Looking for a good cheap headlight

Risingsunn

Risingsunn

Member
Good evening,
I have a little problem and wanted to get some feedback. Since the best time to ride my motorized bicycle is in the evening after the temp drops below 100 I have been trying to find a good headlight for my bike. First I started with a standard headlight/taillight combo from Wally World. The tail light still works well but the headlight bracket broke after a week or so. I epoxied it it twice until finally the vibration just killed the lamp altogether. Since then I have gone through 3 cheap LED flashlights, a small Coleman flashlight and even a Mini Mag. After a few days the vibration starts shaking them so much that they start failing, then eventually die.
I'm rather cheap so I don't care about having the best just a light that would cost no more than say $10 that I know won't die from the vibration.

Any ideas? Thanks!
 
Check out SBP they have a CREE 1200 lums with a L-6 bulb in it . Bright as A car headlight. But I got mine from amazon for half the price . Hint hint. Battery pack, charger and all. Cheap & he!!a bright and no problems with vibration yet after 800 miles.
 
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I hate to say it, but vibration killing every single light you've tried sounds like excessive vibration to me. Of all the different headlight setups I've tried (quite a few), exactly two had problems with vibration. One was a 50 led aluminum flashlight, and two of the led's blew from vibration. Another was a $5 powerbeam headlight. Vibration caused the battery door to fall off and become lost. I would suggest that you try to reduce vibrations before trying another cheap headlight, as there really aren't any cheap headlights that will stand up to excessive vibrations.
 
Here's two suggestions that give a lot of light at low cost.

The first is not a great photo. But you should be able to see enough. 003.jpg

In front of the front basket is a set of straight handle bars from some mountain bike. Mounted to the basket by a couple of bars of steel stock, half inch width. The bottom of the basket is sandwiched between them. It's sturdy enough. But it'll also absorb some vibrations. If your bar is wide you can mount 6 or 7 basic bicycle headlights. Now you've got a lot of light. And if one of them dies on you, it's no big deal. You've still got plenty of light to get you home.

Also you can get a pair of 50 watt automotive aftermarket 'headlights' (for off-road, I think) in the automotive dept at The Beast of Bentonville (w-mart)
Here's an example.
005.jpg

This gives a lot of light. So much so that you want it mounted low. I've kept a couple of bicycle headlights on the bar up top so that approaching traffic won't be fooled by the lowness into thinking that I'm further away than I really am.

You need some stout batteries, of course. Mine are 10 amp/hr SLAs. You can find them for as little as 25 bucks or so on e-bay. I use two of them. This gives me about 3 hours run time. Plus using two gives more leeway in keeping the bike balanced. Mine are mounted in the blue vinyl lunch sacks that you see behind the light. Of course, you've got to plug in and recharge overnight. But I think it's worth it for the light that you get out of the deal.

Having that extra weight up front has an advantage, too. Your bike's front end has more substance and is less squirrelly.
 
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