TRON wheels

[Maielstrom]

Hey everyone,

Finally got in all my supplies to test out the Lunasee concept for glowing rims. The result did come out pretty nice on the front wheel, and it also does look decent during the day. However, not using rim tape, I have come into some problems (which were foreseeable). The tape isn't much a fan of the circular rim shape, so I do have bumps along the inner part of the rim. Also, I took it out for a 10ish minute ride to test how reactive the tape was, and when I came back, some parts of the tape came off and were folded up over the rest of the tape. This didn't cause any kind of an issue with the glow factor, but the question remains of how well will this tape hold up. To remedy this, I am considering getting some pre curved rim tape off ebay and using some glow in the dark spray paint on it so it will glow. As long as the paint can adhere and will glow well, this hopefully will work out, as the paint adheres clear, so I'll have green rim tape during the day, and it will glow green at night. Anyone have any thoughts on how plausible this actually is? I've never worked with actual rim tape, so I'm not how the material behaves.

[bdavison]

Im thinking glo-wire....but where to mount the batteries. Hmmm

[Kevin2109]

Originally Posted by bdavison

Im thinking glo-wire....but where to mount the batteries. Hmmm

magnetic induction charging! Put a big magnet on the fork and a coil on the rim some how

[ai4px]

I have a friend in Charleston SC who is a ham radio guy. He used to run 600watts on 20meters (14mhz) in his car. Just for fun, he'd pull up under the local bingo parlor's front foyer where they had loads of neon lights and keyup. It would light up all the neon on the entire front of the building. Once, he had an 8 foot fluorescent tube with him and keyed up and it lit up like a light saber. Ohh and if the humidity was just right it would make a purple corona discharge off the tip of his antenna that modulated with his voice.

So, put 600watts of RF on your bike and neon tubes around your rims and wa-la... troncycle wheels.

[250rr]

Originally Posted by ai4px

I have a friend in Charleston SC who is a ham radio guy. He used to run 600watts on 20meters (14mhz) in his car. Just for fun, he'd pull up under the local bingo parlor's front foyer where they had loads of neon lights and keyup. It would light up all the neon on the entire front of the building. Once, he had an 8 foot fluorescent tube with him and keyed up and it lit up like a light saber. Ohh and if the humidity was just right it would make a purple corona discharge off the tip of his antenna that modulated with his voice.

So, put 600watts of RF on your bike and neon tubes around your rims and wa-la... troncycle wheels.

I have no idea what your saying. Still and yet, I like it.

[Maielstrom]

Originally Posted by 250rr

I have no idea what your saying. Still and yet, I like it.

Hahahah I was thinking the exact same thing! I believe it to be a sort of radio induction (similar to the magnetic induction which was previously mentioned)?

I'm quite satisfied with the result, the only issue I'm having is with the tape, as it doesn't seem like it will hold in the long run (as it is not rim tape/automotive tape). Still waiting to hear back from some companies to see if their rim tapes can be painted over

[Ovinus]

Haha I also decided to get some tron wheels. They like to photo-bomb other bikes pictures to make them feel sad. I need to get some more pictures...never really thought about taking some just for the tron aspect.

[Maielstrom]

Just posting an update as I finally got around to doing the back wheel. Definitely satisfied with the way they came out!

[ai4px]

That is actually pretty cool.

[Ovinus]

I believe this is what you would need to achieve this tron wheel design using faraday's law with magnets. http://www.gotwind.org/diy/Axial_Flux_Alternator.htm

Looks intriguing. I may see what I can rig up.

[LiquidShell]

I like the tron wheels, but you guys are getting too scientific. Magnets and Faraday's law, pfft.
How about some glow in the magic markers, or crayons with charged particles of pixie dust?

I'll check back once there's a watered-down method of achieving it.

[Maielstrom]

Originally Posted by LiquidShell

I like the tron wheels, but you guys are getting too scientific. Magnets and Faraday's law, pfft.
How about some glow in the magic markers, or crayons with charged particles of pixie dust?

I'll check back once there's a watered-down method of achieving it.

That's all I did. I put UV LED pods on the forks, and glow in the dark tape on the rims. The UV pods charge the tape, and the wheels glow TRON style. Haha no magnets or anything too complex

Edit: Forgot to mention, the idea is the same as Lunasee: http://www.lunasee.com/?page_id=510
However, their kit costs $200 (last time I checked). Get your own materials off the internet and you can get a similar result for much cheaper.

[allanoue]

Originally Posted by Maielstrom

That's all I did. I put UV LED pods on the forks, and glow in the dark tape on the rims. The UV pods charge the tape, and the wheels glow TRON style. Haha no magnets or anything too complex

[rocka81]

i have the blue tron wheel kit on my bike, its from Rhok (in australia) the kit was already installed but the same uv lights on the inside of the forks and swingarm and glowing rim tape. The tape comes in curved sections. When you order you give your wheel size to get the correct curve. The kit over here is $144 local or $166 international.

http://www.rhok.com.au/wheel%20lights.htm

[NevadaWolf]

Originally Posted by Maielstrom

That's all I did. I put UV LED pods on the forks, and glow in the dark tape on the rims. The UV pods charge the tape, and the wheels glow TRON style. Haha no magnets or anything too complex

Ok, dumb question. Can you post a pic of the pods attached to your forks? Having a hard time picturing it.

The only UV light that is coming to mind are little push button ones which definitely won't work. That is an awesome idea and I'd like to try it out.

[rocka81]

these are the 2 on my forks

[NevadaWolf]

Cool! Thanks. I'll have to hunt those little things up.

[rocka81]

i was looking through Ebay earlier and found a 5 pack of LED pods and wiring (the same as pictured but with chrome finish) for $13.99. I can't seem to find anywhere to buy the glowing rim tape from though apart from the people selling kits.
But if you can find the tape, you could do this mod pretty cheap. $16 for lights + a switch then whatever the tape costs.

[NevadaWolf]

Found the black housing. Same seller on ebay but listed under Any Color LED found here.
(Sorry about the mobile version, on my phone at the moment.

I bought the glow in the dark Duck Tape sheets from Wal-Mart. Going to give that a try as it works when I plunge my garage into darkness.

[Maielstrom]

Hadn't seen the new posts, awesome to see others liking the idea! I mounted mine similar to the ones posted, the only issue is figuring out where to mount the back ones. Mine had stick pads on them, but I also ran zip ties through the screw holes to be certain they won't move. I'm currently at school and away from my bike, but I'll try to get some pics going when I get back.

As far as the tape, I currently have on gaffer's tape (tape used in stage production to mark staircases backstage and such). Works really well, the only issue is that regular tape wants to go in a straight line, and bunches up when being applied in a circle. For Christmas, I got glow in the dark rim tape from http://www.therimskin.com/ which sells all sorts of rim tapes for bicycles and motorcycles. I cannot verify the brightness of this tape, as the temperature was hovering around the 30s while I was back home, so I'm waiting for it to warm up before applying it. Only thing with theRimSkin is that it costs $50 for a full set of glow in the dark motorcycle rim tape (yeahhhh it's expensive), but it should look decent when it's on.

Edit: And cost wise, you can def get the materials for less than $30 through ebay and online shopping

[csmith12]

[Grassigrass]

Alright so here is my dilemma,
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=tT365...%3DtT365t4d0W0
This company doesn't make red. I have a 08 red 250 and although I may be able to create my own. I know this looks good and works where mine would be iffy. Sooo that video is the only orange example I could find. I need advise if that orange would look bad with red. I'm thinking no because it will be dark but orange tape on the rims during the day? Hmmmm

[rocka81]

The tape may not be orange through the day, I have the aqua uv tape (you can see the colour reflecting back onto the LED pods) but the tape is white. Maybe send them an email to check.