Chinese Scooter Club

GibbyTheMole · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 81 Karma: +3

Hi.

Awhile back I posted about upgrading my measly 25 watt non-halogen headlights in my Wildfire scoot to a brighter bulb.

I took the plunge and ordered two 35 watt halogen bulbs for $10 each from www.scooterpartsdirect.com & installed them. They work fine and there's no heat problem at all. They're still not as bright as I would like, but they are definitely better than the old ones. Scooter Parts Direct also has 55 watters, but I thought that might be pushing my luck.

Scooter Parts Direct is located in Chamblee, Georgia, in the USA and their shipping rates were reasonable. (I think it was around $7 for shipping.) The sales guy was helpful and if you're in the USA, I'd check them out if you need bulbs or similar parts.

I wanted to get my bike ready for riding at night, because I think I'm going to have to rely on it more often, since the of gas is ridiculous.

Just wanted to let folks know of my success, in case they wanted to upgrade their lights, but were afraid of taxing the electrical system or melting something.

Cheers,
Bob Smile

Yellow Scooter · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 1:41 pm Post subject:

Cool. I wondered how well the lenses and hardware would take to the heat increase between the bulbs and halogens. My xpeed-50 wouldn't have been a great candidate. The plastic reflective lens had already started melting and was actually driped onto the bulb with the 25w replacement bulb. Sad

A halogen I was afraid would have started an electrical fire.
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GibbyTheMole · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 81 Karma: +3

"The plastic reflective lens had already started melting and was actually dripped onto the bulb with the 25w replacement bulb."

Shocked

Geez! I'd be careful upgrading the bulb, then. Apparently, either the plastic on your scoot isn't very heat-resistant, or that's a hot 25 watt bulb.

Too bad LED headlights aren't available. I would think those would be awesome.

Cheers,
Bobbo Smile

jpmacd733 · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 3:36 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the report. Seems all these scoots could use brighter lights just so motorist see you coming.

I have thought the 25 watt HID bulbs would be perfect. They give off a lot of light for low wattage bulbs. I've seen them installed as backup lights on a truck and it looks like headlights kind of lighting when backing up. The downside is that they require a ballast which makes them expensive but if you really must have bright lights they look like the way to go.

Joe
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JumpSteady555 · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 5:41 pm Post subject:

My old Qingqi headlight was also melting with a stock wattage bulb. If it's already melting I wouldn't go any more watts.
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larry8 · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 6:36 pm Post subject:

Mine came with 17watt halogen bulbs and I changed them for the 35watt. Although the lens gets warm it doesn't seem to hurt anything as I have them on all the time and had them in for 3 years.
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GibbyTheMole · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 81 Karma: +3

The good news & the bad news:

Good news is after taking a couple of long rides & checking the temp of the lens & bulb area, everything's within safe temperature limits.

The bad news is: After taking it out last night for a test ride after dark, the big problem I noticed is that the beam is directed straight ahead of the bike, with very little of the light hitting the road in front of the bike. If I'm facing a wall or another vehicle, it's plenty bright. But when it comes to seeing the road, it's still craptacular. If the lights could be aimed more toward the road, it would be a big help. I might try removing the plastic front end where the lights are mounted and placing spacers under the screws on the bottom that hold the lights in, to angle the lights down. That's about the only thing I can think of.

Otherwise, it'll be strictly a daytime vehicle, I guess. Rolling Eyes

Cheers,
Bobbo

thebiggreenie · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 1:56 pm Post subject:

A lot of these bikes have headlamps which are on an axis, and can be tilted... some people have found out the hard way, with their bikes being hauled over because their dealer has setup the headlamps wrong, and they're breaking the law by having the beams like that...
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domc · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject:

Does anyone know how to aim the headlight on a bike? Is it similar to a car? I have not driven my NEW bike that much in the dark and was wondering where the "light spread" should be. I may get these Halogens because the few times I did take the bike out in the dark, I found the light to be lacking. Maybe it's because I'm use to the newer brighter whiter lights on my new car.
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95talontsi · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:03 pm Post subject:

on my moped there is a screw on the bottom side of the headlight. Loosen that and you can aim the headlight up or down.

px166bajaj · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:03 pm Post subject:

On some bikes you have to remove the front panel with the headlight in it and adjust it off the bike. Its a bit trial and error.
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