TAIL LAMP LENS

Production K Models

TAIL LAMP LENS

Postby PAUL » Sat Nov 17, 2018 12:51 am

Hello All,
Would anyone have a photo of an OEM tail lamp lens used from 52 through 55? Part # is 68091-20.
I am in need of one and it sure would be handy to know what a real lens looks like if an opportunity ever pops up.

Thanks, Paul
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Re: TAIL LAMP LENS

Postby Lisa » Sat Nov 17, 2018 9:09 am

V Twin 33-2154 look at the picture of the tail light lenses clear and red
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Re: TAIL LAMP LENS

Postby Mutt » Sat Nov 17, 2018 9:20 am

you can get a good repop from this place
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Re: TAIL LAMP LENS

Postby starcain » Sat Nov 17, 2018 10:37 am

Some pictures of an original "52 to "55 K Model red taillight lens 68091-20. The inside is smooth with no rings. Right in the center of the outside it has an embossed " HD 125 " It was a little hard to get that to show up very good in the picture. You can't hardly see the 5 but it's there.
Stan
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K Taillight Lense Outside.jpg
K Taillight Lense Outside.jpg (194.14 KiB) Viewed 14532 times
K Taillight Lense Inside.jpg
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HD 125.jpg
HD 125.jpg (467.69 KiB) Viewed 14532 times
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Re: TAIL LAMP LENS

Postby PAUL » Sat Nov 17, 2018 1:15 pm

THANKS GUYS,
I already have a repo, now I know what look for on an ORM.

Thanks again, Paul
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Re: Tail Lamp Lens

Postby hennesse » Sat Nov 17, 2018 8:56 pm

The K-model "bullet" tail-lamp is part of our Hummer (and JD, VL etc.) Heritage. The 1920's through 1938 Harleys had a taillight that generally looked like those used on the K-models. The red and white lenses were similar, but the brackets were different. Starting in 1934, a "hood" covered the body of the tail-lamp, but that hood was part of the fender.

For the 1948 Model 125 (first of the Hummer-series), a new tail-lamp bracket was designed, and it included the license plate mount. "Harley Davidson 125" is embossed on the back of the license plate mount. A new run of the 68091-20 red lens was made, with -as Stan says- with "HD 125" in it. A removable "hood" was used, and it was painted black.
collage.jpg
1948-1952 Model 125, 1953-1955 Model 165 tail-lamp
Lenses also used on 1952-1955 Model K and KH
collage.jpg (152.56 KiB) Viewed 14462 times


For the 1952 K, another new taillight bracket was designed, this time without the license plate mount. The clear and red lenses were the same used on the Hummers. The hood was the same as used on the Hummers, except that for the Ks, it was chrome.

There are small differences in the clear and red lenses used over the years.

Clear "license" lens
1920/30's has smooth glass around the barrel..
1948-1955 Model 125/165 and 1952-1955 K-Model has "serrated" glass - ridges around the barrel.

Red lens
I have to disagree with Bruce Palmer page 576. Here's what he says (page 576):
There are also three versions of the red lens #5054-20 (new #68091-20). The 1920-1934 lenses have a slight dome to it. The 1935-1938 lenses, the 1941 WLA lens, and the 1948-1955 125/165 & K model lenses have rings inside as well as the beehive shape. The 1948-1952 125 lens has "HD" over "125" accross the tip of the lens. All the 1934-1955 lenses have the letters L.L. CO (Lancaster Lens Company), and the part number 2-60 on the inside edge.


Here's my opinion:
1920-1934 - Concur with Bruce, since I have no knowledge.

1935-1938/1941 - These have rings around the inside as well as the beehive shape, and are fairly dark red.

1948-1955 Model 125/165 - these have a pebbled finish (no rings) on the inside, and HD over 125 on the outside. They have L.L. CO 2760 on the inside edge. The red color varies - from medium red to dark red - believed to be just production variation.

1952-1955 Model K and KH - same as the 1948-1955 Model 125/165

My reckoning: Both the clear and red lenses were obsolete in 1939, and by 1947, Harley had probably exhausted their stock of replacement parts. So, for the 1948 Model 125, they had a new production of the red lenses made specifically for the Model 125 with "HD 125" in the lens. At the same time, they had a new run of the clear lens, this time with the ridges around the barrel. For the 1952 K model - they just used the Model 125 version of the red lens.

Spring Rings
There were two kinds of spring rings used to hold the lenses to the taillight body - both had the same part number 68105-20 (old 5056-20). The "early" or "type 1" one was a single round "wire" with two bent ends. The "late" or "type 2" one was a flat spiral ring. Bruce Palmer says that 1953 and earlier were the "type 1" and 1954-1955 used "type 2".

Looking at the (notoriously inaccurate) illustrations in the Spare Parts Catalogs - the 1951 Model 125 catalog shows the type 1, the 1953 Model 165 catalog shows the type 2. The 1953 K catalog shows the type 2. Palmer may be correct for big twins and 45s, but I don't think this was a clean-cut change, at least for the Model 125/165 and the K/KH models. I suspect they simply "used up" the type 1's until they ran out.
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Re: TAIL LAMP LENS

Postby starcain » Sun Nov 18, 2018 9:42 am

Thanks for all the great information Dave. A lot of that I didn't know.
Stan
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Re: TAIL LAMP LENS

Postby Mutt » Sun Nov 18, 2018 10:18 am

Dave, Palmer is correct. Prior to 1934, there was no such thing as a " brake light switch" . THe red lens was only about 3/8" tall because the bulb that was used was no where near the size of a 1154 dual filament bulb. When the brake light switch appeared, so did the tall red lens with the rings on the inside.

Also, the 1948. & 49 model 125 didn't have " Harley- Davidson 125 stamped into the bracket.That came about on the
1950 model 125 AND there were 3 different places it was stamped.
Earliest of the stamping was on the right side of the bracket ( when facing the back of the bike) and the stamping would be covered by the license plate
Next the stamping was on back left side. "HARLEY- DAVIDSON" as stamped horizontally under the slot and 125 was stamped vertically on the side of the slot. These brackets are very few and far between. I think I have seen 3 in the last 30 years of restoring these bikes. Finally, in 1951, the entire HARLEY- DAVIDSON 125 was stamped horizonally under the slot. Also, 1950 was the last year for the wire lens retainer, when the bullet came out in 1951, the spiral retainer also came into use


MY buddy sliced my internet connection on my pic yesterday, when he was pitting in my plot. I think I have all 3 examples on my Pc.
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Re: TAIL LAMP LENS

Postby starcain » Sun Nov 18, 2018 8:04 pm

Spring Rings
There were two kinds of spring rings used to hold the lenses to the taillight body - both had the same part number 68105-20 (old 5056-20). The "early" or "type 1" one was a single round "wire" with two bent ends. The "late" or "type 2" one was a flat spiral ring. Bruce Palmer says that 1953 and earlier were the "type 1" and 1954-1955 used "type 2".[quote]


Hey Dave, any chance you have a picture of a single round spring ring that you were talking about? I have a single wire ring that came with a taillight years ago. It doesn't have any bends on the ends though. I thought it might be an original but with your mention of bent ends I am not so sure.
Stan
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Re: TAIL LAMP LENS

Postby PAUL » Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:53 am

I got lucky and found a complete tail lamp with all it's original goodies.

Here's a photo of the older spring ring.
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