1948 Chief Headlight

[Hippy]

Howdy All, I have a 48 Chief that we finished restoration of last august and it was judged at Jefferson. I had a headlight from Staklite that was supposed to be an exact repro of the 48 light. I was told at judging that it was absolutely not correct and docked 2 points. After contacting Mr Stark, I was told that there were 2 styles of headlight used in 48 and the one i have is an exact copy of one of the types. It has a hole for the wiring to go into the headlight instead of the block that the wires screw to. Due to the new rule about not being able to advertize your AMCA score when selling your bike, i will probably never have it judged again but am curious about that light. What do ya'll think. Thanks Steve

[Mark Jennings]

Hi Steve, I have never heard of that type of headlight on a 48 Chief. My 48 and all other 48`s I have seen have the connecting block. My 50 Arrow has a hole in the bottom for the wires to pass through and I know that headlight is original. I think they are feeding you a line about there being two types but maybe someone out there has more information. If I am wrong then I stand corrected and learned something new. Mark

[gsottl]

Attached some pictures of what I think is a correct headlight for 1948 - the only type I have seen on these bikes as well. ´41 and ´42 Indians had a headlamp with the same shape, but with the socket some closer to the bezel (about the position of the connector block on the later ones) and with an oval hole in this socket through which the cables were going.

Can anybody tell me what the original brand and type of "Sealed Beam" is? There are so many manufacturers that produced almost the same headlight "bulbs".

Cheers,
gsottl

[gsottl]

correct 1941-42 headlight to compare (this bike has a 1940 and earlier horn)

[exeric]

It is my understanding that '41,'42, and '48 and later Chiefs used the Deitz headlight. '43-'47 used the Motolamp. Even the Motolamp could be had with a sealed beam. I have an old Deitz bucket with the bakelite junction block that came with a 7" G.E. "All Weather" sealed beam element.

[gsottl]

Both headlamps shown above are Dietz-Style - I am not sure if they were exclusively made my Dietz?

To my understanding all Moto-Lamps originally had Moto-Lamp lenses and a seperate reflector. Of course Sealed Beams were used in Motolamp shells, but I am quite convinced not from the factory.

As far as I have seen on original bikes and pictures the bezel on 1941-42 had a rivited cadmium plated clamp. The later versions had the holes for the clamp-screw integrated in the ring.

Cheers,
gsottl

[PRG]

Howdy sir,

The bulb supplied with the sealed beam headlight is a GE3044, click here and scan down for view. It has no alignment ears on the lense, the light pattern is more symetrical (does not rise to the right like on auto apps). The part number is stenciled on the outside of the reflector.

As far as the bucket itself, pedestal different than 41-42's and only bucket with a wire through an access hole that I know of would be the Motolamp for vertical twins, these cheaper than the correct buckets for 46-47 Chiefs, easily converted by cutting out a square and adapting the bakolite block where the hole is.

[gsottl]

Thank you for the information.

I have recently seen a "sealed beam" that did not have a one piece glas reflector & lens like most of the "sealed beam" lights I have seen up to now.
This one had a metal reflector that was edge-raised around the lens and sealed this way. It looked like an old version of the "sealed beam" system. Were the original headlamp inserts from 1941-42 and 1948up of this particular design as well?

I have two or three of these Vertical headlights too, but the bezel also differs from the Chief headlight in the area of the clamp screw.

Best MC wishes from Europe,
gsottl

[Lipdog]

Reviving this old post. I'm upgrading my '48 Chief to 12v. I want to use an LED headlight but I want as correct a look as possible. One option is this, which looks pretty good: https://vintagecarleds.com/7-inch-round-headlights/. I also think that, if I find a correct old headlight, they can bond the lens to their reflector and I would get a vintage looking bulb with an LED element.

This post and others mention a GE3044, but I can't find any of those. Is anyone aware of other sealed beam models that are correct for a '48 Chief? Maybe something like a Cycle-Ray https://www.ebay.com/itm/Harley-Cycl.../352579891797?

[tomfiii]

I too used a Stark light ,but cut hole for a brand X bakelite connection altho screws are same size, removed rivets (replaced with modified carriage bolts) and reinforced the plate.

[Lipdog]

Update: I ended up going with an LED bulb from Grote that I bought at Summit Racing. It doesn't look correct, but I really like the look. I went with a (red) LED brake light, and standard filament 12v lights for the dash and the Indian. I also installed a SoundBomb mini horn that's mostly hidden. I got my rebuilt generator from Frank and it looks excellent, and installed that and had it out for a ride. Everything seems to work great, and I can leave the lights on all the time.