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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 9, 2013 13:01:07 GMT -5
hey Leo, i ordered the 27w led light yesterday. hopefully i'll have it within 2 weeks, it's on a slow boat from china. i will be attempting to set mine up similar to yours. my low beams don't work and my high beams are more like low beams anyway. so if i can figure out how to connect i'd like the 27w led light to come on when i switch to low. at least that is the plan for now.
You're thinking much like me... The 27 watt light (even in a flood-pattern) should light the road for a full 3-lanes, and, farther down the road than the feeble factory "brights". I'd REALLY like to try a pair of 15-18 watt LED's, side-by-side, one a spot aimed down the road, and one a flood aimed down and right. Maybe later if my initial "test" works OK. I realize I'm probably making too much of the hookup... The easy way would be to just connect directly to the factory switch and run the LED off the AC circuit. The sellers of the LED lights I messaged all said that would be OK... But I think that would shorten the life of the LED's considerably. So... The OTHER simple way would be to connect the LED to the BATTERY with it's own switch. Alleyoop suggested that, and, THAT would work fine, but at nearly 3 amps draw, I'm concerned that the LED would compromise the teensy 7-amp hour battery, keeping it from remaining fully charged. So... It's back to using the bridge-rectifier on the factory-lights AC circuit... The inexpensive rectifier here is good for 3-amps draw, which should cover the LED headlight at around 2.5 amps. I can't see any reason why the little rectifier can't be inserted between the factory light-switch and the new LED headlight. But I'm NO expert! All advice from better minds is most welcome here!There are SO many variations on these LED's... (spots, floods, etc.) and our first attempts may prove we need to try a different light... LOL! But I think with the right light, they are the answer. As for legality? Naw, they're definitely NOT legal... LOL! But, at least around here, everybody and their cat runs them on their Jeeps, tuner-cars, crotch-rockets, Harleys... and, yes a few scooters. So long as they're aimed well, I don't see any hassles from the police. But this IS Texas... Your "hood" may be different. My lights, and rectifier are on a slow boat too, so this may take a while to complete. Complicating the process is the fact that I'd like the installation to look somewhat "decent"... EEWWW... THERE'S the BIG problem... LOL! Time will tell...Ride safe, Leo |
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Post by sailracer on Jul 9, 2013 14:07:39 GMT -5
Maybe it can be mounted low, on the forks with some sort of bracket, or maybe on the fender. I'd like to get one too, but thats what i'm thinking about... how will it look?
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 10, 2013 22:20:12 GMT -5
Maybe it can be mounted low, on the forks with some sort of bracket, or maybe on the fender. I'd like to get one too, but thats what i'm thinking about... how will it look? I'd like mine mounted high, so it turns with the bars, and can be angled marginally "down" so it doesn't blind oncoming traffic, and be easy to adjust from the rider's seat. (I've used low-mounted lights on choppers) and they tend to blind the traffic if they're angled high enough to light up down the road, and, on the unsprung fork-leg, they bounce something awful... enough to be a distraction to the rider. It all depends on your individual style of scooter... If it's a "Ruckus" style, NO problem making it look fine. If it's an "Italian" style with the headlight on the bars, or above them, NO problem. If it's like mine, with the more streamlined "nose". It's more difficult. A pair could be nice on each side near the factory lights, (like "mouse-ears") or, up near the bars. I'm initially trying a single oval light, hoping it may work into the top of the instrument cover, where there is now a chrome wind-deflector/instrument shade. Worst case, on one like mine, tabs could be mounted through slits cut into the handlebar-front-plastics and fastened to the super-strong mirror mounts. Yup, there's always a way!Once I finally get mine (it) and get them mounted, I'll make a post. Hope this helps, Leo in Texas |
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Post by ramblinman on Jul 11, 2013 8:50:50 GMT -5
now you have me a bit worried this light may draw too much current for my little scoot. sure hope i don't end up with a dead battery.  i don't need to aim this thing all the way down the road. currently i can only see about 15-20 ft. so if i can aim 80-100 ft without blinding traffic that should workout perfect. i think as for the look: the plastic on my scoot is in bad shape but i still want the light to look like it belongs. my headlight is on the handle bars so i plan to put the led light on the front panel below the headlight. i want to cut a hole so i can recess part of the light housing. then maybe put one of those cool looking grills over it. when i get the light i will take off the plastic and find out if that idea is possible without too much difficulty. |
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Post by sailracer on Jul 11, 2013 8:55:49 GMT -5
Yeah leo, I have one like yours. Good point about the bouncing, Never crossed my mind. Definitely a no no for me now  Jack |
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Post by ltdhpp on Jul 11, 2013 18:27:59 GMT -5
I didn't install AC/DC conversion doodadads for any of my LEDs... I have a few bulb replacements and a lot of surface mount marker lights, all with 4,000 miles on them so far.
They only LED's I've ever had burn out on me were crap from China, and you always seem to get a few bad ones with those. Thats why I buy in bulk!
I'm excited LED headlights are becoming a reality now... I've been an LED junkie for about 13 years. As soon as a DOT approved LED headlight replacement comes out, I'll be all about it!
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 16, 2013 1:13:08 GMT -5
Gotta check THIS one out...We have been concentrating on "LED work-lights" for headlights, so...While checking eBay, I searched for "LED motorcycle HEADLIGHTS" and found NUMEROUS LED headlights for "Harley Davidson motorcycles"... THESE are the lights I'm seeing all over these days. They are BRIGHT! They have low and high beams built in... and they are affordable. They are certainly NOT DOT approved. Interestingly, I asked a local police officer about that, and, he answered that he knew of no reason any "headlight" had to be DOT approved, so long as it met Texas' standards for visibility... Hmmm.... They certainly ARE visible... LOLOLOL!  screenshot utility windowsThe Ruckus and "Skelly" guys will go nutz for these... Also a FABULOUS upgrade for the Italian-styled scoots with the headlight on the handlebars. Certainly something to check out, and should be a SWEET upgrade to any bike with feeble incandescent headlights. I messaged the seller, but he could not tell me the wattage, or the amp-draw, but with what appears to be about 30 LED's, I'd guess about 60-  LED watts on high-beam (that equates to what, about 500 watt-bulb-landing lights?) and about 3-5 amps draw. I'd think that should be no more than the twin 25 or 35 watt incandescent factory scooter headlights, AND should light up 100 yards of dark road like DAYLIGHT! Most every chopper around my area uses this type of LED light, as do a number of other types of big bikes. Unless they DO draw too many amps, they should work on a scooter too. I've also recently seen police cars using spotlights that look identical to these sealed-beam units. They will blind the bejeebers out of you when aimed "in yo' face"...Ride safe! Leo in Texas
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Post by doublert on Jul 27, 2013 20:03:23 GMT -5
[replyingto=bambamofatlanta]bambamofatlanta[/replyingto]I got some LED lights from Advance, 2 4inch lights, came with fuse/complete wiring harness. Got my wiring and grounds figured out, gonna try to install them tonight. So tired of these CRAPTASTIC BULBS screwing up  One night I had to ride 15 miles back home at 12:30 out in the dark country roads with a small hand held led flash light..... I have to keep spare flashlights with me cause I never know when my lights are gonna crap out on me!!! |
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Post by paulgendek on Jul 27, 2013 21:32:00 GMT -5
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Post by ramblinman on Jul 27, 2013 21:53:44 GMT -5
I got some LED lights from Advance, 2 4inch lights, came with fuse/complete wiring harness. Got my wiring and grounds figured out, gonna try to install them tonight. So tired of these CRAPTASTIC BULBS screwing up One night I had to ride 15 miles back home at 12:30 out in the dark country roads with a small hand held led flash light..... I have to keep spare flashlights with me cause I never know when my lights are gonna crap out on me!!! good luck. i got my 27 watt led light a few days ago. hopefully i will find the time and motivation to attempt this mod sometime this week. i'm really not sure where to begin so it sits in the box. i've never done anything electrical before.  |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 28, 2013 0:15:55 GMT -5
I just got my own LED light; a 20-watt 2-LED in an oval can. I hooked it up to a battery and it appears like it will be great, having nearly the same pattern as my current "craptastic" (I love that term!) lights, only much, MUCH brighter. After nearly smacking big "potholes" and more than one truck muffler or wheel, concrete chunks, etc. I'll be ecstatic to have lights bright enough to cast a shadow on such annoyances... Like we have on our cages, maybe? That's not asking too much... I think... LOL!
I plan to disconnect my current high-beams from the stock headlights and connect to the LED so in daylight, or in brightly-lit areas I can just go with the factory lights, then, hit the high-beam switch and the low-beams will go out and the LED will come on. With a very similar pattern to the factory lights, I doubt it will blind any oncoming traffic. It should be handy though, operating simply by going from low to high-beams... It will just be factory "craptastic" low-beams, and decent, LED low-beams.
I am however installing a bridge-rectifier between the high-beam switch and the LED so the LED will be running on DC current. MANY riders just hook into the AC headlights and run the LED on AC. Even the sellers of the LED's say it's OK. But of course, they like to sell LED's... LOL! I'm just more comfortable running the LED's on 12V DC current like they're actually meant to run on. There MUST be a reason the factory runs the headlights off the AC system, while the brake-lights and turn signals run off the battery. I think the 50 watts the headlights draw is the answer... With them on, the battery wouldn't charge right.
I don't think running the LED's on AC would cause any problem except maybe shortening the life of the LED, but I'm "old-school" and the rectifier was pretty affordable, and splicing it into the wires isn't exactly rocket science... So... I'm going to use it. I'm buried with other work right now, but as soon as I get the light up and running, I'll do a post, with the best pix I can take so viewers can make up their own minds.
You could also hook the LED directly into the battery with a switch and have DC current, but with these TEENSY weak-suck batteries, I'm concerned that the 2 or 3 amps the LED draws would prevent the piss-ant battery from charging properly. They're only around 7 amp-hours to begin with! I'd rather keep the headlights running off the AC like the factory setup.
That 27-watter should be a real "barn-burner"... LOL! Probably 4 times brighter than the originals... Depending upon whether it's a "pencil" spot beam, or a "wide-angle" flood beam, either should be quite workable with careful aiming.
I'm hoping this upgrade will be a BIG improvement in night-riding.
Stay safe!
Leo in Texas
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Post by ramblinman on Jul 29, 2013 7:42:44 GMT -5
I don't think running the LED's on AC would cause any problem except maybe shortening the life of the LED, but I'm "old-school" and the rectifier was pretty affordable, and splicing it into the wires isn't exactly rocket science... So... I'm going to use it. I'm buried with other work right now, but as soon as I get the light up and running, I'll do a post, with the best pix I can take so viewers can make up their own minds. i look forward to that post. you will probably have yours installed before i get around to it. i'm still not certain if i am going with AC and now i have a new problem, my light switch is sticking. a co-worker walked up to me just as i was arriving to work yesterday. showed him my new tach and he started playing with my headlight switch and it got stuck on low beams (which do not work). i was a little annoyed as i would be driving home in the dark... i did finally get the switch to move before i went inside. so now i don't know if i can hook up my new light to this switch. once i get it apart i will check if it can be repaired. a separate switch for my leds is not a solution since i will need to shut off the stock headlights to conserve power. anyhow, enough ramblin... |
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Post by paulgendek on Jul 29, 2013 10:48:16 GMT -5
I'm really curious about this. I can't search the board for "LED" because it's not a 4-letter word |
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Post by jeepsteve92xj on Jul 29, 2013 10:53:55 GMT -5
I'm really curious about this. I can't search the board for "LED" because it's not a 4-letter word The lack of short word search is annoying. Look for GAS or OIL or LED... Try searching from google and the itistheride.boards.net url. |
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Post by ramblinman on Jul 29, 2013 11:06:15 GMT -5
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jet
LED watts on high-beam (that equates to what, about 500 watt-bulb-landing lights?) and about 3-5 amps draw. I'd think that should be no more than the twin 25 or 35 watt incandescent factory scooter headlights, AND should light up 100 yards of dark road like DAYLIGHT!
main jet
