Joe Hunt magneto

ashman said:
I don't run my light during the day but I do run a very small 12 volt battery for a nice bright brake light as well if I do need to run my head light in the dark, I was originally running all my power off the ALT with a battery eliminator worked OK if you like a dull head light as well it dies when you hit the brake, running a small dirt bike battery has fixed that and have it mounted in the under seat tool tray, will take a pic of that as well.
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Here is a pic of my small battery in my tool tray where most of my major wiring is.
Joe Hunt magneto
 
NorLuck said:
Yes so my idea is to remove the alternator on one of my builds as I will have an exposed primary (stupid I know) but in that case I don't want to see an alternator. My commando will use the cover so an alternator is fine (and small battery is ok for brighter headlight and also needed for a M-Unit).

So trying to determine how small a battery I can get away with for a day of running a bike with headlamp.

Anyone in NZ know if I can get a headlamp exemption?
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I'm not sure of the legality in NZ but with a magneto you don't need a battery at all if you keep the alternator
Just a capacitor will do
 
In Aussie land modern bikes need to run lights during the day but older bikes are exempt from that rule at lease they know older bikes didn't have good charging systems, I think anything from 81 up need the day light on.
So really I only use my battery for my brake light to me a bright brake light is more important which uses bugger all power.
 
ashman said:
In Aussie land modern bikes need to run lights during the day but older bikes are exempt from that rule at lease they know older bikes didn't have good charging systems, I think anything from 81 up need the day light on.
So really I only use my battery for my brake light to me a bright brake light is more important which uses bugger all power.
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It's not law in the UK
But you really do need daytime running lights with so many idiots on such overcrowded roads
It's probably not going to help if a driver is on their phone etc but people change lanes without indicating,run red lights,pull out in front of you and so on
I always said I wouldn't ride with my lights on during the day
But I do now !!
 
Does it really make a difference, if others not paying attention a light won't make any difference to be seen.
 
I am in between FE and Ashman ...... I run my LED pilot light in the daytime. Isn't that what pilot lights are for? If not, I am giving mine a purpose.

@ norluck: with a functional charging system, a magneto, and all LED lamps, I run a 2.5AH AGM battery. It is little more larger than a cigarette pack, weights only a few ounces, and keeps my lights bright at stop signals.

Slick
 
ashman said:
Does it really make a difference, if others not paying attention a light won't make any difference to be seen.
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Of course it does !

If someone is genuinely / absolutely NOT LOOKING at all, then no, it ain’t gonna save you. That’s why we should all ride defensively.

But 99.9% of the time people are vaguely looking, they’re just not ‘present’ or get distracted, etc.

A bright light helps catch their eye. Surely that cannot reasonably be argued against ?

What makes it more pertinent now than ever before is the fact that most other road users now have bright daytime lights. So someone on a (physically) small motorcycle, dressed in black, with no lights, is gonna get lost in a sea of big vehicles with bright lights.

I notice this myself when driving the car, it’s easy to miss a cyclist / motorcyclist dressed in dark clothes with no lights. And I’m a lifelong cyclist / motorcyclist so have a naturally raised awareness.

It’s a personal accountability / self defence basic IMO.

Like my Dad taught me when I got on the road for the first time “it’s no good lying in your hospital bed say you were in the right”…
 
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Fast Eddie said:
Of course it does !

If someone is genuinely / absolutely NOT LOOKING at all, then no, it ain’t gonna save you. That’s why we should all ride defensively.

But 99.9% of the time people are vaguely looking, they’re just not ‘present’ or get destructed, etc.

A bright light helps catch their eye. Surely that cannot reasonably be argued against ?

What makes it more pertinent now than ever before is the fact that most other road users now have bright daytime lights. So someone on a (physically) small motorcycle, dressed in black, with no lights, is gonna get lost in a sea of big vehicles with bright lights.

I notice this myself when driving the car, it’s easy to miss a cyclist / motorcyclist dressed in dark clothes with no lights. And I’m a lifelong cyclist / motorcyclist so have a naturally raised awareness.

It’s a personal accountability / self defence basic IMO.

Like my Dad taught me when I got on the road for the first time “it’s no good lying in your hospital bed say you were in the right”…
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For that reason I run daymaker halo ring led lighting on both my road going motorcycles...and always ride even during the day "thinking" (like your riding at night with no lights)
Also learnt from a wise man like ya Dad
 
Fast Eddie said:
Nice wiring there sir.

You might wanna tighten up your float bowl sump plug though…
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My oil tank cracked (again) along a ground-down weld. Grumble, grumble, grumble...

I had removed that carb to get the tank out to reweld it. Not particularly happy with this tank, but the mounting is somewhat unique, so I guess I'm married to it for the time being. Chasing down issues with this vendor's products I own has become a hobby. Expensive does not mean good.

Yea. Thought about experimenting with different caps, but this took about 30 minutes and cost me $0.
 
I had a quick look at the NZ regs. Bikes built after 1980 must run headlights switched on. Before then headlights do not need to be run switched on but I didn't see anything about headlight exemptions.

You also need a horn and brakelights and if the bike originally had indicators they need to be fitted and working.

It's easy enough to find the regs online.
 
NorLuck said:
My tank cracked too JUST.. I can't weld it as I don't know how to weld, I guess I could learn but I've decided just to use this as the electric bikes tank and I'm in the market now for a new tank.
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Why not get someone to de-gass it and tig weld it up ?
 
NorLuck said:
My tank cracked too JUST.. I can't weld it as I don't know how to weld, I guess I could learn but I've decided just to use this as the electric bikes tank and I'm in the market now for a new tank.
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But why? Surely that’s hardly been used?

Key with alloy tanks (well actually everything, it’s just even more critical with alloy tanks) is to mount them in a way that ensures no stress, and to be isolated from vibration.

Stress + vibration = fatigue.
 
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NorLuck said:
It's a tiny crack, it's just staining the tank. But I'm afraid it'll get bigger over time. And I dont' think cold weld (epoxy) will stop the crack from spreading?!
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Bugger.

You’re correct, covering with epoxy won’t prevent the crack from propagating. It needs welding. You need to find a good local welder, you might as well do it now as you’ll be needing his services sooner or later anyway !
 
NorLuck said:
YEah I have a bunch of VERY bright LED lights. I also have a ton of random lighting from the days when I did photography. Some small video lights I own are so bright it's scary. They're tiny and self contained and can run an hour at full brightness. Off a bigger battery I'd get probably 4-6 hours.


I'm gonna ask my welder what he can do for me. He already told me that he's had a bad experience with tanks that have had gas in them so not sure if he'll want to do it.



Yeah it's new and I pressure tested it (submerged it in a large pail of water) and it seemed fine. My fault as I didn't have the tank strapped down and didn't notice the rubber at the front had fallen off (I hadn't zip tied the rubbers down yet). I was more focused on revving the engine to check to see if the electric tacho seemed like it was setup correctly.

It's a tiny crack, it's just staining the tank. But I'm afraid it'll get bigger over time. And I dont' think cold weld (epoxy) will stop the crack from spreading?!
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Best way is to hook a flexy pipe up to the exhaust of a running car for a half hour to the tank that needs welding to de -gas it then it will be fine to tig it up...piece a piss to a competent welder
 
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