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The left brake light's red lens seems to have broken free from the light and is loose in the assembly (along with a tiny red plastic piece that is probably a tab that was supposed to be holding it in place), making the light from this brake light come out as white.

Is there a simple way to open the tail light assembly to fix this, or is it sealed and meant to be replaced whole?
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Re: MP3 250 - red brake light lens popped loose
magicwordxyzzy wrote:
...Is there a simple way to open the tail light assembly to fix this, or is it sealed and meant to be replaced whole?
Hi,
I got the same problem - even started to look for red light bulb thinking that previous owner mounted white there and I have overlooked that.
Unfortunately the whole module is sealed and red cup over the bulb is attached with two crappy plastic latches that tends to be brittle over time. So, I suppose you still have one with cup and the other broken is loose inside the module. What I did was disassembling the unit so I could hold it upside down until I got red cup again in right position and pieces of broken latch are gone (lots of shaking, piece of wire to aim it and lots of patience). I have managed to aim with one remaining latch and still upside down glue the cup into right position. Gluing with superglue like that is annoying and for sure you will get it on your fingers - but it is quickes way to hold it still. Once attached firmly I could hold it in comfortable position and secured it more with some resin glue in place.
So basically I glue it back for good now, the other method would be paint white bulb with red nail polish and forgot about loose cup inside:) however lights may not be with equal red tone.. Red bulbs does not exist (in DK) so you could paint yellow one for better match.

Good luck with it.

Regards
Bryxon
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I had the same problem, but since I had already installed red LED bulbs there did not seem to be any change in the effectiveness of my brake lights with the cover off. So I ended up leaving the lens off rather than try to get the lens back in place.
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I'm sure glad that there's a quick disconnect for the whole assembly, so I didn't have to remove each bulb individually!

Last night I removed the assembly and gel-super-glued the lens back into place (once I got it flipped the right general direction I found it easiest to hold the cap in one position with my index finger while rotating the assembly to get the remaining notch lined up appropriately), and this morning I added a layer of plastic bond epoxy; now just 24 hours away from it being fully cured and ready to reinstall!

I'm thinking I may as well preemptively glue the other side's lens in, before it breaks.

FentonFred, I thought of getting LED bulbs, but then I'd be driving myself crazy trying to remove the lens so it wouldn't be loose in the assembly and occasionally making an annoying rattling noise from the scooter vibrations.
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2007 Piaggio MP3 250 (sold) and 2009 MP3 400 (sold) 2011 CanAm Spyder RSS
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Re: MP3 250 - red brake light lens popped loose
Bryxon wrote:
magicwordxyzzy wrote:
...Is there a simple way to open the tail light assembly to fix this, or is it sealed and meant to be replaced whole?
Hi,
I got the same problem - even started to look for red light bulb thinking that previous owner mounted white there and I have overlooked that.
Unfortunately the whole module is sealed and red cup over the bulb is attached with two crappy plastic latches that tends to be brittle over time. So, I suppose you still have one with cup and the other broken is loose inside the module. What I did was disassembling the unit so I could hold it upside down until I got red cup again in right position and pieces of broken latch are gone (lots of shaking, piece of wire to aim it and lots of patience). I have managed to aim with one remaining latch and still upside down glue the cup into right position. Gluing with superglue like that is annoying and for sure you will get it on your fingers - but it is quickes way to hold it still. Once attached firmly I could hold it in comfortable position and secured it more with some resin glue in place.
So basically I glue it back for good now, the other method would be paint white bulb with red nail polish and forgot about loose cup inside:) however lights may not be with equal red tone.. Red bulbs does not exist (in DK) so you could paint yellow one for better match.

Good luck with it.

Regards
Bryxon
This is exactly how I did it!
Great minds think alike!
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Had the same issue. The dealer referred the question to the zone rep who refused to replace the light under warranty. Replacement of the light assy. Is only fix.
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Removing the rear lights from the rear of the bike is easy.
Replacements can be found on Ebay, but be careful not to overpay for used Lights. Take the time to look up the part numbers on AF1 Racing's website, price out the parts new from AF1 while you are there.
Then go ebay shopping...

Going from memory here...
You remove the back ABS plastic piece that is held with 2 screws on the Rear. Open the trunk.
Look at each corner and there are two screws similar to the 2 screws on the rear that you see.
The Black ABS part comes off exposing two big screws that holding the light in place. There also two big Phillips screws in the trunk on each side where you unscrew them and the lights on each side come out.

Someone was asking a question about LED's...
If you search here on MV, someone has a thread with a list of all the stock bulbs, and the LED Replacement Bulbs. They will go right in without any modifications or cutting of the lens to make them fit.
I am running all LED's on both my MP3's with exception to the Turn Indicators. I did not want to bother to add Load Resistors to make them work.

I am also running "Dual H4" Bulbs in the Headlight from a Modification that "Maksor" did for me. Very Nice, Very Bright... The only issue doing this with the MP3/250, the battery is not big enough to handle the load and the Generator can't keep up when at a stop light. Replacing your Battery with a EarthX ETX36C will provide you 36Amps so when you stop and your bike is at idle... It won't matter... You have enough power to have a long conversation and the battery can handle the load of the Headlights. When you are back running above 1800 RPM's, the Battery will get charged back up quickly.

Hope this helps,
Keith
Marietta, GA
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My red bulb cap popped off as well. My lovely dealer just removed the dumb thing, replaced the bulb with a red LED, and I don't have to think about it anymore.

Seriously consider getting red LEDs for your brakes. Less hassle, less draw on battery.
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This happened to me on my '07 MP3 250 (which I love!) I went through all the trouble of taking it apart, thinking there would be an easy fix, but since the socket is actually broken, it would take replacing the entire lens, which is pretty pricey. So I decided to live with it, and stuck on an extra reflector. I also wear a reflective vest and reflectors on my helmet, so I figure I'm visible enough.
Could it be this is why Piaggo has stopped selling the MP3 in the USA?
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lenses easy fix
My issue sounds the same. I took whole lenses assembly off. And then moved the light roundup I got the loose piece to rest in its proper position. Then I carefully applied Super glue numerous times with a toothpick to build up some strentgh. It won't be OEM

but a little cloudy from the glue drying.
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big koala wrote:
This happened to me on my '07 MP3 250 (which I love!) I went through all the trouble of taking it apart, thinking there would be an easy fix, but since the socket is actually broken, it would take replacing the entire lens, which is pretty pricey. So I decided to live with it, and stuck on an extra reflector. I also wear a reflective vest and reflectors on my helmet, so I figure I'm visible enough.
Could it be this is why Piaggo has stopped selling the MP3 in the USA?
Yeah, that's got to be the reason.
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