Headlight assistance

[KABarash]

I know this has all been discussed before, but my search hasn't been much help. Sorry folks.

My high beam has reciently burned out so I'll assume the low will go shortly, I need to get ready to change it out.
What kind of bulb would be best? 35 watt is stock, what type of bulb is used and/or what would be the 'upgrade' bulb without taxing or damaging anything with too much draw or heat?
Also a quick tutorial on how to change out the bulb and aiming if necessary would be much appreciated.

[sc00ter]

First trick is when unscrewing the speedo cable from the front wheel hub you tape the tube with masking tape so the greasy inner cable does not slide out and get itself and you all grimy. Remove the 4 screws (or is it 2?) under the cowling (stubby screw driver helps) and the chrome headlight ring screw and remove it. LEAVE the speedo cable installed to the under dash and just pull up and lay the upper cowl over the front or off to the side. Not sure if you unplug the dash loom-been awhile. Headlight is easy to do form there.Have never needed to re-aim afterwards. Remove buld, replace and reverse for re-assembly. I have like 6 35watt bulbs that I got for $6 each (Ilko brand I think) and have been supplying the local Buddys with replacement bulbs-still have 4 left. Could not pass on the price. Personally have never experimented with bulbs as I think stock is just fine, but I know someone here has and got good results.

[HowHH]

Mitch Bergsma has some great YouTube tutorials.

First, top handlebar cover removal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgjdqM8pylM

Then, headlamp replacement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51a_gLnHwd0

[KABarash]

Thanks for the help with the process of replacement, there however seems to be two thoughts on how to deal with the speedo cable, 1) detach from beolw 2) detach in the headset.
Next, to reiterate one of my questions, what type of bulb do y'all suggest, H4 or HS1? Sources seem to give me conflicting information.

Thanks

[HowHH]

I believe HS1 is for small displacement scooters and motorcycles, and what is standard on the Buddy. You could pop an H4 in there but should stay within the wattage recommendations (35/35) otherwise you risk overtaxing your battery and charging system or even melting the plastics in the headlamp housing. Over the years, some on the forum have reported success in using higher wattage bulbs, but others had had problems.

The favorite bulb on the MB forum seems to be the PIAA HS1. Gives better light than the stock bulb, but IMHO still not so great. Only 35W after all. Can easily outrun the headlamp at night but that could also be my middle-aged night vision.

I have a set of auxiliary LEDs when I really want to see at night.

Regarding the speedo cable. I prefer detach it in the headset since I'm there already.

[sc00ter]

The 35 watt bulbs that I have are H4. Come to think about it, a H4 35 watt is what was in my 08 and 09 Buddy 125 scooters from stock. Also, I prefer to remove the speedo cable from the bottom and run a piece of tape over it so it dont slide out and get all messy. I think the first buyer of the 08 Buddy tried to run a 65 watt but noticed a bit of distorting on the surrounding plastics from heat and swapped back to a 35 watt. Will ask him when I see him today if it was the Buddy or his Vino just to make sure the info is correct.

[easy]

I used a 55 w silver star in my old n gone black jack with no problems. I always run low beams in daylight and never had a electrical problem with it.

[MYSCTR]

Our thoughts on how to deal with the speedo cable, 1) detach from below BEFORE removing anything up top. We did this from the top a few times until we named the cable and broke it - much easier to do error free from the bottom.

We upgraded our bulbs to Sliverstar H4's in the older Buddy's, then more recently switched all our 2014 170's to the PIAA Extreme White Plus H4 bulbs and they produce a very white light.

[babblefish]

I replaced the headlight bulb in my Blur with an LED unit and it works great. The replacement bulb installs pretty much the same way as the stock one, but you may have to fiddle with the electrical connector as it is different from what's in the scooter, at least it was for the unit I bought. Waaay brighter than the stock bulb and brighter than the 55W halogen I had in there. In addition, the LED pulls about half the current as the stock bulb. The beam pattern is a little wonky, but other drivers definitely notice me now because of the bright, WHITE beam. There are better LED conversions available now with 3 LED elements instead of the 2 that mine uses so they should have a better beam pattern. I'll probably upgrade to one of those soon.