Affordable (and Powerful) lighting for the Rhoades Car

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Affordable (and Powerful) lighting for the Rhoades Car"

Claude Welch
5 years ago
Views:

Affordable (and Powerful) lighting for the Rhoades Car Lord: it is time. The huge summer has gone by. Now overlap the sundials with your shadows, and on the meadows let the wind go free.

Almost everyone who s purchased an LED bike light understands the difference between seeing and being seen.

1 Affordable (and Powerful) lighting for the Rhoades Car Lord: it is time. The huge summer has gone by. Now overlap the sundials with your shadows, and on the meadows let the wind go free. In his poem Autumn Day the great poet Rilke got it exactly right; The huge summer has gone by. As the days grow shorter, riding after 8:00PM means riding in the dark. Almost everyone who s purchased an LED bike light understands the difference between seeing and being seen. Commonly available bike lights makes cyclists more visible, but do little to light the road ahead. A bike light that will actually punch a hole in the dark can cost $300 or more. After much searching I finally found a 35watt halogen driving light that works as well (or better) than the high-end bike lights at a fraction of the cost. XT 854 Xtreme Blazer Series Driving Lights (Set of two) 12V/35W/H3 Halogen bulbs. Princess Auto $11.99 (regular $29.99) One of these 35 watt lights (keep the second one as a spare) can be powered by a 5-amp hour SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) battery. I mounted one of these lights to the fount of my Rhoades Car. The light worked well, but I was itching for more experimentation. I m not a fan of rectangular lights. They have less reflector surface and can t focus the light as well as a round reflector and lens. I had seen a set of

XT1088B Xtreme Blazer Series Driving Lights Princess Auto 8219115 The 35 watt and 55 watt H3 bulbs are

2 55 watt driving lights (also on sale) and I wondered if I could perform a simple bulb swap. Back to Princess Auto. XT1088B Xtreme Blazer Series Driving Lights Princess Auto The 35 watt and 55 watt H3 bulbs are perfectly interchangeable; swapping was no problem at all. A nice shot of an H3 Halogen bulb. Note the characteristic round base with one rectangular and one semi-circular notch. Replacement bulbs cost about $8.00.

I mounted my new round headlight to the handlebar clamp. This puts the light up higher (more visible to car drivers) and allows me to aim the lamp from the seat of the bike.

3 I mounted my new round headlight to the handlebar clamp. This puts the light up higher (more visible to car drivers) and allows me to aim the lamp from the seat of the bike. The round lamp is an absolute Howitzer throwing a powerful focused beam way down the road. Unlighted pedestrians and all other hazards are visible well in advance of trouble. A Note on Battery Math: Any battery will overheat if you draw 100% of its power from more than a few minutes. To prevent overheating, keep the draw on the battery at or below 70% of the battery s AH rating. Light(s) Total Watts Minimum Amps 70% load (1) 20 watt AH (2) 14 watt AH (1) 35 watt AH (2) 20 watt AH To approximate run-time, divide the battery s amp hour rating by the amps required to operate the light(s). A 35-watt bulb draws 2.91 amps (round up to three). 5 amp hours divided by three amps works out to about 1.5 hours run-time. NEVER hook a battery up to anything without an appropriate fuse (5 amp in this case). If the battery shorts out, the fuse will blow before the battery has time to explode. Never charge a battery at more than 10% of its amp hour rating. For example, a 10-amp hour battery should not be charged with a

current of more than 1 amp. I use a 500-milliamp trickle-charger left over from my motorcycle days. I bought a small Sealed Lead Acid battery from Battery Direct.

4 current of more than 1 amp. I use a 500-milliamp trickle-charger left over from my motorcycle days. I bought a small Sealed Lead Acid battery from Battery Direct. Brand name: Discover Model: D VDC 5.0 AH 1.72 Kg (3.78 lbs) length: 90mm Width: 70mm Height: 107mm Battery Direct also sells a 2.6 AH battery (Model: D1226) that is only 1.4 inches (35mm) wide and would be easier to fasten to the frame of the Rhoades Car. Two of these batteries connected in parallel would produce 5.2 amps more than enough for a 35-watt light. That takes care of lighting for the front of the bike what about lights to warn off the inattentive drivers bearing down from behind? A light mounted on the rear frame of the Rhoades Car is too low to be seen by car drivers. A low-mounted light will be literally overlooked by approaching cars and trucks (especially by SUVs and 4x4s with lines of sight five feet off the ground!). Here s what I ve settled on for the rear of the bike:

It s powered by two AA batteries and is sold by Berg Toys (Art. no. 15.24.80.00).

5 A bit of PVC pipe and two of those round things (I m not sure what they re called) all easy to find at the hardware store. The flashing amber light can be seen from the sides as well as the rear of the bike. It s powered by two AA batteries and is sold by Berg Toys (Art. no ). The little red light is a common bike light. My handiwork won t win any points for style, but at least I can see where I m going and be seen after dark!

HID INSTALLATION ON RST1000 Futura

HID INSTALLATION ON RST1000 Futura Disclaimer: This is a full description of what I have done to my motorcycle. I am in no way suggesting you do as I have done by following these instructions. I have not