Seems as the nights are drawing in, and I could do with a new set… But I like the challenge of making my own,

Yes, I could buy some, but that's too easy…

So where do I start? Help….

Get yourself a housing.

Buy everything.

Assemble.

Off the top of my head, you will also need:

LEDs, Cree XP-Gs, I'm assuming
Optics, or to give them their original name, Columnators.
Alternatively, you could try reflectors.
A constant current driver to run the LEDs.
A switch.
A bar / helmet mount.
A battery and charger combo.

You will also need, solder, and a soldering iron
thermal adhesive epoxy / paste.
Cable / wire / heatshrink and other sundries
power connectors

Can be quite satisfying to make your own light.

Good luck, and post what you make, if you do, be interested to see what you come up with.

🙂

Is it that time of the year already 😯

Well, depends where / when you ride.

But also allow for that if you are to build a light, better start before it gets dark
😉

ashthesplash – Member

where when do I start?

about 18 months ago if you're anything like my friends who've insisted on doing this…

buy some lights now, and build your own as a hobby.

night riding is ace fun, and it's available all year round – it's a good way of avoiding the heat and crowds in summer.

HA HA ^^^^^

I bought the bits to convert my (and a mates) Lumi halogens to LEDs with some help of people from STW in about February.
Just got them converted in time for the 24/12 at the end of July!!

Only converted one can each to see how they fair and so will probably be ordering the bits to convert the other ones soon!

If you want a sort of diy easy
I will sell you a kit of parts so you can build a kick ass light

You would need a soldering iron and be able to solder to small circuit boards
Some thermal Epoxy about £8 on evil bay
And a bit of rtv silicon

And will throw in some instructions too

Can anyone recommend a good switch – I've been trying rubber toggles form maplins – but they don't last well.

" a push toggle with a led "?

Trout… Am interested… Tell me more

Ashthesplash

these are all the bits for a diy build cost me £82 so as you can see diy is not that cheap then you need a battery and charger .

the most expensive bit is the cnc`d housing
but it is also the hardest part to get right in a diy light .