Hodaka LED lighting

[Bill2001]

The simple alternator of this bike puts out pretty horrid electricity-- a ragged waveform of pulsating DC or AC which varies with engine RPM. Even using the 6v battery to buffer the output is not ideal. But that is what we have to work with, all 45 watts max.

Does anyone know of a turnkey (ie, bolt-on) LED solution for 6v lighting? An LED tailight/brakelight would be an easy solution since there are "6-volt 1157" LED bulbs available, but a 6V, 30W LED headlight, high beam/low beam would be harder to come by. I can see a better add-on voltage regulator/filter for the alternator output or using a constant-current driver for the LED lamps as a solution. I have read there used to be a. "IMT" Impedance Matching Transformer" accessory sold for Hodakas.

I'm toying with ideas...

--Bill

[hodakamax]

Bill, I've even considered a total loss LED system for no more than I trail at night. I'm thinking of a rechargable battery or even D cells or such would work. Not good for all situations but it could be a workable system at least for trail or legality. Just a thought.

Max

[admin]

I am deeply involved with manufacturing new LED bulbs for my Preston Petty Headlight number plates. Samples to arrive next week in both 6v and 12v
New headlight tooling to start shortly in Italy. Universal headlight for all brands around the world.
Light on the left is an original sealed beam. Light on the right is the new LED. Both wired to the same 12v battery.
The light on the left was so hot you could not touch it. The one on the right just barely warm.

Paul

[Bill2001]

With the amount of night riding I probably won't do I could get by with a nice mil-spec D-cell flashlight. But I like tinkering and a low-current draw LED system for the low-output Hodie electrics is a worthy putter. I still use conventional Halogens with the forward lighting in the BMW and I'm needing a excuse...

--Bill

[thrownchain]

There was a demo of the LED light set up at the York swapmeet and it was impressive. The LED set up was almost like a spot light compared to the stock set up, which looked like a flashlight that needed new batteries. A definite improvement.

[Bill2001]

I am deeply involved with manufacturing new LED bulbs for my Preston Petty Headlight number plates. SNIP

Paul--

Your message snuk in as I was writing the other reply. That is the sort of think I'm looking at-- I'd get one as the start or basis for my LED headlight mods. Since the Wombat has headlight bucket separate from the speedo assembly, the number plate could function as a "flyscreen" of wind deflector for those 50mph runs into town or to nearby trails.

--Bill

[MWL]

Regarding the new Preston Petty LED light, does it run strictly on DC power?

[Bill2001]

March 25, 2016:

I am deeply involved with manufacturing new LED bulbs for my Preston Petty Headlight number plates. Samples to arrive next week in both 6v and 12v
New headlight tooling to start shortly in Italy. Universal headlight for all brands around the world.
Light on the left is an original sealed beam. Light on the right is the new LED. Both wired to the same 12v battery.
The light on the left was so hot you could not touch it. The one on the right just barely warm.

Paul

Paul--

Any idea of the timetable for the introduction of this new item? It looks to be a good idea. Do you have any specs at this point-- Lumen output? High-beam/Low beam? Current draw? Even if it is not offered as a bare-replacement bulb, I'm thinking that the number plate could be mounted in place of the headlight bucket and serve to protect the speedometer from brush and debris.

I managed to juggle my headlight assy to the workbench and break one of the filament wires, so I'm in quicker need of that LED solution.

--Bill

[admin]

Hi Bill even as late as today we are still in testing. Preston personally is overseeing this operation for us. A lot of this seems easy but realistically takes a year or better to get it right. I can tell you that once finished all my play bikes with lights will have Preston Petty headlights with LED bulbs.
I hope to get a bulb into Ed's hands to try as soon as we have a proven sample.
Thanks
Paul

[Bullfrog]

Hmmmm, yet another reason for me to get after getting the engine running again!!

Ed

[Bill2001]

Yep, having cogitated fabbing a one-off LED lamp for my bike I've decided to try buying a commercial LED lamp assembly. No an easy task. I'll keep watching the SH pages. I won't be doing all that much night riding, but LEDs on a limited-output electrical system are soooo much better. I like to tinker and be on the bleeding edge.

--Bill

[admin]

Testing over the weekend by someone other than myself provided this information in an email to me.

"I gave a light to Sandy at York, he's a friend of a friend. He needed a 6 volt but Jack Penton said a 12 volt
should work.
When I got home I hooked a 12v LED to a 6v battery, no go. But then I thought that a 6volt flywheel produces more juice
than a 6v battery.
He installed the new 12v LED bulb installed into his Preston Petty headlight number plate and ran it off his 6volt Penton's magneto and texted me today that: "It works like a charm"

The 12v bulb has tested out great it has been the 6v bulb we have been having troubles with. Day by day we are getting closer to a solution and to a product ready to offer worldwide.
Paul

[Bill2001]

That makes sense. An LED is not a resistive load like an incandescent bulb, but is a diode that conducts at a specific voltage and needs to have a current (amperage) limiter. On the very bright LEDs, the big manufacturer is a company named Cree and generically the type is called "cree LEDs", like "kleenex". These LEDs are more sophisticated that the low-cost flashlight LEDs and are typically supplied with a constant-current driver circuit (module) which operates over a range of voltages, like 9 to 18 volts and won;t do anything on 6 volts. A different driver module would be needed to 6 volt operation. No big deal, they are available, but most every automotive use is 12v, so the 12v modules are available off-the-shelf.

I thought about getting an LED aftermarket conversion to fit an H4 halogen lamp and getting a 6 v driver module to replace the 12v LED module. That home-brewed 6v LED could them be fitted to a Hodaka/Stanley 5 =/- inch headlamp reflector/lens for a homebrewed Hodie headlight. Don't know how well that will work, but that is more R&D than this old guy wants to invest and I'll rather wait til SH does theirs <grin>

Anyways, if the 12v LED worked great, the 6v LED will too with a different driver. Y'all are an the right track. IMO.

--Bill

[admin]

This is my 12 volt LED on a 6 volt Penton using a standard magneto-points ignition. Testing done this past weekend.

[admin]

Preston Petty is our consultant/adviser/friend etc.. with whatever we are doing here at Preston Petty Products.
There was a question posed about AC/DC to do with the LED bulbs.
Here is Preston's response this morning... All good very very good!!

tell him: the bulb we are currently using has built-in electronics that
converts ac into current limited dc (at least up to 30volts) for its leds.
Pres

[Bill2001]

Perfect. That is pre-zactly how a "constant-current driver" for LEDs works. (The simplest way to run an LED is to use a current-limiting resistor in series. The problem here is that a voltage variation of more than a couple of volts will wreak havoc with the system.) Get the proper driver module, and it will be able to handle a range of 6-to-12 volts. "One part fits all", so to speak.

So we're getting closer to having it available at PPP?

--Bill

[admin]

Yes Bill we are getting close but we want to be sure of what we are selling before we go into major production. We have a Penton gentleman testing one and Ed Chesnut now has one to test also on his Hodaka. I need to get this right as Acerbis will be distributing these worldwide for us once done.
A couple more months and we will know if we have nailed it or not. Preston is overseeing this project.....
Thanks
Paul

[Bill2001]

That sounds like very careful and measured R&D. Better to have it right than a headache. And Acerbis is top-notch.

--Bill