Carello Headlight SFC

arancia said:
US spec '74 (with ND instruments, mirror and turn signals) came with a GE sealed beam installed when I got it in early 80s, I believe to be original unit, the bike had very low miles and no apparent damage, previous owner had made no other modifications.
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Hi folks,
Jumping into an old(er) thread. I see that a Carello light is the preferred (?) Option for the SFC. I'm not sure what originally came with my bike, but it now has a Cibie halogen headlight in the fairing.
I spoke with my friend, Peeter, who sold the bike when new. He said that the light was originally used in one of his university engineering projects. After that, it found its way into the SFC. The outer lens is concave, not convex, which I thought was strange. On Wolfgang's recommendation, I bought a LED bulb to use in it when it goes back on the road.
So, should I try to find the correct Carello light for it, or is the Cibie an acceptable option?? 🤔
 

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With all the money for a usable Carello headlight, you can do a lot of other nice things.

I think it is enough if you just install the matching round glass from Carello and leave the rest of the headlight as it is.
With the right glass, the rounding of the fairing at the front is perfectly completed.
You can get such used glasses relativ cheap.

Thomas aus LAU
 
Thomas aus LAU said:
With all the money for a usable Carello headlight, you can do a lot of other nice things.

I think it is enough if you just install the matching round glass from Carello and leave the rest of the headlight as it is.
With the right glass, the rounding of the fairing at the front is perfectly completed.
You can get such used glasses relativ cheap.

Thomas aus LAU
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Thanks, Thomas. I didn't realize that the glass is separate. It looks almost as if it is bonded to the shell.
 
Franco58 said:
..... It looks almost as if it is bonded to the shell.
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Yes - normaly.

But in most cases you can divide glas and reflector.
In the worst you brake your glas of the wrong headlight and as the carello glas e.g with silicone to get it waterproof.

We payes last time about 40 EUR on a flee-marcet for the original glas with the correct numbers.
E.g. similar like used Carello e.g. 180mm

Thomas aus LAU
 
Thomas aus LAU said:
Yes - normaly.

But in most cases you can divide glas and reflector.
In the worst you brake your glas of the wrong headlight and as the carello glas e.g with silicone to get it waterproof.

We payes last time about 40 EUR on a flee-marcet for the original glas with the correct numbers.
E.g. similar like used Carello e.g. 180mm

Thomas aus LAU
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Thank you again, Thomas! That seller doesn't ship to me, but I'll use it as a starting point to continue the search!
 
I have a similar one as the Carello unit that Thomas showed on Ebay, but NOS with a mirror that fits the SFC unit. No H4, regular Bilux lamp.
 

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piranha-bro2 said:
You'll need to find a LH drive version of the Carello, Rob- could be very tricky.
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If like me, I hardly ride after dark, it’s not really an issue. If a few people coming toward you get a bit of a glare in their eyes, so be it.

As to legality, I’ve met a number of officers of law on the side of the road in my time, none have ever checked my headlight direction.
 
If the SFC takes a std 7 inch car headlight insert, is it really that important to have the exact Carello version??? Is rivet counting getting to the point where a bike must even have the original bulb brand, model, place of manufacture etc???! There are plenty of old 7 inch lights with curved glass.
 
piranha-bro2 said:
If the SFC takes a std 7 inch car headlight insert, is it really that important to have the exact Carello version??? Is rivet counting getting to the point where a bike must even have the original bulb brand, model, place of manufacture etc???! There are plenty of old 7 inch lights with curved glass.
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There are curved glasses and there are curved glasses Q. The 2 previous lights, original US spec sealed beam unit and the Cibie I replaced it with never fitted properly leaving a gap around the rubber ring on the fairing. The Carello is way more convexed which fills that gap and and gives a more rounded nose on the fairing. It's not about rivet counting, it about ascetics. Got sick of the cibie unit turning in the housing. The unit is designed to fit the Carello mounting plate that's fixed to the fairing.
As for a lens cut for l/h riding, as CK said.
 
piranha-bro2 said:
If the SFC takes a std 7 inch car headlight insert, is it really that important to have the exact Carello version??? Is rivet counting getting to the point where a bike must even have the original bulb brand, model, place of manufacture etc???! There are plenty of old 7 inch lights with curved glass.
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Probably $5000 come resale time.
Paul
 
And therein lies the problem of owning an SFC? If you only want to ride it rather than sell it or museum it, then it doesn't matter.

But Rob has explained the issue and it makes sense to source the correct fitting part.
 
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