Blinker/Directional lights?

LI-ghtcycle

LI-ghtcycle

10 MW
Joined
Aug 29, 2009
Messages
3,818
Location
Oregon City Oregon
I have seen a few cheap e-bay lights that have a tail light and rear blinkers, but none that look like they are worth spending any money on.

Anyone know of a good quality set that I can get reasonably? I guess if all else fails I can buy a set meant for a motorcycle, any ideas?

Thanks in advanced! :mrgreen:
 
I'm using ones originally off a Honda ICE scooter; essentially the same as motorcycle ones. Mine are incandescent, to be replaced with LED boards if I ever have the time to build them.
 
Other sources are scooters. So that means the guys that sell scooter parts on the web have headlights, tailights, signals etc. They also sell the incandescent 36 and 48 v bulbs for indicator lights. Monster scooter parts, Electric scooter parts are two good sources.

Ya know though, nobody sees you, so they won't see your signals unless it's night.
 
Yes, your right, I am mainly wanting the lights for low-light exceptions, but I do my best to force the issue, if there isn't a bike lane or adequate shoulder, I ride in the center of a traffic lane taking as much space as a car.

I have commuted on motorcycles too, and even an underpowered scooter, so I understand being invisible! :shock:

I saw a half-way decent set-up on a gas powered bike site, but I can't seem to find the book-mark anywhere .. DOH! :roll:

Near my house one of the most dangerous places is the exit to a FredMeyer's store. People pulling out onto the main road there rarely LOOK for people using the sidewalk, much less the bike lane.

I've come pretty close to being clipped there and the exit to the post office. It's bad enough when people look in your direction and not really see ya, it's the people who are yaking on their cell phones or otherwise not paying attention and don't even look both ways that drive me nuts! :evil: :shock:

That's why I ride defensively, unless I am sure they already see me and are just being pushy (like a gravel truck w/ trailer the other day, thought he could scare me out of his way with his horn :twisted: ) I'm not looking for a car vs my leg/arm/head competition. :wink:

I'm going to see if there are any good deals for a Marine Air Horn at my local sporting goods store. I have a nice horn now that is plenty loud and sounds much like a fire-truck's horn, but for those Ipod or Iphone "impaired" I want the maximum decibles! :twisted: :lol: :wink:
 
You could make a pivoting enclosure for a couple of Buick tailights and get some some space while being seen. :)
buick_TL.jpg
 
I find the yellow shirts help, Lance gave even dumb shits the idea that a yellow shirt means a fast guy. But some doofus still right crosses you every time. Thank god my bike path has only a few road crossings since it follows an interstate highway.
 
gogo said:
You could make a pivoting enclosure for a couple of Buick tailights and get some some space while being seen. :)
Click to expand...

LOL!! :lol:

yes, that is true, but then I would have to find another use for my trunk!
51hpaueXPnL._SS400_.jpg
 
dogman said:
I find the yellow shirts help, Lance gave even dumb shits the idea that a yellow shirt means a fast guy. But some doofus still right crosses you every time. Thank god my bike path has only a few road crossings since it follows an interstate highway.
Click to expand...

Yeah! everybody knows the REAL fast color is black! (as in pavement :twisted: )

All those orange colors are slow too! I mean, nothing says "speed up and run me over please!!" like all black especially at night! :p

The worst situation I have been in so far is when I had my under-powered scooter (80cc honda aero) and a car that didn't know I was there suddenly took my lane, there wasn't anyone else on the bridge, in the full light of day! Good thing I was watching him or I would have been road pizza! The looks on the driver and passenger's faces said it all, they had NO Idea I was even there until they had already taken my lane. :oops: :evil: :shock:
 
I used large, super-bright amber LED strobes wired to a center-off toggle switch on my handlebars to create turn signals on the front and rear of my bike. (There are 22 LEDs on each LED unit.) I also used a micro-lever switch wired to the rear brake cable to create a brake light. I got the LED strobes for a little under $7 US for a set of 2, with free shipping (used a Hong Kong vendor, suntekstore.com for the first time, I was impressed with their service since I received the order in under 3 weeks). Best of all I run the turn signals and the brake light off one 9V battery (I have 1 9V for the 4 turn signals and 1 9V for the brake light.)

Here are some photos as well as a You Tube video showing the LED strobes before I installed them.

377846324.jpg


372716395.jpg


378850802.jpg




[youtube]http://go.bikeforums.net/?id=42X129555&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DNvOPIW_TRZI[/youtube]
 
Here's the correct link to the short video showing how bright the LED strobes are.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvOPIW_TRZI[/youtube]
 
Wow! So no flashing unit to buy separately!? I can just use a 3 position switch? Thanks a TON!! :idea: :idea: :idea: 8) 8) 8)


Where do I buy these lights? suntekstore.com? And is it already wired for the 9v battery or did you just make a battery box? I will probably try to use a rechargeable battery (maybe a spare Li-Ion pack) to run just the lights so as not to draw off my main pack, so around 18 volts.
 
Here's a place I used for many applications when I rode motorcycle:
http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/

There's a ton of stuff for almost any application and you never know what you'll find. Good service, fast shipping.
 
LI-Cycle,

Sorry I didn't respond sooner. Yes, I bought the LED strobes from Suntekstore.com It was my first purchase from them and I will buy from them again. (I need to rig up turn signals and a brake light on my trailer that I can plug into the system on the bike so I'll be ordering more strobes from them.) I got my order within about 2 weeks even though I chose free shipping. The strobes come with their own controller--that's the black box you see on the front turn signals. I wired the front/back signals to their respective control box and used a simple center-off toggle switch (picked mine up from Radio Shack here in the states). I run the front and rear turn signals off 1 9V battery. (I also installed a brake light using a red LED strip that I ordered from Suntekstore.com, too. It's wired to my rear brake via a micro lever switch that I got from the local hardware store. The brake light is powered by it's own 9V battery.) Drivers definitely notice the turn signals and I feel more comfortable riding in the dark. I've got good lights, but it's nice to know that your intentions to turn and braking are readily visible to them in darkness too.
 
I love that suntekstore.com's description of the strobe flashers:

Decorate your cars with this fashion red led strobe lights, help you to get satisfaction, safety and comfort, creating a kind of family atmosphere of warm and romance.
Click to expand...

nwmtnbiker said:
Here's the correct link to the short video showing how bright the LED strobes are.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvOPIW_TRZI[/youtube]
Click to expand...

All you need to put between the {youtube} braces is the "NvOPIW_TRZI". Don't include the http://www.you...etc. I ran into the same problem a while back :wink:

[youtube]NvOPIW_TRZI[/youtube]
 
Well, I may have found something that isn't cheap, but might serve my purpose best, I found these combo light/mirror combos:
WinkkuBicycleSafetyMirrorandLightSet.jpg


I found them on this site: http://www.techyzone.com/reviews/winkku-review-bicycle-mirror-indicator-and-lights/

And the more I think about it, the $86 (shipped to the US price for a set) isn't so bad when I consider that I won't need to wire anything, make a mount for a scooter's blinker switch or anything else, just plug it into the bar ends and be done. :idea:

I do like the pull switch operating a brake-light, I'll have to see about incorporating that into a small LED tail light. But that's not till after I have 99% of the rest of the bike finished, not sure if I will be ordering any of these things until February or so.
 
Definitely a nice, clean install and you get an audible tone when the signal's been turned on. There's one video posted on youtube. [youtube]TWsAwaLw32E[/youtube] I'm considering getting a folder for some upcoming travel on Amtrak and this might be the ticket for a less complicated install. I wish the price was lower.
 
That vid makes all of it look nice and desirable *except* it confirms my fear about the mirror--it appears to simply be chromed plastic, with dips and ripples and whatnot. No thanks. Give me a real glass or plastic mirror with the shiny stuff inside on a very flat polished surface (or a nicely domed one for wide-angle view).

If it's gonna look like that, I'll just build my own lights that do the same thing and mount them to my own mirror edge. :(
 
amberwolf said:
That vid makes all of it look nice and desirable *except* it confirms my fear about the mirror--it appears to simply be chromed plastic, with dips and ripples and whatnot. No thanks. Give me a real glass or plastic mirror with the shiny stuff inside on a very flat polished surface (or a nicely domed one for wide-angle view).

If it's gonna look like that, I'll just build my own lights that do the same thing and mount them to my own mirror edge. :(
Click to expand...

Are you sure you saw the mirrors out of the plastic bubble pack? Maybe I'm just not seeing what your seeing? :?

On another note, on that same video, the first post is from someone who says the mounts break after a while ... that might be the nail in the coffin for me, not wanting to spend that kind of cash on something that is going to break easily. :(

I have seen a couple mirrors on ebay for cheap, no where near as nice, and not designed to be turn signals, but I am sure I could make them work for my purpose.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...263741&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_2358wt_939
3971598890_2857d7812f.jpg
3880574939_a347ed7140.jpg


And if they are junk, at least I'm only out $17 instead of $86!! :shock:
 
LI-ghtcycle said:
Are you sure you saw the mirrors out of the plastic bubble pack? Maybe I'm just not seeing what your seeing? :?
Click to expand...
Positive. Right about 2:15 where he picks up the unit itself and is about to put batteries in, he rotates it around where you can see several areas of the room reflected in it, and can see what are supposed to be straight lines that look quite wavy and distorted. This can also be seen several times as he rotates it around demonstrating the signal operation.

It is worst at the edges, but even in the middle it is apparent. It might not matter to many people, but it does matter to me, especially for that kind of money (that is more than an entire week's pay for me, some weeks like this one). Also, since it means the smoothness of reflectivity is dependent on the molded plastic quality, and then the chroming process quality, it will vary significantly from lot to lot just as chrome plated parts on plastic car models and toys do--depending on how long they let it cool down in the mold, and how much plastic they injected under what pressure, it will have deeper or shallower ripples in the plastic surface.
 
Good eye amberwolf! I am definitely NOT going to spend that kind of cash on that low quality mirror, thank you for pointing it out! :shock:

I had to rule out another mirror/light I saw on ebay that had the "fish eye" style mirror, I hate those kinds of mirrors! :evil: Make it almost impossible to judge distances. :roll:

I really like having a blinker switch though, so I think I will still be on the look-out for a cheap scooter style one, so far I have found something that looks usable with a horn and other buttons attached for $12.

Maybe I can figure out a way to keep the lights built into the mirror from cycling between modes (solid, flashing, rapid flashing, etc.) and just have it stay on one of the flashing modes when I apply power to it. :idea:
 
The fastest cheap way to get turn signals and stuff on a bike is to go find a scooter or motorcycle being scrapped out and take them off there, along with the handlebar controls. Get both sides and you also probably get mirrors and brake handles (albeit needing modification for use with bike cabling and brakes) as well as a twist-grip throttle (which probably uses a cable but can be reasonably easily modified for hall operation).

There might even still be these parts on junkyard scooters/motorcycles.

It's likely that the lights will be incandescent, but standard LED replacement bulbs are available, or you can roll your own easily enough with some perfboard and a few other parts. Use cheap LEDs that don't put out all that much light each, but use a LOT of them all facing the same way and you have a better light than a single or few bright ones, as it is larger emissive area and more visible without being blinding.

That's what I am doing on CrazyBike2, though the LED replacement of incandescent is several months behind schedule. :)


If you want *large* area signals, you can also hunt the junkyards for cars or trucks that have LED signals and/or marker lights, and pull the entire module out, including reflector/lens assembly. Often even if all other lights on the car are incandescent, at least the 3rd taillight / center brake light is an LED bar. That's what my brake light is--an unmodified brake light LED bar from some hatchback's spoiler bar.
 
Yeah, I think I will hit-up the local vespa shop, that is once the snow clears tomorrow (we never keep snow in Oregon more than about 24hrs with rare exception) too bad I don't live close to any motor cycle salvage shops .. I think I will use smaller than OEM blinkers however, I want to keep weight down on them, otherwise I would just use the LED replacement bulbs......
 
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