Ferry good!
New CMM contributor Scottie decides to sort out his headlights with a sealed beam conversion, while making some form of comments about ferry companies based in the south-east!
It was time in the build of my lockdown specia, for the headlight to be fitted, and I knew I had the complete unit I had taken off my Kawasaki Z900 way back in 1981 when we started racing the bike.
Ah the memories! It had been carefully wrapped and placed in a bright orange Townsend Thoresen car ferries carrier bag, which our older readers may remember were the main operators out of Dover. Over the ensuring years the bag had been moved around the workshop, the orange glow fading over the years, but now when needed, despite a mammoth search, I had obviously moved it to a safe location to prevent damage and cannot find it!
I did find a Sally Line car ferries bag (southerner/editor Bertie used to do booze cruises with them in the 1980s/1990s out of his home town/port of Ramsgate), which contained the headlight from my Honda CB550F1, placed there in 1978. I had upgraded to a Cibie Z Beam conversion, which at the time proved to give the best light in a comparison test carried out by Motorcycle Mechanics, the forerunner of CMM. The Cibie unit gives a distinctive Z-shaped beam pattern with an exceptionally long beam on the left which illuminates the side of the road, cutting back on the right-hand side to prevent dazzling oncoming traffic.
The presence of the car ferry bags is purely down to the number of motorcycle rallies I used to attend in Belgium and Holland and purchase of all the duty-free allowances on the return sailing, which would then be sold on at work at a profit to cover the cost of my weekend away! Hic!
After offering the Honda unit up to the frame fairing mounts it became apparent that it was some 16mm narrower than the original Z900 headlight so two 8mm spacers would be required, one either side to ensure a snug fit, but otherwise game on.
Although I am fitting lights to this bike, I do not intend riding at night as the bike will not be running an alternator, relying on just the battery to power the ignition and brake light. No indicators will be fitted either as they are only required by law if the bike was made after August 1, 1986, a full 10 years after this motorcycle.
After cleaning and dismantling, I realised that this is a sealed beam unit with only a pathetic 50/35W bulb fitted Photo 1, 2, 3. As the name implies, sealed beam units have the bulb, reflector and glass sealed as one unit. Introduced in America, they prevented changing of the bulb, so ensuring all headlights were of the same power. They arrived in the UK in the 1960s and featured on early Japanese motorcycles. The big downside is that if either of the two bulb filaments should blow, the bulb discolours or the glass becomes cracked or smashed, then the complete unit requires replacement.
For this special I intend to use a Zenon HID (High Intensity Discharge) bulb Photo
4, which fits a conventional H4 bulb fitting, so the decision was taken to convert this unit. Zenon HID lights have been fitted to cars since the early 90s, and
we have probably all suffered from their intense bright white light, catching you in the face as you travel down some unknown country road at night! This is not due to the bulbs themselves, but just badly adjusted headlights.
The glass is held in place by the rim, having been crimped over its edge, so firstly saw cuts are made every 30mm or so around the entire rim Photo 5, it is then easy to bend these tabs upwards, so that the glass is visible. The glass is bonded to the reflector with some form of sealant and came off fairly easily with the insertion of a knife, the 45-year-old material giving up without a fight Photo 6. The large bulb, which is soldered to the reflector, is now accessible and with the application of a hot air gun around its base, it was soon free without damaging the reflector due to excessive heat.
An old rusty headlight I had been keeping for some reason donated its bulb fitting after an encounter with Mr. Hacksaw Photo 7,8. It was then released from the reflector’s remains by levering under the three spot welds which could be seen. By putting the liberated fitting on the reflector, the hole could be marked out, cut and filed to the size required Photo 9. Ensuring that the fitting is the correct way up and centrally mounted, I chose to solder it in place, but using an epoxy-type glue would give similar results Photo 10.
The reflector was cleaned and clear silicon sealant used sparingly for the new seal between the glass and reflector. The glass inner surface was cleaned and checked to be free of any finger marks before fitting to the reflector, double checking that it was correctly orientated to the bulb holder. The tangs were bent back over the rim, finishing by lightly tapping them in place with a small ball pein hammer. The saw slits will not be seen once the unit is returned to the rim and secured in place.
The Zenon HID unit was purchased online, where a pair for a car can be purchased for about £20. The other bulb has been fitted to my Honda CB550F for the last three years, since after competing in the ACU National Road Rally which took me into Wales at night, I realised that my headlight was not up to travelling at 60mph on unknown, unlit country roads with no white lines or cats’ eyes for some six hours before dawn arrived.
The Zenon bulb is a vast improvement with a much brighter, whiter and further spread of light, making riding at night more enjoyable.
The bulb and its fittings are larger than a normal bulb, but fits this headlight shell fine. The ballast unit could have fitted inside as well, due to the lack of the loom and numerous connectors, but I’ve bolted mine to the bottom yoke, as a fairing will hide it Photo 11, 12.
When this bike is eventually finished, it should at least have decent night-time lighting should I get caught out and stay too long at the local bike meetings.