Roadholder 364 - April 2018

14 There are many saddles on the market purporting to be 16H. If however my bike is representative, then they are incorrect. The problem is the 'nose'. As the photos show, the front mounting point is well under the rear of the tank. This means a long virtually horizontal ‘nose’ and a distance of around 13½" from the seat front mounting pivot to the rear springs. Not only that, but because of the length 16h saddle issues John Scarborough The answer was LEDs, which are low current consumers. The lamp units were 'INDCO15' jobs from Paul Goff, who also supplied the 'WRELDO1' electronic flasher unit, and a handlebar switch. The wiring is straightforward, and he does a complete kit for £60.90. I opted for the superior 'IND15434' switch, which looks OK on a 1957 Norton. The flasher unit is easily housed in the headlamp shell. The lamp units are matt black (or chrome) and well made. I simply substituted the front ones for the headlamp shell bolts, and drilled an 8mm hole through the luggage- rack mountings for the rear ones. All joints were made by soldering tinned wire ends parallel to one another then encasing the soldered joint in self- amalgamating tape, the idea being to make a totally waterproof joint, particularly important under the rear mudguard. Where the wires to the rear pair go through the mudguard there must be a rubber grommet. I have also opted for an LED headlamp and rear lamps, and upgraded to an electronic regulator which works much better than the old electro-mechanical one. The lights are greatly improved and can be used at all times without punishing the dynamo or the battery.