Looks like I'm getting over 150 mpg :)

bluegoatwoods

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central illinois
I'm using my bike for commuting to and from work.

A little while back I went and bought a gallon of fuel. Pulling away I wondered, "When was the last time I bought gas?" It was more than two weeks. So I guessed about three.

After I go to work and come home today I'll have finished three work weeks on this gallon. I'm estimating this (and I might be a bit short) as 144 miles. There's still a bit of fuel in my tank and a bit more in the gas can.

Even with fuel prices as they are I have no need to budget for it. A work week only costs me about 2 bucks.

Can life get any better than this?

2 side issues; last night a guy at work asked me about my bike. He said he had a bicycle and he was getting very sick of spending so much money to drive to work. I got the feeling he was serious. So I wrote down this web address. We might see him around.

I got my lights set up just this past Saturday. Just in time. Heavy rain (very heavy, poor visibility) Saturday and Sunday. Heavy fog this morning. My lights are two 55 watt automotive aftermarket lights. Rear is an automotive LED tail light. Dont' know the wattage, but it's not much. I could tell than no one had any trouble seeing me in the fog this morning. The whole thing is powered by a 14 amp/hr ATV battery. On board, auto-shutoff battery charger. Plug it in when I get home and it charges while I sleep. And added benefit; spliced in a cigarette lighter socket. Now a 12 volt air compressor will take care of flats for me. Just this morning I checked air pressure. A bit low. So I aired them up in a flash without needing any help from anyone.

Life just keeps getting better and better.

Happy riding!
 
Very cool about the electrical system you set up. Sounds heavy but if it works for you thats fantastic. I believe most MBers neglect the need for good lighting.
 
I think you're right about "lighting neglect" Sir Jakesus. And I think it's a mistake. Being hard to ignore is being safe.

It is heavy, but the battery rides in my cargo trailer. So there's no handling or bike-balance issues.

And the cigarette lighter is really, really handy. Another tire top-off this morning. Done in two minutes at most. I'll never ride under-inflated again.
 
Sounds like a sweet setup, 2-55 watt bulbs, 'let there be light!'
Now maybe get some cigars to light up with your cig. lighter, high-rollin' gas sipper, as you do the 'nah-nah' thumb-to-nose wave to the people stuck in traffic.
 
picts

Hi Bluegoatwoods,can you show a picture of your setup and where did you get the lights from?Also where do you have your battery on the bike. Sounds like the setup I need too!
 
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Jump starter

This sounds like the same type of electrical system I'm setting up on my bike Bluegoatwoods. The jump starter I am looking at is a Black&Decker 400 watt. 18 amp/hr. How long will it run your two road lights?

It's nice to see someone else trying the same type of setup. The jump starter has built in utility light, accessory plug, (cig lighter) and of course jumper cables. I will be able to jump start cars. I'm also looking at a 5 watt trickle charge solar panel to charge it, for now I'll just plug it in at night. This version (kinda heavy) has a built in compressor. There are smaller versions that are lighter but they have less amp/hr. What I like about this set up is you can take it inside and charge it so it wont get stolen. You can hook up the lights to the accessory plug or to the jumper cables. What would be really cool is if I could figure out how to get it to start the bike. I don't think you could retrofit a starter onto a Dax Titan.
 
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The jump starter is an interesting idea. I can see that that would have some advantages.

I've run this setup as long as (about) 70 minutes with no noticeable loss of battery. but I haven't measured my total time yet.

And I have no working camera at the moment. So I can't post photos. My set-up won't win any style points, by the way. I've achieved functionality and safety (wiring fastened down, so that it doesn't get caught in moving parts, for instance), but I sacrificed looks for economy.

I can describe it well enough for you to decide whether to imitate or improve. No time at the moment, gotta get ready for work. But I'll post a description in the morning.
 
Good morning everyone! My weekend is starting, the weather is good (and holding), I'll either have or I'll find some reason to do some riding and life feels pretty sweet right now.

I can't post a photo of the light set-up, but I ought to be able to describe it well enough that you can follow (and likely improve) it.

this setup is for a bike with trailer. (I think a trailer is a necessity, anyway. If you can't carry a decent amount of cargo, then it's not really practical transportation.) But if you don't have a trailer, you'll be able to figure out the mods necessary to put it all on a bike.

The wiring of the set-up is 12 gauge Romex. The switches are regular household on/off switches. The main advantage of this is that it's easily replaceable when needed. I don't doubt that 14 gauge would be heavy enough. But 12 gauge is what I had on hand.
(one of the members here has a signature that says, "If it's broke and you're broke, you use weird stuff to fix it." I've changed that a bit; "If you want it, but you can't spend money on it, then use weird stuff to make it". This lighting system is a good example.)

The Romex can be fastened to bike and trailer frame with hose clamps and zip ties. Being stiff, it can be "looped" over or under places where some room is needed and it will hold it's shape.

The battery is a "spill proof" ATV battery that I bought at Advance Auto. I cut a piece of fairly stiff foam rubber about and inch thick to place the battery on for buffering against jars that might break the case. Another sheet of foam rubber on top (across posts) for a bit of weather protection. Added to it a 1.5 Amp, automatic off, onboard battery charger. This is a battery charger that is meant to be mounted in your engine compartment (on a car) and permanently attached to the battery posts. The idea is that you plug it in in winter to keep the battery charged and warm. I got mine at Harbor Freight. Lashed these two items together and to the trailer bed with lashing straps.

You start with a bit of flexible electrical wire. (Though I suppose you could just strip the outside casing and ground conductor from a piece of Romex) Running away from the battery you wire in a tail light (I used an automotive tail-light from Wal-Mart) and a switch. (This does mean that you must dismount to turn on the rear light. but to me that seems preferrable to running a circuit all the way up to your handlebars and back)
Somewhere in the vicinity of this rear light circuit, you splice in your Romex for the forward circuit. I used red wire nuts. They hold tight. So far no tendency to vibrate lloose. And your circuit is always open for moderations this way. Then you start running your Romex along the trailer. Use hose clamps as much as possible for strength, but zip ties are adequate in those places where a hose clamp is not convenient. Loop the Romex over the axle so that it's not in the way when you have to change a tire. (Or similar loops in similar places, depending on your equipment. You get the idea, I'm sure)
Romex straight up to the trailer hitch. At this point, naturally, you'll want a splice. So that you can unhook the trailer. This is a good place for the cigarette lighter socket. I used a cheap one with a plastic cap for weather protection. It'll eventually get rusty. But they only cost a couple of bucks.

Now my trailer hitches to the bike on the left side (of bike) right at the rear axle. so the Romex continues from there on the underside of that frame member there. (that's called a chainstay, isn't it? Then this would be the left chainstay.) Then a small loop under the crank in order to clear any cables running through there. Then up the downtube toward the headset. Keep it away from the exhaust, of course. Now you wire up to an on/off switch hanging from the handlebar by a zip tie. Flexible wire from there to the lights (or light. You're going to have options on that.).

The lights I bought at Wal-Mart automotive electrical department. They have 3 or 4 different ones available for 15 to 20 dollars. A few of them are rather cool looking, bullet ttype lights. These lights seem to be meant to be used as fog lights (though the packaging does not call them that.) The instructions even say that they should not be mounted more than, I think, 30"inches high. Apparently blinding oncoming traffic is a concern. (I believe it. These things are BRIGHT). For me, this was no problem; my brake bosses were available. The reason is that I've removed my cantilever brakes. Not willling to deal with difficult adjustment. I've replaced them with old-fashioned side-pull brakes. So my brake bosses were available. If your's aren't, then I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out.

I've always figured that when the day comes that I want to mount a battery on the bike I'd get some aluminum strips. Perhaps 3/4 inch wide by 3/16 inch thick. could probably get enough for the job for 10 or 15 bucks. make a cage for the batt. and figure out some way of bolting it to the bike frame maybe a bit above and forward from the rear axle, left side likely. A battery that is large enough to give any running time will be heavy enough to affect bike handling, but it shouldn't be a huge problem.

Probably don't need to explain anymore? This is pretty simple and I'll bet you've got the picture.

It probably sounds a bit weird and, maybe, extreme. But I'm telling you, it's a great feeling to look at heavy rain, fog, dead of night and say "so what?". With a set-up like this, everyone sees you and they see you plenty early in the game. I've been commuting in a bit of bad weather and quite a bit of dark now and it's obvious that being seen is no problem at all.
 
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