Modern Vespa

I am tired of riding my Rally in the dark and basically being blind.
Did anyone successfully upgrade the headlight for the rally with success?
I know there's an S.I.p. Upgrade with a stator headlight rect combo but you end up spending a lot of dough.
Wanted to check on other options before I pulled the trigger

Are you still on the battery? You could change to a new lens and 6V halogen?

I have a battery, I've tried a bunch of different bulbs recommended and it just doesn't put out any light. Even when revving it.

The stock vespa headlights (as well as lambretta) are always going to put out a pretty poor amount of light. The answer isn't really more watts, but better (as in more efficient) reflector and better flutes in the glass lens. The easiest (and usually more expensive) way about curing the problem is swapping out to a custom headlight assembly...whether it's halogen (which uses way more watts) or an LED. We're pretty darn limited in options for our scooters. Lots of the time you just have to get creative.

How handy are you with a multimeter? Gotta see if it's a physical problem (wiring/connectors/switch) or a low voltage issue (common).

The 6V Rally battery systems were pretty lackluster to begin with. They were an afterthought in order to sell in the US market. Batteries barely charged and were discharged super quick with the headlight, tail light and brake light all draining the battery.

If it's not your charging system and wiring, I'd go halogen as it's brighter for the same wattage or get really wild and rewire it to hybrid system (headlight off the stator, tail off the battery).

It's been a lot lot of years since I used to ride my USA Rally all night through the LA streets. The charging could not keep up with the basic lighting loads after a few hours with the headlight switched on. Bad. I'd switch the headlight off at lights, than back on when revs were back up. If you're not riding a lot you could put it in a trickle charger every night.

Voltage-triggered relay. Drop to a low-wattage parking/marker light in the same reflector housing (LED, perhaps) when the alternator isn't charging.

Based on my reading of the Rally wiring diagram, I always thought the headlight was AC, driven off its own coil on the stator: https://www.scooterhelp.com/electrics/pages/VSE1T.rally200e.htm In fact, when I had a problem with the battery fuse repeatedly blowing due to a short, I remember my headlight still worked fine. So why would the battery have any effect on the headlight, or vice versa?

How do you know which color wires are connected and in which position? Says it's a three position switch.

To make sure we are all talking about the correct version of the "Rally 200" electricals, can you confirm what flywheel/ignition you have?

'74 US market, Femsa runs all the lights off the battery (key at curry hook)

'75-'76 US market, Femsa diagram looks like the green wire from the stator runs the headlight AC

'77-'79 US market, Ducati diagram looks like the brown wire from the stator runs the headlight AC

I'd be tempted to try one of these bulbs, says 5 - 30 volt and AC. With a minimal load on system voltage may not drop to much at idle. Says 3 watts, little less than 25 watts. No idea on life expectancy with unregulated AC.

https://www.ledlight.com/ba20d-led-headlight-5-to-30-volt-dual-filament-non-polarity-rotated-90.aspx

https://www.ledlight.com/ba20d-led-headlight-5-to-30-volt-dual-filament-non-polarity.aspx

This would be better with built in projector as it doesn't rely on old reflector and it plating condition. Does say AC ask a question maybe you'll get an answer. Cheap enough it could be worth an experiment to try it.

https://www.amazon.com/Ruiandsion-BA20D-Motorbike-Motorcycle-Headlight/dp/B084X73YY3

With low power draw 3 watts vs 25 I'd hook this to battery power for regulated DC power and better lighting at idle.

If you can find an led tail light you could draw same or less power for headlight and taillight combined as tail light is drawing on its own.

FWIW, I switched to LEDs for the taillights - see Switched to LEDs for my festoon taillights

And for the turn signals: I switched to LED bulbs for my turn signals - here's how!

But I think past discussion and experimentation with LEDs for headlights didn't turn up anything successful. Progress marches on though, maybe these are worth a try!

Thinking outside the box, would some sort of clamp on rechargeable LED light work?

Something you could clamp on (or magnetic) to the leg shield for night riding?

Or bicycle LED handlebar lights?

I doubt the legality of those on a motorized vehicle on public roads

Depends on where/how you mount them and where they project.

Motorcyclists mount auxiliary lights on their bikes all the time. Go visit a Gold Wing or Harley owners' gathering sometime. Or pretty much any BMW GS.

It's a country of scofflaws.

https://www.cjponyparts.com/resources/are-light-bars-legal

Has anyone tried this?

https://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/product/headlight-unit-jockey-s-boxenstop-clear-glass-h4-round-o-120-mm_58009500?q=Servetta%20head%20light

Just fyi I bought one of these led lights a it lasted 4 minutes before it fried