Gregory Bender

Turn signal replacements / replicas - Civilian Lucas turn signals

Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police models

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The best approach

Thanks to Charlie Mullendore of Antietam Classic Cycle for sending me this information via e-mail. In Charlie's own words:

[I] bought a pair of genuine Lucas signals with long stems from Old Britts, part no. 062060, USD $39.99 each, for a customer's Eldo. Equal in quality to the 36 year old originals, sturdy plastic housing, fiber washer holding the bulb contact. Much better than the reproductions, in this case you get what you pay for!

I modified the stems to match the short originals by cutting them off, machining them down to 0.42 inch diameter and then threading them 716 inch-20.

Modified Lucas turn signal stems to match the original dimensions used on Moto Guzzi 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police motorcycles.
Modified Lucas turn signal stems to match the original dimensions used on Moto Guzzi 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police motorcycles.

Photo courtesy of Charlie Mullendore, Antietam Classic Cycle.

The worse approach

Not having the original Lucas turn signals and not wanting to purchase NOS or piece together a set of used signals, I purchased four of the common Lucas replica turn signals from MG Cycle. The only problem with the replicas is that they have an 85 mm stem, which the originals never had. I set out to fix this problem. Here's what I did:

Materials used:

Now completed, the turn signals look very close to the originals.

Note: I've since had some trouble with the screws loosening that secure the bulb sockets to the body of the turn signal. The bulb is grounded through these screws, so it has caused some headaches. As a fix, I did the following:

Note: I also had trouble with the contact point on the pigtail. The contact was mounted in some sort of hard rubber, and the spring behind it - combined with the heat from the bulb and the vibration from the motorcycle - slowly pushed the contact through the rubber and away from the bulb...until contact was broken or intermittent. This even buggered up the contact point on the light bulb. For a fix, I replaced all of the rubber-type discs with hard-fiber discs that came packaged with single contact pigtails (local auto parts store purchase). I only needed to purchase two pigtails because each pigtail came packages with two discs - enough for all four turn signals.

Original hard rubber disc.
Original hard rubber disc.

Photo courtesy of Gregory Bender.

Replacement hard fiber disc.
Replacement hard fiber disc.

Photo courtesy of Gregory Bender.

Gregory Bender's thoughts:

I have completed two of the above described conversions (eight turn signals total) and I don't intend to ever do another. Here's why...

Strong recommendation: If you really want the original Lucas look, source some original Lucas turn signals and be done with it.