I just bought a Dutch Union Safari off Craigslist to use as my errand/commuter/"junk" bike and it came equiped with bottle dynamo head/tail lights. As I am fairly new to this style of bike light, I have a few questions I was hoping someone could answer.

1. I will need to replace the tires soon and the current tires have a "generator strip," raised grooves on the side wall for the dynamo to rub against, is this strip nessecary or will it still work with smooth walled tires? (I am currently running both dynamo and battery/rechargable head and tail lights since the lights i already own are brighter than what the dynamo generates and the dynamo lights shut off as soon as the bike stops moving but i like having the dynamo as a backup/failsafe.)

2. How difficult would it be to replace the current incandescent fixtures with more modern LED fixtures? Is it just a matter of disconnect whats there and reconnect new lights or are there additional modifications nessecary?

3. I have found LED replacement lightbulbs built to install/screw in to the existing lights (built especially for this purpose), this seems a much more economical option at $15-$20 than replacing the whole system, just wondering if anyone has experience with these bulbs? how well do they work? (one is from compass bikes and the other is from reflectalite.)

Thanks for your help.

You might try contacting the following websites:

https://www.mydutchbike.com/bicycles/...-and-opafiets/

Dutch Bike Bits

The reflectalite bulbs are ok if one wants to keep period lighting, but aren't a replacement for contemporary dyno lights.

The B&M Avy would be much better for a reasonable price, and will work fine with any 6V dyno.

The bike is late 90's, early 2000's so not really concerned about "vintage look." I have a good led headlight and decent tail light that i use in addition to the dynamo when i know i will be out after dark, but i have had several incidences where i either stay somewhere later than planned or I arrive home to discover my battery tail light has shut itself off for some reason. (Always turns right back on when i push the button, not a battery problem). So I like having the dynamo lights as a back up. Just not sure it would be worth it to replace fixtures if a replacement bulb would suit my needs. Im also not sure i have the technical know how to switch out the fixtures without ruining the system.

As i stated this was purchased to be my commuter and "clunker" bike that i leave locked up outside my house (where as my "nice" expensive bikes come inside). I live in a fairly low risk area but I dont want to spend alot of money on a bike (OR accessories) that could be vandilized or stolen, my lights and computer come off the bike when i get home at night.

I'm a little confused about the generator strip, some tires have straight lines on the strip, some have slanted/diagonal lines and others (continental) have bumps where a generator strip would be, What is the difference? will they all work? Thanks for your help

maybe you could try the replacement bulb in the back and a better light in the front. For my purposes, I don't worry too much about the headlight on my commuter. I have a BuM lyt on my commuter, and it works fine for me, it was replaced by the Avy, which can be purchased from Peter White and others:
B&M Lumotec Avy N Plus, Part # B&M162RNDi-04, Price: $ 42.00

Or if you wanted, the Spanninga Pixeo tail light is less than $20

[MENTION=424080]scatterbunn[/MENTION], I tried one of those LED bulbs in an old light, and the result was very bad. The light doesn't emit in the same pattern, and the reflector is not designed for it.

I have connected modern LED dynamo lights to old bottle dynamos, and it works quite well. I've been warned I might burn out the circuits, and I don't know how likely that is. Modern lights have a "standlight" feature where the light stays on for a minute or so after you stop for a light. Very, very useful. Also, they have good voltage regulation, preventing burnouts. Plus, as you probably know, they're much brighter than the old lights. Not only that, the beam pattern is highly engineered. It lights up your path and not the trees and not oncoming people's eyes.

You don't need a special strip on the side of your tire. The dynamo might wear your tire out, but it might not. These things often go out of alignment. Be sure the axis of the dynamo points directly to the wheel's axle so it doesn't sideswipe the tire.

1 - I use a sidewall unit on my errand bike. I put a tight fitting O ring on the part that contacts the tire to make it quieter, but I do not ride that bike in the rain. I suspect that the O ring would slip on a tire on a rainy day. My point is that I suspect other tires will work when dry but otherwise might not.

2 - There are other lights you can install. A couple years ago I bought some clearance priced D Lumotec Oval LED headlights for sidewall generators.

3 - I think the bulb conversions need to use direct current (DC) and the generator puts out alternating current (AC). It might be possible to make it work if you buy a rectifier at Radio Shack or some other source, but I really do not know if that will work or not. Also, the reflector in the light unit might not work well with an LED conversion bulb. I tried an LED bulb in a battery powered bike light and did not like the results because the reflector was clearly designed for incandescent bulb, so I went back to incandescent.

Good luck.

Thanks for the information. Im' glad to know i can use "regular" tires. My commuter bike generally sees only about 30-50 miles/month since nothing in town is more than 1 mile from my house and only about 10 or so of those miles are after dark so side wall wear is not too much of a concern, any tires I buy should still last me years, just concerned that the dynamo might not work as well. I will probably stick with my battery lights as primary lighting for a while until i can find a good deal on an led dynamo light.
My understanding is the rear light is not as dependent on the reflector design so i may go ahead with one of the LED replacement bulbs in back for now just because it will be easier, not sure i am confident enough to start messing with wires etc. The two types of bulbs i am looking at are designed/wired for dynamos so they are AC compatable (built in rectifires maybe?) and the one from compass is supposed to have a standlight circuit built into the bulb. Probably doesnt hold much power, but unless i move to a diffrent town, I dont usually have to stop along the route home from work for more than a few seconds.