The Holiday Bicycle: How to run Christmas Lights on your Bike

Do you like to show off your holiday spirit? Are you looking for something to light up your bike at night? Look no further than the Holiday Bicycle. Using an inexpensive inverter, lead-acid battery, and that tangled ball of Christmas lights in the attic, you can deck out your ride with holiday cheer!

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Step 1: Parts and Materials

Here's what you need:

1) Bike (I'm assuming you already have one...)

2) Christmas Lights - 25' length. Available in your attic, or any local retailer

3) Decorative Light - Star, Angel, anything that glows. Available at your local retailer

4) Lead-Acid battery - 12V, 7AH, from All Electronics:
Battery $22

5) Lighter Jack (optional) - I used a "Y" adapter and just cut off one of the sockets. You can buy a "Y" from All Electronics:
Adapter $3.65

6) Inverter - Just a small ~75W inverter should work, like this one from All Electronics:
Inverter $14

7) Crimp terminals - Also available at All Electronics:
Crimp Terminals $2.50

Total Cost: $20-$60

Yard Sale Dale says: Dec 5, 2012. 3:31 PM

SLA batteries are dense (about 5-8 lb.). Motorcycle batteries or tractor batteries are heavier. If you have a rear cargo rack, I recommend using long hose clamps or coat hangers to tie down a battery to the cargo rack. If you bolt or attach a milk crate to a rear rack, it's really easy to put your 12v inverter, battery, etc together and seal them in a bread bag or something, to prevent water shorting them out. Then you can attach ornaments (christmas, holiday, new years, or other festivities) to the crate as well as the bike frame.

hotcharlie says: Nov 3, 2010. 3:23 PM

This is a couple years after the fact, of course, but I'm looking at building a similar set up to decorate a local landmark (see: http://facebook.com/larussellpump for an explanation).

I already have a battery similar to the one you use, albeit slightly larger and rated at 8ah (also featured in one of my instructables). I'm thinking of getting a cheapy Cobra inverter which puts out 400w.

My question is, what kind of run time could I expect out of, say, 2 strings of 200 regular, mini, incandescent bulbs?

I'd prefer the set up to run around pretty much 8 hours, giving good coverage through the evening. If my battery wouldn't run it, what, conceivably, would?

Thanks so much for any help/guidance.