Lights Required

[Brucie64]

Hi All,

Here's the conundrum, at present my bike uses a K2F magneto to supply the sparkies to the engine and it seems to work reasonably well (i.e. I have never broke down yet touch wood!). However thats the extent of my electrics, I don't have any battery, dynamo, regulator or lights etc.

I would like to have some sort of lights just in case I get caught out one evening and darkness decends before I can get home, I just don't know what would be the best solution to achieve this?

Since I would be doing this from scratch I suppose it would make sense to have 12v lights so I would have thought a standard dynamo setup would be out , however I would like if possible to keep my mag running purely to try and keep the bike as original as possible.

Does anyone maybe know or could recommend a system I could use to purely power lights without the need for a battery?

[Brian]

Obviously a standard dynamo would be easiest to fit to your bike and will support a 12v system. I am guessing you dont want a battery for cosmetic reasons but the modern electronic regulaters and gel filled batteries are very small so you could easily hide them in a toolbox.

[bsa- bill]

Defo going to need a generator, and unless your happy for darkness to descend every time you  close the throttle then you need a battery and regulator and loom.
Don't know your location Bruce but as it's Brucie maybe OZ in which case with all your sunshine you could experiment with solar panels, maybe an A10 with a Surrey on the top made out of solar panels, to charge a battery.


I might not be serious with that last line or two      

[Hubie]

You can now my alternators that look like dynamo's, very pricey but something I would surely do if I had the dough.

http://www.powerdynamo.biz/eng/sitemap.htm

cheers,

dave

[lawnmowerman]

How about just fitting a battery and no dynamo and regulator - just charge it now and again with a mains charger. Gel batteries keep their charge for ages and will be a lot cheaper to do if you only need it occasionally. If you go the whole hog then fit a belt drive dyno which spins it a bit faster and a 12v solid state regulator.

Another answer may be to use an alternator set-up as long as it is a permanent magnet type. I am sure I read somewhere that they are available for As - possibly built inside the standard dynamo casing. All you would need is a zener diode to limit the voltage to avoid blowing bulbs.

I am sure somebody on the forum has done it before.

If you are in the UK and have a daytime MOT test then you will probably have to get it retested for night use. 
Jim

[MG]

Aren't there electronic regs available that can be fitted with a large cap instead of the battery? Or maybe even without anything?

I tend to believe I've seen something like this some time ago, but can't remember where this was.  


***edit***

Just remembered it this very minute. 't was the Boyer Power Box, but this is available for alternators only methinks.

[Brucie64]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the replies,

I guess as you pointed out in order to have any sort of lights stop on when the revs drop I'm going to need to hide a battery somewhere on the bike.

I am quite interested in the idea of using a battery to power a headlight and taillight without any charging system (due to dynamo costs etc) but I wonder how it would affect my MOT.  My latest certificate doesn't actually say "Daytime use only" but I would have thought that the inclusion of lights would require me to get another MOT and possibly require me to also fit a taillight brake switch, electric horn etc.

[bsa- bill]

Ah Bruce I see your in UK, sorry missed that first time around.
Think you could be right re MOT, "if lights fitted they must work" rings a bell
BTW does anybody know if the same thing applies to a speedo light?

[lawnmowerman]

AFAIK, the lights have to work at the time of the test - there is no check on the charging system. It is quite usual to have a total loss lighting system on older bikes. A squeezy bulb horn will be ok - as long as it makes a noise.
The law seems to be a bit vague in this area - as Bill says - if lights are fitted they need to be working. Not sure if brake lights are a legal reqirement on a 57 bike. Also not sure that if you fit lights on a total loss system and the battery goes flat whether you could get a nick - even in daytime.
One thing worth considering which ever way you go is to use a LED lamp in the back as they draw next to no current and plug straight in.
Jim