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Any reason why bike lights cant be used?
fullpint - 15/11/11 at 05:44 PM

I need to improve my lights and was thinking!!!
Can I use a headlight (with chrome outer) from say a Suzuki Bandit 600? One of either side? Mount them in a U bracket and then bolted onto the main chassis?
I presume a light is just a light or is this not such a bright idea

kipper - 15/11/11 at 05:55 PM

I think bike lights dip up/down not to the left as on a car.
Denis.

MikeRJ - 15/11/11 at 05:56 PM

Bike lights often don't have the same dipped beam pattern as car headlamps. Also a lot of bike headlamps aren't particularly great anyway.

That said people have managed to get past SVA with the dominator headlamps which are designed for a bike.

[Edited on 15/11/11 by MikeRJ]

fullpint - 15/11/11 at 06:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by kipper
I think bike lights dip up/down not to the left as on a car.
Denis.

Thats why mounting them on a U bracket with bolt thru the bottom of the U bracket to enable the lights to be moved a degree or two towards the nearside. Guess I should check with my local MOT place. Car is already road legal so the SVA thingy should not be an issue!!!

40inches - 15/11/11 at 07:04 PM

They are now OK for IVA

snowy2 - 16/11/11 at 05:42 PM

There is no legal problem with using motorbike lights....your problem comes from that they are not always “E“ marked. also on a car it is a legal requirement that the beam be adjustable both for height and side to side. and that this adustment can be carried out whilst the headlight is being aimed at the “target“
motorbike lights often do not have this adjustment capability built in.

JF - 19/11/11 at 12:07 AM

Might be me but classic seven headlight setup with a U bracket... Slightly loosen the bolt holding the headlight to the U for up and down, or the bolt holding the U to the frame for left/right. Aim at the 'target', tighten the bolts, check... job done... Or am I missing something?

snowy2 - 19/11/11 at 09:19 AM

No problem....that is how i did it on my car this year....but it isn't something that is thought about when buying them. for some folks they don't want ugly brackets on the car for the headlights.



on dip beam they are worse than useless, on main beam they are awesome lighting up the road for miles! (400w dip and main)
also if your building a new car you can ONLY have two dip beams and a maximum of 4 main beams. (My car is old enough to have as many as i want)

fullpint - 19/11/11 at 12:03 PM

Thats just how I was thinking snowy2. U brackets means you can adjust the aim. Useless on dim beam!!! I'm guessing thats due to them being mounted lower than what they would if on a bike. Then again thats the main issue with kit cars. We cant realy mount em on a stork that is 3 feet high now LOL