help with wiring for tail light on 2006 c50 Tramp

[c50trampguy]

how you guys doing? can't seem to get an answer from some of my knowledgeable friends regarding this problem!

something got caught under my fender and it ripped the wires off brake/running light on fender. the original one had 3 wire hookup. i didn't want to go with an original Harley (imagine that, Harley lamp on Suzuki) due to money. anyway, i got an aftermarket, but this only had 2 wires. the wires leading to the lamp are
1) Black
2) red with white
3) red with yellow
now i'm not sure if instead of red they're orange, can't quite tell. now i'm trying to figure out how to wire these to the Red and Black on the back of the light. i'm guessing there has to be a ground?
i'd appreciate some simple explanations as "HOW TO WIRE THIS CORRECTLY"
i can follow simple directions, but dont assume (lol) i'm an electrician. which is why i just came on here, while i still have some sanity and hair left. thank you all for your help

[Lee H. Mann]

how you guys doing? can't seem to get an answer from some of my knowledgeable friends regarding this problem!

something got caught under my fender and it ripped the wires off brake/running light on fender. the original one had 3 wire hookup. i didn't want to go with an original Harley (imagine that, Harley lamp on Suzuki) due to money. anyway, i got an aftermarket, but this only had 2 wires. the wires leading to the lamp are
1) Black
2) red with white
3) red with yellow
now i'm not sure if instead of red they're orange, can't quite tell. now i'm trying to figure out how to wire these to the Red and Black on the back of the light. i'm guessing there has to be a ground?
i'd appreciate some simple explanations as "HOW TO WIRE THIS CORRECTLY"
i can follow simple directions, but dont assume (lol) i'm an electrician. which is why i just came on here, while i still have some sanity and hair left. thank you all for your help

Imagine a Harley taillight on a Suzuki.

Since the body is fiberglass, the light needs a ground (-). The oem (Harley) taillight has 3 wires: orange-running light, red-brake light and black-ground. You could run a ground from the base of your new assembly. Test the new light first to determine which wire is running light and brake light. Should be pretty simple hook-up. You will lose the snap connections that were in the oem harness. Be sure to secure the wires underneath the body so that this won't happen later. If you use crimp connectors, be prepared for future problems with this taillight. SOLDER SPLICES.

Cheaping out for an aftermarket light when I have so many oem's on the shelf is not acceptable.

[c50trampguy]

thanks for the reply. IF i had the money for the regular OEM Harley, i would have bought it and that's that.
my dilemma besides being broke, is that the light has only 2 wires, hence i figured, i needed a ground added...thanks for stating what i had posted myself, without being a pro...another problem as stated! lol

glad you have so many oem on the shelf. some of us are lucky, blessed...
but the point of the thread is that i'm not at the moment, so thanks for kicking the dog when he's down!

issue still being the 3 wires that i have, which ones to connect to the 2 on the lamp!

btw, the new lamp i bought has 2 regular screws and nuts, not the other type of snap connectors, which mine was missing one originally thanks for help, have a nice day

[Sinical]

As long as you can reach the stock (Lehman) Black wire for ground, you can attach that to one of the mounting bolts on the aftermarket tail light.

That leaves you with Red and Black that need to match up with the other 2 stock wires. Strip approx. 1/4" from each end of the wires and simply twist 'em together for testing. Turn key on and see if you've got the right combo for running lights and brake lights. If not, simply switch those 2 wires and you should be good to go. Please be sure to turn the key off while switching if you need to switch 'em.

Once you're good, make your permanent connections and enjoy the ride

[Lee H. Mann]

thanks for the reply. IF i had the money for the regular OEM Harley, i would have bought it and that's that.
my dilemma besides being broke, is that the light has only 2 wires, hence i figured, i needed a ground added...thanks for stating what i had posted myself, without being a pro...another problem as stated! lol

glad you have so many oem on the shelf. some of us are lucky, blessed...
but the point of the thread is that i'm not at the moment, so thanks for kicking the dog when he's down!

issue still being the 3 wires that i have, which ones to connect to the 2 on the lamp!

btw, the new lamp i bought has 2 regular screws and nuts, not the other type of snap connectors, which mine was missing one originally thanks for help, have a nice day

Looks like you bought the wrong part !

[c50trampguy]

As long as you can reach the stock (Lehman) Black wire for ground, you can attach that to one of the mounting bolts on the aftermarket tail light.

That leaves you with Red and Black that need to match up with the other 2 stock wires. Strip approx. 1/4" from each end of the wires and simply twist 'em together for testing. Turn key on and see if you've got the right combo for running lights and brake lights. If not, simply switch those 2 wires and you should be good to go. Please be sure to turn the key off while switching if you need to switch 'em.

Once you're good, make your permanent connections and enjoy the ride

thanks for your help in pointing out obvious. i was getting flustered for no reason at all. attached a wire to the screw, grounded it, works fine now.
i've been hurting all over from many things, actually finished this the other day. now with all this rain and storms, cant ride anyway. have to wait to fix my shed where i store the bike...oh well, one thing at a time. thanks for pointing me in right direction, isntead of being critical...some people just dont get it i guess... as my cynical friend puts it when he's hurting, "we served for these people?!" then i remind him humbly and proudly, yes we did.
God bless America, Combat Engineer, US Army!

[Sinical]

thanks for your help in pointing out obvious. i was getting flustered for no reason at all. attached a wire to the screw, grounded it, works fine now.
i've been hurting all over from many things, actually finished this the other day. now with all this rain and storms, cant ride anyway. have to wait to fix my shed where i store the bike...oh well, one thing at a time. thanks for pointing me in right direction, isntead of being critical...some people just dont get it i guess... as my cynical friend puts it when he's hurting, "we served for these people?!" then i remind him humbly and proudly, yes we did.
God bless America, Combat Engineer, US Army!

No thanx necessary, but I'm glad you got it sorted out. Just a side note here, but if I'm remembering the 2-wire aftermarket tail lights correctly, either of those two wires would work with either of the two stock wires and all that's needed is the ground, which you've taken care of.

Whenever I'm wrenching and hit a point where it's just not going right, it's time for me to put down the wrenches, walk away, take a break and get back after it with a fresh start later on.......just a personal philosophy that I've found helps to keep my blood pressure from going off the chart, LOL!

It's hard times in the U.S.A these days and I sensed your frustration.........I hope that I can share this properly as it's sometimes difficult to express what we mean clearly thru only the written word on an internet forum. Am also not a mind reader, but was sensing that when Lee H. Mann said this:

"Cheaping out for an aftermarket light when I have so many oem's on the shelf is not acceptable"

.....he actually might have been willing to do you a solid in providing you with an OEM tail light. I'm guessing, of course, but it's at least possible that there was an unintended misunderstanding (that dicey internet written word only stuff )

Please go easy on yourself and know that I only mean well here. When I got home in '73, my patience level was most definitely non-existent. Day by day, Brother, that's all we've got, but hey.....we can roll with it

Thank you for your service and Welcome Home!

[c50trampguy]

No thanx necessary, but I'm glad you got it sorted out. Just a side note here, but if I'm remembering the 2-wire aftermarket tail lights correctly, either of those two wires would work with either of the two stock wires and all that's needed is the ground, which you've taken care of.

Whenever I'm wrenching and hit a point where it's just not going right, it's time for me to put down the wrenches, walk away, take a break and get back after it with a fresh start later on.......just a personal philosophy that I've found helps to keep my blood pressure from going off the chart, LOL!

It's hard times in the U.S.A these days and I sensed your frustration.........I hope that I can share this properly as it's sometimes difficult to express what we mean clearly thru only the written word on an internet forum. Am also not a mind reader, but was sensing that when Lee H. Mann said this:

"Cheaping out for an aftermarket light when I have so many oem's on the shelf is not acceptable"

.....he actually might have been willing to do you a solid in providing you with an OEM tail light. I'm guessing, of course, but it's at least possible that there was an unintended misunderstanding (that dicey internet written word only stuff )

Please go easy on yourself and know that I only mean well here. When I got home in '73, my patience level was most definitely non-existent. Day by day, Brother, that's all we've got, but hey.....we can roll with it

Thank you for your service and Welcome Home!

thx, though i didnt see the offer, i often forget that what we write, and i'm saying "WE" lol, sometimes translates into many different. even what i write, imagine that!!! i speak 3 languages and when i open mouth 100 different people/languages/ocuntries dont understand me, lol, funny part, neither can i at times...
i'm saying this to say "sorry to all, intended or uninteded"
when i have my bad day, haven't remembered to keep mouth shut (even though i'll point out i said, i tell my friend "humbly we did")
but you're right i was out of line, regardless. again, and i mean what i say when i'm wrong (lol) and when i'm right...

i'm having problems with tank off, i have J M cb and when i moved tank up, to tighten up cable, now she makes a noise as if battery was dead and wont start, you know that constant electronic cranking sound...dont know if i disconnected something or not...oh oh, before i go any other further, since i'm new to this, i ought to start another thread right? there i go again, sorry... thanks all
i"ll start another one tomorrow, tired tonight...bless all

[Sinical]

Right on and well said about the misunderstanding.............moving on here.......

I don't know about the JM cb, but someone else here might ?

On the no start issue, it's possible that there's a pinched wire after removing and installing the gas tank. But the first place I'd check would be the battery terminals. Battery problems on these Suzukis are notorious and most commonly related to loose connections at the battery terminals. You can check to see if either connection is even slightly loose (I've seen as little as a 1/4 turn loose stop the show)

A good fix for that is to use star washers under the terminal bolts in order to get a solid connection that's much less likely to come loose.