Adding a real head light to Baja Mini...

#1
My bike came with a phony head light,while it looked nice it was made from poor materials,as it was just for decoration. You could install a socket and lamp but there would be a large hole at the rear and the head light was not adjustable.
Harbor Freight just introduced a new line of very bright LED off road lights. These are made from very heavy aluminum and come with a wiring harness,mount and hardware, all for 20 bucks with a coupon. They offer Spot and Flood lights. I bought the Spot light. A test hook up to a battery showed this light is very bright,so much so you do not want to look at as it is on, it will leave Blue-Meatballs at the back of your eyes for a long time.
Since my bike had a mounting bracket for the phony HL, all I needed to do was make a mounting platform to fit between the two welded brackets. I had on hand a piece of aluminum slotted 4-track. This has slots for the securing nuts and allows the head light to be moved up and down as needed for beam alignment.
The new mount allows for a good clearance of the soon to be added front fender rack.
The new head light only draws 1.25 Amps. That is not a lot compared to a head light bulb that can draw 5 or more amps depending, which is good.
I plan to hide all the electronic under the phony gas tank shroud. Lots of room under there.
I bought a well made Buck Down voltage regulator and converter device. This one is Adjustable under load which is what you want. LED's do not like low or over voltage. Some motorcycle regulators do NOT prevent an over voltage under load. This will cause a very short life and burn out of the LED's.
I found an empty plastic bullet box that fit the small circuit board perfectly. This will allow two holes for cooling,holes for the two cables, and protection from dirt and crud.
I will be running an engine flywheel alternator with the TWO lighting coils,not the single charging coil. If you go this way you want the THREE magnet flywheel. This will provide more current than needed and allow other goodies to be added later on.
I may add a battery pack so the head light will operate with the engine shut off.
A water proof head light switch has been ordered for the handlebars. You could add an inline switch or even drill the light housing and install a toggle switch for the light.
There will be an inline fuse just in case of a problem with the wiring or light. If you do use a fuse,make sure you have it on the correct line. You will have AC from the engine,and DC from the regulator. AC and DC fuses are not the same and should never be mixed .
Here is the electronic regulator/converter from Ebay
HL1.jpg

It just fits in an empty bullet box.
HL2.jpg

Two air vents are drilled and screening is glued over the openings. Two other holes are drilled for the AC and DC cables. The PC board is held in place by hot melt glue.

HL3.jpg

Here is the box completed. AC on the left two terminals, DC output on the right two terminals. The Blue device is the adjustable POT for output voltage under load.
The device is rated at 2.5 Amps,more than enough for the new head light.

HL5.jpg
Here is thee new head light mounted. Compact and very tough. The light is adjustable for up/down for a very large arc of travel, about 270 degrees.

HL6.jpg
Side view showing the aluminum T-slotted platform. The wires are run Under the top bar to prevent being crushed by the steering stops. The wire follows the factory hold-downs and then Ty-rapped to go under the phony gas tank.

HL7.jpg
Here is HF's device. There is a Vid of it working and how bright it really is done by a user,not the company on Youtube.
15 Watts/ 1050 Lumens is a lot of light out of this little device.
When you take it out of the box you will be impressed with how heavy and well made it is. They sell many forms of this type light,check it out.

Ebay mini buck converter: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5335845805&icep_item=263780004555

Shop around for the flywheel and lighting coils as there are many venders as well as quality/cost to choose from.
 
#3
Thank you Sir for the kind words.
I will add a battery pack made from old Lap-Top batteries as they really hold a charge and are well made. If nothing else, the battery pack will help "buffer the engines alternator while running.
I've already added a Cell phone charger and GPS power supply holder on the Trail King, I may do it on this bike as well.
 

chrisr

Active Member
#4
[QUOTE="There will be an inline fuse just in case of a problem with the wiring or light. If you do use a fuse, make sure you have it on the correct line. You will have AC from the engine, and DC from the regulator. AC and DC fuses are not the same and should never be mixed .
Here is the electronic regulator/converter from Ebay

It just fits in an empty bullet box.

Two air vents are drilled and screening is glued over the openings. Two other holes are drilled for the AC and DC cables. The PC board is held in place by hot melt glue.

View attachment 247151

Here is the box completed. AC on the left two terminals, DC output on the right two terminals. The Blue device is the adjustable POT for output voltage under load.
The device is rated at 2.5 Amps,more than enough for the new head light.


Ebay mini buck converter: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5335845805&icep_item=263780004555

.[/QUOTE]



Question on the two coils "I will be running an engine flywheel alternator with the TWO lighting coils, not the single charging coil. If you go this way you want the THREE magnet flywheel", did you take the two single coil wires to the left AC terminal block with the white/black wires and on the right, are the red/black both + DC and you just grounded the lights off the frame?
 
#5
This is the first Single wire,twin coil alternator I'm playing with,the others being four wires and were just rectified to DC to run the other bikes head lights.
I will hook up my O-Scope and look at the AC voltage wave form and the rectified DC sign wave to see what is being generated and the polarity with reference to engine/frame ground. Head lamp bulbs are pretty forgiving for AC/DC voltage fluctuations LED's are not so forgiving.
If anyone here has this info already,please chime in.
 
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