Starter/generator!

[mechanicojoe]

I'm a tracotor kid, but i love MB's, i see lots of good inventions added to our small 2 stroke engines, and i see a topic lots of people talk about, electricity-wanting to be seen at night, well, i havent seen this idea here yet but here it goes, on my tractors lots of them have a starter/generator, so the battery is hooked up to the starter-after the engine is started, the started is used as a generator to keep the battery nice and juiced up! SO.....why cant we use the concept on a custom build....my idea would be like a jack shaft set up, you have a set up almost like sick bike parts shift kit jack shaft, except the chain from the engine goes to the starter/generator, then from the jackshaft to the back sprocket, of course this wouldnt fit in a regular 26" frome, unless its alittle starter on a honda gx160 engine, they are really small, but of course you need to think of custom parts, i think this would be a great challenge for a cstom builder

of course you can use the starter/generator for lights etc...

 

[arceeguy]

A starter/generator seems a bit overly complex for a MB IMO. My thought was that one of those bottle generators that runs off of your rear tire would crank out more than enough juice to run lights, horn, etc. with the proper rectification/regulation. The problem with those generators is that when you spin them at speeds a MB is capable of, the power output actually goes down, so you need to fit a larger wheel on the shaft. (less tire wear too)

 

[loquin]

Bottle generators are quite inefficient, and typically have very poor 'bearings,' unless you pay quite a bit to get one of the German units, or get a hub mounted unit. They can also supply about 3 watts at 6 volts, which is just enough for lighting, if it's properly managed. LED lighting with a managed system should be adequate, though. (Hub units can supply up to 6 watts at speed)

By 'managed,' I mean a system that stores the power generated in a rechargeable battery (without overcharging it,) and feeds the battery power to the LED lights.

The problem with the bicycle 'generator' systems is that there is very little 'extra' power available, so whatever AC-DC conversion and battery charge circuit you use, it MUST be very efficient.

Another approach is to use a small DC motor as a generator. (which is the garden tractor approach that mechanicojoe mentions...)