My new home made bike light
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:24 pm
As some of you may or may not know, one of my other hobbies besides Subarus is bike riding. Lately because of longer working hours and other commitments I have found it difficult to go for a ride during daytime hours.
I found my crappy $20 bike light wasn't cutting it, it runs off 2 C size batteries and has a 0.5W bulb - I'd have been far better off taping a Dolphin torch to the handlebars than using this thing! I couldn't see more than a couple of metres ahead of me with it and I like to ride fast...
My bike is a hardtail Raleigh M800, purchased about 4 1/2 years ago (yes I'm overdue for an upgrade). The chain has stretched a bit, the rear derailleur is really slack and the rubbish brakes are nearly done. But the bike has served me well.
So, to fix the bike light problem I went straight to my trusty Google bookmark. Straight away I found the answers to my problems, and some inspiration hit.
The light is made from a mix and match of quite a few things. The housing is a PVC pipe reducer of some description and the holder is a PVC saddle mounted to two bike light holders I had lying around. The globe is a 12V 20W MR16 type, commonly used in display case downlights and such. The switch in the back is a Hella item I had in my garage and it sits into a garden hose reducer fitting.
The battery powering this is a 12V 7 amp-hour security alarm one. It's a sealed lead acid type and I've rubber insulated it from the rear carrier in a feeble attempt to soften the shock (this bike goes offroad nearly every day).
Future plans for the rig are to paint the housing black, add a fuse, eliminate all gaffa tape with better alternatives and maybe to add a high-beam lamp, say 50W. I'm also going to wire in a special plug to connect to my charger easily, as there is a power outlet near where I park my bike so there's no need to remove the battery.
The whole setup has increased the weight a bit on my bike, I'd say by 2kg at least, but it is worth it. And all up it owes me nearly spot on $50 ($40 for the battery!)
I found my crappy $20 bike light wasn't cutting it, it runs off 2 C size batteries and has a 0.5W bulb - I'd have been far better off taping a Dolphin torch to the handlebars than using this thing! I couldn't see more than a couple of metres ahead of me with it and I like to ride fast...
My bike is a hardtail Raleigh M800, purchased about 4 1/2 years ago (yes I'm overdue for an upgrade). The chain has stretched a bit, the rear derailleur is really slack and the rubbish brakes are nearly done. But the bike has served me well.
So, to fix the bike light problem I went straight to my trusty Google bookmark. Straight away I found the answers to my problems, and some inspiration hit.
The light is made from a mix and match of quite a few things. The housing is a PVC pipe reducer of some description and the holder is a PVC saddle mounted to two bike light holders I had lying around. The globe is a 12V 20W MR16 type, commonly used in display case downlights and such. The switch in the back is a Hella item I had in my garage and it sits into a garden hose reducer fitting.
The battery powering this is a 12V 7 amp-hour security alarm one. It's a sealed lead acid type and I've rubber insulated it from the rear carrier in a feeble attempt to soften the shock (this bike goes offroad nearly every day).
Future plans for the rig are to paint the housing black, add a fuse, eliminate all gaffa tape with better alternatives and maybe to add a high-beam lamp, say 50W. I'm also going to wire in a special plug to connect to my charger easily, as there is a power outlet near where I park my bike so there's no need to remove the battery.
The whole setup has increased the weight a bit on my bike, I'd say by 2kg at least, but it is worth it. And all up it owes me nearly spot on $50 ($40 for the battery!)
