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Commuting is the best part of my day!
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Post by trailheadmike on Oct 14, 2013 20:31:35 GMT -5
I have been meaning to brighten up my night riding pretty much since I bought the scooter. The Vog came standard with 35W Ba20d incandescents, and the first thing I did was switch out the bulbs for 45W incandescents. The make, if anyone is interested, are Eiko 6245B. These were a great improvement but were still inadequate. I did not put in HIDs for some reason. The next thing I tried was to wire in two 55W halogen fog lights, which required a relay, a switch and a separate power line to the battery. They were big and heavy and I never figured a good way to mount them so I gave up. I ended up putting two 10W Cree Flood lights on as driving lights and the results are amazing. These can get pretty pricey, but i found a vendor on ebay who had two for $35 including shipping, less than the cost of a single light at retail. I went with 10W and not higher because the 10W are only about 2" square, and anything brighter gets a lot bigger and I didn't want them sticking out too far. The installation was easy because I still had all the wiring on from the halogens. I put them on the black body plastic rather than the faring because in this way there would be no wires to disconnect when I took off the faring. Here are two pics with the lights installed and the faring off. I drilled the black plastic and put a wide washer on the underside to spread out the tension. I put the nut on the outside to make adjusting easier in the future. And here is the result. First, a pic with the 45W incandescent only: And here it is with the floods: The pics are not the greatest but you get the idea. I'm not sure the light thows much further, but now all of the lighted area is nice and bright, not just a "patch" several feet away from the scoot (which wasn't even that bright). I mounted the lights further back than is probably ideal but i did not want to lose access to one of the screws that hold the faring on. I get a little reflection on the windshield extensions as a result but its not anything that affects the ride. I also made a video. It shows the difference well but you can't really see the regular headlights well. Steven Spielberg I'm not but again, you'll get the idea.
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Post by tvnacman on Oct 14, 2013 20:40:34 GMT -5
nice job Mike!!!!!!!!!!! can you post a link to the lights you bought ?
John
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Sophomore Rider
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Commuting is the best part of my day!
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Joined: Feb 26, 2013 7:56:23 GMT -5
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Post by trailheadmike on Oct 14, 2013 20:46:30 GMT -5
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Post by PCBGY6 on Oct 14, 2013 20:56:18 GMT -5
That's a huge difference. Nice upgrade.
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Post by skuttadawg on Oct 14, 2013 21:17:09 GMT -5
here is an easy link to see the video . Look for the black and white thing that that say scene 1 act 1 etc before the director says action and click and paste the url in the field in it
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Post by oldchopperguy on Oct 15, 2013 2:08:49 GMT -5
VERY nice!!!
I did the LED light thing on my Xingyue 150 and got great results too. I used one 20 watt Cre oval light with similar results. The factory lights were AWFUL, and I connected the LED to the brights, and disconnected the factory brights so I could use the factory low-beams, or switch to the high-beams and get the LED. (Which became a "proper" low beam... LOL!)
I now have a Kymco 250 Grand Vista and the headlights are light-years ahead of the old Xingyue, but still not terrific. So... I believe I'll try your upgrade!
Question: Are your headlights running on AC or DC? My 150 had AC headlights, so I spliced in a bridge-rectifier to convert the high-beams to DC. My Kymco appears to already have DC headlights, as they come on with the ignition even when the engine is not running.
I too found out eBay is an excellent source of LED lights for cycles. For the Ruckus boys, and those with "nekkid" or chopper style scoots (or Italian-style with separate headlight buckets) there are fabulous true cycle LED headlights with high and low beams available at reasonable prices too.
My scoot has mirrors that look like huge "mouse-ears" so a couple of extra lights would barely be noticeable... Hmmm... I might have to add a few fiber-optic "whiskers" to 'em just for "ambiance"... LOL!
Thanks for the post!
Leo in Texas
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Sophomore Rider
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Post by trailheadmike on Oct 15, 2013 5:13:22 GMT -5
Leo - I don't know if the headlights are ac or dc unfortunately. Great idea about using the existing switch - post a few pics when you're done!
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Post by oldchopperguy on Oct 15, 2013 13:44:11 GMT -5
Trailheadmike,
I did a post in Tips & Tricks Tech Contributions "LED hookup using dip-switch and bridge rectifier". It's mostly a "how-to" on the electrics, but I have a picture of a headlight (27 watt round one) running "loose" sitting on the seat for a reference.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any pix of the finished installation, but your setup is fine for everyone to refer to on the finished installation.
I traded that 150 2 weeks ago on a used Kymco 250, and I removed the LED light and hookup, putting it back in original condition. I kept them in case I might want to try them on the Kymco... LOL! I found the 27 watt round light to be fantastic as it throws a "pencil-beam" WAY down the road. The 20 watt oval light throws the same beam your lights give. Problem with the large round light is that it's hard to find a place to put it... LOL!
I went to the trouble of using a bridge-rectifier on the 150 because I knew the headlights were AC. The LED's will run on AC, and it might not be a problem at all, but I know they "prefer" DC current. So I converted the AC to DC. It's pretty easy.
Thanks again for the post! Your pix and video are impressive, and will surely prompt a bunch of riders to try the LED's.
Ride safe,
Leo in Texas
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Sophomore Rider
Currently Offline
Commuting is the best part of my day!
Posts: 213
Likes: 14
Joined: Feb 26, 2013 7:56:23 GMT -5
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Post by trailheadmike on Oct 15, 2013 14:30:16 GMT -5
Thanks Leo, and now that you mention it I do remember reading your post. That was a great use of the useless switch. I had been thinking about this since our old friend Bluefront (RIP) put up a thread on the old site about adding driving lights. Enjoy that Kymco!
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