ducatipaso.org

Hi everyone,

As we know it can be hard to find replacement front indicator lenses for our beloved Pasos. I've actually been experimenting with creating a mold from my NOS spares but have been having challenges getting the bubbles out of my plastic and other DIY tribulations.

However as we know from other links on the forum FAR is still selling lenses, if you can find a local dealer. Down here in Aussie land it turns out that the only FAR dealer isn't interested in carrying the reproduction lenses, so i became a dealer (already had a company that traded in cycle parts - :-)).

As such I've bought a commercial quantity of lenses in both left hand and right hand. I'm selling them via the forum at AU$10 each (that's about EU6.5 or US$7.5 each). Postage to fellow Aussies is AU$8.25 (even for multiple lenses), and economy air mail to NZ is about AU$12 and to the USA is about AU$18 (i'll let you work the exchanges rates).

To be honest i'm expecting that anyone EU based will find it easier to source them in the EU but happy to send them anywhere for the price of postage

In the picture with two lenses the one on the left is a factory NOS lens and it shows you how close the colour match is - pretty damn close. In your hand about the only thing you can tell apart is that the new part is ever so slightly shinier but the NOS item has also been knocking about on my shelf for a few years too.

Good stuff Bluey

Talk about taking the bull by the horns!

Pm on the way.

Cheers

Nick.

RAR is still selling lenses

FAR?

paso750 wrote:

RAR is still selling lenses

FAR?

Yes, FAR... itchy trigger finger. Got to get some ointment for that.

I have a set of the FAR mirrors and lenses not on the bike. My oem lens broke and I tried to replace it with the FAR lens which didn't quite fit right. Do FAR lenses only fit FAR mirror housings? Sorry as I'm sure this has been addressed in other forums but now I find myself needing replacements. 1992 907 in case there are any variances.

Thank you!
Spencer

That's a sensible question... i've been posed the same question in a PM too.

I've got a 91 Paso and the left hand lens fits as nicely as the factory one (which is quite UV faded now). When i bought the bike it had been crashed on the RH side and the RH mirror pod was smashed. I've replaced it with what i think is one of the 851 mirror pods (it's not a FAR unit) mostly because it's the same red as the 851/888 of the era. However that replacement pod was also damaged so it's been tweaked to fit... as such the FAR indicator lens fits about as well as the factory lens on that side... not perfect but that's because my mirror pod is a bit skewey more than there is lots of difference between the lenses themselves.

I've been collecting replacement bits for a while now with the intention of doing a proper respray on the faring and what i've noticed is that many of these old girls don't have great panel gaps, the fairing around the petrol tank and wind deflector on the front screen are notoriously poorly fitting. I also notice that the sealing foam strip on the mirror pod can have a big impact on how the lens sits.

That's not to say that there isn't a combination that won't work but on my two factory mirror pods from different bikes they fit fine.

Pretty sure if you contacted a Chinese Manufacturer you could get a few hundred knocked out fairly cheaply considering the time and effort involved. I did start looking at the rear European lenses earlier this year and was getting some reasonable interest in manufacturer abilities so maybe a combination could get a decent price,

englishstiv wrote:Pretty sure if you contacted a Chinese Manufacturer you could get a few hundred knocked out fairly cheaply considering the time and effort involved. I did start looking at the rear European lenses earlier this year and was getting some reasonable interest in manufacturer abilities so maybe a combination could get a decent price,

Yeah, I've got a friend (who lives in Aussie) who owns a commercial injection molder factory in Argentina (of all places). His concern is that yes, you could duplicate the part relatively easily but you would have to make several hundred to make the per item price reasonable... but then there is the question with what to do with the extra stock.

Did you get any indicative pricing on a run of 10 or 20 for example?

This is why i started looking at the DIY alternatives (including working up a CAD so i can make tweakable molds)... just for the front lenses the FAR units were far more sensible because someone has already done the engineering.

I posted about this too awhile back about making these. Particularly frustrating for me as a local machine shop has two plastic injection molding machines that get used only about one or two days a month. But he gave me a quote of about $4500 USD per lens !! To make the molds. Now I really know first hand why China has relieved the US of so much manufacturing.

have a look at:
http://forums.ducatipaso.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7540

btw if anyone is interested in new original rh lenses send me a pm.

paso750 wrote:have a look at:
http://forums.ducatipaso.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7540

Yes, this is what i was doing too... and it looks like he just got further along than me because some of those early pieces look like mine :-). Then i looked at what i was spending in mold making materials and wondered if i could just buy some from FAR direct... I've got plenty of other DIY projects on the go with the Paso anyways.

Me again...

Those lenses were popular! so in my next order ordered some of the FAR mirror units

It includes:
- a brand new mirror,
- new replica indicator lens,
- indicator bulb and
- light socket which is already wired (you will need to crimp the ends to match your wiring harness).

The assembly is UNPAINTED - it's a black "plastic" which is essentially ready for paint. A great replacement unit if you have crashed yours beyond easy fixing.

Things to note: These units are not exactly the same as the factory (rare as rocking horse poo) units. Outwardly they look very similar and at a glance you won't pick the differences but there are 3 main things that have been done differently. Firstly the replica mirror / indicator assembly attaches directly to the main part of the fairing and not to the factory mirror bracket (which you will remove). Then from an visual standpoint the two main differences are firstly, the mirror surround. If you look at the picture next to my battered factory original you can see that the mirror surround is more rounded and smoother. The next difference, which you don't really see when the mirror is mounted, is the join between the mirror face and the mounting face which is done as a hinge joint on these replica's. Once the mirror unit is mounted you barely see this.

My special price for Forum members is AU$80 per unit (that's Australian Dollars). Shipping within Australia is AU$20, to NZ it's AU$30 and to the US is AU$40. A second unit would be about an additional 50% of the shipping.

Bluey check the bulbs on both as on the bulk order I did a few years ago there were two different rated bulbs fitted and the fittings were slightly different. Reason for checking is that when you fit your indicators you will end up in rapid blink mode when using them. Something I was not aware of until I had dispatched them all.

Thanks for the tip, i'll bet they are lower wattage (& resistance)...