Not to highjack Nate's concurrent thread about lights...
A very cheap light can be made if you have a 12V battery drill. Buy an
MR16 12V 20W, or less if you can get it, lamp from the supermarket;
they all stock them because these are standard in track lights for the
living rooms and kitchen of yuppies; if you're a yuppie, your wife
probably has some spares. Also from your wife or the supermarket get a
little tin of Roma tomato puree; cut it open tidily and dispose of the
tomato puree -- see my netsite for recipes http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/FOOD.html.
Zip cord for wiring. Some small crocodile clips will help attach the
bare wires to the battery from the drill. You also need some superglue
and a grommet would be nice -- I just used the protective covering
rubber off the old kettle cord out of which I stripped my wiring.
Finally, you need some really cheap bike lights from the dime store: I
bought a set of front and rear lights for two euro, threw the lights
away and kept the mountings.
Drill two holes in the tin, one for mounting the light to the
handlebars, one for the entry of the power cord; a third hole for a
switch is optional. Attach the mounting from the throwaway light to
one hole. Wire through the other hole. Solder the two wires to the
pins of the MR16 (you can buy a 5.3 holder but beware, it will cost
more than the lamp and not be very useful because it has mounting
problems of its own). Glue the rim of the lamp into the tomato puree
tin, which you have of course washed and dried. Glue the "grommet" in
too, unless you're using a real grommet, which should be self-sealing.
Attach to handlebars. Use crocodile clips at other end of wires to
attach to battery terminals. Check that the light shines. Carry the
battery in handlebar basket or bag. I got 55mins out of a Black &
Decker 12V battery. Total cost for this homemade light was well under
ten bucks, under fifty if you include the price of the Black & Decker
drill, and 20W is more light than my current Electron setup for eighty
bucks gives -- and that also shines for nearly an hour if you set it
up full blast.
If you like the lamp, you can cobble up a spring clip to slide the
wires onto the Black & Decker battery pins.
Andre Jute
http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/BICYCLE%20%26%20CYCLING.html