DIY Awesome Ghetto LED Glowy Bike; The Hobo Cycle!

This is an easy, ghetto bike project that incorporates things like paint, an iPod speaker, and an LED tube.If you follow the instructable correctly, you should end up with a very nice bike for under $25!
This is my first instructable!

Step 1 Materials

You can find most of this stuff for very cheap:

Duct tape <$4
Speaker wire: around $3
LED tube kit (found at wallmart in the automotive section) $9.99
Old bike: Free (found)
Old Speaker: Free (taken off an old alarm clock)
Paint: $3
Old Headphones: Free (found)
Batteries: $5
Toggle Switch: >$2 (Radio Shaq)

Comments

[zeroemission]

looks don't  really matter that much with bicycle stereos as long as you're playing good tunes. something about unexpected tunes rolling by just makes people want to party! i've seen sunbathing hotties jump up and start dancing to "play that funky music" in parks with bike paths and one woman came up and started freaking on my leg (dancing/humping) outside a nightclub one night to "my sharona" playing on my fugly 20 year old huffy mountain bike. people seem to respond most to oldies that bring back memories.

good tunes on a "hobo bike" make it way cooler than a snobby $5,000 carbon fiber & titanium 10 speed ridden by a poseur in speedos because good tunes make people feel good & happy. hobo bikes have a certain, i'm cool & i'm not even trying to be" charm to them. people that do their own thing instead of joining the crowd are the coolest.

this bike shows you don't have to spend much money to have fun.

[lilbrewdog]

do you think i could make this work with a pair of old computer speakers? if so...how would i do that?

[zeroemission]

i'm going to do an instructable on building a system using PC speakers so i can have something besides my first rigs slideshow. i didn't take pics of the assembly process sadly so it didn't qualify as an instructable.

the EASIEST way to power up PC speakers is to find ones that use 12v, cut the wallwart off it's power supply and wire 8 AA or D cells in series using battery holders & connect the power cord to the batteries using the speakers as/is. you could also use 4 x 3v li-on batteries, but chargers for those are expensive and battery holders for them are harder to find.

that will be the FIRST variation i do, then i'll do another one making speaker boxes out of cardboard for fun & maybe include some $5 battery powered christmas lights for "hobo bling"

[lilbrewdog]

nevermind! :) all i have to do is connect the speakers to a strong enough battery...then make a bike mount for my ipod! :)

[MR.Touchy]

this thing is awesome but i wouldnt ride on de streets lool (embarrising)

[shammallamaman]

lol, i ride it on the streets in the middle of nowhere and i look like a hobo :)

[mowie]

hobos are cool

[robotguy4]

Heck, you could probably ride it in the streets and then LEAVE it in the streets for safekeeping. It is harder to make something not steal-able than to make it undesirable.

[zoneykid]

Uhh what are the headphones for? Cause if you're riding around while wearing headphones, that's extremely Dangerous, since you need your sense of hearing... Unless of course you're just riding around in the park.

[shammallamaman]

What headphones? there aren't any. there's only a speaker that could never go loud enough to stop anyone from hearing anything important

[zoneykid]

Duct tape <$4
Speaker wire: around $3
LED tube kit (found at wallmart in the automotive section) $9.99
Old bike: Free (found)
Old Speaker: Free (taken off an old alarm clock)
Paint: $3
Old Headphones: Free (found)
Batteries: $5
Toggle Switch: >$2 (Radio Shaq)

[pineapplenewton]

he clearly states that he took the mini jack off the head phones and attached it to the speaker

[zoneykid]

Oop, my bad... uhh... Great Instructable! *runs and hides*

[JBizzle]

you're the man! i typed in "hobo" to find some instructables and i was very pleased to find this one.. lol. and no, i'm not a hobo. great work

[zleebme]

not many hobos have computers

[shammallamaman]

hobos do have access to libraries though which have computers

[shammallamaman]

Thanks :D I'm glad you like it

[Deadpunk]

that basket on the back makes me think of the project on here that has a plant box on the handle bars personally I think if you put some kind of lining on the baskets on each side and put some small herbs in there that would be pretty cool in fact I want to get a back basket like that for my bike and do just that.

[shammallamaman]

oh, thanks for the idea, the basket is just an old paper-boy basket that i found on the side of the road

[cowscankill]

nice wow! Should try it when i get the chance sometime. Nice first instructable :D

[shammallamaman]

Thanks

[Havok S14]

Idk if any one noticed but llamadebama is the same person as well.

[shammallamaman]

Same person as who?

[Havok S14]

Well either you or your "friend".

[shammallamaman]

he is my friend, google llamadebama, he has a gmail, and many other things, he is a guy by the name of zach peters, and why would i answer my own question?

[llamadebama]

considering that you live in the desert, wouldn't the light attract mosquitoes?

[shammallamaman]

Not if you are going fast enough, they won't bug you

[joejoerowley]

Wow.

[shammallamaman]

Is that a good wow or a bad wow?