Headlight question
 

I'm wondering what bottle generator light (if any) would properly fit onto a Raleigh headlight mounting bracket, i.e., the one with the heron. Was this bracket only made for the Superbe which had the S-A hub generator?

TSapp

The Heron bracket was standard on most of the Raleigh line of bikes, as well as other manufacturer specific brands of British built bikes. Most lights I have seen come with a bracket that will not fit the headlamp bracket on any British bike. They all need the small bracket that goes between the headlamp bracket and and the bike bracket. I have sneaking suspicision that they were probably readily available in many bike shops in the UK for many years, but have now become a rare and strange beast.

Aaron:)

I just noticed a set of Raleigh lamp brackets on eBay (offered by retrobicyclesupply.) Are these what you're referring to?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2660/...e52da60e_m.jpg

Yes! What I'm wondering is if these came with a specific brand of headlight or something that had to be purchased separately?

Nobody makes lights fitted with those anymore. That was strictly back then.

I think it depends on the era. I have seen catalog pictures of headlights with the bracket, but they were SA and Lucas. I suspect the brackets may have been available separately as an accessory.

Aaron:)

Battery-operated headlamps to fit those brackets were made by Eveready and Pifco. They come up on eBay now and then w/ the Pifco ones geared toward the Raleigh Chopper crowd.

Neal

So the concensus seems to be no bottle generated headlights made for this bracket?

Sturmey Archer made dynohub-driven headlamps to fit those brackets, so I imagine you could wire one of those to a bottle generator. Here's one (check out the bracket in the plastic bag).

Neal

yep, there is no reason you can't wire an SA dynohub lamp into a bottle dynamo. no re-wiring necessary. the only thing is that the lamp's built in "off" switch position is rendered redundant with the bottle dynamo being user engaged/disengaged. the dynohub is wired "on" perpetually, hence the need for an off switch on the lamp.