Vintage look headlight, turn signals, tail, brake

H

HoughMade

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In my state, there is a pending bill that will require registration of my bike. Equipment wise- no problems....except I will need a good headlight, turn signals, a brake light and tail light. We, therefore, have found the next project for the HoughMade '71'.

The good news is that the new laws do not incorporate U.S. DOT lighting regulations, but set lighting standards by performance. This is important because I do not have to purchase lights that are "DOT Approved" as long as I can make lights that meet the performance requirements.

I have looked into previous topics about using an MR16 halogen light as a basis with an SLA battery. Good idea, but I want a vintage look and although price is always a consideration, ultra-cheap is not necessary. I went looking at the home stores and came across the landscape light pictured below. It is the right size to be a good scale for a vintage look. It is cast aluminum. It uses a 12 volt, MR16 halogen lamp and comes with a 50 watt spot and even in the display with the 50 watt spot going all day, the case gets warm, not scorching hot. I will need to mount it- and I want something that looks like it was really meant to be...not simply functional.

I have a new 12 volt 7.2ah sealed lead-acid (SLA) battery which will provide well over an hour of light (I do not ride at night, I just need lights for legality and emergency, so this will be OK). That battery will run the turn and brake lights forever and a day. Plus, I am looking into options for a bit of charging on the go so that run time can be extended (don't bother mentioning solar unless you can show be a 1910 motorcycle with a solar array). I am haunting the thrift stores for an old leather case of some sort to house the battery (old Polaroid camera cases are good).

I am building the turn'tail/brake assembly from scratch, but I will probably scrounge for lenses or incorporate clearance lights of some sort- I smell a Tractor Supply Co. trip!

Anyhoo- I have gathered some parts and building begins tomorrow- pics in process will be forthcoming.
 

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is there anything new to add over in the legislation thread ?

thanks,
steve

Still pending in the same committee...and the state reps. I e-mailed have not replied to me. Honestly, that seems odd to me. One in particular has the time to go house to house and personally show up to introduce himself, but he won't answer an e-mail....pretty clear that the election is over.

In any event, I thought decent lights may be a good idea anyway.
 
heh, I just picked up a red led clearance light for a taillight at Tractor Supply about an hour ago for $7. I am using the headlight from a 12V dynamo kit. I have a 10 AA NiMH battery pack that puts out about 12V. I am hoping to put the system together this weekend, hopefully with solar, dynamo and killswitch wire charging systems. I picked up a small canvas bag at the army surplus store to hold the battery and tools n stuff. Now I have to decide what connectors to use and how to put it together.
 
Hough,
Bummer about the pending legislation. I think it will doom the classic looks of your hard work.
That having been said, that home center light looks kinda Rail Road Signal-ish as opposed to motorcycle. Is there no way to incorporate a 12V higher wattage bulb into your existing headlight/speedo setup?
Tail light suggestion could possibly be an old model A type deal from JCWhitney or some such. Although those tend to look out of scale on the large side, you may be able to find something smaller and more period correct in the antique auto arena.
Turn signals...sheesh! That will completely kill the look IMO.
Good luck, tho
WC
 
The reflector is a flood reflector and wat too shallow to get focused into a tight enough beam. Trust me, I went down that road. I won't let the look be harmed. Ironically, the present headlight actually was a railroad lantern.
 
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The reflector is a flood reflector and wat too shallow to get focused into a tight enough beam. Trust me, I went down that road. I won't let the look be harmed. Ironically, the present headlight actually was a railroad lantern.

I'll be glad to expound later as I'm off to bed for the night (up work at 4:30A.M.) standard automotive #1156 12v bulb ad housing (local junkyard- a back up lamp from old Pinto) wired in the old railroad lamp for headlight; old brass alarm clock housing (3" in diameter roughly) with a reflector and again 1156 automotive back up lamp wired in with red lexan lens for tailamp. Very inexpensive, easy to build, looks "period". I dunno what to do for ya' for turn sigs, but I'd bet you could do so,ething very similar utilizing the bullet style trailer running lights readily available...
Also there's some good info found amongst these articles:
(I am in NO WAY, SHAPE, or FORM affiliated AT ALL with this website! Period. Just so you know...)

http://bikerodnkustom3.homestead.com/2muchbuild.html
http://bikerodnkustom3.homestead.com/2muchdetail.html
http://bikerodnkustom3.homestead.com/lighting.html
 
Re the solar recharge...

There's at least one company that's making solar cells that are fairly flexible, and they make a roll-up panel array. You could have the solar panel rolled up, like a small bedroll, behind the seat. Unroll it when you get the bike parked. Roll it up again & go.

Instead of using the high purity silicon like for integrated circuits, they essentially spray the solar cell material on to a mylar backing in a vacuum. (similar technology to that used to make those mylar "emergency blankets" that reflect body heat back to the body)

A quick google search turned up several companies that are making 'em now...

The technology: http://www.globalsolar.com/products/
http://www.globalsolar.com/products/flex-6.5watt.php
http://www.globalsolar.com/products/flex-12watt.php


http://www.i4u.com/article1652.html

http://www.valencemarine.com/ROLL-UP-5W-SOLAR-PANEL-PF-5R_p_6453.html
http://www.valencemarine.com/ROLL-UP-10W-SOLAR-PANEL-PF-10R_p_6452.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/Power-Film-Roll-Up-Solar-Modules--PFR15-600-_W0QQitemZ300282699054QQcmdZViewItem
 

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