What Lights (head,tail,turn) can I run off of the WHITE Wire ???

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2door

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Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
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Littleton, Colorado
This topic has probably been discussed more than any other single issue.

Most of us never use the white wire for anything and even go so far as to remove it from the magneto coil. There are a few who have devised ways of utilizing the small wattage and erratic voltage that you'll get from the white wire but it requires some understanding of electronics and electrical circuit fabrication.

Here's some reading for you from our 'Search' feature > http://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partne...sc.tab=0&gsc.q=white wire & lights&gsc.page=1

I prefer to use a battery for all my lighting. An 8 AH SLA, (sealed lead/acid) battery will give you lots of light.

Good luck

Tom
 
Sep 4, 2012
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America's Hi-five
You can run some stuff. I use an led brake, tail, and headlight thats not super bright all off white wire. It's all good enough to please the cops, and see good enough for riding at night carefully. I've used it with and without a 6v battery in the system. I do use a diode rectifier, but not necessary without battery. Most LEDs will run ac too. Full throttle on mine puts out 7-ish volts. Results may vary.
 

KCvale

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Feb 28, 2010
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Most of us never use the white wire for anything and even go so far as to remove it from the magneto coil.
Tom
I am one of those 'cut the white wire off' guys.
In fact, the new magneto's don't even have a white wire or it's coil winding, and just add more ignition coil wire in it's place for a higher spark voltage.

The thing about any bike powered electricity short of regenerative braking, is it takes power from the engine and thus your bikes road performance.

This is dandy for motorcycles with a bunch of power to spare, but with these little 2-strokes you want every possible bit of power to make it to the back wheel.

Like Tom I suggest you go independent rechargeable battery power.
 

2door

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Sep 15, 2008
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What I see is the fact that 'yes' you can make a light work using the white wire. However, when I think of lighting for a bike I want to 'see' as well as 'being seen'. 3 watts from an incandescent lamp or what limited lighting you'll get from small LEDs isn't going to provide you with enough light to see anything ahead of you. If you're gong to ride at night I'd think you'd want to see where you're going, as well as providing enough illumination to be seen by others.

Think of it this way; when you ride during daylight hours how many times have you had to avoid something in the road ahead of you? A rock, a stick, a pothole? And how far ahead of you did you see that potential hazard? 50 feet? 100 feet? Now think about riding at night with limited forward visibility. Like I said, I want to see what's out there, before it's too late.

Tom
 
Sep 4, 2012
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America's Hi-five
I wouldn't describe my lights as powerful, but I ride in the dark a lot, I get around just fine. I suffer no loss or performance. But I'm in the burbs and we have street lights. Country dark/Detroit dark, I can't imagine going over 10mph.