brake light not working

[gray am I]

The rear brake light on my xs special is not working, it comes on when I press down on the rear brake pedal but not when I pull the front lever . I tested the switch and found it was working ok but I don't know where to look now? Also I don't know if its related but the lh indicators flash about 3 times and then just stay on and the rh side just switches on and stays on, also found a strange wire ,it was broken but had come from under the rh indicator and after coming out the back of the headlight bucket it disappears under the top yoke.

 

[littlebill31]

You'll have to get a wiring diagram and figure out what wires are what.
If one is broken there, there are bound to be more along the line.
What year bike?

 

[gray am I]

Its a 1979 xs/sf, I have a wiring diagram but I am having difficulty understanding it. the g/y I can trace , it goes to a connector and becomes y, cant understand where the brown goes and not sure about the indicators,will have another look in the morning.

 

[weekendrider]

This may help you.
What have you done to your XS today?

 

[fredintoon]

The rear brake light on my xs special is not working, it comes on when I press down on the rear brake pedal but not when I pull the front lever . I tested the switch and found it was working ok but I don't know where to look now? Also I don't know if its related but the lh indicators flash about 3 times and then just stay on and the rh side just switches on and stays on, also found a strange wire ,it was broken but had come from under the rh indicator and after coming out the back of the headlight bucket it disappears under the top yoke.

Hi gray,
you have three separate problems.
The front brake switch:- You tested the switch itself. Check if it's powered when the key is turned on. If no, it's feed wire ain't connected. If yes, the wire to the stop light ain't connected.
Signals pulsing then staying on steady on one side, only comes on steady on t'other:- Usually, that's too light of a load to trigger the flasher. Change the flasher bulbs recently? Used 22W instead of 27W?
The broken wire:- There shouldn't be a white wire in the headlight, that wire is an orphan. Find out where it's from and where it used to be attached.

 

[littlebill31]

+1 on WR's post and as Fred said, you need to test certain things to find out what works and where the power ends.
Also, the brown is power. Its what feeds your controls and lights.