ducatipaso.org

Hello all,

I just bought an 87 750 and I wanted to pull off the ugly US rear turn signal "bug antenna." Does anyone know of a source for the amber Euro lenses? Anyone done the conversion lately and want to tell me how you did it?

Part of me wants to just wire two bulbs into the existing red housing and just have it blink red when I turn, probably illegal though.

heh ... 1st good luck: Ebay is probably the best source for one. There aren't many around and when they go, they go for a mint. I lucked out and found just the lens, but still spent $75USD on it. I haven't seen the whole kit got for less than $200USD on ebay.

If you can hook up a lens, it's pretty easy to make the conversion with a pair of aftermarket flush-mounts (which is what I did). Somewhere I write it up, recently ... lemme find it and I'll post the link ...

Found it ... last post in the thread

:rant:
Whatever you do, think twice before you cut the fender off. This "mod" was done to my bike by a previous owner because they wanted to make it look more European when the lights were converted. The main result is that the under seat now gets drenched when it rains. The little trays under the seat become filled with water.

Once I have time I am going to fashion a replacement out of glass or carbon and try to restore or create a dry spot for such silly things as registration and insurance papers.

</rant>

ouch ... sorry to hear, but good to know. I left my tail section as-stock, but I've always thought about cleaning up its arse. Now maybe not! So was the tire's "hugger" they cut off, or were they trying to effect some sort of license plate relocator or something? There's that big 'duc-tail' that hangs down for the plate - that's the part I was thinking of trimming up (since our plates are about 7"w x 3"h) ...

fasterdammit wrote:ouch ... So was the tire's "hugger" they cut off, or were they trying to effect some sort of license plate relocator or something? ...

The "hugger"/fender was cut off. The license plate was also changed. The new plate holder actually looks pretty cool. I'll try and get some pictures up so that you can see how it looks and what it does to the underseat tray. Maybe there is a way you can make the mod without allowing water to infiltrate the underseat area. I do not think the duck tail affects top speed or handling performance in any way. Removing it will only affect the looks. If that is important to you I might suggest trying to remove the whole part and fabricate a new one to replace it with. That way you have the stock part incase you want to put it back or if you ever want to sell.

DucSoup wrote:Removing it will only affect the looks. If that is important to you I might suggest trying to remove the whole part and fabricate a new one to replace it with. That way you have the stock part incase you want to put it back or if you ever want to sell.

Perish the thought!!

But yeah, 'for looks' was my primary thought - since there's all this extra plastic hanging down. I'd definitely fit something else in place of the stock piece, too. As much as it makes mrs. faster :rant:, I keep all the stock parts, too. Not like I'm ever going to sell the bikes and if I did, I doubt they'd want me to re-fit the stock stuff.

fasterdammit wrote:

DucSoup wrote:...That way you have the stock part incase you want to put it back or if you ever want to sell.

Perish the thought!! ... Not like I'm ever going to sell the bikes and if I did, I doubt they'd want me to re-fit the stock stuff.

Maybe to a musem? Hey, "correct" GTO's now go for 10X what they sold for new. Maybe someday the lowly Paso will asscend to status like that. (Hey, I can dream...)

another alternative to a full-on euro turn signal conversion could be to put some form of universal bulb socket into the sides of the rear housing and have red blinkers. just a thought.

Hey

A UK dealer call Mdina italia has euro tail assemblies new for 132 pounds, if you happen to still be interested. They ship worldwide

Arhooly

mike wrote:another alternative to a full-on euro turn signal conversion could be to put some form of universal bulb socket into the sides of the rear housing and have red blinkers. just a thought.

I did this mod to my 907. I just pulled the wires through from the original turn signals, soldered male connectors to the universal socket and screwed them to the existing screw mounts on the sides. It works great and is something a little different from the amber.

Regards,
B

Yeah, I wound up with just a Euro lens and not the whole assembly, but the 'surgery' involved to get it hooked up very minimalistic. A couple holes in the black plastic pieces inside the lens to mount aftermarket flush mount signals to, and a slightly enlargened hole on either side on the back of the unit to pass the wires though. I used the same style connectors so I could easily switch back to stock - and even leave the aftermarkets in there.

Nobody cares probably, as this is an old topic, but I did get a Euro lens at the time I purchased the bike new in '88. Then I went to a local NAPA store and bought two single light receptacles. I screwed these to the housing, drilled a hole on each side through which I routed the connecting wires, and presto, I was able to ditch the nasty U.S. market units.

The only drawback is, I didn't fashion some kind of parabolic reflector to direct the light more effectively--perhaps by canibalizing a couple of cheap flashlights. It's been 18 years however (amazingly), and I haven't been hit from behind yet, so maybe the cobble job was okay.

As for the color of the rear turn signal lens, current U.S. law allows for them to be either red or amber, so the conversion should work whether or not you have a Euro lens.

Hmmmm.....rather strange. From what I am reading and understand, the '87 Paso 750 that I picked up the other weekend came originally with the Euro light on it, but with a solid red lens, according to the previous owner. He said that with the red lens, you couldn't see the turn signals very well, so he installed some small, aftermarket signals with short stalks on the mud guard. I currently have the taillight lens off of the bike, and there is definitely a light socket on each side of the assembly for turn signals, and the lens has two inserts to separate the turn signals from the taillight/brake light. I didn't pay any attention to whether they looked original or were a modification, but I was actually thinking of hooking them back up, either with or without the aftermarket signals.

here u r:

750 Paso

DuC-MaN wrote:here u r:

Nope.....I looked at mine, again, last night, and it was a modification.