PR: Proprietary Items LUCAS Rim 553153, adapter for 7 inch headlamp to Miller 6.5 shell.

[hadronuk]

For sale on eBay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LUCAS-Ri...227929?hash=item4db8f02619:g:CuQAAOSwAp1fzAd0
I'm a big fan of these, as they greatly widen the choice of headlights so are essential to bringing night illumination up to modern standards. In my experience they are very rare nowadays, and I have not seen any for 4+ years.
Then 3 pop up in a month!
Yeah, I know, buses.
I bought the first one from this chap as an essential spare.
It is genuinely NOS, but the chrome has suffered some pitting. May be improved by more aggressive polishing.
In spite of this, I'm very glad to have it, and at a reasonable price.
Of course, there is no guarantee this 2nd offering is the same.

If you want one, grab this quick!

 

[hadronuk]

I see it has sold.
I hope it was to a Vincent owner?!

 

[Dinny]

I think I have one somewhere in the garage with good chrome.
Mark

 

[Peter Holmes]

I see it has sold.
I hope it was to a Vincent owner?!

Rob, Good news, yes it did go to a Vincent owner, me, when it arrives I hope the chrome is not to pitted, but we shall see, at less than the cost of a couple of pints of beer at my local craft beer bar it can hardly be considered as expensive, and probably worth purchasing. As you purchased one from the same source do they come with the relevant brackets and clamp screw, and if not could you give me some idea of what they consist of so I can fabricate something that resembles the original fittings.
As an aside issue, are you still involved with Avo, are they still able to supply the full range of Vincent shocks, coil over rear shock for B+C etc, and also the short Series D Shock, I recommended them to a friend the other day, but noticed that they ceased to advertise in MPH a while ago.

Cheers Peter

 

[hadronuk]

Hi Peter, I think AVO have just decided to save on advertising costs on the basis the units are well known now.
Re the rim, there are various descriptions of how to fit it in old copies of MPH by E.M.G. Stevens, R. Kemp etc, but the Lucas bits aren't available now and anyway I don't think they work well with our particular Miller unit.
So I made my own arrangements. A little cutting and filing of the rim to fit the miller latch was needed. The bolt holes need to be slotted to allow adjustment for a close fit. If you have the skills and patience, (I don't) a bit of stainless strip to cover the gap would look nice. But it's not at all noticeable on the bike.

Big Ed may be able to offer an alternative method, as he also uses one of these rims.

Cheers,

Rob

 

[Comet Rider]

You can get the Miller toggle suitable for the 7" rim from Andy Davenport

 

[robin]

You are missing the part which covers the gap and has the toggle catch ears going through it.

 

[hadronuk]

You are missing the part which covers the gap and has the toggle catch ears going through it.

Could you tell us where these bits can be bought, or show us a picture of what they look like please?

 

[Peter Holmes]

You are missing the part which covers the gap and has the toggle catch ears going through it.

Does anyone out there know what the missing parts are and what they look, dimensions would be good, as the rim is a Lucas product I think it might be doubtful that it used a Miller spring toggle, I am thinking more likely just two angle brackets that come through the slots in the rim with a bolt and nut to tighten the rim to the headlamp shell, but I would like to know for certain.

 

[hadronuk]

Peter, you are on a quest I undertook a few years back!
I wanted to know the "official" fitting method before I made my own arrangements.
If you search WhitakerPedia articles for 553153, you should find 4 discussions of how to fit it.
Eddy Stevens lists the Lucas part numbers, but I have found nothing on them.
The Ron Kemp fitting method seems to involve major mods to the Miller shell, but perhaps I misunderstood.
See also some instructions from John B of the Coventry section:

Plus some comments I found online but can't now find:

If you find out any more, please tell me!