LIGHTING UP YOUR SCOOT...

[houtexjoe]

I've got a 2011 People 150, and I'm trying to figure out how to LIGHT IT UP a bit. I've been looking into the LED strips, some of which are sold on Ebay. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? What have you done to light up your scoot?
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. THANKS :-)

[Zimmerman]

I'm not sure about the 2011 but older P150's had unused turn signals (for the non US market.)

Several people have put bulbs or LEDs behind those lens to make them into running lights.

I may do that myself over the winter.

Kevin

[houtexjoe]

Ya, I was considering doing that as well. I've heard that there can be a power and heat issue, but with lower power led's it would probably work. I just wish I knew how to do it...I have no electronic skills...

[Zimmerman]

Joe,

Well the LED website seller will have an FAQ. Thier instructions will probably answer your questions.

But basically normal (incandescent) bulbs do not have polarity - which means even if you were to swap the two wires they would still work.

LEDs on the other hand do have polarity - so they'll only work with the wires the right way.
The good news is wiring them backward won't hurt them.
If it doesn't work just swap the wires.

LED lights made for vehicles will probably already have a current limiting resistor installed in line.  That way the LED won't get too much current.  I mention this in case you're headed to Radio Shack to buy a few LEDs to experiment with - those won't have the resistor.  But if you want to experiment then clerk at Radio Shack may be able to help you pick the right resistor for your LEDs.  It's really pretty easy.

KZ

[mrmike]

I did this mod on my 2010 People 150 when I had it. Go to advance auto parts or auto zone and pick up two double wire socket assemblies. I believe the ones I got were 3/4 inch diameter. Take off the amber lenses, and CAREFULLY drill 3/4 inch holes in the back side (Flat side toward back of scooter) of the housing. Extend the wires on the sockets, glue the sockets into place, and fish the wires around the back of the housing and into the middle under the headlight. You have to take the front cover off exposing the horn. I combined the two ground wires and grounded them at the horn mounting bolt. I combined the two hot wires and attached them to a hot headlamp wire (scooter running to get power). I used two small LED bulbs (amber), and had no problems. Just be careful drilling out the housings. I did it in several increments. Lights look great at night and give some more visibility. Another suggestion may be a reflective tape pinstripe or graphics.

[Zimmerman]

Reflective sticker improve nighttime visibility

[Zimmerman]

Here's where you can find the stickers if you're interested:

http://backatya.biz/

[Zimmerman]

http://www.amazon.com/Incom-RE181-24-Inch-Fluorescent-Reflective/product-reviews/B004BDP0KW/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

[houtexjoe]

Great video! :-)

[MaryK]

The LEDs from China that we bought via EBay were not worth the effort to mount on our bikes.

We did buy a pair of flexible LED strips at Wal Mart for about $18 that are good.  Just peal & stick them on.
They came with a momentary switch and battery pack so we could evaluate them. They are located in the
automobile chrome and lighting area.
Later we connected them to the bike's power circuit.  They look good and work.

Happy Thanksgiving,

[MotoRandy123]

 This guy shows some LED's he installed on his Vespa;

http://modernvespa.com/forum/topic47742?start=0

And on a chinese scoot;

http://scootdawg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=200cc&action=display&thread=30164

[Zimmerman]

Two thoughts

1
When I populate the unused non US turn signal lenses, I'll do what some one already mentioned - install real sockets and LED bulbs made for the road. This seems like an easy way to get good brightness as the 'testing' has already been done.
Also I'm thinking the bulb will be less of a 'point source' than naked LEDs - I prefer the whole light to be as evenly lit as possible. I'll try to find a bulb with just a little frosting (or other diffusion.)

2
After switching all the turn signals to LED (lower power consumption and longer life) I was thinking of mod'ing the electrical circuit for these lights. Instead of having the lights OFF unless signaling a turn, why not have them ON all the time as running lights then, to signal a turn, flash them Off/On?

Now they are normally Off then to signal a turn they flash On/Off.  Given the higher power consumption and shorter lifespan of the stock incandescent bulbs the old system used to make sense. But now that we have LEDs why not switch to a better visibility solution ? I think the lower power consumption and longer life of LEDs make it feasable.

What do you guys think?

KZ

Hmmmm . . . I'll have to check out the turn-signal relay ratings, could it hande being on all the time?  This is all a little premature as I've not yet pulled the drawings on this circuit.

[MotoRandy123]

 If you sand the face of a LED flat they will diffuse more.

 I thought of making reverse blinking running lights on a previous bike but
never got around to it. I did have a third brake light that expanded out
from center when the brake pedal was pressed (I designed the circuit myself).

 Not really working with blinker modals myself I have a question. When they
are not flashing do they ground the output? If they do you can use this for
ground on the LED's and the flash will shut them off.

[fshfindr]

I like the way you guys think.  Even though I rarely ride at night I will convert the unused turn signals to running lights.  I will take the power from the headlight circuit.  Unfortunately, I am recovering from some surgery so it will be at least a couple weeks before I could start.  So I will wait until spring since my fingers do not work well in the cold.  You guys keep talking, I’ll keep listening.

Richard L.

[MotoRandy123]

I used to work nights so add conspicuity stuff to my rides.
If you notice the lit up areas in this pic, those are black during
the day but light up at night. they sell that stuff for saddlebags
on touring motorcycles;



On the Kymco Global site I found they offer this setup for the Super 8;


They also sell these to add to the mirrors, I wondered why there are removable covers on the back of mine;