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Messages - Ryder

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Super 8 150 / Re: New to forum, need help with headlight problem
« on: June 17, 2012, 06:04:54 PM »
Quote from: zombie on June 17, 2012, 03:27:54 AM
Swap out the bulbs for these  http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-pc-White-25-SMD-SMT-H3-LED-Driving-Fog-Light-Bulbs-/280882037086?hash=item4165dfc15e&item=280882037086&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr  Problem solved

If I simply swap out the bulbs, it will not help. These bulbs will dim down to almost nothing just the same as the ones that I have, whenever the engine is not running at a certain RPM.  When the bike is in idle, as I need to be, going down a very steep and very curvy hill, the headlight dims. This is caused by a relay on the battery and it does this in order to save the battery life. Without that, the battery only lasts a few weeks. So changing the bulbs won't actually help.
thanks, though.
Ryder

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Super 8 150 / Re: New to forum, need help with headlight problem
« on: June 17, 2012, 03:16:53 AM »
Quote from: Vivo on June 15, 2012, 02:27:27 AM
To reiterate the previous link, This is the Light Control Box or module of the super 8. This is responsible for the dimming of the light. What you can do is by-pass this module so there will be no more dimming.
Just remove the plug and insert wires from the output to the input.  Very easy.


Thank you, Vivo.
But, my understanding is that if I do that, the battery will constantly be going dead. This is what I was told by the previous owner, and also by the mechanic who services Kymco bikes in town here. They both told me that the 2009 Super 8 150, which is the one I have, was originally made without that relay, and it caused poor battery performance. They told me there was a recall on the bikes, to add the relay so that the batteries would work. Is this not true?
Thank you
Ryder

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Super 8 150 / Re: New to forum, need help with headlight problem
« on: June 14, 2012, 09:03:31 PM »
Thanks for that injection of logic.
I had a feeling that mechanic (who is not my mechanic, but just one I called up on the phone) was probably wrong about that. He kept saying that the scooter would cause me all kinds of trouble and be hard to fix etc.......so you are right: he was talking about cheap Chinese scooters. My Super 8 has never given me a moment of trouble since the day I bought it, and it was used. It's a little workhorse that just keeps going. Good friend of mine has one too and feels the same way.

Right now I am looking into bright LED lights made for bicycles that could be mounted on the bike and operated with a switch. some seem to have rechargeable batteries as well.

Wondering how bright the light should be. I suspect as bright as I can get it. I found one that is 1800 lumins.....is that bright enough? Keeping in mind that the only time I will need it, I will be going slowly.
thanks again
Ryder

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Super 8 150 / Re: New to forum, need help with headlight problem
« on: June 14, 2012, 04:29:42 PM »
Thank you to everyone who replied.

I talked to a mechanic today who said he was familiar with the Super 8. He said that anything that I wire into the battery will dim just the way that the headlights do if the bike is idling, because the battery can only produce enough power to light them up when the bike is turning over a certain # of RPMs. (He also said that the Super 8 is a poorly made bike and I'd be better off with a Honda). If that is true about the battery, then the only way to add a light would be if it ran on its own batteries. Can any of you tell me if this is true?

If it is true, then perhaps one needs a super bright LED light mounted on the bike that runs on its own batteries....say AA batteries or larger, which you just replace when they wear out. Would that be a viable solution?

I am not mechanically inclined, and can only to the work myself if it is very simple, or if I have very detailed instructions, so although the idea of cutting the load on the battery in other ways sounds good, I am not in a position to do that work.

Thanks again for the help!
Ryder

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Super 8 150 / New to forum, need help with headlight problem
« on: June 13, 2012, 05:46:44 PM »
Greetings:   I have had my Super 8 for about 2 years, and love it. The only problem I have with it is the fact that, in order to save usage of the small battery, it is designed so that the headlight dims down to almost nothing when the bike is at idle. For city dwellers this is not an issue, but I live 20 miles outside of town and need to go over a small mountain pass to get home from town. The downhill side of the mountain is  very steep and curvy, necessitating the use only of the brake on the way down. Of course there are no streetlights there, and when the headlight dims there's not nearly enough light for me to see where I am going, so I am unable to come home from town after dark.

I need a resolution to this problem. Attach an additional headlight to the bike somehow, whether wired in to the battery or not? It would have to have an on/off switch so that it did not run all the time. I only need it going over the mountains at night, which is not daily, and when I do it only takes about 10 or 15 minutes to go over the pass; then I could switch it off.

I talked to the scooter dealer here, who said they had never heard of anyone having this problem before (guess they only sell to city riders) and couldn't help me. Two scooter repair shops have said they had no idea what I could do.

Surely I am not the only person who wants to be able to ride a Super 8 over a little mountain pass at night?
Can anyone here give me some advice on this?
Thank you.
Ryder

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