Turn signals & lights

[FrizzleFried]

How visible are they in the daytime? I do 99% of my riding during the day...

 

[Nickt919]

How visible are they in the daytime? I do 99% of my riding during the day...

I’m not sure yet. They’re sold as truck markers…12v LED.

It came with an extra so I plan to use that one and up the voltage a bit above 12v.
LiIon cells are 3.7v each… 4 = 14.8.
I figured on trying that and see if it doesn’t blow it.

 

[Nickt919]

Right now I'm using a 3S 2250ma soft pack lipo for the lights and horn. This battery is quite small but that only gets me close to an hour on a charge with the head light on. I'd like that to be a bit longer if possible. I'm not sure how long for just the taillight and/or brake light on a charge. That would probably last many hours.
Past experience with lipo packs in the rc hobby has me a bit cautious about leaving this battery on the bike unattended. When a lipo fails...and it's not unheard of...they make a big fire ball if shorted.
I figure a few of the 18650 LiIon cells in series/parallel are much safer as far as leaving it unattended and not in a fireproof box. They're fairly reasonably priced to make up a power source.

I have 18v LiIon power tool packs but those cost $100 each new. Not a reasonable option for a power supply.

 

[Herman Klutz]

There are adapters for the power tool batteries that provide 2 wire leads. Add in a voltage reducer from 18v to 12v and use the power tool battery as needed. We have one that uses my Dewalt batteries to supply power to our 12v camping accessories.

 

[Risk Man]

This is what I am using for all my lights.. with 5 amps it lasts about 3-4 hours. A $25 charger and the right connectors make charging and powering your bike lights easy. A bit bulky, but very light weight. You can get smaller ones with less amps and less power time. I find my horn uses the most current in my setup as it is a typical motorcycle horn with the "vibrating" sounding surface that has been around for ages. I am going to replace it with an electronic version if I find one that is loud enough.

 

[Chainlube]

I found this video awhile back when I was working on another project and thought it would be helpful here too.

 

[Risk Man]

I found this video awhile back when I was working on another project and thought it would be helpful here too.

I believe an old type flasher and those relays (the relays may be solid state) use quite a bit of power (amps) and the bulk of it all. I just used a basic MC solid state flasher the size of one of those relays and it is simple and efficient and costs under $7

 

[Chainlube]

I believe an old type flasher and those relays (the relays may be solid state) use quite a bit of power (amps) and the bulk of it all. I just used a basic MC solid state flasher the size of one of those relays and it is simple and efficient and costs under $7

Oh for sure there are lighter and cheaper parts, but the basic wiring.

 

[wrenchin 4 fun]

All you have to do is ride two wheels across town and you realize drivers are much more dangerous than bikes. As has been pointed out already, good riding technique and lights help mitigate the risk and there are sound reasons why motorcycle and scooters makers use lighting coils instead of batteries to power them. Retailers market battery operated units as plug-n-play which makes them attractive to those of us who would rather ride than fabricate. Most of these cheap units aren't well designed or manufactured and it's not that difficult to install a lighting coil to any engine. It does take longer to come up with a customized wiring harness and if you choose LEDs which are much more efficient than incandescent lights, you have to shell out for a switch, a rectifier and perhaps a capacitor or small battery to even out the current or your lights will flicker at idle. I've used ignition coils from chinagirls, lighting coils from mopeds, and CDI coils from chainsaws to power lights. My current headlight is a multi-LED worklight that pushes 1200 lumens. And has been pointed out already, if you have brake levers with built-in switches you can hook up a separate line for a break light. All it takes is a dual-LED marker light, one for a driving light and one for a brake light. Turn signals can be patched into the same circuit with a separate switch and flasher unit, plus 4 stem-mounted LEDs.

 

[Wevil Knievel]

I am going to go out on a limb and guess that extra wire is for the "brake detection". I am guessing you install it somewhere that it will detect when your brake lever is pulled. This is only a guess... and I did very badly on the Price is Right "traveling show" (with Chuck Woolery).

Give that man a cigar. That is a brake lever sensor and it goes between the the back brake and Brake arm so that when the cantilever is pulled it depresses the small Armature on the little accordion thing whatever you call it.