Gregory Bender

Brake light switch alternative 2 (front)

Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police models

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I extracted this information from Charlie Mullendore of Antietam Classic Cycle off of the old Yahoo! Loopframe_Guzzi news group (which has now moved to Groups.io). In Charlie's own words:

Having short-circuited one of my last Barnett switched front brake cables by over lubing (Doh!) and sending the other out as a warranty replacement, I was left with no way of activating the brake light with the hand lever on my ‘71. Last year at one of the WV Guzzi breakfasts, I remembered looking at Rob Prins' Ambo and noticed the Honda (rear) brake switch he had mounted to the fender brace that was actuated by the linkage. Decided I'd try to rig something similar up for myself, if I could find the right switch. I was digging around in a bin marked Switches at the shop the other night and found this new-old-stock Bosch unit that looked like it would work. Made a little C shaped bracket out of some scrap stainless steel and found some self-tapping stainless screws too.

An alternative front brake light switch for drum brake Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police motorcycles.
An alternative front brake light switch for drum brake Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police motorcycles.

Photo courtesy of Charlie Mullendore, Antietam Classic Cycle.

The switch included a spring and clamp for around a brake rod - both were perfect for my application. Once mounted and the spring slightly tensioned, it functions perfectly. I ran the wires through shrink tubing and zip-tied it to the cable.

An alternative front brake light switch for drum brake Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police motorcycles.
An alternative front brake light switch for drum brake Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police motorcycles.

Photo courtesy of Charlie Mullendore, Antietam Classic Cycle.

An alternative front brake light switch for drum brake Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police motorcycles.
An alternative front brake light switch for drum brake Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police motorcycles.

Photo courtesy of Charlie Mullendore, Antietam Classic Cycle.

Looks a bit Rube Goldberg, but does the job.

My friend Joseph tells me the switch is from a ‘60s Sears Allstate (Puch) 250, but I'm not sure how available they are. Did find one place in the UK that lists them: #351 and Domi Racer has two that are similar.