I was coming home from the Tail of the Dragon last weekend in TN/NC and some guy blew past me on his bike. His back tire was light up really bright with what seemed to be a white led light. I have LEDs on my bike under the tail and behind the licinse plate and mine looked nothing like his. his seemed to be actually ON the rim itself. Is that possible? If anyone knows anything about this please let me know cause it was SWEET! I know you can buy LED tire valves but this was thicker then just the valve.

 

You sure it wasn't really good reflective rim tape?

 

I cannot remember the company, but last year at the DELMARVA Bike Week in Ocean City, MD there was a company there and the had a set of L.E.D.'s that attached to your rim, and they put a spacer in your rear axle and wired the lights to that (like the watches with no batteries), so when you are rolling the L.E.D.'s light up. It was sick and VERY expensive. Like $150 a tire or something crazy like that. I unfortunately do not remember the company. That is smiliar to what you are talking about.

 

the trick (and expense) is getting a slip-ring electrical connection to pass current to something through a rotating object. there's a company called Raw Design making replacement bearings called Power-Puc's, they run about $300 for the pair. after that, it's just about mounting LED's on the wheels.

CUSTOM WHEEL LIGHT KITS FROM ALL THINGS CHROME - YouTube
LED WHEELS GSXR LIGHTCYCLE - YouTube

 

Yeah i found them last night regen. There's a big caveat too: don't get them wet or forget to turn them off during a rainstorm.

 

To the OP, what Regen said is exactly what I saw. It was a slip ring type fixture that went around the axle with the axle nut. I just couldnt remember what the specific name was, but Regen nailed it.

 

They look pretty cool. Not sure if cool enough to spend that much money. Plus i wonder what the law would think about them. I already get enough uneeded attention. I have talked to a few, and asked bout having underbody lights. Some say they are illegal, and some say they are legal as long as not red or blue.

 

It is what your Local Laws say, they vary by state. VA is strict because they are a commonwealth and ****'s, most states say you can't have blue(police), some say red (firefighters), some say you can't have ANY COLOR if the vehicle is moving. I believe NYPD only use one color, red or blue, not both like most states. If you are emitting a light other than red/blue you should be okay EXCEPT for a white light to the rear in some states(people could think a vehicle is driving backwards down road i guess). I know in TX you can't have a white light emitting from the back of the vehicle while going forward, left my cargo light on and go pulled over in my truck.

Go to your local STATE POLICE Barracks/DMV/DPS office and ask them what the law says and the Traffic Code/Motor Vehicle Code.

 

ive talked to a few cops here in the chesapeake/ va beach area and they dont mind the lights. helps to be seen. one said i should of done red cause at night red is easier to see then my blue was.

 

he would be wrong, red does not shine as far as blue. Red is on the low side of the spectrum and blue is on the high (dont Quote me I aint no scientist) if you have a flashlight with a red lens than go into a dark room and sit there for 5 min, to get your eyes used to it a than turn it on with the red lens, than turn it on with blue. it should answer any questions. Plus people are used to seeing red.