Low/High headlight switch wanted (H/Bar mount)

AussieSteve

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This is mainly for the guys with incandescent headlights and lead-acid batteries.
Has anyone found a source of handlebar-mount headlight switches with off/low/high positions?
(I have dual low/high headlights, so I'll fit two.)

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The led headlight on my bike has a built in push button on the rear of the light,push once for low beam,twice for high beam and 3 times for high beam and rear strobe light.

Its a 12v emergency car light(walmart $5) and i run it off of a 18v cordless tool battery.
I attached it to the handle bars using a plastic mount from a reflector.

You might find a switch you're looking for in a auto parts store or maybe a toggle switch.
 
Auto parts stores don't sell such things.
I have a great many toggle switches here - most aren't waterproof and none have three positions. I've also got a lot of slide and rotary switches, but none are waterproof.

I'm looking for, possibly, a scooter switch.

LED lights are useless in low-light conditions. Your light on high beam wouldn't even be a fraction of my low beam. Also, your light is useless for being seen by other drivers during daylight. Nice bright incandescent bulbs can be seen day or night. Much safer. (I often ride in heavy traffic.)

My light can go 18W, 36W, 54W or 72W and is powered by a 12V 5Ah SLA battery, with a generator/regulator charging system. (Can almost burn holes in anything that gets in the way.)
 
ill ask supercheap in morning steve an see if i source u a switch

less than 14 days till i get my cell mtx 1
 
cabinfever1977, sorry, didn't mean to personally offend. If you live in a well-lit area, I'm sure that LEDs are OK.
Unfortunately, though, I live in a semi-rural area, poorly lit, lots of potholes, gravel roads etc and heaps of unseeing drivers.
I don't only want to be seen, I want to see.
At 30mph, a LED headlight doesn't have enough range for me.
Also, as I said, I want to use it during daylight hours for visibility.

Your local Autoparts stores sell handlebar-mount 3-position switches with 'off', 'low' and 'high'? I wish I lived where you live.

Of course, the first thing I did was search, here, on eBay and on Google. Couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. Hence my post.
 
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ill ask supercheap in morning steve an see if i source u a switch
less than 14 days till i get my cell mtx 1

G'day Brad, haven't heard from you in a while.

I'll bet you're on the edge of your seat waiting. You have to post pics etc.

I've already been to SCA locally and AutoOne, with no luck, but I didn't expect to do any good.

I could rig something up, but I want to find nice neat handlebar-mount switches if I can.

I have a test setup here, but unless I find the right switches, I need four switches to do what I want.

My lighting and charging system is slowly progressing. I've tested everything off the bike now, so I just need to sort out the details.
The headlight is fitted, (I spent two days sweating over making the mounting brackets), I've spent the last day or so making an aluminium battery box and it's done.
The generator is working well.
As I said, only minor details like these switches now.
As I promised, Brad, I'll let you (and others) know when it's all up and going.

On an aside, once this is all working and I have a decent 12VDC supply, there's no reason why I shouldn't fit a hall-effect sensor to the magneto and a real CDI, allowing adjustable ignition timing and probably a stronger spark, among other things like variable electronic advance.

This is a diagram of my test setup for one bulb. It's what's needed in each of the two switches. One set of contacts turns the light on or off and the other determines whether one or two filaments are powered.

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Could go electronic with pushbutton control and hours of design and board-making etc, but I'd rather find something off-the-shelf if possible.
 

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its ok .
how bout i do a little asking at a motorbike accessory shop ?


sitting in my bathroom hall is a broken rocksolid shaft bike
luckily the hp1 50cc motor is just fine .



bloody potholes


brad
 
its ok .
how bout i do a little asking at a motorbike accessory shop ?

Mate, I'd appreciate that, but don't go too far out of your way.
The type of switch I'm looking for isn't common and getting two will be near impossible unless I can find a supplier of new ones.
Most motorbikes that I owned had only 2 filaments and used a second position on the ignition switch for on/off, then a separate switch for hi/lo, much like the diagram I drew. Getting both incorporated into one switch won't be easy.

sitting in my bathroom hall is a broken rocksolid shaft bike
luckily the hp1 50cc motor is just fine .
bloody potholes
brad

Yeah, that's sad. From memory, the rim failed. What else is broken?
 
i know what ur looking for ..
give me a couple of hours in the morning i should have a few sources for u .
 
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