useful Headlight info

[DAVINCI]

Cracked the glass in my headlight ('79 Standard) and in looking for a replacement, came upon this:

1983 Kawasaki GPZ 750



Notice the glass is the same, "STANLEY 001-1843" as the XS. The metal globe / adjuster bracket is different but I'm going to extract the glass and swap it onto my housing.

[natemoen]

Notice the glass is the same, "STANLEY 001-1843" as the XS.

No actually I cant really read most of those numbers

Good find, hopefully it works for you and you find a replacement for the irreplaceable!

[DAVINCI]

squint, works for me!

[yamahansolo]

The 82 gpz 750 is the same. I had one. It has the same light. It was a fun bike. Nowhere near as fast as my 11 though. But well worth the 500 bucks I paid for it. It didn't look as good body wise though it had alit I'd age to it. The old yamis seen to last longerd

[BA80]

squint, works for me!

I left my reading glasses at work, I'll just have to trust y'all.

[motoman]

Right on finding another option Randy!

[DAVINCI]

Not so fast...it's an option IF I can get the glass out in one piece! I found, after removing the trim that the glass is glued onto the housing. It's not an epoxy, though. It's a softer material kinda between glazing putty and rubber glue. I'm not sure WTF it is, but I scraped it out of the channel. I can see through the glass lip that there is a faint line of glue between the glass and the metal housing.






Step two, I'm gonna fill that channel with acetone and let it sit overnight to see if it softens the rest of the glue. If that doesn't do it, I'll dremel off a bit of the metal lip and get a wire in there and remove it as if it were a windshield.

[jwhughes3]

heat?

would it help to use a heat gun?

How are you going to seal it back? Im thinking just glazing putty would be enough with it held in a frame.

John

[DAVINCI]

Heat gun is a good idea, John, and i have one, but I'm afraid to risk it. The metal and the glass have way different expansion rates and I'm afraid I'd crack the glass.

[natemoen]

Hey Randy!

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33037

[DAVINCI]

YEAH, I SAW THAT. Damn. They say timing is everything, eh? BTW, that housing is still available, but lowest cost I found was $75 NOS. This redneck alternative of mine is $20 out of pocket so far. SO FAR

[natemoen]

YEAH, I SAW THAT. Damn. They say timing is everything, eh? BTW, that housing is still available, but lowest cost I found was $75 NOS. This redneck alternative of mine is $20 out of pocket so far. SO FAR

If I were you I would buy the for sure one and still work on the other as a backup! Can always resell if need be.

[DAVINCI]

There was a time when I wouldn't think twice about ordering that $75 NOS one, but not today.

[natemoen]

Well hey now there is a nos light kit for even less than the $75!

[crazy steve]

One issue you may have if you get that lens out may be reinstalling it in the other reflector. Silicon is supposedly a poor choice, as the fumes it gives off will attack the silvering on the reflector and lift and/or dull it, dimming the light output. There's a 'special' sealant for these (sorry, I can't remember if or where I saw a source) to prevent that that also takes the heat and gives a good bond. You might check around with some 'headlight restorer' outfits for this...

This has come up on my Jag forum (some models have specially-shaped, model-specific headlights) and guys have been looking for an inexpensive fix for broken lenses and bad silvering. That's where the sealer thing came up; silicon fumes ate the silvering off several guys lights... There's restoration services, but they're not real cheap; about $75-100, sometimes more. Replacement headlights for the Jags are over $300 each...