulb. My truck just had the same issue.
I haven't had any trouble with my tail light, and I can assure you that my projector puts way more load on the system than the HIDs you have.
I checked the bulb last night and the second filament is blown. Just ordered the replacement parts from Bike Bandit. That site is so nice for OEM stuff. Since I don't ride at night much it'll be fine to ride this weekend while I wait for the bulb to come in. Bummer it's not just a simple bulb I can run down to Kragen down the street and get. 
It is a standard wedge type bulb, but you're right not many places stock it. I bought a box of 10 which worked out nearly as cheap as it would buying two bulbs from a regular auto spares shop.
I carry a spare tail/brake and turn signal bulb under the seat in a bit of foam. Same on the GF bike.
Pete
I carry a spare tail/brake and turn signal bulb under the seat in a bit of foam. Same on the GF bike.
Pete