Home-made headlight

[az cra-z]

Should be easy to get some kind of license plate light to light up your speedo.

 

[Nuttsy]

Warner, thanks for posting this. I am looking for a setup like you've done as I leave the house before sunup most days. I just added a front rack and little pannier and bag to my bike and the bag has room for such a battery and I can mount the light on the rack itself. I think this will work great. Check out my post about front rack storage, there's pics of the rack.
WC

 

[Warner]

Warner, thanks for posting this. I am looking for a setup like you've done as I leave the house before sunup most days. I just added a front rack and little pannier and bag to my bike and the bag has room for such a battery and I can mount the light on the rack itself. I think this will work great. Check out my post about front rack storage, there's pics of the rack.
WC

Saw that.....I have lots of storage in my panniers, but that looks like a good option as well...

Warner

 

[jg767]

check out the XR-75 build thread, I don't know how to put in a quick link. But he didn't specify what particular dimmer he used. I've been searching myself,I agree sailorsams too pricy. should find one cheaper in a local auto parts discount like pep boys or auto zone. Let you know if I get lucky.

 

[Warner]

check out the XR-75 build thread, I don't know how to put in a quick link. But he didn't specify what particular dimmer he used. I've been searching myself,I agree sailorsams too pricy. should find one cheaper in a local auto parts discount like pep boys or auto zone. Let you know if I get lucky.

He replied with a link to the one he used.....it's $32. It seems like getting the CORRECT one for Halogen, 12v lights (esp 55 watts!) is not going to be cheap. But it's definitely something I'm going to do. I kind of like the one from sailorsams because it's designed for marine applications and would probably be easier to build a small waterproof cover for....just my thoughts right now....

Warner

 

[SirJakesus]

here you go guys, I bought the high amp one. Runs a 55w halogen just fine.
http://www.theledlight.com/dimmers.html
Nice job warner. But clean up your wiring a bit

 

[Warner]

here you go guys, I bought the high amp one. Runs a 55w halogen just fine.
http://www.theledlight.com/dimmers.html
Nice job warner. But clean up your wiring a bit

I don't know what else I could clean up???? Everything is routed right where it needs to be. All my connections are soldered and covered in heat-shrink tubing. What's not "clean"?

Warner

 

[SirJakesus]

Well, take this picture for example.
http://www.motoredbikes.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7386&d=1212190022
The electricals are all bundled together. I ran everything from the taillight switches, headlight, killswitch and horn wires through the spiral wrap to the rear of the bike and have everything at the handlebars and everywhere else bundled and secured so wires and cables arent everywhere. If you can notice even my speedo wire is run down the front brake cable to the suspension fork. Thats what I mean by clean No offense meant by it at all I'm just somewhat a perfectionist when it comes to things like that.

 

[Warner]

Well, take this picture for example.
http://www.motoredbikes.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7386&d=1212190022
The electricals are all bundled together. I ran everything from the taillight switches, headlight, killswitch and horn wires through the spiral wrap to the rear of the bike and have everything at the handlebars and everywhere else bundled and secured so wires and cables arent everywhere. If you can notice even my speedo wire is run down the front brake cable to the suspension fork. Thats what I mean by clean No offense meant by it at all I'm just somewhat a perfectionist when it comes to things like that.

No offense taken - I was just trying to figure out specifically what you were talking about or what I could different. Here's the wiring that I have:

The single wires for the kill switch and tach/hour meter that run to the engine:

These run through the channel from my battery holders straight back to the engine. I could possibly tie these up a bit more between the seat and engine

The two wires from the battery that run up to the headlight and switch:

These two wires run through the channel for the battery holders and are only a couple of feet in total length. There is some necessary slack in this so it doesn't bind when I turn the handlbars.

The single wire for the speedometer pickup:

This is wrapped around the stem to take up extra slack, and runs down the left side fork leg. There's not much else I could do with this wire.

If you are talking about my throttle cable, it needs to have that slack in it....when I've tied it up tighter it binds a bit, causing my engine to idle way too high and causing some stickiness when the throttle is released.


Warner


PS - Since I'm going to be changing my forks (going with front suspension), brakes (going to disc in front), stem (going to threadless), and at least one brake lever, I didn't mount stuff up "permanent". Just enough to not get in the way. When it's all finalized, it'll be SUPER clean!

 

[Nuttsy]

A couple of questions, if I may...
1) What size charger do you guys use and how long to fully recharge? Cost?
2) Do you think a dynamo (either hub or add-on) could be used to keep the battery somewhat charged on the go?
WC