my front breaks are not activating the break light.

not knowing very much about wiring and such on bikes i do know this...

1. when i use my rear breaks, the light turns on (so bulbs are not burnt out)
2. the wire connected to the front break is connected

so yep thats all i know...and its been like this since i got the bike.

i should also mentioned that i stopped by suzuki newmarket today and a mechanic said somthing along the lines of "since there's 10,000km on it change the light bulb and it should work for both breaks" call me a skeptic but does that not sound illogical? since the back break activates the light?

anyways just wondering if anybody has any opinions to what i can do or what the problem might be.

thanks in advance

My bike is a 2006 and it has less than 2000 km and I had to take it in for the switch.  Test the switch with an ohm meter.  Make sure it is plugged in good.  My switch was no good.

First off, you are right to think the bulbs would have nothing to do with it as they are common for both front and back.  

Next, I don't have a schematic in front of me so I may not be much help, but the first thing I would look at would be the front brake light switch and its connections because that is the most exposed part of the whole system.  Pull off the connectors from the bottom of the brake level and make sure the wires/connectors look ok and are free from any kind of damage or corrosion.  If that's ok, try touching the 2 wires together when the ignition switch is on and see if the brake light lights up.  If it does, then there is something wrong with the switch.

I think I remember reading somewhere that some people have had problems with the front  brake switch, so that very well may be the issue.

I've had trouble with my front brake switch twice already, and I've only had my bike 8 months.  Definitely start there.

I found that if I held the brake down and wiggled the connectors on the switch, the light would sometimes come on.  Both times it was corrosion inside the switch.  I just popped it apart, cleaned all the metal very well and put it back together.  Back to working just fine.

I was just about to post the same question.  Our front brake seems so tight that it doesn't require enough pull to activate the switch.  A firm pull does it, but that would cause a high side when riding.  I put an adjustable aftermarket lever on and will go back to the old one to see if the problem replicates, and also clean the switch as suggested.  Others with such tight front brake?

~ JP

FIXED!  The black plugs to the lever switch were reversed.  At one way the switch required the lever to be pulled further out (even tho the switch audibly clicked) to actuate the light.  When I reversed the plugs (left to right and vice versa) the slightest pull on the lever now actuates the switch and light. VOILA...and thanks to the god of motorcycling. 

~ JP
Triumph - making excellent mechanics out of ordinary men.

It's probably the front switch like everyone is saying.

Since I'm like the 6th person to post in this thread, I'm ashamed to be the first to say this:

Welcome to GSTwins!

If this is such a problem as it seems to be it should be reported to the NHTSA at 1-800-424-9393 as listed in the owners manual so this can possibly be forced into a recall where Suzuki would be forced to correct the problems with this part. My `06 GS500F has only 1000 miles on it and the switch is bad.

hmmmm.. mine is the opposite.. the rear brake doesn't activate the light, only the front and that one works with even the slightest squeeze.