3W LED Deadlights

thatvwbusguy · Post by **thatvwbusguy** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:20 pm

I just finished installing a set of 3W LED bulbs in the deadlights. The bulbs are very bright white and drastically improve the front end visibility.

To avoid having to cut any wires, I used a 1/4" piggyback adapter and pulled power from the positive terminal of the horn (the horn button is a switched ground, so the positive wire always has power when the ignition is on. The ground for the lights is attached to the bolt for the horn bracket with a 5/16" ring connector.

Here is a shot of the bulbs installed with the scooter idling. You can easily see how much whiter they are than the stock headlight. Seeing how yellow the headlight is by comparison makes me want to order the PIAA 70473 Super Plasma GT-X HS1 bulb right away.

The LED bulb just barely fits under the lens, but they do not make contact.

Here is a link to the bulb I used:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo ... -lens/921/

These bulbs are also available in amber, which should work well as a plug & play upgrade for the rear turn signals. I would guess that an electronic flasher will be needed if swapping out LEDs for the turn signals. If I decide to try them out, I will post my results.

Vortechs · Post by **Vortechs** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 4:49 am

I just did the same upgrade to the deadlights on my 2012 Buddy 170i. I used the same 3W 1156 white LED bulbs from superbrightleds.com; thanks for providing the link and letting us know those LED bulbs work. The LED bulbs just barely fit but do not quite touch the lens. The bright white LED lights are quite noticeable and improve the visibility of the scooter. I already got a favorable comment on them from a neighbor who was impressed with how visible they were at dusk, he thought they were more visible than the headlight (which is still stock) probably because they are so white. The LED lights do provide some diffuse light up close which proved useful for opening a gate at dusk but they lack the focused 'throw' of the headlight.

The info on how to remove the lenses over the stock turn signal deadlights that I found in the Technical Library was very helpful, topic10730.html. Removing the lenses turned out to be fairly easy, it was actually more difficult to get the lenses to snap back on after I had installed the LED bulbs. I have had the parts for a few months now but I'd been waiting for the temperatures to get consistently above 60 degrees (F) since that was recommended for removing the lenses.

I used a Running Light Adapter kit from Modern Buddy member VSP (Ethan) and the link to the video showing the installation in the sales thread, viewtopic.php?p=99604, was good to watch in preparation for this simple mod. The pictures and info from LilBuddy's thread, viewtopic.php?p=92849, were helpful but the 170i looks somewhat different under the front cover. I chose the orange (horn) wire because it was easily accessible without cutting open wiring bundles and because I figured if anything went wrong I'd only loose the horn rather than the headlight; I also thought it would be nice to be able to use the running lights to see when locking up the scooter after dark.

thatvwbusguy · Post by **thatvwbusguy** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 5:52 am

I put a couple photos of the 1/4" piggyback terminal like the one I used for my deadlights on this post:

viewtopic.php?t=19540&highlight=

Using this approach means no need to use a wire tap that can damage your wiring and makes the install easily reversible so you can take the harness with you if decide to go to a different Genuine scoot.

pinthea · Post by **pinthea** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:26 am

As noted in some other posts, those same LED's likely won't fit in the rear turn signals given the sunken socket -- the barrels of these LED lights are just a hair too short to be pushed in and turn-locked into place.

The original incandescent rear turn signal bulbs are freakishly longer in this regard and fit well.

I suspect some careful trimming or shaving of the reflective plastic of the rear turn signals will carve out enough clearance for the LED bulbs to seat, turn, and lock. But stock, not so much.

still shifting · Post by **still shifting** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:53 am

Very Nice! A great modification. R

thatvwbusguy · Post by **thatvwbusguy** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:07 am

The 3W LED from superbrightleds.com will definitely not fit into the rear turn signal housings.

The cheap 7W Cree 1156 bulbs on eBay can be filed down slightly around the neck of the bulb to fit and work well.

With the stock incandescent turn signal bulbs up front, LED turn signals in the rear and the stock flasher, the signals will flash quicker than usual. I actually prefer the faster flash refresh rate.

An electronic flasher will return the flash rate to normal, but you will lose the audible click (if that is something you care about).

koyla87 · Post by **koyla87** » Sat Apr 27, 2013 6:56 am

i put the 5watt cree and its pretty bright, but i cant imagine 7watt cree!

i originally bought some from superbrightleds.com but i returned all 4 bulbs because they were too long so i went to a local shop and purchased them there so i could test them there in the parking lot.