Extra Lighting Part 2.

Extra Lighting Part 2.

Ok, so after a recent problem with my battery going flat at night on one of the most dodgy roads in the area, whilst not being able have my lights on for my engine cutting out and then being guided back by someone in a car with headlights positioned right behind me (so I can also be seen as well as see) on the way home, I've decided it is a necessary addition. 

Along with the extra lighting being powered by a separate 12 volt battery should the same thing ever happen again. There will also be attachments to connect straight to the main battery still. In theory that could also serve to attach the other batt to the system if the main one is absolutely dead and leech from it, although I only intend to connect one at a time.

The battery needs to be 12 volt and small as it will likely be placed in the glove box under the passenger seat (while still allowing decent room) and should be rechargeable so I can charge it every now and then as needed with the 12 Volt charger, as well as being charged by the bikes system if ever leeched from. Now it's only 1.2 amp hour so if ever leeched from it might only be suitable to get you home locally (5 / 10 mins away at night with lights on. In the day it wont matter as long as you can get the bike started / keep it started then it will get you back off the stator). The ideal suspect was an alarm battery on eBay for £7.00.

The connections on the battery were the standard terminal type like on the big switch I bought for the project. I connected up the L.E.D lights in tandem and they worked a charm. Now remember L.E.Ds work with much less power so the battery might not need charging quite as often as you think. Obviously that depends on how much they are used, but if only for emergency I'd say check the battery every fortnight if it needs topping up.

Now when it comes to my battery problem, again it could be a fault the bike has with it's charging system. A new battery was recently installed, however I haven't really been riding it in a way that would significantly charge the battery. I only ride it for 5 to 10 minute journeys around town at the moment and I've been told it takes about 15 minutes of use to recharge the amount from a single button push start on a 125. I've also been riding it nice and easy to save fuel, however 125s like to hit higher revs to generate more charge on the stator as the magnet on the flywheel  passes through the coils more in a given time, each time generating electricity. If you drive to around 6000-8000 revs watch the voltage gauge just after rise right up. If you ever have battery issues this can also help you get back home. Riding at higher revs in 4th for a while might help instead of easy in fifth while at road speed. Obviously be sensible don't go too high and knacker the engine, be sensible in 1st and 2nd just give 3rd and forth a bit of a poke.

It's also winter and the cold weather overnight doesn't help the battery.

I've gotten a replacement regulator rectifier anyway, although I since found out there's two a 2 pin and a 1 pin plug version, I've been sent the 1 pin and there's a good chance mine is 2 pin. The later models are two pin. I will have to look and see, if I can remember where I saw the regulator previously, I don't want to start pulling things off to look for it. I'd rather know where it is to start with. Other than that the stator could be at fault with not charging enough.

A voltage regulator problem could be connected with the L.E.D blow outs before too but, for now recharged it seems fine. I did check the inside of one previous riding light blown L.E.D and the resistor had gone, one leg had snapped or melted through, so I put that down to crap quality resistors / components anyway but the other ones from the pack worked in the gauge just fine off the same electrical system, so that's a mystery? Maybe the problem is the winter cold air on the riding light facing forward while being heated by the electricity running through it at he same time? The gauge is extra shielded from the elements so there's no stress on the component hence it lasts. This usually makes things brittle, for example a pane of glass that's hot one side can crack when it's freezing cold on the other and metal can break when heated and then cooled. Other than that is the output to the line for the riding light spiking or generally higher than the gauge? Since they're both powering T10s I doubt the output is any different.

Anyway, it's also because of this that I want these L.E.Ds running off a separate power supply at this point in time until I sort it. I don't want to blow them after all the effort. 

Brackets.

We will get started here with the brackets for mounting. We will need our aluminum strip from before and revisit the area we are mounting to with a steel rule or tape measure to get our sizes. Remember we will need to add a little tolerance for the bend. And we can cut off any excess later to get it to fit after re-checking fitting with the bracket itself. It's better to have a little over to cut off than have less area to work with because the bend took it away. Other tools you will need are a permanent pen or pencil for marking, a hacksaw, and a file for removing the burr or sharp edges after cutting. A clamp like a g-clamp will work best along with a mallet to bend the aluminum (a hammer striking on a piece of wood resting on the aluminum should also work. A hammer on it's own will damage the bracket). A decent work surface with a flat edge like a workbench /workmate is fine. I've just used the top of my little decorating steps for this which was next to the bike in the garage to save carrying my workmate out. As long as it's sturdy and has a flat edge it should be fine.

It's going to be on a slight angle because of the shape of the molding. I see about two and a half inches of usable length, I'm going to make it three inches to allow for the bend and cut the excess off later for both brackets (it's just a mirror image the other side)

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Mark out your three inches then mark another three inches from that line, as we want near equal length either side of the bend on our bracket. It doesn't have to be bang on accurate, just accurate enough and consistency between each bracket you make would be welcome. I wouldn't worry about a millimeter or two on the finished bracket at the end.

Using the clamp like above clamp the strip down and cut it off at the second marker line, then clean the burr off both ends with a file to A stop you cutting yourself and B not scratch up the bike unnecessarily when checking.

Take your piece and line up the marker with the flat edge of the work surface and clamp it down, then hit the over hanging side with the mallet bending it into our bracket shape then repeat for the other one to get both our brackets.

And there we have our brackets. Next time around we'll take a look at our trimming the brackets to fit and our wiring situation and attaching our lights to the brackets themselves etc.