Good math Dragon, I've been reading these posts about the white wire and lighting. My Puch moped has a pretty good system, I am going to study some more, but my thought is that there is a need for a bolt-on solution for the lighting challenge. I think moped lighting is a good start.
Motorbicycling 6V electrical system?
- Thread starter velardejose
- Start date
aquarianmonkey
New Member
This little unit works!!!!!! SUPER DEAL Mini-Generator With LED Light Motorized Bike - eBay (item 400057342055 end time Oct-19-09 21:22:35 PDT) I installed mine yesterday along with a 6 volt sla. batt 6 volt rectufier regulator off an atv and it works my batt was at 5.9 volts and at 6.34 after 2 miles. word of advise if you buy this and install it is best to push a pigtail wire through the front of the grommet than solder it to the gen wire and pull it through. To me this is the best way to run lights on the bike and not count on the mag to overwork itself I have bright lights all the time regardless if the bike is running have'nt got pics yet but will post when I get take them my head light is real *****in a 12 volt gen bullet with 4 leds super bright
silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Anyone ever tried to get 24 oz of beer out of a 12 oz can???
Yes,
I have tried that many times and am still trying.
SB
silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
I don't know anything to speak of about electronics, but like everyone else who sometimes rides at night, I want to be seen and it would also be nice to see where I'm going. I tried a 12 volt generator a couple of years ago and riding at speed would continually burn out the bulbs. I had a 6 volt generator and the same thing happened. No doubt there's a way around that, but that's for somebody else to fiddle with, somebody smarter than me.
I tried hooking up the white wire to run both a tail light 6 v. bulb and headlight 6 v. bulb and it killed the engine. Then I ordered some LED lights from
eBay Store - Empat Manufacturing: Single Chrome Mount, Single 12 Volt 5mm, Red
...which ran seven bucks for ten LEDs. I bought 20 of them and wired as many as would fit in the headlight, five or so in the tail light and another five in the brake light. No problem with killing the engine or weak starts and my lights come on automatically with the engine running. You could wire in a switch easily enough. The light is flickering and is OK with me since for the most part I want to be seen. I don't have much occasion to ride in the dead of night, needing to light the road ahead of me. It does light enough to see where I'm going, but I live out in the forest and it would be different in a city situation with lots of traffic, competing lights, etc. It has proved to be adequate for me and so far no problems. If this is going to wreck something, I'd appreciate a heads up. On another bike I run all of those lights plus a 12 volt fender light from a Kawasaki motorcycle. I don't know why it works, but it does. A while back I was in the Target store and saw they had a string of 18 white christmas lights which were battery powered, and came with a little battery box to hold four AA batteries... which works out to 6 volts. I thought, "why not?". since the price was right at $7.99. I bought a couple sets and got experimenting. The leds are smaller than the others I ordered, but I think seem just as bright. In one headlight I fitted eighteen of the xmas tree lights in there, with another five or six each of the other leds in the tail light and brake light. They work fine and have not killed the engine or caused starting problems. The eighteen christmas tree lights are brighter than ten of the other, so Target is a better deal, especially with no shipping expenses. I wired up my other American the same way and it is entirely adequate for my needs. I have thought about also wiring up the little battery box the Christmas lights came with. It has a switch on it and could fit under the seat. That way if my engine quit I could switch on the batteries and still be seen along the side of the road as I peddle or push my bike home. Doing over old cruiser lights this way is kind of fun... gutting out the old light fixture and cramming all the wiring inside the headlight, so that just a single power wire and ground exit the unit. The wires are smaller in the Christmas tree lights, thus a little harder to work with, but take up less room. LED lights have a positive and a negative polarity. Get the wires reversed and they won't light up. On the bigger LRDs the wires are red and black, so easy to tell what is what. With the xms lights all is green, so you have to check. As I said this "system" is cheap, easy enough to do and runs entirely off the engine. I'm sure there are better setups, but this works for me.
SB
I tried hooking up the white wire to run both a tail light 6 v. bulb and headlight 6 v. bulb and it killed the engine. Then I ordered some LED lights from
eBay Store - Empat Manufacturing: Single Chrome Mount, Single 12 Volt 5mm, Red
...which ran seven bucks for ten LEDs. I bought 20 of them and wired as many as would fit in the headlight, five or so in the tail light and another five in the brake light. No problem with killing the engine or weak starts and my lights come on automatically with the engine running. You could wire in a switch easily enough. The light is flickering and is OK with me since for the most part I want to be seen. I don't have much occasion to ride in the dead of night, needing to light the road ahead of me. It does light enough to see where I'm going, but I live out in the forest and it would be different in a city situation with lots of traffic, competing lights, etc. It has proved to be adequate for me and so far no problems. If this is going to wreck something, I'd appreciate a heads up. On another bike I run all of those lights plus a 12 volt fender light from a Kawasaki motorcycle. I don't know why it works, but it does. A while back I was in the Target store and saw they had a string of 18 white christmas lights which were battery powered, and came with a little battery box to hold four AA batteries... which works out to 6 volts. I thought, "why not?". since the price was right at $7.99. I bought a couple sets and got experimenting. The leds are smaller than the others I ordered, but I think seem just as bright. In one headlight I fitted eighteen of the xmas tree lights in there, with another five or six each of the other leds in the tail light and brake light. They work fine and have not killed the engine or caused starting problems. The eighteen christmas tree lights are brighter than ten of the other, so Target is a better deal, especially with no shipping expenses. I wired up my other American the same way and it is entirely adequate for my needs. I have thought about also wiring up the little battery box the Christmas lights came with. It has a switch on it and could fit under the seat. That way if my engine quit I could switch on the batteries and still be seen along the side of the road as I peddle or push my bike home. Doing over old cruiser lights this way is kind of fun... gutting out the old light fixture and cramming all the wiring inside the headlight, so that just a single power wire and ground exit the unit. The wires are smaller in the Christmas tree lights, thus a little harder to work with, but take up less room. LED lights have a positive and a negative polarity. Get the wires reversed and they won't light up. On the bigger LRDs the wires are red and black, so easy to tell what is what. With the xms lights all is green, so you have to check. As I said this "system" is cheap, easy enough to do and runs entirely off the engine. I'm sure there are better setups, but this works for me.
SB
silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
The link I just provided I see is for the red 12 v. LEDs, just look on the same page and you'll see white ones in 6 volt.
SB
SB
This is what you want if looking for a professionally designed 6 volt system.
eBay Store - WONDERFUL CREATIONS STORE: Coming Features
Fabian
eBay Store - WONDERFUL CREATIONS STORE: Coming Features
Fabian
silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Pretty nice. More than I can afford for the whole deal, but if you have a need for such it is great that it's available. This is news to me and it is good news, helping to make these HT motors more versatile. Just the dynamo alone which fits inside the magneto case is something within reach and would make a brighter light show more possible. Good quality LED lights (not christmas tree lights, like mine) matched with this would be very nice. Thanks for posting this, Fabian.
SB
Hi silverbear
Glad i could be of help providing info on where to get alternative lighting systems for Chinese Bicycle Motors.
Although i'm after a substantially more powerful automotive style system, the product advertised on the "Wonderful Creations" website would make for a reasonable lighting system with high power LED lights.
Cheers Fabian
Glad i could be of help providing info on where to get alternative lighting systems for Chinese Bicycle Motors.
Although i'm after a substantially more powerful automotive style system, the product advertised on the "Wonderful Creations" website would make for a reasonable lighting system with high power LED lights.
Cheers Fabian
aquarianmonkey
New Member
Silverbear thanks for the link It's the best LED link I have seen yet and the color choices for the 6 volt are great could lead to a great light show LOL. Happy Motoring
silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Good. Something I failed to mention is that the LED link is to a company in Michigan. These lights are made in the USA... woohoo! How about that! I felt a little better making payment which tends to circulate around home. Made in the USA is becoming a rare thing, sad to say, so I do try to support our own manufacturers. When I go to the hardware I ask where a tool was made and not always,but often will pick the item with a higher price, but which is home grown so to speak. I wish our little motors had a company in the USA making them. I suppose they'd cost three or four or more times as much, but might be worth it in quality of materials and manufacturing. I don't mean a great motor, just a better one, maybe more like the Russian originals which I understand were pretty good. I like seeing a stamp or label saying Made In The USA... or like on the old Schwinns where it said Made In Chicago.Anyway, I'm glad you found the link of value.
SB
aquarianmonkey
New Member
The L.E.D.s are excelent and very bright used one red on to replace the stock bulb in my tail light and was happy with the outcome got some white ones the other day will work them in on the weekend. The company sells a good product and ships fast made 2 orders and each time within 3 days of ordering. A great savings also RadioShack sells 6volt L.E.D.s. at $2.50 a pop.
chopperjoe
New Member
hello fellow bikers, im a newbee with motorbikes, but old salt with big 2 wheelers, im running a 6 volt headlamp and a small b taillight off the white wire, put a toggle switch on headlamp an click it on after it fires up. so far i havnt had a problem approx. 50 miles on bike, the small b taillight is always on, a few times i had forgot to shut headlamp off, and the bike still fired up, but i try not to forget, better to get the juice pumpin to the spark. the headlamp is off an old generator setup, along with the b taillight. sure hope this wont damage the mag. any imput on this??? thnx. chopper
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silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Hey, welcome to the forum, Chopperjoe. Lots of good folks here. Regarding the possible damage to the magneto, I'm no expert, but running lights off of it hasn't hurt mine so far. I haven't yet, but intend to put in a switch to shut off the headlight on my bikes. Right now the magneto lights headlight, tail light and brake light (all have been changed over to led lights inside the old housings). But I think you may be right about better starting with more juice to the spark plug. I haven't had a problem, but now with colder weather it might make a difference. Post a photo of your bike when you get a chance.
SB
chopperjoe
New Member
10/4 i ran the switch off the reflector bracket that mounts off the gooseneck, just drilled a hole in it and wala.... picked up switch at menards for 4 bucks, chrome toggle looks and works nice, can reach down after it starts without much searching or bending, will try to download pics. havin trouble. the silver bike in picture is my big boy, 1637cc slightly larger than my grubee 48 cc, 5 yrs. on that build. good talking to ya. gobble gobble
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silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Yes, I had guessed your avatar chopper was at least an 80cc, maybe more. Ha! It's funny how these little poorly made China Girl motors are so much fun, maybe partly because they're so basic and require our getting up close, personal and fooling around to keep them going. It kind of fulfills the 12 year old boy inside us who wanted a motor on his bicycle. You ever put playing cards on the spokes and make believe? I did. Balloons, too, which really made a racket before they blew up.
SB
Anyone ever tried to get 24 oz of beer out of a 12 oz can???
LOL! True... that describes most attempts to power a light from the white wire. What many "weekend engineers" overlook is that these bike magnetos are marginal at best and it's a miracle they power the ignition. I made many attempts myself but nothing that lasted long enough or worked well enough to be of any practical use.
Best solution was to use a 106 LED headligtht using rechargeable AAs. Floods the road with light for 5-6 hours on a charge. Using new "hybrid/precharge" type NiMh the light is always ready to go.