7' Headlight
The most obvious mod I have made so far is of course ditching the stock headlight. I just never liked it's insect like looks and wanted something a little more classic looking.
The light itself was made up of 5 major steps.
1. The bucket is a classic Lucas style 7" bucket typically found on british bikes. (being a Triumph guy normally this seemed like an obvious choice)
2. The "reflector" was ordered from ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-LED-WHITE...ies&hash=item5649e2b8c7&vxp=mtr#ht_2163wt_855
It came with a glass lens, which would not allow me to open it and use an HID projector. So I had to crack off the stock glass lens and start searching for a 7" headlight that came with a polycarbonate lens. This search took longer than any other part of the project. To be honest it was a pain in the a@#. I also, painted the inside black to follow the rendering.
3. The lens, a company called "Trucklite" makes a 7" with a poly lens so I ordered one of those as well. I then put it in the oven and removed the lens and set it aside in a safe covered place for later.
4. Projector - I ordered a projector from KT autopart
http://www.ktautopart.com/product/showproduct.php?id=212&lang=en
I have to admit were I to do it again I would probably go a different route. I had to fix several things on the one I received. And, some of the LED strips I ordered didn't work at all when they arrived.
5. The mounting tabs I cut out of 6061 aluminium using a design I made in Illustrator. I will add more pictures to this section as I get them. Basically I just measured and mocked up the light best I could and transferred those measurements to vector drawings. Print outs were then temporarily glued to the aluminium and I broke out the jig saw and started cutting. They came out great but I am planning on making a set out of thicker material for purely aesthetic reasons. I also went online and ordered some M6 anodized hardware in gold. In my opinion using hardware that looks made for the bike is the kind of detail that makes a project look professional.
Here is a shot of how the light itself looks at night to give you an idea of the light pattern. The LEDS, are ridiculously bright which is great for visibility during the day.
The next step was modifying the bike itself. This included lowering the gauge cluster about 3/4 of an inch as well as re-running some of the wiring. The main issue was that you would be able to see some of it behind the headlight bucket. So I wanted to clean it up as much as possible and re-loom some of it so that it could be tucked into the bucket. Here is all of the wiring cleaned up and ready for the new bucket to be installed.
The first thing I did was call my local dealership and order extra parts. I always like to have replacements for any factory part I will be cutting and I also like to use the original hardware. This means that I can go back to stock in about an hour if need be.
The stock gauge mount was too high in my opinion for the new lines of the front of the bike. I also needed to trim off the sides where is met up with the stock headlight surround. I will include better pictures of this step when I tear it back down for powdercoating. But this gives you an idea of what was done.
Once everything was all together I needed to make side covers that would not only give space for the turn signals but also fill the gap between the bucket and the flyscreen. I made the out of polycarbonate by first making a paper template and them cutting them out and some slight thermoforming using the trusty old heat gun.
To have them match the other finishes on the bike I wrapped them in 3M Scotchprint Carbon fiber vinyl. (this is the same vinyl I wrapped the radiator covers, gauge cluster, rear mudguard, and side covers in as well. It is also the same material used for the stripe down the bike but that is white carbon fiber)
A lot of people talk crap about the vinyl wrapping but as someone who has done a lot of composites fabrication I actually prefer the more matte look of the vinyl. And it is definitely easier to do.
[ need to upload a close-up shot of the finished headlight and gauge area ]
......breathless