R1150GS Headlight swap

[nock]

Hi everyone, I've got standard lights in the nose of my GS but the larger of the two headlights has a badly cracked glass. I've tried in vain to source a second hand light and the price of the new unit is ridiculous. To cap it all I resent buying standard replacement headlights that I know will provide poor illumination - as I understand it everyone agrees the stock lights are shit!

My question is whether anyone knows if I could swap the standard lights for other more powerful items. I like the 'Patrick Moore' (one big light, one small light) look and would like to keep it looking essentially the same. But would be interested to know if anyone else has attempted this : for instance - would some of the 'angel eye' BMW car lights fit in the housings?

I look forward to your responses.

 

[Johnwhit]

thats a good idea, back in the day I had a suzuki gs1000 and remember the glass lens broke, I took a code off the glass bit & got a replacement from a car dealer. Not sure if our bikes have a code that we can use but its a round light so I'm sure a better lens can be found somewhere. ???

 

[davegs]

thats a good idea, back in the day I had a suzuki gs1000 and remember the glass lens broke, I took a code off the glass bit & got a replacement from a car dealer. Not sure if our bikes have a code that we can use but its a round light so I'm sure a better lens can be found somewhere. ???

These are complete units and do not have seperate glasses, so, bite the bullett and get an hid conversion on it. easy to do just contact Les Wassell on here for details of price etc.
dave GS

 

[nock]

I've seen some of the HID conversions but they all needed the original (& undamaged) glass and housings to put the new discharge units in - unless these are a different version I haven't seen before.

Davegs : can you clarify?

 

[davegs]

I've seen some of the HID conversions but they all needed the original (& undamaged) glass and housings to put the new discharge units in - unless these are a different version I haven't seen before.

Davegs : can you clarify?

You will fail an MOT with a cracked glass anyway, all you do with hid is change the bulb over with a bigger hole cut in the cap that fits over the lamp
housing. These require a bit of wiring and the ballasts will fit under the beak no probs. At the head light the new wiring just connects into the existing lamp connector so anytime you can swap it back in minutes, and you will also be able to see where your going which is a great improvement over the std glow worm lighting of BMW.
Dave GS

 

[Welshman]

There is a cheap Hella unit that some of the buses run that fits a main beam and is a fraction of the OEM price

 

[Keith Chapman]

You will fail an MOT with a cracked glass anyway, all you do with hid is change the bulb over with a bigger hole cut in the cap that fits over the lamp
housing. These require a bit of wiring and the ballasts will fit under the beak no probs. At the head light the new wiring just connects into the existing lamp connector so anytime you can swap it back in minutes, and you will also be able to see where your going which is a great improvement over the std glow worm lighting of BMW.
Dave GS

But that does not solve the problem of where to find a replacement glass lens unit. My dip beam lens has a crack the full width, so I would be interested in finding a replacement too.

 

[davegs]

But that does not solve the problem of where to find a replacement glass lens unit. My dip beam lens has a crack the full width, so I would be interested in finding a replacement too.

Just pay up and look happy.

 

[nock]

I appreciate there are some bikers to whom money is no object, and whilst I could afford to buy a new unit, much like Robert M. Pirsig I find my 'zen' in fixing things cheaply and effectively - that's what makes me happy

I intend to either find a replacement light of the right size or failing that cut the broken glass off the sealed unit using a dremel, then replacing it with a lens of the same size using black silicon sealant to make it waterproof.

Welshman - thanks for your comment. If you have any more details about the Hella glass please let me know.

By the way it passed its MOT despite the crack stretching from one side of the glass to the other. I thought the worse and expected it to fail for this as well, but was told it would only have failed if the light it threw out was distorted or disturbed.

 

[Neil W]

Strangley enough the lights in my 1150 were exactly the same as those in the front of my mates 1989 Lancia Delta Integrale

 

[philthy]

Jealous

Strangley enough the lights in my 1150 were exactly the same as those in the front of my mates 1989 Lancia Delta Integrale

Integrale.........drove one once............awesome

 

[davegs]

Lights

There must be somthing that will fit, you can bet they dident make those light units just to fit 1150'S but then again the light is so awful who else would
uses them unless in pairs.