Dark Tinting the Headlights

[ConnerNA]

A slightly different idea might be to tint everything but the "D" shaped area where the headlights actually shine through the lens. If you look at the headlights when they are on, there is a relatively small area that actually casts light forward; the rest of the lens is not really needed and I think could be quite a bit darker. You might be able to accomplish this with something like plastic tinting paint with the area where light is projected masked off with tape. Just a thought.

Brian

Sorry I quoted the wrong post I meant to quote this post....seems like i have heard this before 

[B.D.F.]

??

I don't think I have ever mentioned darkening a headlight lens before.

Brian

Sorry I quoted the wrong post I meant to quote this post....seems like i have heard this before 

[RBX QB]

??

I don't think I have ever mentioned darkening a headlight lens before.

Brian

I recall a thread on the old forum about tinting the windscreens (not from you... just in general). Could be that. Especially if using one of those clear headlight protectors/covers, you could absolutely tint it in a manner similar to the old windscreen thread. Just be sure to use a tint, and not opaque like you can get away with on a windscreen.

[PH14]

I would not tint your headlight lens dark. That would be inviting disaster. KiPass requires good lighting. Tires will wear more quickly as well due to the extra miles you will put on your bike by blowing past your turn because you didn't see it in the dark, requiring you to turn around and backtrack. Also, dino oil can panic due to its innate fear of the dark caused by the asteroid that hit the Earth, causing the sky to darken because of the debris left in the atmosphere, which was the last thing the dinosaurs saw as they died, thus causing lubrication problems. If you run synthetic you won't encounter this particular issue but you can't escape the other two.

[ConnerNA]

??

I don't think I have ever mentioned darkening a headlight lens before.

Brian

I had posted pretty much the same thing, said you could cut out cat eye templates or whatever shape you want, stick the template on and then spray way that way the centers (where most of the light comes from) is not effected.

its all good...I was just trying to give ya a hard time.

All in fun....

[B.D.F.]

No problem. I guess I missed your post though as I do not remember reading that. My fault- if I am not going to read all the posts then the thread won't make much sense.

But it sounds like an even better idea when someone else says it. 

One other thing about this idea though; darkening the headlight lens may also reduce visibility from the sides as I believe C-14 headlights use the forward plastic rings to reflect the headlight beams to the sides. Just a thought. The other poster's idea about blackening the non- used areas inside the headlight housing might be a better idea in the end.

Brian

I had posted pretty much the same thing, said you could cut out cat eye templates or whatever shape you want, stick the template on and then spray way that way the centers (where most of the light comes from) is not effected.

its all good...I was just trying to give ya a hard time.

All in fun....

[RBX QB]

Speaking of headlights...

Mine will be a winter project. Anyone notice that those 2 plastic "eyelash" thingys are clear, and you can see the reflector thru them? Makes me wonder if one could make those things light up somehow... perhaps with the signals?

Anyway... another headlight mod possibility. If I pull it off, you'll read about it later this year.

[B.D.F.]

I think the bike would look fantastic with the new, bright angel eyes found on BMWs and similar.

As for the headlight mod, me too and me too. My lenses are starting to craze so I will have to do something with them before too long. Might as well rebuild the entire assembly once the lens is removed from the front.... and while the original C-14 reflectors are very good there are better headlights available from cars.

Brian

Speaking of headlights...

Mine will be a winter project. Anyone notice that those 2 plastic "eyelash" thingys are clear, and you can see the reflector thru them? Makes me wonder if one could make those things light up somehow... perhaps with the signals?

Anyway... another headlight mod possibility. If I pull it off, you'll read about it later this year.

[ninjawarrior1400]

How about a little lipstick and eyeshadow too while we are at it?

Duh!

[RBX QB]

How about a little lipstick and eyeshadow too while we are at it?

Duh!

As long as the eye shadow and lipstick are black, I'm in. We ARE talking about putting that on the bike, right?

[ZG]

As long as the eye shadow and lipstick are black, I'm in. We ARE talking about putting that on the bike, right?

Goth QB...     

[VirginiaJim]

Im always civil!!!!!

And to the point....

[VirginiaJim]

I think the bike would look fantastic with the new, bright angel eyes found on BMWs and similar.

As for the headlight mod, me too and me too. My lenses are starting to craze so I will have to do something with them before too long. Might as well rebuild the entire assembly once the lens is removed from the front.... and while the original C-14 reflectors are very good there are better headlights available from cars.

Brian

How about polishing them, Brian?  Cheaper than replacing them.

[B.D.F.]

I think they are coated polycarbonate. There is a patch on one side where I believe I polished through the coating. And the crazing seems to be all the way through the plastic rather than just surface spider web cracks.

It might be a warranty claim but I doubt it. The plastic lens itself is not replaceable and a new headlight housing assembly is $400 or so so that leaves a lot of room to do something else with the entire assembly.

With saws and glue there is no limit to the mess changes that can be made. 

Brian

How about polishing them, Brian?  Cheaper than replacing them.

[spd2918]

Please do not tint your headlights.

If you want the "look," then buy a headlight protector and tint that.  You can install it for parking lot shows and remove it for riding.

[Sea Level]

Please do not tint your headlights.

If you want the "look," then buy a headlight protector and tint that.  You can install it for parking lot shows and remove it for riding.

I agree with you and intend to go that route, if I do it at all. If I do, I'll post photos.

[stevewfl]

Please do not tint your headlights.

If you want the "look," then buy a headlight protector and tint that.  You can install it for parking lot shows and remove it for riding.

+1 and.....

"king of the Sonic parking lot" competitions
"hogfest / bike nights"
"hey babe lets go to starbucks" dates

[spd2918]

+1 and.....

"king of the Sonic parking lot" competitions
"hogfest / bike nights"
"hey babe lets go to starbucks" dates

I didn't mean to insult him with my post.

[just gone]

The smoked/blackened look is only appealing to me when the lights are off, so basically we're talkin' cool when parked since the lights
are on any time the engine is running.

Speaking of headlights...

Mine will be a winter project. Anyone notice that those 2 plastic "eyelash" thingys are clear, and you can see the reflector thru them? Makes me wonder if one could make those things light up somehow... perhaps with the signals?

I never could figure out what those eyelash thingys were for. Style? yeach! They don't throw any side light or anything. Lighting them up yellow sync'd with the turn signals would be nice.
I love my connie but it's not for the styling, those little winged things (foot guards I imagine) by the foot pegs look stupid too. I'm not too thrilled with the three screws on both sides at the front of the fairing either. Then again I'm usually outa step with most, seems that most here think that the only thing ugly on the bike is the muffler, which would be way down my list of things to change for styling improvement. If it were all about style/fit and finish then I would have bought the Honda ST1300, I mean even it's built in tip over protection looks good. It wasn't, and I didn't. 

[Sea Level]

The smoked/blackened look is only appealing to me when the lights are off, so basically we're talkin' cool when parked since the lights
are on any time the engine is running.

Cool-looking when parked is okay with me, since details of it's appearance aren't all that easily seen when it's passing by at 110mph...

I never could figure out what those eyelash thingys were for. Style? yeach! They don't throw any side light or anything. Lighting them up yellow sync'd with the turn signals would be nice.
I love my connie but it's not for the styling, those little winged things (foot guards I imagine) by the foot pegs look stupid too. I'm not too thrilled with the three screws on both sides at the front of the fairing either. Then again I'm usually outa step with most, seems that most here think that the only thing ugly on the bike is the muffler, which would be way down my list of things to change for styling improvement. If it were all about style/fit and finish then I would have bought the Honda ST1300, I mean even it's built in tip over protection looks good. It wasn't, and I didn't. 

I agree that the Connie is not the most beautiful bike on the road, not even one of the better-looking ST's. Although for some reason, people seem to always comment favorably about it. But all the more reason to try to make it distinctive or pimp it up a bit in an upscale way. This forum was and is full of pictures and ideas of how people have customized the bike for the sake of appearance and style.