Made my own front lights

[dp35]

Hey old friends!

I used to be a regular on here and met a lot of great people, but drifted away and haven’t had much to share in recent years. I have the honor of owning the first Atom imported to the USA (in 2003), which was also the first Atom 2 and first Atom in the world with a Honda engine. I used to track my Atom regularly and even raced it a few times (hopefully the videos of all that are still here somewhere). But as kids & life put a damper on that, my Atom has become a garage queen, and for years I’ve been thinking about things I’d like to fix, modify, or improve on it.

Thanks to COVID and a battle with cancer (which I’m winning) I’ve found myself with a lot more spare time at home. No better time to get to work on all the things I had been procrastinating, such as those ideas for the Atom (other projects are still being put off, such as the front door that’s nearly impossible to open or close, as my wife reminds me daily).

My first major project completed are new front lights. I made this YouTube video to share how I made them with people like you:
https://youtu.be/DjhJTEDqphg

[Karl V]

Really enjoyed that video Darin - top work on the lights and the vid!

Out of interest, did you do any sanding ;-)

[cvjoint]

That's one race where you got to finish first! Well, you are a racer so I suppose business as usual.

Thanks for sharing, very complicated project with a professional result. This should shine in a Thunderhill 25 hour enduro!

[NormLarson]

Great work Darin!

[Atlarge]

Nice, I also noticed your smaller looking main headlights for the vid. Can you share any info about those please?
I’ve been wanting to update my original ones too but don’t want to do anything too drastic, your setup looks like a good compromise.

Cheers

[dp35]

@Atlarge:
I replaced my headlights with some PIAA lights. I think they are fog lights made mostly for motorcycles. Sorry I don’t have the model number. I bought them used on eBay. These lights don’t have low & high beam modes, but I don’t mind because I rarely drive at night.

I’d post a closeup photo if I could figure out how.

[thrlskr]

Nicely done Darin. Very impressive. I purchased an Atom very recently and have been through many of your old posts. Welcome back and stay strong.

[Atlarge]

@Atlarge:
I replaced my headlights with some PIAA lights. I think they are fog lights made mostly for motorcycles. Sorry I don’t have the model number. I bought them used on eBay. These lights don’t have low & high beam modes, but I don’t mind because I rarely drive at night.

I’d post a closeup photo if I could figure out how.

Aha thanks. I was secretly hoping they were street legal full and dipped, it’s really difficult to find good looking ones that are not either huge or ugly as sin!

Cheers!