New Lenses and Lights for my new Vetter Trunk?

[Chris.D]

as a preface: ive done about 45 minutes worth of searching this forum while my acct was in new acct purgatory.

hello! ive recently purchased my own vetter trunk because ive been inspired by a youtuber i watch who put one on his bike.

my trunk is very nice with the exception of needing 2 lenses and 2 light guts to go inside. the lights and lenses im after dont have to be vetter light assemblies but i would like to find lenses that look very similar, if not identical so that i can maintain the original style [as i like it].

i plan to tap these lights into my AIO tail light. [running, brake and signals]

i have attached some pics of my trunk. they are from the ebay listing i bought it from. so they arent my pics

thanks for your time and any help that is offered

 

[Chris.D]

heres a few pics of the youtubers (shadetree surgeon) bike who inspired me to get a vetter trunk for my 1988 sportster. his bike is a 1989? FXR

the mounts are from "elite touring innovations" i believe its their universal bracket kit.

 

[Chris.D]

Update! after scouring the internet, i found a set of turn signals from a vetter fairing that was on a 1980 cb750.

i also saw in a thread from this website that some other guy replaced his trunks lenses with a different brand lenses. anyways he says they were between 35-40mm witch falls in to the window of 3-1/2 inches.

now back to those front signals from a 80s fairing. i found a ebay listing that had not only the lenses i needed BUT also the electrical assemblies that go behind the lenses. not only do the internal parts look like other lights ive seen in other vetter trunks, they are the same diameter that the above mentioned vetter forum member was alluding to. 3-1/2 inches. below are the lights off that ebay listing.

and as i put in my original post, i plan to wire up the lights to piggy back off the rear AIO tail light on my sportster. [turn signals/running/brake] so having these amber ones as opposed to having 4 red ones works out better.

the piggy back harness will also have a quick disconnect so i dont have to run with the trunk on the bike all the time. so when its not on the bike the wire can be tucked under the seat.

 

[Scott-E]

6 inch Oval Truck LED lights fit once you cut an opening for them. This is a last resort measure but one that works. Just carefully cut the required opening on each side, pop them in, and hook your wiring up. there will be tiny holes around the oval cut out but the rubber light gromet will cover them. Another option that does not require cutting the box is the use of cheap 4 inch round standard trailer lights. The metal shell that holds the lens and bulb goes inside the trunk with the two screws holding the lens on the outside so it's flush mounted. You will need longer screws. They are easy to find sheet metal screws. There's not enough room for a second light beside it for quad lights so you buy a pair of large red peel and stick round reflectors usually located in the same area you found the trailer lights and place them over the remaining open holes that contained the inside lights. NAPA has LED lights that fit the existing holes but they are clearance lights only so no brake light function, are expensive, and they may not have them in stock. The original lights used a dual filament bulb for tail, brake, and turn lights but the trunk was wired from the factory to only use the tail light filaments and no brake light and turn signal function so you would actually retain the origional way they worked as just tail or clearance lights. I'm sure that was done to limit the current draw as motorcycles in the 1970's were very limited in the amount of power available from the bikes charging system. My old Soviet Union Military KMZ Dnepr MT sidecar motorcycle from the 1970's is like that. It has a 12 VDC 150 watt alternator that provides just enough power to run the ignition system and running lights at night. There's not enough power left to actually recharge the battery with the lights on at night. It's kick start only so that's not actually a problem as the battery will be recharged during the day because the running lights are not used. This was before laws were passed that required motorcycle headlights be on all the time day and night and because there is no electric starter the battery is not drained during starting.
BTY I watch that Youtube channel so I know that bike and the transformation it has endured. It's about to get an S and S engine to replace the EVO engine it came with. I think that's a mistake because the EVO engine is the last reliable "Bullet Proof" engine Harley made. Everything since has engine destroying issues. He questions it as to it's starting and running every time he uses it in a video but I think that's just to keep the video interesting. It has a microprocessor ignition system and a very expensive carburator and it sound fine when he's riding it.

 

[brianinpa]

I once saw something similar to the original Vetter tail lights at a truck stop. The problem was the cost. I had more luck finding another trunk cheaper than buying the new lights... if I remember correctly (it was several years ago) the lights were $15 each.