Adding LED lights to my Kymco

[Kansas kymco]

I've always thought you can't (or shouldn't) connect anything that needs power to the headlight power source because of the peculiar way many of our scoots dim the headlights at lower rpm's.

So with that option not available, I guess the question is what's a good source to tap into for power? On my S200 I have an under seat 12v power outlet (that I never use and have unhooked to make removing my seat bucket easier). I have considered tapping into that to power my future turn-signals-turned-running-lights. Need to confirm that is is switched power and not always on.

Woyciesjes - do you have a similar 12v power outlet under your seat that you could tap into?

Brings up a valid point if Woyciesjes is set up to dim the light you would need to tap into another place, didn't even cross my mind although my Super 8 does this. You would have to determine if your underseat power is sufficiently fused to handle the draw of the lights. My underseat power is always on as well and have run down the battery with the courtesy light being on, now make sure the (met in) light on the dash is off.  Which brings up another problem the wire for the light would lose power when the seat is closed. The cell phone charger is only .25 amps fuse .

The only thing I have that is added is the air horn which has wires running from the battery to the relay that is activated by the horn button.

[john grinsel]

My take---why would anybody want to add lites to Kymco scooter?---just something else to go wrong when you are in the middle of nowhere---Kymco had the original stuff pretty well figured out and reliable/legal.

[woyciesjes]

I've always thought you can't (or shouldn't) connect anything that needs power to the headlight power source because of the peculiar way many of our scoots dim the headlights at lower rpm's.

I've never heard that, but it goes to Kansas kymco's point about stator output....

So with that option not available, I guess the question is what's a good source to tap into for power? On my S200 I have an under seat 12v power outlet...

From what I understand, there are only 2 real choices - Battery or the stator

Woyciesjes - do you have a similar 12v power outlet under your seat that you could tap into?

Nope, my Agility 50 isn't that fancy....

Brings up a valid point if Woyciesjes is set up to dim the light ...

I'll have to see if my headlight dims when RPMs go low. The way I understand DC electrical, if the lights dim at low RPM, it's not designed that way, it's just that the stator is not putting out enough juice...

My questions is, are the light circuit & charging circuits from the stator separate? I would think so....
In other words, I think  the only thing the battery does is start the scooter, horn, turn & brake lights (whatever works when it's switched on but not running)

My take---why would anybody want to add lites to Kymco scooter?---just something else to go wrong when you are in the middle of nowhere---Kymco had the original stuff pretty well figured out and reliable/legal.

Why? Because.



Better light output, less power draw so you can add more lights for decoration.

[woyciesjes]

That should work. You still might be able to make it work.  As long as you can keep the draw the same.  If your scooter uses regular bulbs in the tail light and headlight you may be able to replace with led bulbs with less draw.  Example if your headlight is 20 watt draw look for a 15 watt led or tail light 10 watt draw look for a 5 watt led which would give you 10 watts to work with...

So, I disconnected the headlight, connected the running light LEDs to the white/blue wire that feeds the headlight switch..
And still get the strobe/flicker effect. About the same rate too.

So, it seems that it's not due to the amount of power form the stator. Maybe something about the quality of it?

I attached the wiring diagram that I'm working from, if you're curious. It's from an Agility 50/125 service manual.
What I can't determine is the charging circuit part...

[Kansas kymco]

So, I disconnected the headlight, connected the running light LEDs to the white/blue wire that feeds the headlight switch..
And still get the strobe/flicker effect. About the same rate too.

So, it seems that it's not due to the amount of power form the stator. Maybe something about the quality of it?

I attached the wiring diagram that I'm working from, if you're curious. It's from an Agility 50/125 service manual.

There is a module in my Super 8 that lowers the power to the headlight at idle. There was a thread about this module a while back. Maybe someone remembers the thread? I beleive they bypassed the module for full power to the headlight at idle.

[Iahawk]

KK - I think you're referring to the lighting control module, which is responsible for lowering the headlight output at idle (on the smaller scoots, at least). I also remember some mention of someone paying a shop to bypass it entirely as their module (or modules?) had failed.

I had a thread a while back talking about a parasitic draw on my scoot and that I'd traced it to the lighting control module. I ordered and OEM replacement and the new one also caused a the same draw so it didn't solve the problem.

I still think the OP needs to find a spot to tap into keyed power on his 50cc scoot. Doesn't seem like a big challenge...or is it?

[woyciesjes]

There is a module in my Super 8 that lowers the power to the headlight at idle...

KK - I think you're referring to the lighting control module, which is responsible for lowering the headlight output at idle...

Interesting... I wonder why they do that?

I still think the OP needs to find a spot to tap into keyed power on his 50cc scoot. Doesn't seem like a big challenge...or is it?

Nah, easy to do. Just tap off the black wire... Was hoping to have them on only with the motor, but that's picking nits.

[mousejunks]

The flickering issue could be the effect of the PWM (pulse width modulation) inside the light dimmer. How it works is that it turns the globe on/off very quickly, which reduces power to the globe and makes it less bright. This is more efficient than using resistors.

On a halogen globe there is almost no flickering as there is an afterglow. However, on an LED light, it lights up much faster than filament globes, so the flickering is much more noticeable. Maybe you can catch the flickering real-time on your camera or phone (seen as a strobing effect - lines moving up or down).

This thread shows you how to bypass the light control box: https://www.kymcoforum.com/index.php?topic=15023.0. It looks like it was poorly designed for its intended load. Alternatively you can wire the lights straight to the battery and use a separate switch or relay to turn them on instead.

[woyciesjes]

So, finally got them all hooked up...

The Purishion LED running light/turn signal - Connected the running light to the black wire that feeds the horn button. They are on even when the motor is not running. No big deal, being only1 or 2 watts. Also serves as a reminder if I leave the key in the On position.

I also have a pair of 12 watt driving lights. Those are wired to the blue/white wire that feeds the headlight switch. What's interesting is these don't flicker like the running lights did (when connected to this blue/white wire). Some magic voodoo in the LED circuit for them, I guess... Thse only work when the motor is running...

Here are the driving lights I got:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MCWMK9G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Iahawk]

now we've got to see pictures of your scoot all lit up!...and $20 for aluminum cased, led driving lights? Can't argue with that!

[woyciesjes]

now we've got to see pictures of your scoot all lit up!...and $20 for aluminum cased, led driving lights? Can't argue with that!

Yeah, not a bad deal.
As requested, here is a link to some pics. Didn't feel like shrinking them to fit: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ati4UeWxkn2YguR7f14NVt2hVZAs9w?e=FWXrfS

There are the handguards the I'm using:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017IMZMLE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Iahawk]

looks good! I bet they can see you coming from far away with all that light!

[woyciesjes]

Thanks. Yeah, I'm sure they can....

Next, is changing the headlight to LED, then (re)connecting the 2 position lights, the upper corners of the headlight housing. Not sure why they were not connected for US scooters... Maybe blue LED for those?

And LEDs on the tail lights too. Maybe even different rear turn signal housings...