A Heinkel friend of mine was installing an LED headlight in his Heinkel Tourist scooter so that got me thinking. I needed another reflector for the Bella R204 restoration that I was completing, which would cost 37 euros plus shipping from Germany. Instead, I bought a DOT and SAE approved LED light and converted it for use in the Bella! I’ll use this on the Bella EV and put the more traditional light on the R204 restoration. For Heinkel Tourist and Kabine owners out there, this will work for all models EXCEPT the 103-A2 (which has a different headlight bezel and beam adjusting setup).

I found the headlight on AliExpress:

You can find these lights almost anywhere; 5.75” models have been featured on vehicles ranging from microcars of the 1950s to today’s Harley Davidsons. They are almost all made in China, regardless of who sells them or what they cost. If you are installing in the EU, you may need an “E6” homologation approval on the light (or so I’m told). Check before  you buy.

The first thing to notice about the headlight is that it looks different from the stock light, which some purists may find objectionable. I don’t see it as being any different from using modern tubeless tires on your Bella. The safety tradeoff outweighs the minor aesthetic difference.

How I Did the Conversion:

The trickiest part was securing the actual headlight to the chrome bezel. The bent over tines were not long enough for the thickness of the headlight rim:

After several days of pondering increasingly complicated solutions I came up with something much simpler, faster, and cheaper- I call it “the Velcro method.” I used self-stick industrial Velcro that I saved from another project.

I applied epoxy into the edge of the headlight rim in four places, then shoved the Velcro into the slot with the epoxy. I carefully wiped off the back of the Velcro strips because the only glue point can be at the very front of the bezel. If you glue the length of the bezel, you will never get the bezel onto the headlight casting.

Then I attached the Velcro to the back of the headlight, secured with the self-adhesive backing and using the nut already on the back of the headlight that holds the wiring harness:

Then I just velcro’d the assembly together:

Looks good to me!

I had to grind part of the headlight casting to get the unit to fit properly. I removed 1mm of material from the top screw area with my Dremel:

You’ll also need to make a modification to your wiring if you want to take advantage of the daytime running light. On my EV I will have it go on as soon as I energize the vehicle. With a traditional Bella I would attach the DRL wire to the ignition switch so it goes on when you insert the key. The electrical draw is minimal.

Here’s how it looks installed in the casting:

When I road test the two concerns will be heat affecting the self-stick and will it rattle. I expect it to perform well since it’ s at least as secure as the original unit. Time will tell. I’m happy with the result and it didn’t take long. You can do it!