See the Light

A Busch and Muller Luxos light found its way onto the bike today.  A couple things about this light; First its rather heavy, at least more so than anticipated.  I initially thought the lens might be glass as the light is front heavy, but its plastic.  Secondly, a fair number of parts came with the light, including an attached bracket, a couple of odd plastic pieces, a button to operate the light from the handlebar, USB dongle that allows charging devices using the dyanmo's power, a plug to cover the connector when the dongle is detached, a rubber zip tie like thing to keep me from losing that cover, a couple of rubber bands to mount the button, and seven feet of double strand wire about 24 gauge.

B&M also provides some fairly extensive documentation, in a multitude of languages, describing all the lights features and operation, but absolutely zero installation instructions.  The reason became very apparent when I realized the absolutely zero installation hardware.  No bolt, no nut, no washers, no nothing.

The plastic baggie that came with the fenders had a longish bolt intended to mount the front fender to the top of the fork, right where I plan to install the light.  Luck did not shine down this time.  The bolt, while just long enough to mount the thin fender bracket, lacked a 1/4 inch or more to mount the thicker light bracket.

Off to the hardware store I go, to find a black anodized M5 allen head bolt of the right length.  After 20 minutes of searching way too many bins and drawers, found it.  Actually found a silver M5 bolt with a hex head, but what the hell, close enough.

The light washers I bought made installation difficult, so I managed to find a thick washer the exact size needed, sitting in the bottom of a tool box in my garage.  It turns out lady luck does love me.  If you install a B&M light, get yourself a nice thick washer (see picture below) and save yourself some cuss words.

The odd plastic parts snap together around the bracket to create a cleaner look and the long wire goes from the dynamo hub to the light (no tail light wire included).  Peter White Cycles, located in Hillsborough New Hampshire, sells high quality coaxial dynamo light wires.  By the way, B&M lights now use tiny little 2.8 mm blade connectors and the SON 28 dynamo hub uses the larger 4.8 mm blade connectors.  Peter White Cycles can hook you up with the right length of wire with the right connector combination.  Note to self:  email Peter White.

Finally, a shot of the tail light, just cuz.