Positioning of front fender light.

[slamiste]

Hello,

I'm still working on a 1938 EL. Long story, but the front fender needs the mounting holes drilled for the fender light. I've got two other old fenders laying about but the light positioning is different on each of them. Can someone supply a measurement from a machine know to be correct so that I can drill the holes?

Steve Slaminko.

[epazikas]

Hello Steve, can you send a picture of your motorcycle front fender, so that I can secure that I have the right information for you? Thanks, Ed

[slamiste]

Ed.

Here's some pictures of the fender. This thing was FULL of holes, all over, most of which I've welded up. I removed the brace to facilitate the repair and have the proper rivets to replace it when most of the other body work is done. I'd like to drill the new light mounting holes before replacing the brace.
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[exeric]

Nice work, Steve. Those valanced H-D fenders are miserable to work on, and take a lot of time and effort to get right. But, they're worth the effort; and that shows on what you have done.

[epazikas]

Ed.

Here's some pictures of the fender. This thing was FULL of holes, all over, most of which I've welded up. I removed the brace to facilitate the repair and have the proper rivets to replace it when most of the other body work is done. I'd like to drill the new light mounting holes before replacing the brace.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]23503[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]23504[/ATTACH]

Hi, thank you for sharing the pictures! I see you have the same fender as my motorcycle. Please check the three pictures I am attaching taken from the parking light that is fitted atop of the front fender and let me know if this is the same as you have. If so, I will take the measurements for you tomorrow morning (I am in Sweden). I am new to this forum and I hope I managed to insert the pictures correctly. By the way you did a great job on the fender! Ed

[slamiste]

Ed,
Thanks for the pictures. My fender and light look to be similar to yours. As I mentioned, I've got a few other fenders laying around plus 2 more on other bikes but I can't get any of the light placement measurements to agree. In any case I'd appreciate a dimension from the front fender edge to the front tip of the light where it meets the fender. I'll compare yours with my collection and see if we can find two the same.

Eric and Ed,
Thanks for the comments on the work so far on my fender. The pictures make it look better than is really is at this point but I'm still working on it.

Steve

[epazikas]

Hi Steve, thanks for your reply! I will check the measurement as you say, in other words from the front fender tip to the tip of the parking light. Tomorrow morning this is the first thing I am planning to do.
By the way, I repainted my motorcycle few months back and have removed the fenders. Two things that I did differently than when it came original was:
1- I replaced the rivets by carriage bolts in order to have it easy to disassemble in case of a future need (visually both rivets and the carriage bolts looks identical)
2- originally the wiring are loose under the fender, meaning, they are exposed. I have fitted a 3M rubber sealed tube under the fenders (back and front) to protect all wires.
That’s all for now.
Ed

[epazikas]

Hi Steve, thanks for your reply! I will check the measurement as you say, in other words from the front fender tip to the tip of the parking light. Tomorrow morning this is the first thing I am planning to do.
By the way, I repainted my motorcycle few months back and have removed the fenders. Two things that I did differently than when it came original was:
1- I replaced the rivets by carriage bolts in order to have it easy to disassemble in case of a future need (visually both rivets and the carriage bolts looks identical)
2- originally the wiring are loose under the fender, meaning, they are exposed. I have fitted a 3M rubber sealed tube under the fenders (back and front) to protect all wires.
That’s all for now.
Ed

Good morning Steve, I checked my motorcycles fender and the distance from the tip of the front fender to the tip of the parking light. You can see the attached pictures as well but the distance is of 17 centimeters or 6.69 inches. Let me know if any further assistance is needed and I would be happy to be in the loop of these installations you will be working on. Thank you! Ed

[Rubone]

You can see the attached pictures as well but the distance is of 17 centimeters or 6.69 inches.

That is not a correct installation. Factory fender lights are mounted where the front of the light and the top of the embossed area on the fender is approximately 1 inch between. The top line of the fender light is parallel to the road surface. Plenty of factory photos exist showing the original placement as fitted by the factory on new machines. Owner attached are a different story.

[epazikas]

Hello, well, I can not say much on this but I am the fourth owner of my motorcycle and this came installed from the beggining. What I know for sure is that this parking lights over the fender came from the time the bike was bought.

[41craig]

Ed; If memory serves me right, the front fender light was supplied with a section of steel tubing that had to be bent into shape to cover the lamp wire. To fit it in the carton, the steel tubing was bent into a U shape. The wire runs through the tubing, thus not being exposed to the road grime.
Craig

[epazikas]

Hello Craig, hmmm...what you are saying makes sense...you are right but in my case I have this tubing you are mentioning about only on the rear fender, the front fender does not and I know the fender is original. Perhaps it could be the case that the parking lamp did not come with the bike and was then installed as a accessory .... I am not sure...but what you say makes sense. This is why I decided to install a rubber tubbing to the front fender, thus protecting the wiring. Ed

[exeric]

My '48FL has a 1939 front fender that I put wide braces on. The fender light is positioned in existing holes, exactly as Robbie stated. I also come up with approximately 3.18" from front edge of fender to front tip of fender light.

[41craig]

Ed; The tubing came with the NOS front fender lamp that I've had for years. Although I looked it up in the parts book and it does not show or list it. Colony does have the tube included in their front lamp mounting kit. ( I just had to make sure that I wasn't imagining it )
Craig

[Rubone]

The tubing is easily made from a section of 1/8" brake line, available in any good auto parts store.