|
|
Post by oldchopperguy on Jan 16, 2015 22:02:58 GMT -5
In a quest to brighten my night-world, I came across THESE... Palm-sized, they draw VERY little juice, and light the road like daylight for more than a football-field!!! They are rated at 30 watts illumination, using actual 10 watts of power, HOWEVER, to me, they seem a LOT brighter than any 30 watt headlight... More like 100 watts each. And, they don't seem to use even 10 watts of power. A whole LOT of bang for the electric buck!
Here are a few pix with one just sitting loose on my old Kymco Grandvista, to show the small size... and, they are light-weight enough to mount to the PLASTICS so long as they're backed by rubber and fender-wahsers! Talk about the BEST of ALL worlds...
Wedged against the mirror, you can see the light is only a quarter the size of the mirror!
Here is a pic from the original eBay listing. I was "dubious" that it might have been "enhanced" but I tested one last night, and this is EXACTLY how they light up the night!!! Objects over a hundred yards away are illuminated BRIGHTLY and there's plenty of peripheral side light too!!! INCREDIBLE little lights... They use CREE LED's, and they light up like an arc-welder!
I just set one on the old scooter for taking these pix, to show their compact size, and may not get around to mounting and wiring until spring riding season, but after testing one last night, I was anxious to post the results.
THESE are SERIOUS lights. Even as bright as they are, they use VERY little juice. I tested using a teensy 500 milliamp vacuum cleaner battery charger and it fully lit the LED! Amazing!
I also walked 50 yards down the road, and it appears that so long as these are properly aimed slightly DOWN and to the RIGHT, they won't blind oncoming vehicles. But they give INCREDIBLE illumination WAY down the road, AND to the sides. CAREFUL adjustment is a must as they WILL blind you if you look at them head-on.
Definitely something to consider, as they give small-capacity scooter batteries a REAL monster lighting capability.
I plan to mount one on each side of the factory headlight, one aiming CLOSE (maybe 50 feet ahead, just merging with the factory low-beam) to light up those pesky unpainted center curbs where they don't belong... and one aiming 75 to 150 yards down the road to see those dang rabbits, coons and possums running across the country roads... I'll have to carefully adjust to see how far I can extend the beam without blinding oncoming traffic.
I'll do a post on installation and performance when I finally get them up and running...
Ride SAFE and put some light on the road!
Leo in Texas
PS: These are listed all over eBay, from several vendors, and are not really all that cheap at around $40 per-pair... But I think the quality is there to justify the cost... I bid on these and got them for $28 with free shipping. They do use CREE LED's, and are in turned-aluminum anodized shells, with hard-glass lenses. They also come with decent extruded-aluminum handle-bar, or crash-bar mounts too. Very nice quality which would compliment high-end bikes...
They are available in black, or silver, and mine came in two weeks from China, and were VERY carefully packed... They arrived in perfect condition.
One additional thought... One of these could be bolted to a handle (wooden dowel, old drill or rifle pistol-grip, etc.) and fitted with a long wire with a cigarette-lighter plug for THE absolute MOTHER of all hand-held spotlights!!! Would be fantastic for boaters or off-road, camping, etc. |
|
|
|
Post by JerryScript on Jan 17, 2015 0:19:47 GMT -5
Nice find! Thanks for the info. What is the diameter? Taking a wild guess from the pic of one on your hand, looks like about a 2" lens and maybe 2.25"-2/5" OD? Do you think they could be used as headlight replacements, or is the peripheral beam too much for oncoming traffic?
|
|
|
|
Post by oldchopperguy on Jan 17, 2015 1:42:09 GMT -5
Nice find! Thanks for the info. What is the diameter? Taking a wild guess from the pic of one on your hand, looks like about a 2" lens and maybe 2.25"-2/5" OD? Do you think they could be used as headlight replacements, or is the peripheral beam too much for oncoming traffic? JerryScript,
You're mighty close... The outside diameter of the bezel is 2 3/16" and the lens is 1 3/4". The length of the housing is a scant 2 3/4". The light weighs only 7 oz! So mounting should be a snap! Each light has at least TWICE the illumination of the 9-LED 25 watt light I mounted on my old 150... And that light weighed about 2 pounds, and drew quite a bit of juice.
As for using them as replacements for headlights, I think it's quite feasible. They ARE a "spot" beam rather than a "flood" beam, but they still offer a lot of peripheral light. That peripheral light should not be any problem to oncoming traffic, but the brightness would be a problem if not aimed downward enough to prevent shining into oncoming drivers' eyes. The beam is SO directional however, that aiming should be fairly easy.
I doubt that they could be used INSIDE the plastics, as a replacement headlight however. The LED's seem to produce a LOT of heat. The housings have heat-sinks built into them... They'd best be used externally. They'd be the bomb for Ruckus or "nekkid" scoots as headlights!
These are so inconspicuous that they won't take much away from the cosmetics of most bikes. And, if mounted on a shaft, they can easily be moved up and down, and left and right for ideal "aiming". I'm going to put these on a separate switch to be used as needed, without losing both low and high factory beams.
My 250 uses DC current for the lights, so hookup is a breeze. My old 150 like many, used AC for the headlights so I used a bridge-rectifier to convert the AC to DC. LED's supposedly can run on AC, but I don't think it's good for them. With these, I'd just hook up directly to the battery with a switch. They seem to use so little juice.
I won't know for sure until I try them on the scooter. The factory headlight on my old Kymco is excellent by scooter standards, but still not as bright as I'd like. It's maybe 80% as good as the headlights on my Honda car. These spots are nearly twice as bright as the car headlights! So aiming them safely down from eye-level still provides a LOT of illumination WAY down the road.
I seldom recommend anything before actually using it on the road, but these seem like such a "no-brainer" that I doubt I'll have any problems. And, the quality is excellent for a Chinese product! Or ANY product for that matter... LOL!
You can get these singly if only one is needed. I got the pair specifically so I could focus one close, and the other far away at the same time, while spreading the light widthwise, for a BIG upgrade to the factory headlight. Compared to the typical Chinese 150 headlight, like on my old Xingyue, the Kymco headlight is nearly twice as good, but for brightness, these LED's are from a whole different planet!
If you are going to try LED's, there are numerous types available. Most use 8 or 9 LED's to achieve 20 to 30 watts, and they're large, and heavy, drawing serious amps. These are quite the deal, but they only come in a spot beam. Even so, their "accidental" peripheral light is even better than the side-illumination from my factory headlight.
Once the weather gets warmer, I'll get these on and see how good they really are...
Ride safe!
Leo
PS: Laws concerning LED headlights vary from state to state. In Texas, LED's are all over, and police pay no attention to them as far as I can see. I asked a couple of local officers about LED's and they said they had better things to worry about than headlights... Go figger... You do want to check your area just to be safe, because coming toward you, the fact that they ARE LED's is quite apparent... Yup! Don't want a ticket!
|
|
|
|
Post by wilds on Jan 17, 2015 3:23:20 GMT -5
They look like the ones I have on my ride. I have 12W CREE lights which are really bright, I can imagine how bright yours are! Scooter with LED lights |
|
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
|
Post by trailheadmike on Jan 17, 2015 13:29:48 GMT -5
Yours are even brighter than mine!! I love mine at 10W each, and I know you're going to love riding at night. Here is a pic of the 10W cree's I put on:   Here is my lame video: |
|
|
|
Post by oldchopperguy on Jan 17, 2015 22:46:29 GMT -5
Yours are even brighter than mine!! I love mine at 10W each, and I know you're going to love riding at night. Here is a pic of the 10W cree's I put on: Here is my lame video: Nice installation, AND great video!
I'm always amazed at how bright LED's are compared to their wattage-rating! Your pair of 10 watt LED's FAR out-perform a pair of 25 watt filament-bulbs! They are PERFECT to augment the factory low-beams.
It warmed up to 70 this afternoon, so I broke old "Minnie Mouse" out from under her tarps, cleaned the whitewalls and hit the road to let her stretch her legs... It REALLY felt good to get my "knuckles in the wind" again! While I truly love the 150 GY6's, the difference when going up only a little in displacement is hard to imagine until you try it... My last decade of riding was on a mild Harley "74" (1208 cc) Electra Glide. It was snail-slow on acceleration, and topped out at  - mph.
My old Kymco Grandvista 250 feels INCREDIBLY similar to the old Harley bagger... Nearly IDENTICAL on the road, and much more nimble in tight traffic... And, "the Mouse" has MUCH faster acceleration zero to 50, and tops out at about 80... Only 10 mph slower than the venerable old 1970 Harley. All things considered, the 250 class of Asian scoots are VERY satisfying compared to old-school motorcycles... Especially for us old buzzards used to Fred Flintstone technology!
And it's a whole lot of fun "tweaking" them with stuff like these LED lights! I'm anxious to get the lights mounted and adjusted. The weather however is just too "iffy" to plan on any outdoor work. It's 70 one day, and 15 the next... Me for 70!
No matter WHAT you ride though, better lights are a REAL blessing! I'd put LED's on a 50 cc.
Ride safe,
Leo
|
|
|
|
Post by BadCattitude on Jan 18, 2015 0:50:25 GMT -5
Leo, can you post a link to the eBay listing you used?
|
|
|
|
Post by oldchopperguy on Jan 18, 2015 1:10:44 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by BadCattitude on Jan 18, 2015 11:16:44 GMT -5
Thanks!  |
|
Sophomore Rider
Currently Offline
Posts: 112
Likes: 38
Joined: Jan 14, 2015 18:26:42 GMT -5
|
Post by scootdude on Jan 18, 2015 13:35:03 GMT -5
Great link Chopperguy! I think I'm going to buy a set of those myself. I can't wait to see how you mount them on your Grandvista. I'm going to borrow your idea and mount em up on my Grandvista the same way. Very cool. Thanks!
|
|
Sophomore Rider
Currently Offline
Posts: 127
Likes: 5
Joined: Mar 12, 2013 12:15:05 GMT -5
|
Post by psychedelicode on Jan 18, 2015 14:35:10 GMT -5
"They'd be the bomb for Ruckus or "nekkid" scoots as headlights!" -oldchoperg
Yep working on a new nekkid and these are going on it.
|
|
|
|
Post by oldchopperguy on Jan 19, 2015 2:09:57 GMT -5
Great link Chopperguy! I think I'm going to buy a set of those myself. I can't wait to see how you mount them on your Grandvista. I'm going to borrow your idea and mount em up on my Grandvista the same way. Very cool. Thanks! Thanks!
You'll have to be patient. Health issues and a lot of backlogged work will likely keep me from mounting them until spring... Of course, THAT is not far off!
Right now, I'm leaning toward using a pair of extruded-aluminum school-house flag mounts I got off eBay. I think they will attach nicely to the flat-bar windshield mounts, which are pretty solid. They are tubular, about 5/8" O.D. and I can make 1" adapters to use the clamps that came with the lights. That way, they will be totally adjustable left, right, up and down and can be aimed and tightened from the rider's seat with full weight on the scoot... Lazy is as lazy does, or something like that... and it should look decent.
I noticed on your new Grandvista, you have some neat stuff in addition to the graphics... Carbon-fiber muffler, and possibly THE biggest scooter trunk around... The only one I know of bigger than mine, and from the same maker... You will LOVE that carrying capacity!
I'll keep posting as I progress with the lights.
Enjoy that Kymco! I've not discovered any bad handling traits to warn of, and the 12" rims run fine at any speed so long as they're well-balanced and wearing P-rated tires. Kymco got this one right with a few mods from the old "Bet and Win" 250. It's an unusual size, weight and power-configuration that's hard to duplicate in other brands, and it's a GOOD ONE for all general-purpose riding.
I hope these lights work as well on the scooters as they do hand-held. Many riders seem interested in them, and I surely don't want to lead others into something they won't like, but... The way mine work hand-held, I'm pretty sure they will work out fine on the road.
Ride safe!
Leo
PS: The history of the names of these is interesting. Originally, the model was the "Grand Dink" in other countries. "Dink" is an American acronym for "Double Income No Kids" from the American slang of the 1970's or '80's including "Yuppies" "Yuppie Puppies" etc. It indicated a couple with plenty of money and no family tying them down, who would indulge in things like Harleys, Corvettes, boats and such. Duh... Americans quit using the term before the 250 was marketed and didn't like the name anyway, so it was changed to "Grandvista"... One word. In Canada, I understand it was to be the "Grand View" but it never got to Canada. I like it better than the "People" or "Exciting"... or "Bet and Win"... Oh well, Kymco makes great scooters, we need to give 'em a pass on the names... LOL!
|
|
|
|
Post by oldchopperguy on Jan 19, 2015 2:20:21 GMT -5
"They'd be the bomb for Ruckus or "nekkid" scoots as headlights!" -oldchoperg Yep working on a new nekkid and these are going on it. Woo-HOO!
Do keep us posted on that build! Here's some "inspiration" for ya... My biker roots STILL go back to bare-bonz builds! This is me on "Old Blue" back in the sixties... "Old Blue" is where I got my handle the "Old Chopper Guy". I was 16 in this picture, and I'm 68 now. Seems like only a few years ago... Enjoy life while you can... It doesn't last very long.
More bike than I could manage today, not to mention AFFORD... LOL! But you can see my affinity for the "nekkid scoot"... On steroids!
Enjoy!
Leo
|
|
Sophomore Rider
Currently Offline
Posts: 127
Likes: 5
Joined: Mar 12, 2013 12:15:05 GMT -5
|
Post by psychedelicode on Jan 19, 2015 5:08:59 GMT -5
If only you could make a scoot look that badaxe.
|
|
|
|
Post by oldchopperguy on Jan 20, 2015 3:02:49 GMT -5
If only you could make a scoot look that badaxe. You absolutely CAN!
I've seen aircooled 150's that are SO bad-to-the-bone that they'd give ANY chopper a run for the money on the "cool chart"... Yup! You don't need hundreds of horsepower for MAGNIFICENT scoot!
Here are a few for inspiration...
This last orange one HAS to be as bad as most any chopper I've seen! You don't need 200 hp or spend 200 grand to ride first-class, and turn heads!
Enjoy!
Leo in Texas
|
|
-
mph.
