Wrong analogy. Motor vehicles come with lights and an electrical system to operate them, along with the extra power to generate the electricity without impacting the vehicle's power.

Bicycles usually don't. Lights are an add-on...and for good reason. I, personally, won't buy a bike with someone else's idea of a light system. I keep my bikes longer than most of my light systems because bicycle lighting is, and has been, in a state of flux. I'd hate to have a bike that would have been outfitted with the NiteHawk lights I had about 10 years ago. They were a first generation LED that were weak in the extreme. If they had been integrated into the bicycle, the bicycle would likely be useless now if I wanted better lighting.

I've seen the argument for generators and, frankly, I don't see it as holding water either.

I'll admit that there is an advantage to generator systems. They are convenient and they do have better lights...now.

But battery powered lights have their advantages as well. Personally, I feel that they have many more advantages than generator systems. They are more flexible, they are far cheaper for a similar light output. If the battery system is as expensive as a generator system, the light output is far greater. Battery lights...especially the cheap ones...are easier to upgrade as well. If you are paying $145 just for the head lamp, you aren't likely to get a new lamp every time the technology gets a higher output. But at $60 per headlamp like the old Magicshine (350 lumens), it's not that expensive to get the latest version which then cost $45 for a 600 lumen light. Thanks to the very cheap lights, jumping up to an 800 lumen light is only $40. I don't feel bad about ditching the old systems for that little money.

I would need a dyno system for every bike in the stable because I like to ride different bikes. I have a cyclocross bike that I use when the roads are mostly dry which is usually up until about December here in Denver. But I may want to ride one of my mountain bikes and take an off-road route home. Or I may use my other mountain bike equipped with studded tires if it is snowing and/or icy. Or I may want to take out the dual suspension mountain bike for a night ride in the summer. Or I might want to take my cruiser bike out for a summer night ride. Or I might want to take one of my go-fast bikes out for some extra mileage when I trying to beat my work nemesis at the end of the year. Or maybe I have 2 bikes at my daughters' houses that I may want to go ride at night when we go visit in the winter...Tucson and Albuquerque are lovely during fall and winter but not so much in June


But I already have battery powered lights. Why would I want to spend the money on a dyno equipped bike? If I decide to go for a night ride of any kind, I simple put 2 lights on my handlebars and one on my helmet. Since my batteries are always charged, I can just ride.

This does bring up the issue of charging. In a post above, you said that you ran batteries for 2 weeks and worried if it had enough charge to get you home. Why? I would never try to squeeze two weeks of riding out of a battery under any circumstances. I charge my batteries as soon as I get home. I have since the days of NiCd, NiMH and now with Li-ion batteries. Back in the days of NiCd, I would occasionally cycle my batteries to reduce the memory effect by using them in an RC truck...at least that's what I told my wife the truck was for But trying to squeeze the very last electron out of a battery is a recipe for being stuck in the dark.

I'm not entirely sure where you are going with this. Who said anything about the battery lights not working if I get a different light. I upgrade lights regularly and have batteries from different lights. As long as the plugs mate, the light works. And if the plug doesn't mate, I change the connector.

I also think you have missed the point I've been trying to make about the flexibility of battery systems vs generator lights. I already have more than enough batteries and headlights for my bike and my wife's bike...we can't use my "normal" configuration of 2 lights on the bar and one on a helmet if we both go for a night ride but that's a minor issue. Why would I equip any of my bikes with a generator system at all?

I'm already committed to battery lights and don't see any advantage to generator lights that is great enough for me to switch over. For me, it would be a major downspec to switch. I'd be limited to one light on one bike for the cost of 3 or 4 lights that I can use on any bike I like so that I'm not limited to one bike. I have 8 bikes because I like to ride different bikes for different reasons.