Ride at night
- Thread starter BCD
- Start date
I would rather have a 12v system too, but it'd be nice to not have to plug the bike in at home. Though, there probably is no real way around it, even with a 6v system I doubt the mag outputs enough juice to charge the batt fully when the lights are off..
I understand that, but I just pick up the battery and put it in my pocket to carry into the house for charging,one more reason I have 2,theres always 1 ready to use. The day someone finds me a cheap tiny little alternator that puts out 12 volts I will be the first to buy it, there is one available but its very expensive ($170)and not worth it when its easier and cheaper to just charge them at home. Mac
Academy has solar chargers about $30. A 6V is about as wide as a rear rack and about 1/3 the length. 12V is a little larger.
These will recharge your battery while at work unless you take the bike inside.
Also the 3 watt Maglite LED puts out a LOT of light. About $18 for the LED itself. Then fit it to your housing. It's available in 2D cell (3V), 3D cell (4.5V), 4D cell (6V) and 5D cell (7.5V) versions. You will need to regulate the voltage unless you're using a straight battery (no alternator/white wire).
I also use low voltage (12V) Halogen 10 watt and 20 watt landscape sealed beams. They are the same size as the round 50 watt mini fog lamps sold at Wally World. Lots of light less current. See five times as long as the 50 watt.
The 55 watt lamps are MR16 based. The 50 watt are MR11 based. The base is where the two prongs plug into. I have plugged MR11 lamps into MR16 sockets but not MR16 into MR11 bases.
Ted
These will recharge your battery while at work unless you take the bike inside.
Also the 3 watt Maglite LED puts out a LOT of light. About $18 for the LED itself. Then fit it to your housing. It's available in 2D cell (3V), 3D cell (4.5V), 4D cell (6V) and 5D cell (7.5V) versions. You will need to regulate the voltage unless you're using a straight battery (no alternator/white wire).
I also use low voltage (12V) Halogen 10 watt and 20 watt landscape sealed beams. They are the same size as the round 50 watt mini fog lamps sold at Wally World. Lots of light less current. See five times as long as the 50 watt.
The 55 watt lamps are MR16 based. The 50 watt are MR11 based. The base is where the two prongs plug into. I have plugged MR11 lamps into MR16 sockets but not MR16 into MR11 bases.
Ted
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i have a rear tail light but every cheep head light i bought fell off my bike while riding... i bought one that bolts to the front of the bike like an old school schwin style. that hasnt fallen off yet. but i have noticed that that sometimes is not enough so i have these psychadelic blinky things that i have on the front and back now so people will see me better. now i just worry about someone running me over after having a siezer.
Sorry, I just had to laugh
I've gotta figure something out for lights. Busted my taillight, and my headlight is just a dinky Bell AA powered thing. It's getting dark early now.
I use a12v 8amp/hr sealed lead acid battery with a 55w light from walmrt, goes over an hour, also have 2 luxion 4watt flashlights from bj's (28 dollars) fastened to the top of my front forks, it's very visible, and I don't have to worry if the halogen blows out from road shock
That just gave me an idea. Forget halogen or dinky little LED flashlights. Hook up 55 1w white LEDs in your headlight. Same wattage, no worries, way cooler
Still running headlight and tailight from white wire with a toggle switch for lights by choice. Both of my lights came from a bicycle generator system.
has anyone got an alternator system to work yet or know where to get one that will work on a 80 cc? ive got a stock pile of headlights/turn signals/brake lights and hardware off a 79 kawi 900 i want to use on my occ stingray build. i just cant see led lights being bright enough for my purposes or having to recharge batteries cause i spend long amounts of time out on the road at night. im not to worried about the weight, the motorcycle battery is the only big part of the system so far and ive got a good mount idea for it.
I have done alot of work with the new l.e.d.'s. It all depends what you want. I could show you a 12 volt 12 l.e.d. for your headlight, that you wouldn't believe how bright it is. I run a 9 l.e.d. in my headlight and a 6 in the tail light off a small rechargeable battery. According to the chart it should run about 7 hrs. between charges. Let me know if you want some pictures or more information about this stuff.
John
at 7 hours of run time,it doesnt sound like the draw is to bad,but could the magneto replace that by 'trickle' charging the battery? not that i dont believe that there are leds bright enough,its just that im trying to do this build with what i have and to keep it looking like a motorcycle. like i said i already have a motorcycle donor that im striping down,and i wanted to use the entire lighting system.i lost my driving privileges here in illinois and im gonna have to use this bike as my everyday driver. thx for your insight too...
Back when I was riding after dark, before I got motorized, I ran on to a deal at a Dollar Tree
Store where they had these Chinese clones of "MagLights" with the LED bulb. They
used 2 AA cell Alky batteries and put out lots of light. After having purchased one to try
it, I went back and bought several more. (hey for a buck...right) That's when I noticed
they had "2 packs" of hose clamps on down the isle. So I put 2 & 2 together and got a
few packs of them as well.
My bike motor doesn't have a "white wire".
My reasoning was that there would be enough hose clamp to hold the MagLight body
with some surplus sticking out of the adjustment screw body. When placing the second clamp
on the handlebar there was enough room to place the surplus from the first clamp holding the
light under it and clamp it tight to the handlebar. All that remained was to bend the light to
shine on the road where I wanted it to. $2 Dollar bike light, batteries not included.
VIOLA !
Store where they had these Chinese clones of "MagLights" with the LED bulb. They
used 2 AA cell Alky batteries and put out lots of light. After having purchased one to try
it, I went back and bought several more. (hey for a buck...right) That's when I noticed
they had "2 packs" of hose clamps on down the isle. So I put 2 & 2 together and got a
few packs of them as well.
My bike motor doesn't have a "white wire".
My reasoning was that there would be enough hose clamp to hold the MagLight body
with some surplus sticking out of the adjustment screw body. When placing the second clamp
on the handlebar there was enough room to place the surplus from the first clamp holding the
light under it and clamp it tight to the handlebar. All that remained was to bend the light to
shine on the road where I wanted it to. $2 Dollar bike light, batteries not included.
VIOLA !
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i just installed a bell generator light kit, and i am thinking of getting another kit so i can use the generator. I would imagine that if i wire the lights to both generators and swap the 6v bulb and swap it for a 12v bulb and maybe change the housing to one that spreads the light more evenly, i would have it made!
Bike Lights - Generators and Dynamo Hubs
i found this page, and i was just thinking of the hubs. Why cant we use those to power the lights? the motor would keep them on when we stop at least for visibility
i found this page, and i was just thinking of the hubs. Why cant we use those to power the lights? the motor would keep them on when we stop at least for visibility
i bought a cordless 18v hedge trimmer with 1hr quick charger from walmart.
on sale for $45, and i stripped it for parts.
i bought 2 lights: 1 12v clear car dualbulb clearence light and 1 12v red dome trailer light
i hooked up the 2 lights in serial to equal 24v(so the lights wont burn out)
add a switch or dimmer and a inline fuse. lights work for many hours or days.
extra batteries are around $20, but the battery can be recharged for years.
on sale for $45, and i stripped it for parts.
i bought 2 lights: 1 12v clear car dualbulb clearence light and 1 12v red dome trailer light
i hooked up the 2 lights in serial to equal 24v(so the lights wont burn out)
add a switch or dimmer and a inline fuse. lights work for many hours or days.
extra batteries are around $20, but the battery can be recharged for years.