headlight bracket:xlch brow

[johnnyboy]

happy new year all,im hoping someone can tell me the difference between a 67809-59 and a -59A xlch headlight mount and when the -59A came out? was it with the new switch in 63? how many versions are there of this thru 69? and what did the road kit for the 58 have? thanks

[hennesse]

From looking at the literature (which may not reflect reality), there were three versions of the 67809-xx eyebrow for the XLCH.

67809-59 - XLCH 1959-1962 - This had the two mounting holes, a hole for the headlight mount, and a hole for the (rotary) 71502-55 Headlight switch
The 1959 Spare Parts Catalog illustration does not show the hole for the headlight switch. Huh?
This part is shown in 1959 Spare Parts Catalog

67809-59 - Where's the headlight switch hole?

67809-59.jpg (14.27 KiB) Viewed 20809 times

67809-59A - 1963-Early-1966 - The accessory tachometer became available at 62 XLCH 4044. See, here. The tach cable probably rubbed against the eyebrow, so they cut a little notch in it for the tach cable. See, Murph's 1962 XLCH - the first photo shows where the accessory tachometer cable routed. The illustration in the 1963 Parts Catalog shows a "suggestion" of the notch. In 1963, they switched (pun intended) from the rotary switch to the 71502-63 toggle switch.

67809-59A - notch for accessory tachometer cable

67809-59A.jpg (9.09 KiB) Viewed 20809 times

67809-66 - Late 1966-1969 - A High-beam indicator light was added. I've seen examples of a domed red lens and a flat red lens - which is which is beyond me. The 1967 Parts Catalog shows a "suggestion" of the high-beam hole.

67809-66 - hole for high-beam indicator

67809-66.jpg (9.69 KiB) Viewed 20809 times

Starting around 1965, they offered accessory kits to mount the speedo and tach side-by-side, either behind the handlebars or in front of the handlebars. This is out of my area. Maybe DaveC can clarify this some.

Dave
P.S. My low-serial 62 XLCH has the -59A eyebrow, which is wrong for its vintage. Will gladly trade for a -59.

[sportsterpaul]

I have a -66 for sale on eBay right now if you want to see the "2-hole" version.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/311765341688

I suspect the initial drawing did not have a headlamp switch hole since the Factory intended the XLCH to be off-road and hence no headlight required. I have read it was the California dealers that went wild for it, and asked for it to be street-legal. One has to wonder if there are some eyebrows out there with no switch hole, for the very early XLCH.

[thefrenchowl]

Hum Paul,

I suspect the initial drawing did not have a headlamp switch hole since the Factory intended the XLCH to be off-road and hence no headlight required. I have read it was the California dealers that went wild for it, and asked for it to be street-legal. One has to wonder if there are some eyebrows out there with no switch hole, for the very early XLCH.

Have you been over celebrating the arrival of 2017?

If the 58 C/CH has no lights, it's got the 4 ears top tree and no eye brow!!!

Patrick

[sportsterpaul]

Ahahahah you are right my friend. More likely they wired the headlamp in permanently, and with the crappy generators, decided it would be better to switch off the headlight so the brake light stayed on at stop lights. I hated that when I drove my magneto bike. I was hit from behind once at a red light, and that was a Honda CX500, so a flickery brake light always made me paranoid.

[murph]

Close ups of the notch and cable routing

[sportsterpaul]

Sweet, the level of expertise here is only exceeded by the niceness of the bikes.

[johnnyboy]

so that notch is factory for sure? heres what im thinking.the first -59 had no hole at all besides 2 mounting holes and headlight large hole.if you look at the factory announcements picture for 59ch there is no switch or hole present,maybe the -59 came out in late 58 as part of the lighting/road kit for the 58 c/ch and was used on very early 59's or possibly changed to -59A before the production 59's even came out? i have a -59A one with the 1 hole for light switch and no tach cable notch,i also have a 68 one with the second hole for an indicator light,also no notch.66/67 used dome top indicator,68/69 used flat top lense indicator.i have also seen one on a 66 with single light switch hole and two indicators mounted-one on each outer side,also have seen some with a horizontal mounted toggle on right side.these could be dealer or owner modifications for accessories?

[johnnyboy]

is there a switch in that picture i just missed?anyone have a better image of that picture
also tell the software to stop tellin me that my answer of "no one knows for sure 100%" to the "what does c in xlch mean" is wrong!!!

[thefrenchowl]

XL 57 Calm Sportster
XLA Military Sportster
XLB Police Sportster
XLC The next one, the Sporty one...

Not that difficult to grasp, but somehow, a whole generation wants to argue that simple logic...

WHY??????????????