rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

[Sportster-Green]

my marlin is equipped with those hamburger-style tail lights as shown in the pic below:


1199109125-marlin-sportster-orange-rear.jpg

i like the design of that lights, but they are not really legal, also a kind of safety issue. why?

they are designed to be mounted upright. any inclination will reduce the visibility of the indicator, brakelights etc.

during our weekend blasts, my mates always report: i couldnt see when you are braking, i havent seen you set an indicator etc...

even the luminous effency is more than poor. even my mot tester is always complaining about them.


for my own and other motorists safety i plan to change them.


are there any lights, ready to be bought off the shelf, which can be mounted inclined without the necessity to fabricate a base?

VW Beetle´s arent a solution as they will make the car look like a beach-buggy...also i hate aircooled VW´s!!!

[cameronfurnival]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

here are a couple of ideas...002.jpg003.jpg

[copperleaves11]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

Hi. You will find that they are more visible if you rotate them by 90 degrees. David

[Sportster-Green]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

here are a couple of ideas...[ATTACH]4121[/ATTACH][ATTACH]4122[/ATTACH]

upper pic: similar than the ones fitted: illegal

2nd pic: body modification necessary, as the pictured tail lights dont come with that base.

i have checked most www pics and thats the reason why i aksed:
a light cluster, off the shelf, WITHOUT any necessity to fabricate a base nor doing any body modifications (ok, besides drilling new fixing holes)

[Sportster-Green]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

Hi. You will find that they are more visible if you rotate them by 90 degrees. David

hi david, thats a good advice, which i will try when back from holidays end of this week.

[jon_cox]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

Why don't you make up a nice separate plinth for them aka Morgan style.

[Robert in Cumbria]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

Lucas used to make rubber sloping plinths for the side lamps and indicators.

With some PVC tube and ABS glue, it would be very easy to make some out of tube, spray them to match and bolt on. That way perfect alignment can be achieved. I hesitated to suggest that because an off the shelf solution seems to be what was indicated by the original post.

[cameronfurnival]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

S-G do you mean they are illegal because of viewing angles? One of the kitcar mags did a piece on making tubs for the burger lights not so long ago - essentially then got a small bucket the same diameter plus a bit, used it as a mould and cast two 'pods' from it. Also, if you ok behind the green sportster at the red one there is a nice 'cast' rear light on a plinth.

[Sportster-Green]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

S-G do you mean they are illegal because of viewing angles? .

yes...thats what i mean. and i dont think they are "officially" legal in UK if mounted inclined?

anyway: today i sat together with a mate...and he also had the idea of using the morgan style lamps...ok...the lamps are standard lucas...but the bases are morgan.

i think i will go this way.

another possibility i found for brake and tail: Lucas L549

but need to find a solution for the indicator.

[jon_cox]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

The MGA used this Lucas Lamp together with an indicator on a combined plinth. Maybe..........

[Robert in Cumbria]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

If simplicity is the prime objective for the 'burger' style lights, why not just make a small, shallow, kettle drum shaped case mounted on a stainless steel stalk? Something like a rounded stainless steel dog dish with a flange welded in to mount the lamp? Bit like a miniature headlamp.

In fact I like the idea, I may replace my Rubberlight 'trailer' back lights with something like this. I don't like those Rubberlight 'trailer' lights at all, they imply the designers were looking for an easy solution and found an inelegant one.

[Peterx]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

yes...thats what i mean. and i dont think they are "officially" legal in UK if mounted inclined?

anyway: today i sat together with a mate...and he also had the idea of using the morgan style lamps...ok...the lamps are standard lucas...but the bases are morgan.

i think i will go this way.

another possibility i found for brake and tail: Lucas L549

but need to find a solution for the indicator.

Hi Axel,
the 'hamburger' style lamps are legal in the UK but I agree with you that they are not too bright. Mine passed the UK 'SVA' test and 4 annual MOT's without any issues. I upgraded my side lights from 5W to 10W bulbs which improved a little bit. The simplest upgrade is to buy some LED versions of these lamps which are the same size and fitting. They are often used on the back of commercial lorries and buses (trucks?).
Try searching ebay for 'LED hamburger lights' or 'LED truck lights'.
I expect the more expensive ones will be the brightest!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/dsc/Vehicle-Parts-Accessories-/131090/i.html?_sop=10&LH_TitleDesc=1&_from=R10&_armrs=1&_nkw=LED+hamburger&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.XLED+hamburger&_osacat=131090&_odkw=LED+rear+truck

I would expect you'll find some on German eBay as well.
good luck, Peter
(But be careful as some are 24volt versions which would be no good for your Sportster)

[Sportster-Green]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

Hi Axel,
the 'hamburger' style lamps are legal in the UK but I agree with you that they are not too bright. Mine passed the UK 'SVA' test and 4 annual MOT's without any issues. I upgraded my side lights from 5W to 10W bulbs which improved a little bit. The simplest upgrade is to buy some LED versions of these lamps which are the same size and fitting. They are often used on the back of commercial lorries and buses (trucks?).
Try searching ebay for 'LED hamburger lights' or 'LED truck lights'.
I expect the more expensive ones will be the brightest!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/dsc/Vehicle-Parts-Accessories-/131090/i.html?_sop=10&LH_TitleDesc=1&_from=R10&_armrs=1&_nkw=LED+hamburger&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.XLED+hamburger&_osacat=131090&_odkw=LED+rear+truck

I would expect you'll find some on German eBay as well.
good luck, Peter
(But be careful as some are 24volt versions which would be no good for your Sportster)

even they may have passed SVA and the annual mot...this does not confirm that they are 100% legal....i mean: the lamps itselves are 100% legal...but they need to be fitted correctly. ...and with a "strict" or lets say "correct" working MOT or IVA tester they would fail.

mines have been fitted from the factory and passed the anual mot for around 10years....and they have passed the type approval test here in germany, but the tester said: "officially" its a fail...but i will let you pass, please be so kind and change them later.

i bought another kitcar this weekend with a fresh (UK)mot: main beam did not work, indicators did not work.
a mate of mine bought a seven type kitcar last week: fresh mot, but rear lights did not work.

what i want to say. the MOT is not a real prove.

anyway...i have not the skills to fabricate a base to incline the acutal fitted lights. LED lights arent an option, as they look a bit too modern...also my MOT-Tester will not like them.

in the manwhile i rotated the lights by 90degrees...which has improved the visability a bit...but not tremendous.

more powerfull bulbs for the driving light (side light) may help...but can i get those also for the brake-lights and indicators? which means bigger than 21W? also does the heat of those bulbs not melt the plastic-glass of the lights?

[Sportster-Green]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

is there a web-shop where i can buy those plinth (MG-A or Morgan Style), also to get an idea of the price?

[Gareth]

Re: rear lights, possibilities, alternatives

Try www.cbsonline.co.uk
Car builder solutions, they will also post you a free catalogue, very useful.
Gareth.