Greetings all. New member but long-time lurker here, riding Kymco scooters for a dozen years.
I thought some might be interested in my take on adding some very bright LEDs to the stock front turn signal housings for increased visibility and safety. This is now the second Like 200i that I have outfitted this way so I decided to document the process this time, along with LED replacements for the front position lamps.
I started by removing the blanking covers from the back of the housings. That involves opening the access doors on both sides of the glovebox, twisting each blank cover about 1/6 of a turn CCW and pulling it out. To remove it completely you will need to unscrew the small screw and P-clamp that secure the covers to the wiring for the front position lights. Discard the screw and P-clamp; they are unnecessarily and I believe they are there only to keep the blanking covers from being lost. Note that the blanking covers have gaskets; make sure these stay on the covers.
Next I drilled about a 1/8" hole in the center of each blank. I "wallered" the holes out in one direction, making them somewhat elliptical; this because the pair of wires fits better in an oval than a circle.
To hold the lamp I used a ceramic mini bi-pin lamp holder. These are commonly found in low-voltage halogen fixtures and are readily available as replacement parts. Because I live on a boat I have a bag of them, but you can buy them individually or in small lots of five or so on Amazon or eBay; just search on "mini bi-pin base." What you are looking for will be clear from the next photo. I like the ones that are all-ceramic except for the contacts; many on the market have a metal shield on the lamp end. They all come with a short wire pigtail.
Thread the pigtail through the hole you just drilled. Test the fit; the lamp base should be a tight press-fit in the blanking cover. Pull it back out to expose the back, and apply a dollop of butyl tape or silicone adhesive. You want enough to "glue" the lampholder in place and to seal the hole around the wires, but not so much that it squeezes out through the contact wells where it can interfere with the pins of the bulb. I like butyl tape because it's easier to get the quantity right and you can continue to work the piece until you're happy, plus there is no cure time. Press the lampholder well into the blanking cover; you want a press-fit in addition to the glue.
Bring your right and left turn signal wires down from either the existing signals or the main harness. It all depends on which pieces of the fairing you are more comfortable removing. I split the front and back of the main leg shield apart and spliced into the main harness just downstream of the 9-pin connector for all the stuff in the dash area, using 3M Scotchlok T-Taps, the blue size. Left turn wire is Orange, right turn wire is Sky Blue. Run a bit of wire from each down to the respective lamp housing, leaving a little slack to make your connections. I use disconnects for the connection between the pigtails and the signal wires to make it easier to remove if needed later. I tied the other side of each pigtail to the handy ground wire for the position lamps, again using Scotchlok T-Taps.
For the lamp itself I chose a fully silicone-encapsulated all-around LED. I have a quarter in the photo for size. These happen to be 1.5w "warm white" lamps with a G4 base, which is what you need for these sockets. I paid $9 for six of them on Amazon. Fully insert a lamp in each base, and re-install the blanking covers.
Note the covers only go in to the holders in one orientation, and it's easy to over-rotate it CW past the stop, which is just a little plastic tang, breaking it off. Study the bayonet arrangement carefully and take care not to over-torque the holder on insertion.
Test the turn signals, button everything up, and you're done! These lights really pop; much brighter and more noticeable than the factory stalk-mounted signals, which you may now be tempted to remove (I'm not sure what that would do to the flash rate). I kept the stock signals; can't overdo it when it comes to visibility.
Speaking of which, bonus project: While I was at it, I replaced the stock 5w incandescent wedge-base bulbs in the lower parts of those housings, the "position" lamps, with LED units that, again, are much brighter and more noticeable. As a bonus they use less power from your electrical system. Here I went with drop-in replacements that are fully encapsulated in clear plastic.
The magic search term here is T10 wedge-base. Available for a few bucks on Amazon or eBay. If you are daring they are available in other colors besides white. You want ones with an LED on top as well as around all sides.
Access the lamp holders by turning the front wheel to one side and reaching up from above the fender; the lampholder just pulls straight out. While you have the access covers off inside the glove box you can now pull it up by the wire to change the lamp. The trick is getting it back in; it's a press fit until the rubber squeezes into the hole enough to engage the groove. A bit of silicone lubricant or dishwashing liquid on the tapered end helps this process.
Enjoy!
