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nerdy_kid
September 18th, 2010, 12:20 AM
so i have this minibike that i just got, and am looking to stick some sort of headlamp of it. Is there a way to wire a light into the motor somehow so that I don't need an alternator? or is that impossible...
thanks :)

Frogs Hair
September 18th, 2010, 12:34 AM
I had an off road bike with a head and tail light that had no battery and the voltage to the lights was generated & regulated by a magneto.

wilee-nilee
September 18th, 2010, 01:19 AM
n

lisati
September 18th, 2010, 01:31 AM
It has been a while since I've ridden a bike of any sort, and concur with willee-nillee's comments about keeping safe.

For the light to work, you'll need some kind of power source to tap into. Alternators and magnetos have already been mentioned. Batteries might be an option, even though they will need checking and possibly replacing from time to time. Solar power? Not really....

Brunellus
September 18th, 2010, 01:34 AM
Wear a helmet Snell rated if possible.
http://www.smf.org/

As a head injury survivor, emergency surgery and all, I would never had to go through the ordeal I did, and the now present epilepsy If I had been wearing a helmet when hit by a car.
OP was looking for lighting schematics. Talk about head injuries is off-topic--leave this sort of comment for rec.bicycles.* on USENET.

Back on-topic: A bit of elementary search-engine work yields this:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Kilo-Lumen-bike-headlight/step3/Basic-diagram-of-headlight/

Note that this is for direct current.

wilee-nilee
September 18th, 2010, 01:37 AM
n

wilee-nilee
September 18th, 2010, 01:38 AM
OP was looking for lighting schematics. Talk about head injuries is off-topic--leave this sort of comment for rec.bicycles.* on USENET.

Back on-topic: A bit of elementary search-engine work yields this:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Kilo-Lumen-bike-headlight/step3/Basic-diagram-of-headlight/

Note that this is for direct current.

No problem, kind of odd to get support from one mod then this from another.;)

nerdy_kid
September 18th, 2010, 01:42 AM
sorry i kinda mislabled the title, i dont want to make one, i want to make one work. the engine is a 97 cc baja (crappy engine) with a killswitch, thats it. I had heard from someone that it would be possible to wire a light into the killswitch somehow, but Im a little skeptical about that. My dad says the engine has a one wire magneto, and that I would need a two wired magneto to get a light to work. Is that right or is there someway to make the one wire magneto work? sorry this is probably a collection of stupid questions lol

grief -l
September 18th, 2010, 02:12 AM
there's current running to the kill-switch (which is open and not allowing that current to pass) so when you press it that current goes to ground and shorts out the ignition circuit.

you could run a wire from anywhere along the feed-wire to the kill-switch to the live terminal of the lamp (and the other terminal to ground) and get a live circuit, but the potential problem is that it may* be unregulated and produce more current than the lightbulb can handle

these things usually work with a zenor diode (google) or a voltage regulator. voltage regulators are easy to find in a wrecking yard.

mr clark25
September 18th, 2010, 03:37 AM
i had wondered the same thing myself for a while, and i never really got a straight answer. running it off the killswitch might be worth a try. but, im not sure it will generate enough power...


BTW, i like your signature (nery_kid):)

nerdy_kid
September 19th, 2010, 02:46 PM
thanks for all the replies :)
Glad to hear that running the light off the killswitch is indeed a possibility; if that doesn't work then I suppose I will just get one of those LED headlamps and tie it to handlebars.

@mr clark25
thanks :) I love my sig :D

Brunellus
September 19th, 2010, 05:42 PM
As this has been marked "solved," I am closing this thread.