I've received a lot of PM's during my time on Speedzilla enquiring about my single headlight endurance style upper on my RC. Well I stumbled across some old pictures of the bike while I was building that piece so now I can show everyone what I did rather than try to explain it with words. So here we go:
I initially put out a feeler for this project and got some good responses/ideas from various other members. That post can be found here: Endurance headlight
My big dilemma was finding a single projector that would support both a high and low beam in one housing. Other than the Yoyodyne unit, I failed to find a single one and I wasn't willing to pay over $200 US for a little light. So what I finally decided on was a 90mm projector made by HELLA. Details on this projector can be found here: Hella. It retailed for something like $100 CDN after taxes, and is available through most auto parts suppliers like NAPA and so on. They have both a high and low beam model, I chose the low beam unit because it had a more focused beam and came with a removable block off plate (the actual horizontal cut off for the 'low' beam) so technically it could be both high and low, just not switchable without pulling the projector apart. It uses a standard H4 bulb which is included.
Now that I had my projector it was time to start fabricating the upper. I found a soup can that fit pretty much exactly over the projector so used that as my tunnel base. The upper itself was a fibreglass ArmourBodies race upper. The outline of the can was traced onto the inside of the upper and the hole punched out. The soup can was smothered in mold release and then fibreglassed to the upper at the hole. For mounting the projector to the upper we used the projector's existing mounting points. Drop nuts were molded into the fibreglass tunnel, we flared the inside end of the tunnel to do this. The plan was to use long bolts with springs and retainers in order to give the projector some adjustability for aiming the light. It also made it quick and easy to pull the projector out for track days. After lots of sanding and some light use of bondo to fill some imperfections here is what we ended up with:
Thick and heavy right? It wasn't too bad, but we were worried about flex and stress from the wind so we went a bit overboard. I subsequently smashed that upper up in a crash so the piece was re-done on a new upper with some use of kevlar reinforcement. The result was a much thinner, lighter, and stronger tunnel. Here is a picture of the second attempt from the inside, and you can see how the projector is mounted and adjusted from the back:
I decided that if I was going to have just a single beam, it had better be bright. I picked up a 6000k H4 McCullough HID kit designed specifically for motorcycles which had a much more compactly designed ballast and igniter (separate pieces). This kit came as a pair, so I got 2 complete setups for only $185 US! I cut off part of the block-off plate within the projector so that a bit more light would escape and then aimed it a little high but not so high it would be blinding oncoming drivers. The result? Insanely good lighting from a single unit. The projector had a perfect spread in front of me and the hard cutoff from the block-off plate stopped the HID from blinding anyone caught in front of me. I actually had it wired to the highbeam, so the high/low beam switch on the bars became an on/off switch for the headlight. All told this cost me around $200 (after selling the other half of the HID kit) and about 20 hours of labour/thinking. After some paint and installation, here is the final result:
I never got around to getting a clear plastic cover for it. I tried the thinnest possible sheet plastic I could find but it wouldn't follow the contours of the upper properly. I was a bit frustrated with trying to make a cover for it to be honest, and never figured it out before the bike was stolen. But anyways, that's how I did it! I hope this helps others who are thinking about doing this.
Thanks for the info man... I've found that PIAA 004XT lights are very small and would make a smaller footprint in the ft. fairing. They are bright as hell too...
"Exercise restraint and discipline, only responding to posts from legit customers and those with constructive positive intent, you will find that the handgrenades explode harmlessly. You have many satisfied customers who are happy to have the parts you've made. My suggestion to you is keep making good parts, keep getting more customers, take care of them and let them speak for you."
One trick the japanese teams do to make individual light covers is to use hot oil to form the perspex,then form over a similar radiused object(ball,actual cowling etc)
maybe heat the oil in a pot(cooking oil,engine oil maybe!)
the place the perspex in
when its pliable place over the similar radiused object
when cool shape and sand, and there you have a nicely made headlight cover!
Race teams(and a-tech,magical etc)use heavy duty(thick,maybe 2mm or so) perspex.
Done a few of these single headlight set ups and I've found the best and cheapest option to be a CBR250 headlight,they are 120mm diameter,cost about AUD$80.00(US$50.00) at the bike wreckers here.
You then get both low and high beam with original beam angel adjustment screws and they plug straight up to the SP loom fitting, just have to swap over the spade fitting from the hi-beam to the 3rd terminal on the single light.
JD, you got a 'Berg? (saw the banner in the background) I've got an '06 FS650C SM, killer bikes!
-Rocky-
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Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."
Would you mind writing something up really quick on how you made your headlight/ installed it into the plasctics? How did you cut the whole to get an exact match? What year bike did the light come off?
thanks
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'01 RC51 waiting on parts to be a mean machine
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JD, you got a 'Berg? (saw the banner in the background) I've got an '06 FS650C SM, killer bikes!
-Rocky-
I believe that's the Adrenaline Motorcycle Co-op garage in those pictures. They are a Husaberg dealer out of Victoria BC. One of the mech there rides a FS650C SM with after market pipe. You can hear that thing 10 blocks away from the shop.
Thanks for the writeup and soup can suggestion. I'm using a 90mm Hella HID unit but have the light mounted to the snorkel instead of to the bodywork. I just need to make a tunnel to complete it.
Thanks for the writeup and soup can suggestion. I'm using a 90mm Hella HID unit but have the light mounted to the snorkel instead of to the bodywork. I just need to make a tunnel to complete it.
When you're removing the soup can give it a couple light taps on 4 "corners" with a rubber mallet and then twist it GENTLY. Tap as required, but if you put the release agent on correctly it should pop right off and slide out perfectly.
And yes as Joe said that Husaberg banner is in the shop I used to work at. Berg's are monsters, I'd rock one but I already do too much stunting and sliding on the street. If I added the ability to jump curbs and rip down sets of stairs my license would be gone forever.....
Would you mind writing something up really quick on how you made your headlight/ installed it into the plastics? How did you cut the whole to get an exact match? What year bike did the light come off?
thanks
Having made the RC51 upper fairing panel and fitted it to the bike I then made the fiberglass headlight surround using a 110mm plastic container for the mold.(see photos).
These are great for molding from , parts release easily from the plastic and you can pick these container up anywhere in all shapes and sizes depending on what you've got in mind.
Next step is marked out and cut the hole in the upper fairing, best to do this on the bike so you can line up the right exit angle for the cylinder,then slip the complete surround cylinder though the hole, best to cut the front overhang off later when the glasswork is done to ensure a nice flush fit to the contours of the fairing panel.
Once happy with the position tack the surround in place with a few tabs of body filler on the inside surface of the fairing were the two pieces meet.
Then glass the section in place and allow to cure.
Cut away and sand back the front of the headlight surround and the jobs done.
I've found it very important to fit these up on the bike to ensure the correct angle of the surround, I have tried to do a few of these for guy's interstate and fabricated them off the bike with limited success.
The rear mounting arrangement for the headlight is cut from fiberglass or carbon flat sheet and also important to position this while the fairing is fitted to the bike, same deal to tack it in place with a small quantity of bodyfiller them glass it up.
Headlights I use are from CBR400/250RR,not sure what years, seems these headlights didn't change for a lot of models.
These are all the photos I can find at present , I'm sure I got some more showing the glassing and cutting process and will post them if found.
VTR SP-2 , this is a project I did a couple of years ago,
TurnOne Full fiberglass street replica fairing set with Single Headlight,single seat cowl and custom undertail,
not sure about the customers choice of paintwork
Like the 2-1 Jardine system though !
man..I love the way the RC looks with single round headlights or even better two,I just wished I was good enough to copy it on mine. Knowing me I would make a total mess it though
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DIY Endurance Upper
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