6 volt lights for motorized bicycles

[Russell]

Thx Scotchmo!

Lights & Batt/turn sig/brake lights

 

[Scotchmo]

Here is my white wire driven 6v setup. The battery, rectifier diode, flasher, keyswitch, and fuse are inside the black handlebar mounted box. The white wire keeps the battery charged.

 

[michaelgrav]

Your both on the right track to compete with the whizzer. I don't like the box on the handle bars but the idea is good. Russell I like your set up and also like to know about your Jackshaft assembly. Eventually these two ideas will make our motorized bikes safer and more depenable. Great Job Guys my hat is off to you!

 

[Scotchmo]

Your both on the right track to compete with the whizzer. I don't like the box on the handle bars but the idea is good....

I don't like the looks of the box either. Eventually I want to eliminate the box and mount everything inside a bigger headlight shell.

 

[Russell]

Scotchmo,
Great looking bullet lights and turn sig sw, where did they come from? What are the key sw near the grips?
A new lighting system I'm working on will have some electronics within the turn sig lights, minamize the wiring and control. The battery on my black non-jackshsft bike is hidden by the chain guard(much better). I assume that your 1.5Amp hr. batterys are in the box?
Also where did the rear rack come from and what did it cost?

 

[Russell]

Michaelgrav,
What size tires on your ride? look larger than 2.25. Is their suspension in the fromt forks? That looks like a serious tuned pipe, hop it doesn't get hot!
Yes my red s-ray does have homebrew jack shaft. It worked out great. I have passed the design on to a few guys, but best suited to a stingray.

Later
Jim(Russell)

 

[Scotchmo]

Scotchmo,
Great looking bullet lights and turn sig sw, where did they come from? What are the key sw near the grips?
A new lighting system I'm working on will have some electronics within the turn sig lights, minamize the wiring and control. The battery on my black non-jackshsft bike is hidden by the chain guard(much better). I assume that your 1.5Amp hr. batterys are in the box?
Also where did the rear rack come from and what did it cost?

The chrome bullet turn signal lights came from a chopper store. They are available all over the place including eBay and JC Whitney. I replaced the 12v incandescent bulbs with 6v bulbs from superbrightleds.com. The light switch came from eBay (same as # 260541057958). The key lock on the left handlebar is a helmet lock. The blue key is the ignition key. Yes, the battery is in the black box.

The rear rack came on the bike (Schwinn Delmar). I made new struts for the rack out of 1/8x3/4 steel strap. The thin original struts were cracking from vibration.

 

[Russell]

Soctchmo,
Thanks for the info.
My turn sig. sw is next to the left grip.

 

[michaelgrav]

My tires are 3 inch kenda flame both front & back a great vibration absorber and the heavier Nirve sculls bike also is a lil heavier than a lot of crusiers but gives me good stability and still will run near 40 mph. The exhaust is a SWS tuned expansion chamber. I also upgraded the carb since the pic to the CNS. Always upgrading!

 

[robertgibbs]

I used the 24 ohm in the charging circuit to keep from overloading the white wire when the battries are flat. All of the relay & components fit inside the small lights.
I had looked at some of the flasher based designed circuits and auto bulbs then decided that I am just to cheap. Went all solid state on one bike about $25 total cost. Then built this equivelant circuit to use the same cheap lights about $30 for this circuit. Of course it is all false economy as the labor is high(but fun).

do you know where i can find 6v LED turn signal lights

 

[robertgibbs]

I have a similar circuit on my bike. Rather than using the NE555 and two 6v relays, I use a 6v LED turn signal flasher designed for a motorcycle. It is a little pricier option ($21.50 on eBay) but simpler. I also use off the shelf 6v multi-LED automotive turn signal, tail and brake light bulbs (Superbrightled). Again, simpler but probably more expensive. I’m using dual element LED bulbs on the front for turn signal/running lights. I like your arrangement and may try something like it in the future.

One thing you can do to simplify the circuit is to remove the 24 ohm resistor from the charging circuit. The coil that the white wire hooks up to has a couple ohms resistance on it’s own. Additional resistance is not needed, especially with an 8ah battery. I use a 1.3ah 6v lead acid battery. I ran tests with and without a zener regulator. Either way, it never overcharged the battery. An 8ah lead acid battery can easily burn off the entire output of the white wire with no harm. If you are worried about overcharging the battery, the zener would be a better option. Additional resistance wastes charging power before the battery is fully charged. The zener regulator won’t waste anything until the battery is full. In my experience, neither is needed with the HT white wire/rectifier diode.

Do you know the best place to purchase 6V LED turn signal lights

 

[Russell]

Just about any led light can be used for your turn signals. Just use the proper resistor to limit the current. The ones I use are from a 4.5V light. it draws 110ma. I use a 18 ohm resistor in series and have had no problems. I did a posting (easter egg lights). They serve dual function, head lights and turn signals.

 

[Scotchmo]

Do you know of a place to purchase 6V LED turn signal lights

You can use 12v incandescent turn signals and replace the bulbs with 6v LED bulbs. I get my bulbs from superbrightleds.com. I originally used their 6v 1156 amber bulbs (1156-x19-6V) in a bullet style turn signal, but am now trying some small turn signals fitted with the 6v single LED wedge bulbs (WLED-x-6V) . They are not near as bright but they use much less power and cost much less.

I left my lights on by accident for a month without using the bike and ruined the lead-acid battery. I’m now testing a lithium battery. I'll post how it turn out after I use it for awhile. The lead-acid battery worked well before I ruined it.

 

[robertgibbs]

I have a similar circuit on my bike. Rather than using the NE555 and two 6v relays, I use a 6v LED turn signal flasher designed for a motorcycle. It is a little pricier option ($21.50 on eBay) but simpler. I also use off the shelf 6v multi-LED automotive turn signal, tail and brake light bulbs (Superbrightled). Again, simpler but probably more expensive. I’m using dual element LED bulbs on the front for turn signal/running lights. I like your arrangement and may try something like it in the future.

One thing you can do to simplify the circuit is to remove the 24 ohm resistor from the charging circuit. The coil that the white wire hooks up to has a couple ohms resistance on it’s own. Additional resistance is not needed, especially with an 8ah battery. I use a 1.3ah 6v lead acid battery. I ran tests with and without a zener regulator. Either way, it never overcharged the battery. An 8ah lead acid battery can easily burn off the entire output of the white wire with no harm. If you are worried about overcharging the battery, the zener would be a better option. Additional resistance wastes charging power before the battery is fully charged. The zener regulator won’t waste anything until the battery is full. In my experience, neither is needed with the HT white wire/rectifier diode.

hello again, you are a life saver, thankz for the signal flasher advice, One more or 2 more things, i would like to know your advice on fuel gas mixture on a DAX 66cc engine because i was supplied with 2 mixtures and neither really works good they start out fine and then after 2 miles it starts cutting out and things, i dont know if it is hot or 2 much gas or 2 little on the air fuel miture i have a CNS carb and it is 10 X's more powerful than the stock carb also what type of plug would you suggest, and thanks again

 

[jon.karak]

The light switch came from eBay (same as # 260541057958).

I am fabricating my own switch gear and I'm not making much progress. I looked up the ebay listing but it expired. Is there any markings that indicate the manufacturer? I really like that setup and I'd love to buy one for myself.

 

[Dontwannawalk]

Here is an alternative idea which I used for my re-build on my motor bike for 6-Volt lights to run off of the white wire. I purchased a 6-V 76 LED Bicycle Bike Head Light From Beauty-Ping on e-bay for $11.94 including Shipping from Hong Kong. I took out the battery cassette and pulled the contact strips out of the end of it with an awl, snipped the wires off & soldered Heavier wires to them, drilled a hole in the center of the back , tied a square knot inside the connection box and threaded the new wires through the hole. and then Glued them in place in the hole with JB Weld. I completely unscrewed the mounting and re-assembled it and put JB-Weld in all of the screw holes and between the parts of the mounting plates (including the quick release button. after 24 hours I mounted the light on the handle bars for a continuous running bright headlight. I then took the old one (I'd tried this theory out before but lost it when the mounting screws vibrated out and the light went tumbling across the blacktop at about 25 miles per hour.) and re-worked it for a taillight with a re-worked reflector lens purchased at K-Mart for $3.00. I now have very bright head and tail lights at about 15 miles per hour and the reflector alone will show up great with the lights from a car coming up behind you even with out the 76 Led's shining from the inside of the light