Headlight bucket upgrade

Hi,

When dropping my commando in a very slow corner last week, i noticed something at the headlight bucket design.
I fell at very slow speed in a corner on an oil stain. The bike has little damage (the usual silencer/brake pedal and lever). I am very glad the handle bar did not slam the tank, nor did any of the engine/suspension parts got damaged. So basically, i was lucky.

One thing... the headlight bucket is completely gone. The fixing points broke completely, even though the headlight did not hit anything and it was a very light impact.
Upon closer look, i noticed the headlight brackets are very loose on the forks (which is normal), but the headlight itself is fixed with nuts that are molded in the plastic, without any dampening between bucket and bracket. Molded nuts are pretty common, but they are most of the time combined with some sort of bushing in the bracket to protect parts from vibration.
I believe Nortons fixing method is not really the best choice. It can destroy the headlight just from driving if the suspension is set up pretty hard like the commando's. And i would not be surprised if my headlight already had cracks before i fell.

I am not going to replace it by the same part, but going to modify an aftermarket light in a way that it is dampened at the fixing points.
Most standard buckets will need modifying, as the cables go in it at the rear, not the underside like most. The cables are too short to enter the bucket from the underside. Also, the brackets are not flat, so will not look nice and flush in combination with most. But i think i found a good and flexible solution to improve the design in a few ways.

Anyway... i will take pictures and try to get them up here in case anyone is interested. It can take a while though. Time is scarce these days.

Are they perhaps deliberately weak, intending to collapse on impact, a bit like a car crumple zone, in order to prevent injury to pedestrians etc?

I guess it would be safer if the bucket would not break into sharp pieces. If that was the intention, maybe nylon bolts would be an option.

I wish i made a picture of the bucket, but i filled the broken parts with silicone as a temporary fix. So i can drive as soon as my brake lever (Moto guzzi ) arrives.

Sorry to hear you went down and am glad you're ok. Can you grind down the molded in nuts and replace with some nuts and rubber bushings to absorb the vibrations? I'd look on my bike, but the damned thing is still in the shop waiting on some parts on a slow boat from England.

The bucket itself does not allow for much customization. They tried to make it as strong as possible. The nuts are approximately 10mm in width each, molded in thick plastic. Maybe just because it is to stiff that it breaks easily. As soon as you have your bike back, you can look by unscrewing one side of the lamp bracket. if one side is loose you can see how hard the other side is fixed.

I think, placing a few rubber washers (one on each side in between bracket and bucket) wil help. Another 2 (both sides between allen bolt and bracket) would be even better. Flexible is stronger in most cases ;-)