Hi all,

Fairly new to this forum posting thingy, so please be gentle and forgive me if I make any faux pas; just correct me and I learn quick!

Currently restoring a suite of NC30s at the moment and trying to come up with solutions for obsolete/expensive parts.

Most of the headlight rubbers I have in my collection are perished and/or very wavy! So, I started to look at how to make my own. The original rubber is c.1.2mm thick and so I started hunting and found...

"NITRILE RUBBER SHEET, size 393mm x 164mm x 1.2mm, gasket, seal, jointing" at our friendly auction site and it was £4.80 delivered.

It is just the right length to make four headlight rubbers; can also be used to make the protective shock flap on the undertray and the flap that forms part of the piece for the airbox.

For those like me who want to know more about Nitrile rubber and why it is good for motorbikes... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrile_rubber

I will add a photo at the weekend!

Hopefully helpful.

Best,

Mike.

That's top tip of the week recently saw some ebay joker listing a used set at £50 ffs

Pictures needed

Here are some photos.

In my first set I decided to make life simple and not replicate the two small tabs on the headlight rubber as to do so would mean not being able to use the pre-existing straight edge of the sheet. When it comes to making a replica set I will replicate the tabs. Not sure how I get the "R" and "L" stamped into the rubber though......

To make the new rubbers I simply:

1) carefully pulled apart the old rubber where the overlap is glued;
2) flattened old rubber so the non-curvy edge is straight and runs along the long straight edge of the nitrile sheet;
3) marked out the curve;
4) cut out with normal kitchen scissors (non-serrated type); and
5) stood back and marvelled at how simple it was.

the nitrile sheet before cutting


photo showing the old rubber and new rubber cut outs from sheet (remainder of sheet also shown)


old rubber detail - the end tab (not replicated in the first set)


old rubber detail - the edge tab (not replicated in the first set)


old and new rubbers - comparison


new headlight rubber on headlight


old headlight rubber on headlight


Best,

Mike.

well good,,,nice one!!

Give us a link to the eBay Ad where you got your rubber from then?

people have made them out of old bicycle innertubes before now too.

i was lucky that both of mine were somehwat in-tact so i did the same as you and drew aroudn them onto a sheet of similar rubber and cut / glued together.

Re. eBay listing: I was not sure direct linking was allowed; will do in future. Although I had hoped the description would have guided people to the item

Yes, I experimented with old inner tubes too but found the rubber lacked rigidity. I was also not convinced that inner tube rubber would survive the elements and heat from the headlight.

I will post a 1:1 scale template for those who don't have a old rubber to draw around.

Best,

Mike.

mwarriner wrote:Re. eBay listing: I was not sure direct linking was allowed; will do in future. Although I had hoped the description would have guided people to the item

Yes, I experimented with old inner tubes too but found the rubber lacked rigidity. I was also not convinced that inner tube rubber would survive the elements and heat from the headlight.

I will post a 1:1 scale template for those who don't have a old rubber to draw around.

Best,

Mike.

yeah they dont last that long but as a temporary fix they seem to hold up.

my rubbers ones were cut from similar rubber aroudn 5 years ago now and still seem to be holidng up ok