Headlight Lens

[tomjohnston]

HELP please. I've looked everywhere,almost, and can't find a cheapy replacement headlight glass for my '77R100S. Somebody(that would be me) dropped the headlight on the fender sending cracks in 4 directions. It will hold together for a little while but not past state inspection. E-bay offers are pushing over a hundred dollars. On minimum wage there has to be a better way. Any sources out there I should check???

[tomjohnston]

To add..........will a standard 7" Bosch headlight assembly fit in the same shell cavity????

[ME 109]

To add..........will a standard 7" Bosch headlight assembly fit in the same shell cavity????

Go to your local auto dismantler and ask to take one and check. They at least take the same bulb.
The chrome retaining ring will be the issue.

[moosehead]

Motobins in the UK has them. I ordered one from them last year - 20 GBD for "continental dip" (for us who drive on the right side of the road)....for the lefties they're 28.50 GBP...don't know why the price difference?

Not sure where you're located but they ship everywhere...and the pound pretty low right now on exchange

http://www.motobins.co.uk/bmw-parts.php?model=R Series 2 valve Twin

[Major Softie]

Motobins in the UK has them. I ordered one from them last year - 20 GBD for "continental dip" (for us who drive on the right side of the road)....for the lefties they're 28.50 GBP...don't know why the price difference?

I guess it's just economy of scale: they make a lot more of the "continental" ones, so they can make them in bigger batches for a lower cost per piece.

[SteveD]

I've got one "in the mail" to me but after post, the Motobins one might be cheaper. The one I'll have says it's for '82 onwards. I don't know if that'd fit anyhow?
I sent you a message Tom, but it'd be quicker from Motobins and possibly cheaper once postage is figured in.

[dwerbil]

Try Matt here at Boxerworks, or Mikey at Martindale Cycle Works for a used one.
I got one for my /7 a while back from Max's for around fifty bucks.

http://www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com/fiche/ ... d=08102012

[Ken in Oklahoma]

It's interesting to me about the $100 going rate for headlight lenses on eBay, in the light of this thread that airhead headlight lenses are available for substantially less (if you know where to look). We've heard about eBay madness, and I wonder if it's explained simply by some people's desire to "win" in a game populated by others with others bent on coming out on top in the contest.

While I'm wondering, I'm also wondering how many owners of these 20, 30, and 40 year old motorcycles know that they enjoy a large availability of both OEM parts and "re-pop" parts. And perhaps there is still an "abundance" of used parts, other than eBay. I used to buy quite a few used parts through the IBMWR want ads. I recently checked and they are still in business. And I think that the BMWMOA site still has want ads.

As far as the IBMWR want ads, in my latter years of "attendance" I noticed some attempted scamming. For the most part these can be identified by the responses you get. A typical attempted scam will often start out with a responding email that might say something like, "I have the part you're looking for in stock in excellent condition". It took me a while to catch on that the response was a "canned" response to any ad. After I caught on I made it a point to exchange enough emails (and usually pics) to determine that I was working with a real person who had a real part in hand.

That left me pretty much with the possibility of a "seller" who was simply dishonest about the condition of the part. That did happen to me a couple times (though not on high ticket items which would have demanded more scrutiny on my part). But in the balance I came out very good price wise. And I stumbled onto a few bargains that were absolutely delicious.


Ken

[tomjohnston]

In case anyone is still interested............a standard 7" automobile headlight is too small by almost 1" (25mm)

[jagarra]

Ken,

You have a good point about the e-bay madness. I do buy many items there and idea of winning sometimes does make you loose sight of an alternate source. I remember a couple of purchases where I saw the exact same item offered new for 1/2 the price I paid for it on e-bay. The latest was a petcock for my R90/6, paid $38.00 for a used one when I could have bought a new one for about 5 bucks more. I believe that when we are dealing with older items, we are just happy to find a replacement part and don't continue to look further for better alternatives.
I don't know if this has been proposed before but how about a sticky list on this forum where we list vendors and a general category of what they carry. I know that when members post a link to a site, I usually check it out and if it looks promising I add it to my favorites under the BMW folder.

gg