31 VL Headlight

[Peter Cooke]

Hi folks,
Attached are some pics of the headlight that came with my 31V. The housing is not stamped with “Moto Lamp” so I believe it’s a repop. The lense doesn’t have any “John Brown MotoLamp” script either. As you can see it’s been beaten up a bit and had some repairs done in the housing. You can also see there are still some cracks in the housing. I think it’ll come up ok with some TLC but before I head down that path I’d like to know that it’s the correct light for ’31 H-D, as in the style/shape, etc. I believe Indian used a similar light so if this is a copy of the Indian item I’ll look to replace it. Or were they the same anyway?

Regards
Peter



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[Peter Cooke]

Some more pics.

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[Steve Slocombe]

Dear Peter, for a rider bike I would just tidy it up as is. Someone has done a lot of work and come pretty close. The reflector has had the stub tube soldered at the rear. The bucket has been altered from another and the focus screw hole at the rear looks too small. The rim is not far off the 1931/32 Harley style - the Indian one was otherwise identical but with 'Indian' stamped in the lozenge on the bezel. The glass is flat - correct - but not marked Motolamp as you say. The focus spring is home made and most of the fixings are incorrect. If it has been altered from a later Indian type then that would be a tad smaller. The 1935 Cycleray is a much cheaper lamp to make, and many 1931-34 Harley Motolamps must have been chucked away when the new lamp came out and there were no spares for the old style. Originals are now unobtainium and Replicant Metals have had my tooling for the last 3 years so should be producing new Motolamps soon if you nag them enough.

[Peter Cooke]

Thanks Steve. I think I'll drill the rivets and separate the shell from the mounting plate, weld up the splits, and use one of those Colony kits for the 35+ headlights to replace rivets and mounting bolt. Knock the dents out of the bezel, and a new glass with the Motolamp markings doesn't seem difficult to get and will help make it look a bit more OEM. Are the correct wire clips and focus spring available anywhere?