My Bike Lights
by Ross Mernyk
Most photos you can click to enlarge

The Story

Last year I walked into a local bike shop and asked for their brightest bicycle headlight. They said $600. My girlfriend was with me and said she wouldn't pay that for a bicycle! Thus started my saga. I decided to go with a 12 volt system, and use automotive lights, which are cheap and super-bright, but are heavy. My whole rig adds about 13 pounds to my 36 pound bike. But since I ride for exercise, the extra weight will eventually come off my body!

Whenever I ride at night (mostly in and around Prospect Park, in Park Slope, Brooklyn NY) I get comments and questions about my lights. Riders and joggers pull over figuring I'm a car. Racers see my taillight half a mile back, and tell me so. I think my rig is the best and brightest lighting system for bicycles. It took some work. Here's how I did it...


Pricing Note

• Some items below are only sold in pairs, or I bought two to save on shipping (expecting to outfit two bikes)
  
• Prices marked ** are price each, when I bought the pair
  
• All Ebay & mailorder prices include shipping

Headlight High Beam

• 55 watt automobile halogen fog light with Maxtel glass lens
  
• Contains H3 55watt halogen bulb, meets SAE-Y-82, 1 pound, 7x4x3 inches
  
• $14** from Ebay seller A&M Lighting and Accessories

Headlight Low Beam

• Clear truck backup LED light oval
  
• DOT replacement for the standard truck backup lights straddling the rear gate
  
• 7 inch long, 2 inch wide, 1 inch thick plus connector, 6 ounces
  
• I measured 80 mAmp draw (1.0 watts)
  
• $23** from Ebay seller Global Parts Incorporated

Taillight

• 7 inch round LED bus trailer cargo light
  
• DOT replacement for the standard tail/brake lights on every yellow schoolbus
  
• 7 inch diameter, 2 inch thick, 1 pound
  
• I wired the tail & brake wires together (so both are on)
  
• I measured 250 mAmp draw (3.0 watts)
  
• $29** from Ebay seller Truck Trailer Parts Depot

Battery

• Powertron PT1112 - 12v 11ah
  
• 12 volts, 11 amp-hours, SLA (sealed lead acid), 6.5 pounds, 6x3x5 inches
  
• SLA batteries are 4 times as heavy as the equivalent energy in NiMH batteries, but they are way cheaper and you can beat the crap out of them for 5 years and they'll keep working. They have no memory effect, you can generally deep cycle them without damage, and you can leave them charging continuosly if you want.
  
• WARNING - the battery contains SULFURIC ACID, so you really don't want it to leak
  
• Make sure the battery is well padded at ALL potential contact points
  
• If you fall or your bike bangs something, inspect the battery WITHOUT touching it or anything around it
  
• Sulfuric acid WILL burn your fingers off if you touch it
  
• When charging it is a good idea to allow air in/out of the compartment holding the battery
  
• The battery should be mounted/situated with its terminals on top
  
• $28** from Ebay seller MotoBatteries.com

Battery Charger

• ACI Advanced Chargers 1202CC
  
• Intelligent 12 volt 1 amp charger (plugs into the wall)
  
• $40 from Ebay seller MotoBatteries.com (auction called it "supercharger")

Terminal Block

• Radio Shack 274-678 - 8 position european style terminal strip
  
• Rated 30 amps, accepts two 10-guage wires per hole
  
• $3 at Radio Shack

Switch

• K&S Technologies 12-0040 - motorcycle light/horn universal switch
  
• Needed motorcycle switch for waterproof/vibrationproof, appx 1 pound
  
• Had to change my alloy handlebar to a steel one, because central thickened section of alloy handlebar was 5.5" wide, while steel one was only 1.75", and light/horn switch could only mount on thin part of handlebar
  
• $20 for steel handlebar at Dixon's bike shop in park slope, brooklyn NY
  
• $60 switch from PeakMoto.com or from KandStech.com

Horn

• Wolo 330 - fun horn - oooga sound
  
• 12 volt, appx 1 pound
  
• $33 at Pep Boys

Wire

• Stranded 14 guage wire - 14 awg (american wire guage)
  
• Preferably MTW (machine tool wire) resists water & heat & oil
  
• Primary wire is acceptable but not as good as MTW wire
  
• $17 for 100 foot spool of 14 awg stranded primary wire at Pep Boys

Rear Bike Bag

• Nashbar NA-GERT-Y - deluxe rack trunk
  
• 905 cubic inches, 12x10x6 inches, 1 pound
  
• I used one padded separator to confine the battery accross front (inside) of bag
  
• I folded the other padded separator around the front&bottom of battery for extra padding
  
• $40 at Nashbar.com

Misc Mounting Stuff

• Old inner tube cut up to grip hose clamps & lights (thanks Dixon's bike shop)
  
• Tie wraps for running wires and affixing terminal block to handlebar stem
  
• Wire crimp connectors for connections at battery & horn
  
• Solder and shrink-wrap to extend taillight wires to terminal block
  
• Hose clamp to mount fog light to handlebar
  
• Hose clamp & L bracket & bolt & rubber block to mount head light low beam to fork brake hole
  
• Hose clamp & mending cleat to mount horn to front axel

Run Time Note

• With the headlight low beam & taillight, the rig will run for 32 hours
  
• With the headlight high beam & taillight, the rig will run for 90 minutes
  
• If you need longer run time with high beam, you can replace the H3 55watt bulb with an H3 27watt bulb, which will run 3 hours, though it is half as bright

Email: website@rossmernyk.com
Updated: February 4, 2009