Headlight lens removal...?

[montmil]

The interior surface of my R65's headlight lens looks kinda dusty. I'd like to clean it, if possible.

The questions are: 1) Is the glass removable after releasing the wire clips that hold the chrome trim ring to the lens and reflector assembly? 2) Anyone attempted a successful removal?

My examination revealed what appears to be a gasket of some material between the reflector and the glass lens. I certainly do not want to shatter the glass!  Thanks for any tips and/or warnings.     Monte

[samc]

I've successfully cleaned similar lights by swishing some distilled water around inside. You can't take it apart at the reflector/lens seam; at least, not so it'll be useable when you're done.

[nhmaf]

Hmmm,
the front ring comes off my 82 R65 with a couple screws, and after removing it and a gasket, the lense comes out.
I cleaned the inside and replaced the bulb with a newer, brighter one.   you want the gasket to go back on carefully
to avoid water ingress when it rains.

[samc]

wow, yours comes apart? maybe mine's a later retrofit. I guess the key question is, are there screws, or not?

[montmil]

Thanks, guys! Believe I'll try the distilled water "swish" rather than finding a bigger hammer. 8-)

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

When you remove the 6 spring clips (pay attention to their orientation!) the reflector comes off the ring, leaving the lens behind.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=0363&mospid=47851&btnr=63_0330&hg=63&fg=05

If you use a rag on the reflector, MAKE SURE it is a super soft (micro-fiber?) cloth.
The reflector will scratch easily, and they are expensive.

This has been reported to be a easy way to improve lighting.  I've yet to try it, myself.

[montmil]

...When you remove the 6 spring clips (pay attention to their orientation!) the reflector comes off the ring, leaving the lens behind.

Already had an opportunity to remove the six spring clips and reinstall. Doing that little deal was what generated my original question.

The glass lens is stuck tighter'n a tick to the reflector with what appears to be a gasket. Might not be. Might be some Official BMW Glue Stickem.

I'm going to go against my occasional over-zealous and frequently expensive nature on discovery and just move on. The distilled water idea seems doable... and free.   [smiley=drowning.gif]

FREE...  my favorite four-letter F-word.

Monte

[billygoat]

 My '80 r65's lens is stuck together, you can pry it apart but you would need to get a gasket to reassemble it. A speeding truck dropping rocks busted my glass lens last year. I found a replacement at Rockauto for $27. I used some black window caulking to stick mine back together. I wonder if the gasket you get from r-oem is a sticky permanent type or reusable type.

[montmil]

Dear Mr. Goat,

Last time I attempted to pry apart something made of glass, I finally ended up using the Dust Buster... to vacuum up the tiny, sharp slivers left over from the surprisingly sudden disintegration of the glass.

I've been throwing so much money at this scooter over the past month I think I'll keep the 27 bucks and invest it in some good whiskey.    Mix it with a little of that leftover distilled water I'll use to swill out the headlamp... 

[thrang]

I decided to clean mine when I started getting water leaking behind the RT fairings lens. The headlamp other than it being a bit of a fiddle to get everything back in the right place with the lens orinetated right it was not that difficult, incomparison to getting the RT fairrings lens back in place and sitting right in the new fairing seal. A mate told me there is a trick with a piece of string for pulling the seal over the lens, but be buggered if I could get it to work and just ended up swearing a lot of an hour until it finally bedded in correctly.