Head (and tail) light solution(s)?

[grga]

Could you guys suggest some 12V solution for lighting on electric bike?

This is what I am considering for the headlight, two of those:
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=27577504485

And these are for tail light, (I want to have turn lights on my Greyborg):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151119040572?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370736943914?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271171569067?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

All suggestions are welcome!

 

[dogman dan]

I like the last one for the tail lights best. Just like the look of it.

Headlights are another story. You want them bright. I'd be looking at car or motorcycle led lights. Like fog lights.

I was running 27mph one morning in the dark, with just one bike type headlight. Walking in the street, down the bike lane, I encountered a guy walking dressed in black hat, black coat, black pants, black socks, black shoes. Yep, I hit the dumbshit. But I was dumb riding with just one dim headlight.

 

[spinningmagnets]

I saved this post, which seesm to have some pretty good answers:

"Adding a Cree headlight to a 48V system"
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=46833

"Headlights..." (5 pages)
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2070

"48 Volt Lights for Electric Bicycle" (no DC/DC converter)
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2951

"Lights" (3-pages)
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=110

"Very powerful LED bike light"
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4514

"LIGHTING!"
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16748

"Best all round light for night biking" (3-pages)
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=21227

I seem to remember there being a mega-thread about headlights, but my Google-skills are not working today. Anyone know the magic search term?

 

[grga]

I saved this post, which seesm to have some pretty good answers:

"Adding a Cree headlight to a 48V system"
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=46833

great, although, I'll have a 60V system, but no problem.

 

[migueralliart]

I'm still looking for a good plug and play solution for a front headlight.

My current tail light is this one ;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005CSZY6A/ref=oh_details_o01_s01_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009YM2OEA/ref=oh_details_o01_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It is not cheap at all. But it is the only tail light I could find that could be very bright and sit under the seat. This is all because of the controller being mounted in the seat post tube.

 

[Chalo]

I was running 27mph one morning in the dark, with just one bike type headlight. Walking in the street, down the bike lane, I encountered a guy walking dressed in black hat, black coat, black pants, black socks, black shoes. Yep, I hit the dumbshit. But I was dumb riding with just one dim headlight.

Yep, if it had been a black cow, a black rock, or a black BBQ pit hitched behind a broken down black truck, you'd likely still have crashed into it. But it wouldn't have been the fault of any of those things, just like it wasn't really the fault of the ped. (I once crashed my bike into a flat black truck parked in the shadow of a big oak tree at night.) All motorists need to operate within the limits of their senses, capabilities and skills. That means us too, and it means not riding faster than you can see and react.

Good lighting is only one side of that equation. The other is riding as slowly as circumstances dictate, even if you can go faster, and you want to. Makes me think of Texas drivers on the freeway when we get one of our rare ice storms.

 

[cal3thousand]

I was running 27mph one morning in the dark, with just one bike type headlight. Walking in the street, down the bike lane, I encountered a guy walking dressed in black hat, black coat, black pants, black socks, black shoes. Yep, I hit the dumbshit. But I was dumb riding with just one dim headlight.

Yep, if it had been a black cow, a black rock, or a black BBQ pit hitched behind a broken down black truck, you'd likely still have crashed into it. But it wouldn't have been the fault of any of those things, just like it wasn't really the fault of the ped. (I once crashed my bike into a flat black truck parked in the shadow of a big oak tree at night.) All motorists need to operate within the limits of their senses, capabilities and skills. That means us too, and it means not riding faster than you can see and react.

Good lighting is only one side of that equation. The other is riding as slowly as circumstances dictate, even if you can go faster, and you want to. Makes me think of Texas drivers on the freeway when we get one of our rare ice storms.

I learned that lesson at the age of 9. Riding too fast for the conditions and not paying attention, I was clotheslined by a nylon coated steel cable running across a parking lot entrance.

It's an amazing feeling (that I can vividly remember to this day) going from 15mph+ to 0mph in about 3 inches of travel and seeing my bike ghost-ride into a parking lot while on my ass

At no point could I blame the cable... it was there all along and it was me that failed to see it.

 

[dogman dan]

Ped's wearing all black, and WALKING IN THE STREET, are dumbshits. And get hit and die all the time around here, where all black is some kind of Hispanic uniform.

I was quite the DUMBSHIT TOO, riding with a light inadequate for the speed I was going. I could just as easily have run into a black roofing cooker, left on the street with a flat tire. A black car, I would have seen the reflector on it at quite a long distance.

I was used to encountering people walking in the bike lane since there is no sidewalk on that road. But the tiniest bit of any other color made them visible in the dark, particularly white socks, or a lighter color coat. But this guy was much harder to see than any animal, road debris, or vehicle. 27 mph in the dark is not that fast really, provided you avoid locked parking lots of course, but it WAS TOO FAST FOR THE LIGHT I WAS USING.

FWIW, it was a 24v halogen light from an EVG bike, running on a B&D drill pack. I though I had a pretty dang nice bright headlight. It was a LOT better than typical bike led lights. But NOT BRIGHT ENOUGH FOR that speed.

 

[MadRhino]

My latest build has a 12v circuit, and I fitted running lights already. I am still looking for a headlight, considering building my own by fitting a Xenon HID in a bicycle size headlight.
http://dx.com/p/h6-35w-4500lm-8000k-motorcycle-hid-xenon-headlamp-white-light-bulb-8-16v-117433

 

[amberwolf]

@ the OP: Take a look at my CrazyBike2, DayGlo Avenger, and Delta Tripper threads. There are a few lighting solutions in there, that I don't think other traffic on the road would find it easy to ignore.

 

[heavymetalthunder]

When it comes to head and tail light, I run them night and day. About 80 RC string lights on 12 volts, stop lights, and turn signals. Head light comprised of two extra RC high powered headlights and strobe light. Just last night, I almost hit a stupid bicyclist riding on the street with no lights what so ever. I came with in about 2 feet of side swiping this jerk. I see this all the time riding near the low rent district. At night cars don't bother me as much as riders without lights and J-walking pedestrians.