We all have our different tastes, bike styles and a favorite kind of "look". Having never grown up (just old) I remain stuck in a 12 year old mentality from the days of putting playing cards in the spokes and pretending I had a motorcycle and not a single speed fat tire pedal bike. I'm still pretending I have a kinda sorta motorcycle to ride, even if my builds start out as bicycles.
So, I like fatty tires, vroom sounds from the exhaust pipe, suspension forks and honker headlights just like on a real motorcycle and not just a pretend one. If you like big headlights, too, read on. If you don't you know where the delete key is located.
The first one of these lights I adapted was an experiment. I saw it at Harbor Freight for just 12 bucks and couldn't resist. Nice chrome, seemed well made... what a deal. Kinda big, but... I've since seen the same dune buggy light at NAPA for $18.00.
They come with a 12 volt halogen bulb that is way out of scale in power demands for a bicycle, so that needs changing. They also come with a pedestal mount which did not work for me since I use mine mounted between the ears on a moped fork. So, I'd have to remove the stock mount and figure a way to affix it to the fork ears. No problem, probably.
Since this light will fit between the ears of a moped fork I need to remove the stock mount and drill holes where allen bolts will come through from the inside of the light and fit into the mount holes on the ears. So I mark them with a felt tip pen, both the drill hole and an arrow for lining it up again when it gets put back together.
Remove the retaining ring and carefully pry out the lens/ bulb assembly. Drill the holes in the headlight shell and then remove the pedestal mount.
I'll have to search around to see if I have photos of the next part. In the mean time I'll picture it with words. Take a look at the lens/bulb and you'll see where at the back there is a phillips head screw holding in the little halogen bulb. Remove it. Now there is a small square opening which you are going to grind out to the size of your donor bulb. What I use for the donor is also a deal from Harbor Freight. It is a flashlight with 32 LED bulbs in it for about 5 bucks. It is very bright, uses 4.5 volts of battery power, but will also accept 6+ volts from a China girl magneto or a sidewall generator. I've used both with no problems.
Say that you, too, are going to use a small flashlight for your donor. With a hacksaw cut it off somewhere along the barrel part where the batteries go. A dremel cut off wheel makes a lot of heat which can wreck the LED's. Safer with the hacksaw. Get a bit of wire, maybe a foot or so and solder one strand to the spot where the battery would have fit against the bulb end of the flashlight. Drill a little hole at the edge of the barrel so you can attach the other wire with a small screw. The barrel on mine was aluminum, so a little screw or bolt will tap it's own threads. One of the photos shows the connections. I use the hole already in the headlight shell for running the wire through, but first run it through a section of gas line fitted into the hole so that the wires won't be rubbing against metal and short out once the insulation is worn through. The kind of hard part is done...
(cont.)
SB
So, I like fatty tires, vroom sounds from the exhaust pipe, suspension forks and honker headlights just like on a real motorcycle and not just a pretend one. If you like big headlights, too, read on. If you don't you know where the delete key is located.
The first one of these lights I adapted was an experiment. I saw it at Harbor Freight for just 12 bucks and couldn't resist. Nice chrome, seemed well made... what a deal. Kinda big, but... I've since seen the same dune buggy light at NAPA for $18.00.
They come with a 12 volt halogen bulb that is way out of scale in power demands for a bicycle, so that needs changing. They also come with a pedestal mount which did not work for me since I use mine mounted between the ears on a moped fork. So, I'd have to remove the stock mount and figure a way to affix it to the fork ears. No problem, probably.
Since this light will fit between the ears of a moped fork I need to remove the stock mount and drill holes where allen bolts will come through from the inside of the light and fit into the mount holes on the ears. So I mark them with a felt tip pen, both the drill hole and an arrow for lining it up again when it gets put back together.
Remove the retaining ring and carefully pry out the lens/ bulb assembly. Drill the holes in the headlight shell and then remove the pedestal mount.
I'll have to search around to see if I have photos of the next part. In the mean time I'll picture it with words. Take a look at the lens/bulb and you'll see where at the back there is a phillips head screw holding in the little halogen bulb. Remove it. Now there is a small square opening which you are going to grind out to the size of your donor bulb. What I use for the donor is also a deal from Harbor Freight. It is a flashlight with 32 LED bulbs in it for about 5 bucks. It is very bright, uses 4.5 volts of battery power, but will also accept 6+ volts from a China girl magneto or a sidewall generator. I've used both with no problems.
Say that you, too, are going to use a small flashlight for your donor. With a hacksaw cut it off somewhere along the barrel part where the batteries go. A dremel cut off wheel makes a lot of heat which can wreck the LED's. Safer with the hacksaw. Get a bit of wire, maybe a foot or so and solder one strand to the spot where the battery would have fit against the bulb end of the flashlight. Drill a little hole at the edge of the barrel so you can attach the other wire with a small screw. The barrel on mine was aluminum, so a little screw or bolt will tap it's own threads. One of the photos shows the connections. I use the hole already in the headlight shell for running the wire through, but first run it through a section of gas line fitted into the hole so that the wires won't be rubbing against metal and short out once the insulation is worn through. The kind of hard part is done...
(cont.)
SB
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