Modern Buddy

Hi:

The lower headlight (low beam?) is out on my roughhouse as well as the small bulb (pilot light?). The upper light (high beam??) seems to be at half power.

My battery was shot so I thought recharging it might fix this-I charged it back to 80% and the lights are still out (or weird like the high beam).

So-just replace all the bulbs? I saw a post here that had the bulb numbers. Just need reassurance its probably not the bulbs but the battery.

Also, has any changed the bulbs themselves? Wondering how much work it is.

Thanks for any help!

ba20d i think. and just replace them. They have some that say "xenon effect" that seem to be a more white light. But lumens are the same. The little one is just a push in bulb from any auto store. cheap and easy.

Just upgraded my R50 headlight bulb. Here is some bulb info from spr0k3t:

topic22343.html.

I went with the PIAA Super Plasma GT-X-HS1. Nice improvement.

Wasn't hard at all to replace. Took maybe 10 minutes. One screw in the front (below the Genuine badge), two screws in the rear (near the charger port), and two more screws in the back (near the ignition).
Pull the panel forward to expose the back of the light housing. Remove the connector, rubber cover, and retaining clip holding the bulb in. Install new bulb (handle only at the base - no fingerprints or any other contaminants on the glass part) and reverse process.

Thanks-i did it yesterday too with the same bulb. Its a little weird since its blue-purple at low beam?? But yeah, it was pretty easy to change.

Two questions if you don't mind:

1) I didn't take a photo (should have) of the retaining clip, so I left it out. How the heck does it go back? Any chance you can upload a photo of it in place?

2) I think before I installed the new bulb I played too much with the alignment screw in the front. Does anyone know how it works (i.e. turning it left aligns which way, and turning it right aligns which way?) I live in a small residential neighborhood and my neighbors hate me revving at night playing with the roughhouse.

Thanks!

jaeger45 wrote:Just upgraded my R50 headlight bulb. Here is some bulb info from spr0k3t:

topic22343.html.

I went with the PIAA Super Plasma GT-X-HS1. Nice improvement.

Wasn't hard at all to replace. Took maybe 10 minutes. One screw in the front (below the Genuine badge), two screws in the rear (near the charger port), and two more screws in the back (near the ignition).
Pull the panel forward to expose the back of the light housing. Remove the connector, rubber cover, and retaining clip holding the bulb in. Install new bulb (handle only at the base - no fingerprints or any other contaminants on the glass part) and reverse process.

1) You will want to make sure that clip goes back in... if you leave it undone the bulb could take too much force from the 2T vibration and break.

2) Look at it this way... when you turn it to the right, you are tightening the screw to whatever it is attached to. So that will aim the headlight higher. Turn it left too much, and you will need to take the front apart to get it back together.

C) You need a louder pipe. When they complain, just remind them you don't own an open pipe evil twin.

I can't get a picture of the bulb retaining clip at this time. "Hell Spawn" is in the shop for the 500 mile service.

Thanks! Any hint on how the clip goes? Does it attach on both sides to the little brass colored screw heads on either side of the bulb?

spr0k3t wrote:1) You will want to make sure that clip goes back in... if you leave it undone the bulb could take too much force from the 2T vibration and break.

2) Look at it this way... when you turn it to the right, you are tightening the screw to whatever it is attached to. So that will aim the headlight higher. Turn it left too much, and you will need to take the front apart to get it back together.

C) You need a louder pipe. When they complain, just remind them you don't own an open pipe evil twin.

I'm with Jaeger on this one... the little guy is in the shop for his BBK and custom everything else. I'll be going in tomorrow though so I should be able to snag some pictures for you.

Thanks for the help.

Something is definitely not right with my headlight. New high intensity bulb but the colors just come out blah-like the assembly isn't getting enough juice. I put in a new high intensity pilot bulb and it just glows lightly.

Is it possible for the headlight assembly to go somewhat on the fritz? The lights just seem to me to be "half powered".

Thanks!

spr0k3t wrote:I'm with Jaeger on this one... the little guy is in the shop for his BBK and custom everything else. I'll be going in tomorrow though so I should be able to snag some pictures for you.

Well, I went to the shop and took my little guy out for a spin... broke the 50mph gps mark... had such a huge grin on my face, didn't even go past 3/4 throttle, and it was still wanting to accelerate more. It's a beasty scoot for a 70cc. Then I found out, the weights were only 6gr... I didn't have enough time to tune it, but I'm thinking I could easily put 10-11gr weights and still have good throttle response. On take off, it doesn't grab until 3200 (roughly) and then really takes off when it gets closer to 5000rpm (if you aren't careful, the front wheel comes up when it kicks in).

I digress, I had so much fun that I forgot to take the pictures I planned. However, I noticed something in your statement that makes a little sense. The stator doesn't supply enough juice to the bulbs to really keep it going for a good term. Instead, the brightness is only at peak when the rpms hit 2100 or more.

going to get a performance pipe soon...can't wait for more power!

by weird chance i rode in today with another roughhouse 50...his front light was defn brighter even stopped...its getting juice just doesn't seem like enough juice. the pilot bulb is barely lit. also, someone had stolen the other riders mirrors. what a crappy thing to do.

spr0k3t wrote:Well, I went to the shop and took my little guy out for a spin... broke the 50mph gps mark... had such a huge grin on my face, didn't even go past 3/4 throttle, and it was still wanting to accelerate more. It's a beasty scoot for a 70cc. Then I found out, the weights were only 6gr... I didn't have enough time to tune it, but I'm thinking I could easily put 10-11gr weights and still have good throttle response. On take off, it doesn't grab until 3200 (roughly) and then really takes off when it gets closer to 5000rpm (if you aren't careful, the front wheel comes up when it kicks in).

I digress, I had so much fun that I forgot to take the pictures I planned. However, I noticed something in your statement that makes a little sense. The stator doesn't supply enough juice to the bulbs to really keep it going for a good term. Instead, the brightness is only at peak when the rpms hit 2100 or more.

Criminy I just had a thought....did I put the new bulb in upside down? I wasn't paying too much attention putting everything back together.

For those of you who put in the new fangled PIAA bulb...does the blue part of the bulb go on the top or bottom when it is in place?

thanks!

spr0k3t wrote:Well, I went to the shop and took my little guy out for a spin... broke the 50mph gps mark... had such a huge grin on my face, didn't even go past 3/4 throttle, and it was still wanting to accelerate more. It's a beasty scoot for a 70cc. Then I found out, the weights were only 6gr... I didn't have enough time to tune it, but I'm thinking I could easily put 10-11gr weights and still have good throttle response. On take off, it doesn't grab until 3200 (roughly) and then really takes off when it gets closer to 5000rpm (if you aren't careful, the front wheel comes up when it kicks in).

I digress, I had so much fun that I forgot to take the pictures I planned. However, I noticed something in your statement that makes a little sense. The stator doesn't supply enough juice to the bulbs to really keep it going for a good term. Instead, the brightness is only at peak when the rpms hit 2100 or more.

The bulb should only go in one way. There are three tabs on the base. One wide one and two narrower ones. Those tabs keep it lined up properly.

But to answer your question, the blue/purple side of the bulb is on the bottom.

Just another two cents here. At idle, my headlight (both the main bulb and the "pilot" bulb) is pretty lame and listless (good as any way to describe it). With a little throttle and while riding, works as advertised. This condition was present with the factory bulb and acts the same with the new PIAA bulb.

I consider it normal operation.

What is this "pilot bulb" of which everyone speaks?

look at the headlight...on you right hand side near the bottom is a little bulb, much like what you would find in big old flashlights.

m

TomCat wrote:What is this "pilot bulb" of which everyone speaks?

look at the headlight...on you right hand side near the bottom is a little bulb, much like what you would find in big old flashlights.

Well, ya learn something new every day. Thanks!
What is the purpose of this bulb?

Not sure what the function of the "pilot bulb" is. Looking at the parts list I have, it's listed as just a 12V/5W bulb. When I look at the schematic in the service manual, the only 12V/5W bulb is called a "position lamp".

Not sure what that means. Hope that was enlightening.

P.S. I just had my scooter in for service and asked the dealer about this lamp. Neither the owner nor his mechanics knew either. One suggested maybe it was an emergency backup in case the main bulb failed. Good a guess as any...

The 'Position Lamp' or 'Parking Lamp' (pilot bulb) as its known here in the states, is SUPPOSED to light when the ignition is on, before you actually start the scooter. It is intended to offer a small light source during night time stops if you are disabled on the road. (Seems that some don't read through the post's i.e. see next posting)

It seems that the RH50 has this feature disabled as it is on only when the scoot is running.

http://pass4-sure.us/
http://www.hp.com/
http://www.cam.ac.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Pacific_University

Some countries allow "city lights" on scooters and motorcycles. Kinda like a daytime running light intensity for urban areas where low beam light really isn't necessary. It's the law in the US to run low beams all the time so that little bulb isn't needed, but PGO leaves it there.