had any one found a 6v headlight
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The infamous white wire will only provide you with less than 3 watts. That won't be much light no matter the lamp. If the light you use pulls more than 3 watts your engine won't run when you turn it on.
The best alternative is to carry a battery, perferably 12 volts, and power a lamp that will give you enough illumination to see what's ahead of you.
Many of us cut that white wire from the magneto and pretend it was never there. There have been some who, with some creative electrical work, used the white wire to power small LED lamps or charge a battery. You might hear from one of them so stand by.
Tom
The best alternative is to carry a battery, perferably 12 volts, and power a lamp that will give you enough illumination to see what's ahead of you.
Many of us cut that white wire from the magneto and pretend it was never there. There have been some who, with some creative electrical work, used the white wire to power small LED lamps or charge a battery. You might hear from one of them so stand by.
Tom
I got one a year ago from Norman on here. It's a "bullet" type plastic light with a 6v maglite style incandescent bulb, probably an automotive interior bulb. It worked well enough on a happytime bike to get home after dark, but 2Door is right, you need a really powerful light, so 12v is the best bet.
Gas bulbs will eat a lot of power, and LED bulbs may create strange blind spots, and give you scary surprises about things that do not show up in your night vision (dark branches on the road, etc). LED lighting took a lot of getting used to, for me. I use a digital headlamp (kind that you wear on head band) that runs off 4 AA batteries. You might be able to find something similar (about $50) and adapt it to a large motorcycle style round headlamp for looks and permanent mounting, keeping the wired battery pack on the frame or handlebar somehow.
Gas bulbs will eat a lot of power, and LED bulbs may create strange blind spots, and give you scary surprises about things that do not show up in your night vision (dark branches on the road, etc). LED lighting took a lot of getting used to, for me. I use a digital headlamp (kind that you wear on head band) that runs off 4 AA batteries. You might be able to find something similar (about $50) and adapt it to a large motorcycle style round headlamp for looks and permanent mounting, keeping the wired battery pack on the frame or handlebar somehow.
You might want to buy a commercially made bike-mounted digital headlamp like something from Magicshine. You can get something from them for around $40 if you want to build your own battery-pack, or $100-200 for something with all the stuff necessary (maybe even a plug-in tail light that attaches to bike seatpost or rack).
www.magicshine.com
magicshine bicycle light (3 lights with control switch, modular battery pack that uses widely available rechargeable camera type batteries)
www.magicshine.com
What do you guys think of this light? Would you Say 9800lm is overkill?
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/141019510167?redirect=mobile
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/141019510167?redirect=mobile
no such thing as overkill in my book; i have the cree skyray for my motorized bicycle and love it, it is as bright as my cars high beams http://www.ebay.com/itm/SKYRAY-5000...297?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccc02d869
I just made an interesting discovery this afternoon regarding 6v bicycle lights.
Generator lights.
Get your hands on a bicycle generator light kit. They run on a 6v system. Simply cut the generator off, and wire up.
I just happened to read (while waiting for my shop guy to finish up with a customer) the back of a box for a set today, and saw that they run on 6v. So I did the logical thing, and purchased them. Took them home, and tested them out.
I had a slight bit of idle trouble, but made a quick adjustment. Had the expected flicker at idle, and a steady light at average running speeds with no flicker, and no loss of performance.
Who would have thought right?
Generator lights.
Get your hands on a bicycle generator light kit. They run on a 6v system. Simply cut the generator off, and wire up.
I just happened to read (while waiting for my shop guy to finish up with a customer) the back of a box for a set today, and saw that they run on 6v. So I did the logical thing, and purchased them. Took them home, and tested them out.
I had a slight bit of idle trouble, but made a quick adjustment. Had the expected flicker at idle, and a steady light at average running speeds with no flicker, and no loss of performance.
Who would have thought right?
Also, you can run one of these.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Mini-Gen-With-Switch-For-Motorized-Bicycle-Lighting-/400109306480
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Mini-Gen-With-Switch-For-Motorized-Bicycle-Lighting-/400109306480
i imagine you can find it cheaper i didnt look but got you the link to the model. here is the street i live on. first one no light second one light on, as you can see it is very bright. was old phone so camera not very good but you can see it is bright. the pot hole you see on the right at the intersection is about a foot deep. fast on bike would be devastating if you hit it. i am not sure on how long the battery lasts. i have ran it up to a half hour, i just don't ride much at night
Wow if that pic is only 5000lm I'm so gonna get the 9800lm one and blind everyone
(C)
Granted they're 12v - but for the DIYer there's the halogen to LED replacement bulbs for track lighting such as these, LED MR16 Spotlight 12V 4W (440 Lumen - 50 Watt Equivalent) 7000K 60 Degree Beam angle...
...440 lumen may not seem like much, but for $3.30ea & two of them you get this (mounted them w/a fog light housing);
Thought I'd pass it along
...440 lumen may not seem like much, but for $3.30ea & two of them you get this (mounted them w/a fog light housing);
Thought I'd pass it along
Thanks Paul, but blame Maine lol
Just as a BTW w/the above, I used two MR16 LED bulbs, one a "warm" flood (low beam) and the other a "cool" spot (high beam), the flood splashes out so I can see the shoulder better & the spot is good for distance. You'd get slightly farther penetration w/just the "cool" ones but using both color types gives more of a full spectrum light & is easier on the eyes for the distance runs.
Not bad for like $7, close to 1000 lumen & 12v is easy enough to provide... it's defo better than runnin' without heh;
Just as a BTW w/the above, I used two MR16 LED bulbs, one a "warm" flood (low beam) and the other a "cool" spot (high beam), the flood splashes out so I can see the shoulder better & the spot is good for distance. You'd get slightly farther penetration w/just the "cool" ones but using both color types gives more of a full spectrum light & is easier on the eyes for the distance runs.
Not bad for like $7, close to 1000 lumen & 12v is easy enough to provide... it's defo better than runnin' without heh;
That's not a pothole. That's a manhole! Good reminder to definitely avoid any puddles or holes. it's hard to bunnyhop anything on a motor bicycle.
Hi, regarding wot 2door (Tom) said earlier about using the white wire to charge a 6V battery & then power a decent light off it when needed, I've used this system for ages. I used four 40v/1A Schottky diodes to form a bridge rectifier (schottky's have lower voltage drop across them than standard diodes) & use the rectified output from the white wire to constantly charge a 4.5A/h, 6V SLA battery. I isolated the battery with two more schottly's used as blocking diodes. I use a small automotive driving light that at the moment has a 6V/26 watt H3 halogen bulb in it that gives ample light, tho I also have 38 & 55 watt bulbs. The 4.5A/h battery is about 1 1/2"x 2"x 3", which is not that big. U could use 2 in parallel for a total of 9A/h. If u ran high eficiency Cree's off u'd have a great lighting system with really good duration. Cheers
Can you put it on www.instructables.com so we can copy it if we want? You can quote your product sources and parts list, too, to really help other DIY people.
I think instructables.com is like,,, a bit un nescessary for making 4 diodes into a bridge rectifier, the most basic electronics introduction will show this, or u could wikapedia or google it, but I'll give u the lowdown here. I used 1N5819 type diodes. U need 4 to make a bridge & if u want barrier (blocking) diodes u need another 2, tho they ain't really nescessary.
Ok, u'll notice the diodes have a plain black body with a silver band at one end. The silver band end is the cathode (K) & the plain end the anode (A).
Take 2 diodes and solder them so u have a cathode connected to an anode, & also connect the black wire from the magneto there. That's 1/2 of ur bridge.
Take the other 2 diodes & connect the same as b4, cathode to anode, only this time also connect the white wire from ur magneto there. That's ur second 1/2 of the bridge.
Now connect the 2 remaining (free) cathodes together. This is the + out from the bridge & goes to ur battery's + terminal.
Now connect the 2 remaining (free) anodes together. This is the - out from the bridge & goes to ur battery's - terminal.
There u go. Ur bridge rectifier all constructed & connected to ur battery. Charge the battery b4 putting it on ur bike is maybe a good idea as the first charge conditions the battery. This basicly means it "forms" it & so u want to fully charge it in 1 go as if u don't, the battery will only charge to the point it was first charged to. Fully charge it properly the first time.
Ok, barrier, or blocking diodes aren't really needed as diodes only let current flow in 1 direction so the bridge isolates the battery from the magneto's stator coil, but if u want them they go between the bridge & battery in both + & - lines.
The 1 in the positive line goes with the anode toward the bridge & the cathode toward the + battery terminal.
The 1 in the negative line goes with the cathode toward the bridge & the anode toward the - battery terminal.
All these (1N5819 diodes & the 4.5A/h, 6V SLA battery), I got "over the counter" at my local electronics outlet, which here in Oz is "Jaycar", the equivalent of "radio shack" in the US. The small driving light & H3 Halogen bulbs are standard automotive items that I got from autopro or supercheap auto's. The H3 halogen bulbs are readilly available in 6V types as well as 12V types. Hope this helps. Cheers
Edit, I forgot to say insulate all 4 connections on ur bridge so they cant short to each other or anything else. Cheers
Ok, u'll notice the diodes have a plain black body with a silver band at one end. The silver band end is the cathode (K) & the plain end the anode (A).
Take 2 diodes and solder them so u have a cathode connected to an anode, & also connect the black wire from the magneto there. That's 1/2 of ur bridge.
Take the other 2 diodes & connect the same as b4, cathode to anode, only this time also connect the white wire from ur magneto there. That's ur second 1/2 of the bridge.
Now connect the 2 remaining (free) cathodes together. This is the + out from the bridge & goes to ur battery's + terminal.
Now connect the 2 remaining (free) anodes together. This is the - out from the bridge & goes to ur battery's - terminal.
There u go. Ur bridge rectifier all constructed & connected to ur battery. Charge the battery b4 putting it on ur bike is maybe a good idea as the first charge conditions the battery. This basicly means it "forms" it & so u want to fully charge it in 1 go as if u don't, the battery will only charge to the point it was first charged to. Fully charge it properly the first time.
Ok, barrier, or blocking diodes aren't really needed as diodes only let current flow in 1 direction so the bridge isolates the battery from the magneto's stator coil, but if u want them they go between the bridge & battery in both + & - lines.
The 1 in the positive line goes with the anode toward the bridge & the cathode toward the + battery terminal.
The 1 in the negative line goes with the cathode toward the bridge & the anode toward the - battery terminal.
All these (1N5819 diodes & the 4.5A/h, 6V SLA battery), I got "over the counter" at my local electronics outlet, which here in Oz is "Jaycar", the equivalent of "radio shack" in the US. The small driving light & H3 Halogen bulbs are standard automotive items that I got from autopro or supercheap auto's. The H3 halogen bulbs are readilly available in 6V types as well as 12V types. Hope this helps. Cheers
Edit, I forgot to say insulate all 4 connections on ur bridge so they cant short to each other or anything else. Cheers
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