Nice bright headlight?

[willfargo]

I need a headlight bright enough to light up the street at night. using an LED flashlight zip tied to the handlbars just isnt gonna cut it for very long! who uses what?

 

[birdmannn101]

I need a headlight bright enough to light up the street at night. using an LED flashlight zip tied to the handlbars just isnt gonna cut it for very long! who uses what?

How about using the power wire off your engine to power a headlight?

 

[xxSLiMxx]

Do what i did. I took a headlight like the one on the picture, pulled out everything from inside of it and rewired it so i can run any light off a 9V battery. Its got a basic on/off switch and for the light I used a car tail light I got off ebay for about $10. Its got 13 micro super bright white LEDs on it to make up the single light. This little puppy is VERY bright!!

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa129/luvmycivic/DSC_2371_new.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa129/luvmycivic/DSC_2402_new.jpg

 

[wally]

I sleep at night

 

[motorpsycho]

How about using the power wire off your engine to power a headlight?

ha ha...yeah, that'll work.
DO NOT hook anything to the white wire if you want your engine to keep running.

 

[Sgt. Howard]

the primary function of the white wire is to humiliate and frustrate the operator. Ignore it. That alone will add years to your life. Get something LED, battery operated and BRIGHT!!!! They do make them- I own a Schwinn headlight with solar booster to up the charge during the day. Not the best, but good enough.
the Old Sgt.

 

[Chris Crew]

I have a 12 volt tractor light (agri-supply) and a beehive tail light (flea market) for a total of about 40 watts that I run off of a 2200 mha 11.7v lipoly airplane battery.

I get about 45 minutes of burn time before the third cell in battery pack begins to run down.

Next project is to remove the incandescent bulb from the headlamp and replace it with an LED array for near-unlimited burn time.

 

[motorpsycho]

An easier way (in my opinion) is to just go buy a chrome $5.00 bullet headlight that uses an incandesent bulb and a $5.00 l.e.d. flashlight that has multiple l.e.d.'s in it.
Gut the headlight and install the l.e.d.'s into the chrome reflector. put the switch, circuit board and batteries from the flashlight inside the headlight housing.
I have made 2 headlights like this and they work pretty good. Most of all, they look good and they are 100% self contained with the batteries inside the headlight housing.
Mine actually run off of the batteries that you cn find in the key fobs with the remote door lock/unlock for a car.
These batteries, when hooked up in series can give you 6 volts or more, and they last a long time. An r/c or lipo battery would work very well too, but then you have to find a place to hold the battery, run the wiring and a switch.
True, you can re-charge those batteries, but then you have the added cost of the battery itself (some are not cheap) and a charger to charge it back up.
Just my opinion.
I'm no electrical genious, but it's what works for me.

 

[sparky]

I currently use a Fenix L2D-Q5, but they don't make that exact model anymore. They *do* make the LD20, tho... http://www.4sevens.com/index.php?cPath=22&osCsid=a03892cb23707cc76f59a7f539e2cc6b

That, along with a Two Fish Lockblock... http://www.4sevens.com/index.php?cPath=92 .... will be PLENTY of light.

Most flashlights are NOT regulated, but these Fenix lights are. That means CONSTANT output. So if you keep it on 180 lumens, it will STAY at 180 lumens until the battery is drained in 2.25 hours.

You can also use the coupon code "CPF8" at the 4sevens store.

If 2 hours isn't enough time for you, then consider the Coast P7 flashlight... http://www.amazon.com/Coast-Lenser-HP8407-Focusing-Flashlight/dp/B001AT1F6S More lumens and longer runtime, but it gets that longer runtime from NOT BEING REGULATED FOR CONSTANT OUTPUT.

I actually used that as my headlight until I was so drunk I couldn't ride my bike home one night, so my friends let some OTHER drunk guy ride my bike home that night. Long story short... he wrecked and the flashlight popped off. I do not remember any of this even tho I was supposedly awake. My friend put it in her purse and brought it to her house, where her roommate ended up taking it because she had a flashlight fetish.

SOOO.... I've never been able to compare the two lights side-by-side. But I remember that even after draining the battery overnight, the Coast P7 should still be bright enough for nighttime riding.