Enduro offroad race light backup unit

[montgob1]

Hi, new guy here. Been searching a while but i have some questions, and welcome any knowledge or advice!!

I ride motocross and offroad races with a CR144 Husqvarna. It had no lighting circuit until recently. I have a nice Trail Tech dual LED helmet light system that runs off the 11.1V Lith Ion Trail Tech battery. It is a great unit but i need a backup light for redundancy for 24 hour races, things fail.

I had my Stator wound by a specialist who claims i will have 45 watts available. I know it is AC off my stator lighting coil. Here is my dilema.

I wanted to run an HID 35w light of some sort, i borrowed a HID helmet light once and it was very nice, just had a real short battery life. From my research the HID will actualy need about 42 watts not to mention the inrush. I am going to have to run a voltage regulator and a rectifier to get to DC, i do not know the efficiency of those things but i think 5 watt loss is a conservative estimate that i will use for now. That leaves me with 40w. Not enough for HID.

I know i could just buy some nice Trailtech LED pods or the Vision X solstice units and mount those on the bike to run off my stator, but they are expensive, and i have already invested quite a bit in my current helmet light system. So i was looking at low budget LED options to run off my stator, i realize that you pay for what you get but in my case i already have a nice light so i can live with some issues for the sake of DIY and cost.

I have seen some real bright/nice 1200 lumen flashlights for $30-$35, i have access to a nice machine shop and a decent knowledge of electronics, i was thinking of converting the flashlights to mount on my bike. Problem with those is they all seem to want 3-4V DC, and i dont want to have a bunch of high wattage resistors all over my bike. I think the flashlights might be the best bang for the buck since they already have an aluminum housing to work with, and possibly decent optics?? Im not racing an Audi at the 24 hour Lemans so i dont need perfect everything, i just want a nice color of light, a lot of it.

[Bullzeyebill]

Welcome to CPF. Moving this to Transportation Lighting.

Bill

[Qship1996]

No true $30-35 1200 lumen flashlights exist,not even close.

[montgob1]

Welcome to CPF. Moving this to Transportation Lighting.

Bill

Sorry, i thought i did post in transpo? Thanks for fixing!

[montgob1]

No true $30-35 1200 lumen flashlights exist,not even close.

Ok, is "not even close" still a good light?

[pantaz]

... Problem with those is they all seem to want 3-4V DC, and i dont want to have a bunch of high wattage resistors all over my bike. ...

There are many options for LED drivers that will run directly on your 12 volt supply -- no need for resistors! Browse/search these forums and you'll find plenty of recommendations. (I'm still new to this stuff, too, so I don't have any relevant experience to share.)

[Benchiew]

I just posted a nearly similar question. Problem with motocross is with bike mounted light, you can not really see anything when going thru rough and undulating terrain. The light bops up an down too much. And by the time the light comes back down, it is probably too late.

Helmet mounted light is the only way to go. The light points to where you turn your helmet.

You know of any decently bright head lamps that runs on AA?

[kuksul08]

I just built my own dual LED helmet light for bike/moto. Runs from 7.2V. Looking at around 1600 lumens on high mode. I considered wiring it directly to my bike too, a 450x which already has a battery and charging circuit. You could look into the LM317 for your power solution. http://www.reuk.co.uk/Using-The-LM31...te-Voltage.htm

XM-L neutral white LEDs would be hot for night riding, easy on the eyes, nice color. If you can machine some aluminum I bet you could make one easy.