The BSA A7-A10 Forum
Technical (Descriptive Topic Titles - Stay on Topic) => Lucas, Ignition, Charging, Electrical => Topic started by: Mhirst121 on 24.04. 2023 14:18
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While having a look round the show at Stafford I noticed this headlight on the Golden Flash that was exhibited. Is the small pilot light ( circled in red )at the bottom of the light shell standard on all Golden Flash models ?
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My 1961 GF does not have an external pilot light as there is one in the headlamp shell.
these shells have been dealt with previously. You will find loads if you search for underslung.
There were two types used with the cowl, underslung pilot for 1953-4 and no pilot 1955-7.
John
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Thank you John, will remember to use the search in future👍
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Old Joe Lucas must have thought it a good idea...as a parking light. Alas it was a short lived styling exercise being pretty dangerous to ride a bike on sidelights as a good few folks did.....".to save the battery" Yup, ignorance of the charging system goes back a long way. Some fools still even drive on sidelights, despite campaigns to use dipped headlights. So back then it was quickly dropped.
Lucas sold the same item to Triumph, and it is also still available new. Basic lens and lampholder feature as the guts of the sidelamp fitting for a Daimlet Dart!!!, the sporting 1950's aristos' vehicle of choice with a current price to match. Hurry while stocks last at around £75. I won't be in the rush. Prince of Darkness indeed. Sod that.
Swarfy
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I have the underslung light on a C11. It is so dim I lost count of the times I was stopped by police for having no front lamp. Eventually fed up with it, I fitted the side light into the headlamp, no more problems
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It was fitted from about 1952 to 1954.
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My '51 Star Twin has one. I don't see any real problem with the positioning of them given that most vehicles of the time (even lorries) had miniscule side/tail lights, and were primarily intended as parking lights.
Fit a bright LED lamp in the underslung unit and it's a good daylight riding light.
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From Pitmans Book of the BSA Twin. All sorts of interesting things in this little book. From 1958 the nacelle was fitted.
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'Parking Bulb'. I remember my father having a little lamp that he put on a window of his car when he parked overnight on the street.
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'Parking Bulb'. I remember my father having a little lamp that he put on a window of his car when he parked overnight on the street.
Wait a sec! Are you saying that the pilot light in the headlight shell might be intended as a “parking lamp” that is left on at nighttime to alert car parkers to the presence of the bike? That would be news to me (which isn’t hard to do).
Richard L.
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I remember that in the UK there was a requirement for cars to have parking lights. These are still a requirement for cars and motorbikes parked on roads or a lay-by if the speed limit is greater than 30mph. (Look up the UK Highway Code)
Since the pilot light is bugger all use to the rider and putting your lights on while riding in the day was unheard of when these bikes were made i can only conclude that yes these are parking lights.
News to Richard but then this may not be the case in the USA or anywhere else.
John
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Trouble I had with it in the C11 is that the short 45 watt dynamo is fitted and it can't give out enough to power a 36watt headlamp and coil and tail light at 30mph and keep the battery up, so is necessary to use the side lamp in town. Pretty useless really.
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I also remember my Dad using a parking light as described by Greybeard.
Bikes like direct lighting Bantams had a torch dry cell batterry in the headlamp shell to power the parking light. Most of the time they were either left when it went flat or left in to corrode damaging the mounting and sometimes the shell also.
Below from a D1 Bantam Instruction manual dated March 1952..
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'Parking Bulb'. I remember my father having a little lamp that he put on a window of his car when he parked overnight on the street.
Wait a sec! Are you saying that the pilot light in the headlight shell might be intended as a “parking lamp” that is left on at nighttime to alert car parkers to the presence of the bike? That would be news to me (which isn’t hard to do).
Richard L.
In those pictures the earlier version is described as a Pilot bulb. The later one is a Parking Bulb.
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'Parking Bulb'. I remember my father having a little lamp that he put on a window of his car when he parked overnight on the street.
Wait a sec! Are you saying that the pilot light in the headlight shell might be intended as a “parking lamp” that is left on at nighttime to alert car parkers to the presence of the bike? That would be news to me (which isn’t hard to do).
Richard L.
In those pictures the earlier version is described as a Pilot bulb. The later one is a Parking Bulb.
Its a long time ago *eek* but I only remember the “auxiliary” light (pilot bulb or separate lens type) as being legal for parking only, it was not legal to ride with just the auxiliary light in dark conditions, in the uk at least, much later on it became mandatory to put a dipped headlight (not auxiliary light) on in the rain, during the day.
There are not well understood rules around ‘driving lights” in NZ……I would not fit them to my old bikes as I don’t want any “discussion” on the rules come WOF (MOT) time ;)