XS11 RH Headlight

[steptoe]

 this has been a lesson well presented, for those of us that can't or shouldn't read tech links,,

a bit of a journey through the pitfalls of buying a piece of glass till a replacement lens could be sourced

[excess.11]

Errol....if you take another look at the pic of your headlight.......... you ll see the pleating segmented by horizontal ,vertical  and angular lines in conjunction with varying and offset widths of the pleating.......all by design for a reason and purpose.
It s more than just the reflector as you state.
The vertical pleating on the lens, is internal of the glass and not external which has a different effect when it comes to light refraction and due to this  has a diffused shutter effect to the light as you pass by in the opposite direction........it s getting "ALL" 3 components to come together......the lens.....the reflector and the lamp along with proper adjustment.

[excess.11]

At the end of the day.......anyone can do whatever they want regarding this issue...each to their own............. running and accepting the risks with that choice and knowledge that substituting a manufactures designed lens with a clear lens is illegal and for good reason.
By doing this....... one would of basically turned a compliant diffused headlight into a non compliant Hi/Lo Beam  "Spotlight"............. removing all the horizontal and vertical  edge cut off points to reduce glare as mentioned in the ADR and previously designed into the light by the manufacturer .
The "Spotlight" does nt need to be re invented.......it already  has been.........and we also know what its purpose is and what it does.
You may think that aiming this modified light " down" fixes all....but it s when you crest a hill or hit a rise in the road or countersteer around that sweeper and many other scenarios that this , now" Concentrated beam of Light" , will do it s job to  the oncoming traffic ...........as it is no longer a diffused light source .
The amount of submissions,detailing tests,materials and results that manufactures have to comply with ADR Standards to get an approval is staggering.The design of the compatible glass with your standard headlight reflector isn t something just thrown on there as a rough way to diffuse the light.The following standards will give you an insight..........if not a headache as to what is required to be legal.

WARNING to Some....... DO NOT READ ( technical  link).........

http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2007C00601/Html/Volume_1#_Toc1187573740709

[Eveready1100]

Had a bit of a think about what you were saying about the diffusion through the lens, Jeff.
If you have a look at this pic, you will see that that the only angles on the lens that will reflect light are vertical, and that will reflect the light sideways, giving a wider spread of light, nothing there will guide the light vertically. It's all in the reflector. Admittedly, you may end up with a narrow spread of light a looong way up the road, but it wouldn't be altering the normal height of the beam spread too much from a standard lens, thus NOT blinding oncoming traffic.



In regards to the legality of a plain glass lens, it'd be up to the inspector at the time.

[excess.11]

A clear glass lens headlight has a segmented reflector and is designed as such...........( refer to the reference link on my previous post ). Personally..........when night riding or driving nothing irks me more than some moron with badly aligned lights or the forgetful high beam road user (yeah i know we have all done it at one time or another) and maybe even the so and so who has fit clear glass to an incompatible reflector  ..........but the people coming in the opposite direction could literally be the last people you meet if you blind them.........especially when your on a bike.
Thanks to Xtian.........all is not lost with the leads he has found and there are those replacement headlights out there to be found as shown by the links so far.No need to part any bike as i see........nor is there a need to make it unroadworthy for usage now and if ever sold in the future.
Your safety depends not only on what you see while riding at night........but more so on what the driver coming in the other direction can or can not see.

[steptoe]

ah yes, true,,,but are you going to put the bike up for parts because of a busted headlight lens with no genuine replacement, {if you want to get technical, in todays world, another bikes light isn't factory and therefore will not pass either}
     or would you like myself put a new lens/piece of glass in and re-adjust the light a bit, and if pulled up by the law, baffle them with conflumery they neither need  or know about,,
     for instance if the later is true,{clear lens} hit them with the fact that the car they are driving have clear lenses, and are therefore bringing the old bikes up to todays night vision standards or go on about the safety aspect of day light visibilty to other motorists that neither look nor care for us
   or something like that

[excess.11]

The pattern usually seen on the glass of a high/ low headlight is there for a reason .To aid with diffusing and deflecting the light and glare to oncoming vehicles.Some driving light manufactures offer a pair of lights as...........one with a diffused glass for a flood effect.......and one with a clear glass for the distance spotlight effect.I always like to keep in mind the person coming in the other direction..........it could be any one of us. Much testing is carried out in the production of these lights to meet and conform to standards and safety with strict guidelines.Changing the glass would in effect make the vehicle unroadworthy and i don t think the glass shop down the road would take any responsibility or insert any imprinted standards reference to show it conforms or complies.A change in the glass such as a broken or cracked lens will not pass a roadworthy as will a lens without any standards or manufactures imprint.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamp#Lens_optics

[Eveready1100]

Les, virtually any glass place should be capable of cutting you a round lens. G James is just a company name that instantly comes to mind as soon as you mention glass, that's all.
Remember, once you get the old broken lens off probably using a razor blade or thin hobby knife to cut the seal between the lens & reflector (use extreme care here everything is sharp!) make sure you give the reflector the cleaning of its life as you don't get this opportunity often, if ever.

Good ol' Steptoe. Trust him to come up with something completely out of the normal plane of thinking.

[XSLes]

Do you think any glass place could do this, or is there something special about G James?

[steptoe]

ay lads,, the first original post was for a headlight lens, { I have gone back to the beginning and read the whole thing thru}, to put a lot a lot of fella's at ease, and save a heap of stress chasing one, 516's owner {a bike I rebuilt a while ago} went to his local G James Glass outlet with his surround and they cut a lens for him while he waited out of laminated glass like windscreen glass, a clear lens with a centre beam and a side spread to rival the best of them,

have been out of range all last week

[Christian Raith]

I know it is the 8 inch (230 mm) but just putting in a starting point.
The year model SR500 with the big light is '81 - '83

Dieter in Germany is going to ask around the group there so see how he gets on.

the tired kraut on ebay is always VERY over priced

[XSIIE]

Just bought some stuff off Ebay germany and the postage seem to start at 42 Euros (around $50) that's for a postage box.  A lot of the people won't post to Australia.


Cheers

Eddy
XS1100E
XS1100RH
XS1100H (in pieces)
XS1100RH (Spares bike)

[excess.11]

Xtian,  it seems it s  only some models of the SR500 that have the same size as the RH?...........these listings for the sr500 headlight says it s a  7" unit............... and not 8" as needed.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Motorcycle-headlight-halogen-sr500-gr650-tempter-kz750-/120778766400?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c1ef9b840

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SCHEINWERFER-NEU-7-H4-LENS-HEAD-LIGHT-NEW-TX-750-XT-250-XS-650-SR-500-XS-400-/250967724393?pt=Motorrad_Kraftradteile&hash=item3a6ed79169

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HEADLIGHT-LENS-NEW-H4-SCHEINWERFER-EINSATZ-SR500-SR-500-/380312998420?pt=Motorrad_Kraftradteile&hash=item588c6bd214

Although....this one is the proverbial.......... rare as "rocking,hens,poo and teeth altogether" .
Note the cost.............and don t forget you ve got postage as well.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SCHEINWERFER-GROSS-BIG-HEAD-LIGHT-SR-500-2J4-20-24cm-/380252516515?pt=Motorrad_Kraftradteile&hash=item5888d0f0a3

If it s not clearly stated it would pay to ask for specific measurements before purchasing.
Great lead and good find Xtian.

[Christian Raith]

Sorry if I am a bit late on this.
The SR500 has the same headlight as the RH so if any of you do German try here

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Klarglas-Scheinwerfer-H4-schwarz-Yamaha-XJR-1200-1300-V-Max-SR-500-BT-MT-01-FZ-/200672961499?pt=Motorrad_Kraftradteile&hash=item2eb90a63db

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Yamaha-SR-500-2J4-Original-Scheinwerfer-21cm-BJ-79-/320849926157?pt=Motorrad_Kraftradteile&hash=item4ab425580d

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Scheinwerfer-Yamaha-SR500-2J4-/300658454094?pt=Motorrad_Kraftradteile&hash=item4600a3ee4e

[Jonesy]

Hey Errol
You wont find one searching TRX 850
The 850 photo I posted was a naked conversion I did using an XJ 650 8 incher(across the lens)
I just had a look and got some more numbers off it that might widen your searh criteria
On the glass like your photo
I have
   KOITO
 HALOGEN
     H4
   20H3

on the shell/back of reflector
there is a smudged number either 507-20104 or 597-20104
 hope this helps.