1958 raleigh roadster battery pack repair
- Thread starter timthumb
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
rusty bearing
Guru
- Location
- Chorley, lancashire
Repairable yes, replaceable? You would have to track down some used parts if you wanted to keep everything original, they do come up occasionally on a certain auction site.
Zoiders
New Member
- Location
- Ice Station Zebra
A bike recycling place would have one knocking about, they all tend to be very badly corroded though because of the nasty zinc carbon batteries.
The better option is to track down a Sturmey dynohub wheel, Raleigh offered this as an option in the catalogue for the most models of bike so it would be in keeping with the period.
The better option is to track down a Sturmey dynohub wheel, Raleigh offered this as an option in the catalogue for the most models of bike so it would be in keeping with the period.
If you don't already have a dynohub wheel, I would just fit a bottle dynamo if you intend to actually ride it at night. The dynohub has it's plus points and is a nice touch on these bikes but there is no escaping the fact that the lights are pitiful.
Having said that, I recently put two of these in the lamps on my Rudge and the dynohub can run them at full brightness at little more than walking speed. They do tend to flicker due to the low frequency AC output from the hub but are pretty bright and an excellent be-seen lights. Not quite enough to ride with on an unlit road though. I suspect the shape is very different from the normal headlamp bulb and therefore the reflector doesn't reflect it on to the road properly.
If you want usable lights, note that the 1930s-1950s SA tail lamps had no internal reflector and are probably best replaced with something more modern with a reflector. The 1970s Union tail lamps are cheap on Ebay and look old fashioned enough and give a decent light. Or do what I did and visit the pound shop, buy a cheap torch and rob the reflector from it and put it in the lamp.
Having said that, I recently put two of these in the lamps on my Rudge and the dynohub can run them at full brightness at little more than walking speed. They do tend to flicker due to the low frequency AC output from the hub but are pretty bright and an excellent be-seen lights. Not quite enough to ride with on an unlit road though. I suspect the shape is very different from the normal headlamp bulb and therefore the reflector doesn't reflect it on to the road properly.
If you want usable lights, note that the 1930s-1950s SA tail lamps had no internal reflector and are probably best replaced with something more modern with a reflector. The 1970s Union tail lamps are cheap on Ebay and look old fashioned enough and give a decent light. Or do what I did and visit the pound shop, buy a cheap torch and rob the reflector from it and put it in the lamp.
