Home  

Technical: Headlamp
Dave Carlton, Ed “Murph” Murphy, Magneto Sportster, Sportster Paul, Dave Hennessey

XLCH   Bracket, headlamp

67809-59  used 1959 – 1962.   The 67809-59 eyebrow (casting number 67809-59) has a hole for headlight mounting, and a hole for the rotary headlight switch. The hole for the headlight switch is mysteriously missing in the illustration from the 1959 Parts Catalog.

1959 – mid-1962 - there was no slot in the eyebrow for the tachometer cable.

Mid-1962 – end of year - At serial number 62 XLCH 4044, around March or April 1962, the new magneto was fitted. This mag has the provision for a tachometer drive, and also a key switch. It is believed that most new bikes were then shipped with a tachometer, and the eyebrow had a factory-cut notch for the magneto cable. Here is a real-world example.

An accessory tachometer kit was available in April 1962 - see Dealer Accessory Bulletin #619 and Dealer Accessory Bulletin #620. The kit included a paper template for filing the notch by the dealer or owner. As noted in DAB #620, an upgrade to the magneto was required for early 1962 bikes.

67809-59A  used 1963 - early-1966.   The 67809-59A (casting number 67809-59A) eyebrow has a slightly different slot for the 67703-63 “two-ring” headlamp, and this required a new casting. The machined hole for the 71502-63 headlight toggle switch is slightly larger than the hole for the old rotary switch.

All advertising photos of the 1963 and 1964 show the tachometer, although The Legend Begins says 92050-62 Tachometer Kit (not attached) was optional. It is believed that Harley routinely shipped new bikes with this option already installed, and that all 67809-59A eyebrows had the factory-cut cable notch. Only if you special-ordered a new bike could you get one without a tach.

Starting in 1965, the fork-mounted (in front of the handlebars) side-by-side speedo/tach was optional on the XLCH. Again, all advertising photographs show the option already installed. There is no tach cable notch, but there is a notch-shaped pad on the underside of the eyebrow.

67809-66  used late-1966 – 1969.   The 67809-66 eyebrow (casting number 67809-59A did not change) has a large hole added for the high-beam indicator light. The notch for the earlier front-mounted tachometer disappeared.

The indicator appears to be a NHTSA-mandated change required by Jan 1, 1966. The indicator light has a dome-shaped red lens in 1966 and 1967, but has a flat orangish lens in 1968 and 1969.

The side-by-side speedometer and tachometer option appeared in 1965. For 1965–1966, they were mounted on the fork, in front of the handlebars. From 1967–1969, they were mounted on (behind) the handlebars.

1970's – The eyebrow in the 1970s came in various configurations. All of them had a pronounced “step” in the center, as compared to the nice smooth style of the 1960s.