As long as I pass inspection when I'm ready, I'll be happy. I'll most certainly be doing that again. I hate the way it's set up. But it'll do for now.
I don't wish to be a granny-good witch
G_YamTech....but I suspect that you may be missing the point on that brake light. Passing the inspection is certainly important -
BUT - having that brake light work
every single time, without fail, rain or shine in a high-vibration environment - is what will keep some:
- phone-yacking-Mom-in-a-minivan or,
- self-important-real-estate-agent-numbnuts in an Escalade or,
- stupid-arrogant-little-prick-in-a-highly-polished-BMW 3-Series....
...from ramming you up the tailpipe
and killing you. That crash could take place as you ride happily away from the successful pass on the inspection - if your crummy solder joint fails....
On the matter of soldering....in my experience, many people do it incorrectly and therefore do not achieve good joints (and as children of the '70's, I, and many other Forum members I am certain, can assure you that there is
nothing like a good joint).
To solder properly, be sure that you have a good hot iron
AND high quality solder
AND good clean flux paste (that last one is the part that most people ignore).
- Join the wires together mechanically (so that they stay together even before you solder them) and then,
- Apply a bit of flux paste to the joint and then,
- Heat the joint until the flux paste melts - and only THEN,
- Apply the solder to the heated joint - NOT to the iron - but to the wires near the iron,
- Leave the iron in place until the joint is filled with shiny liquid solder - and then remove the iron and allow the solder to cool.
Heat the wires - and THEN touch the solder to the wires - and it will flow into the joint and all through the strands of the wires and thus make a joint which is both mechanically secure and electrically conductive.
The solder will automatically flow everywhere that is clean (that’s what the flux paste does) and sufficiently hot.
The key point is that some people heat the solder on the iron - and then blob it onto the wires
like some sort of glue - but that is
totally incorrect. If you complete a proper solder joint, it will ALWAYS work for the rest of the life of the bike.
Once you have completed the solder joint - you need to insulate it to protect it from the elements and keep the electricity inside the wires where it is supposed to be. The best thing to use is heat-shrink tubing - but high quality electrical tape (anything with a CSA or UL label) is OK too - although even good tape often doesn't do well in wet environments.
Here is a little photo series on good mechanical and electrical joining techniques:
Cheers,
Pete