LED Auxiliary Light Project

Hi,

I'll start with my opinion that the standard SWing headlights are inadequate. As we age, our pupils don't dilate in dim light or dark areas as much as they once did, allowing less light to enter the eye. Therefore, I desire more light for night driving.

I replaced the factory, incandescent HIGH and LOW beams with LEDs. This helped a bit, but not nearly as much as some of the auxiliary light I have tried.

I installed one pair of auxiliary LED lights on my SWing, but I am a bit dissatisfied with them. The main reason is that although they are extremely bright, they are fairly large, and the projection pattern is far too wide for anything but HIGH beams. I really need some additional light that I can use in spite of oncoming traffic.

Before I get too far I will show you the output and pattern of the factory housings loaded with LEDs. Unfortunately I didn't capture any images with the incandescent, but I will tell you they were at least 30% dimmer.

LOW BEAM:


HIGH BEAM:


As you can see, although it is noticeably brighter, there is not much definition between low and high. I suspect I will lower the LOW beam slightly, rather than raise the HIGH beam. Keep in mind on the SWing, the LOW beam stays on when the HIGH beam is activated.

Here is the set of generic 3.5", 50W (about 9cm) "driving lights" I installed on the fairing (more on that later).




As you can see they are VERY bright and the pattern is VERY wide. Keep in mind I have TWO of these mounted.



These lights are amazing and bright. But I am going to replace them as they can only be used for HIGH beams and I can find lights with similar brightness in a smaller package that detracts less from the nice lines of the SWing.

These lights are smaller. 2.75" or 7cm. It doesn't sound like a big difference, but the housings are much less massive and more rounded. More ascetically pleasing in my opinion.

I may mount these on the front fender vs the fairing. I think they will actually be less obtrusive on the fender.




As you can see. they are quite bright, but the pattern is more compact. Not compact enough to be used for LOW beams however. I do believe they will still cause too much glare, even if pointed down at an extreme angle. Therefore, I will wire these to the HIGH beam circuit only.

Keep in mind these will be used in concert with the factory headlights, and there will be TWO of these as well.

I am very excited about these little lights. These actually have an extra wire that can be wired to the HIGH beam, but for my application, I think I would just activate both elements in a LOW beam position.







As you can see below (LOW beam only) they are quite bright with a SHARP cut off that should make them suitable for LOW beam use.


I will likely mount these on the fairing as they are small enough not to detract from the scooter. So, with both elements powered, and two units, it will be a nice, compact, highly directible beam as above, X 4, that I can use in the LOW beam circuit. 

Very excited to see the results.

I will detail the installation and wiring and the RESULTS on future posts.

Lights are installed.






I ended up tapping directly into the high beam wire from AFTER the front harness connection since the lights it powers are mounted on the fairing.

This shows the high beam connector and the taps. The blue wire is positive (+).


This image is with the leads from the fairing mounted aux. leds connected.


More later...

Are you still planning to use the high beam bulb?  Adding extra current draw to a circuit heats up the wires or fry's something else.  AUX lights should have a separate fuse and addition wiring, switch.

Think of DC current like a water pipe it can only flow so much before it slows down from too many draws.  Add an extra fuse box for the lights

Centech AP 1 is one example but there are many more less expensive options Auto parts stores sell them. Wire it from battery yeah I know it's harder to find a place to mount it and run wires through tupperware.

With a couple of relays added high-low switch won't have extra current through there. Grounds are easy just find a bolt up front add an eyelet on wires.

The Dude wrote:

I will detail the installation and wiring and the RESULTS on future posts.

Any results to share yet Dude?

Mech 1 twa wrote:

Are you still planning to use the high beam bulb?  Adding extra current draw to a circuit heats up the wires or fry's something else.  AUX lights should have a separate fuse and addition wiring, switch.

Think of DC current like a water pipe it can only flow so much before it slows down from too many draws.  Add an extra fuse box for the lights

Centech AP 1 is one example but there are many more less expensive options Auto parts stores sell them. Wire it from battery yeah I know it's harder to find a place to mount it and run wires through tupperware.

With a couple of relays added high-low switch won't have extra current through there.  Grounds are easy just find a bolt up front add an eyelet on wires.

I think because I converted ALL bulbs to LED, there is enough headroom in the existing circuits. I have not had any issues running similar taps from the low beam circuit. Anyway, no overheating, errors or burnt fuses and everything works. I now have two extra aux leds on the low circuit and two extra aux leds running off the low beam.

Since everything works and there have been no heating issues or fuses blowing, I am not going to complicate it.

I also need to wire my phone charger, but I think I can track down the cigarette lighter circuit if I have one under there somewhere and use that.

BrianInVA wrote:

The Dude wrote:

I will detail the installation and wiring and the RESULTS on future posts.

Any results to share yet Dude?

Yes, I updated the thread yesterday and I will probably finish up soon. I also need it to quit raining so I can get some real world pictures of the results.

What brand LEDs did you use for the high and low beam headlights, and were they a clean installation or did they require some modifications? I tried the ones from Superbright LEDS, but they were difficult to install.

Really love this project of yours. And in particular I like the larger LEDs you have ended up with. They almost look like something that was meant to have been there from the beginning.

Not long ago I ended up leaving a visit to some friends rather later than planned. Not only it had gotten dark but it also was raining and a bit windy too.  

Getting back home on the scooter was a somewhat painful and I was  disappointed in the scooter’s light capacity - or absence of same. None of the low or high was really adequate in those circumstances. So, in short - I’m so ready to copy paste your project once you have reached the satisfactory results you are aiming for.

All the best.

Thanks Benzon, I am largely documenting this for your benefit. It can be a pain to find decent information sometimes. Others may find it helpful.

The LED bulbs for the low and high beam are optional, but recommended. I may have to make a separate thread on that installation. It was a little tricky, but not too bad. Also, incandescent bulbs require more wattage. Not sure about the amp draw. But like I said I haven't had any problems powering these extra lights with the high and low beam leads. YMMV.

These are the headlights I ordered. Comes in a two pack. One for the high and one for the low.

SCT H7 10000LM Led Headlight Bulbs Fit Low Beam or High Beam Headlamp Light Replacement 6500K Xenon White, 2 each. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NKSKB78/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_7PWBZH6XDE8QMKXSGRW3?psc=1

To install I had to make a very small modification to the housing. Nothing that would affect returning to stock.

With the rubber boot removed, I drilled two small holes, 180 degrees apart. The reason for this is that you cannot use the little wire spring to hold the bulb in. With these small holes I was able to strap in the bulbs with cable ties.

I ran one cable tie through the top hole, across the LED fan housing on the bulb, then through the bottom hole. I used another cable tie to secure the first cable tie after feeding it through the hole. Unfortunately I don't have a picture. And I don't plan on taking the cowling off anytime soon. But next time I do I can take a picture.

I was not able to use the factory rubber moisture boots. I removed the middle finger of some latex protection gloves, fed the wires through the hole and stretched the glove around the hole as a makeshift moisture barrier. Not perfect, but actually works quite well, and doesn't interfere with the fan on the LED buld assembly.

One note is that these bulbs are rotatable. I made sure the LEDs were facing left and right, rather than up and down. Not sure it matters all that much as the bulb housings reflect 360 degrees, but just to try to keep any glare to a minimum.

I am really curious about these reverse fan and fanless H7 options. That would allow installation without any modification whatsoever. I may do this just to satisfy my curiosity.

AUTOONE H7 LED Headlight Bulb, Super Bright Headlight Bulbs for High and Low Beam Fog Lights Fanless Halogen Replacement Bulb 6500K White, 1:1 Mini Size Plug and Play No Adapter Required, Pack of 2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NLJ4VZW/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_8SN5KZJFTE3P15T9ZCWP






This one has a small fan at the tip. Very ingenious idea. As long as there is room in the housing, it should work fantastic.

Keep in mind, that even with LED bulbs in the factory positions, I personally found total illumination to be inadequate. I felt nearly blind on a dark and rainy night, on a lonely back road, cold and wet, left to die, alone... Haha, just checking to see if you are paying attention.

The Dude wrote:

Haha, just checking to see if you are paying attention.

Sitting here holding my breath waiting for your next posting

I don’t do any nighttime riding, but I find that the LED bulbs in the low and highbeam headlight create excellent visibility during the day, much more so than the stock bulbs. Thank you very much for the information you delivered! I will try those fanless options to replace what I had, and I will post and let you know how it works out.

[quote="The Dude"]

I may mount these on the front fender vs the fairing. I think they will actually be less obtrusive on the fender.






Won't the lights bounce more with the road conditions if mounted on the fender? It will travel with the shocks. I guess you need to do some night riding in different road conditions.

Thanks for the great write up. It's added to my to do list!

Easyrider wrote:

The Dude wrote:

Won't the lights bounce more with the road conditions if mounted on the fender? It will travel with the shocks. I guess you need to do some night riding in different road conditions.

Hey Easyrider,

I actually ended up mounting the smaller lights on the front fender, with no ill effects. I actually had the 3.5" lights mounted there at one time, and there was no noticeable jumping or vibrations evident in the beam.

DavidinDunnellon wrote:

Thanks for the great write up. It's added to my to do list!

I enjoy helping out if I can. I have a lot more to add to this thread to finish it up. Hopefully get to it this week.