Modern Vespa

I just installed a flashing LED Brake Light on my LX150. This bulb has 20 red high powered LEDs and it "strobes brightly at 20 flashes per second for two seconds every time you hit the brakes. After 2 seconds the light stays bright as long as your foot is on the brake." Or in the case of a Modern Vespa, as long as you are squeezing the brake lever.

I purchased the bulb from Autolumination.com. You can find it on this page:

http://autolumination.com/1156_1157.htm

It's about a third of the way down the page, and I attached the picture from the website to help you find it.



It's not much of a mod, as it's a straight replacement of the brake bulb, but hey, we all have to start somewhere...

Below are the steps I followed. It's pretty straighforward, but as usual these are just indications, if you break anything don't blame me.

First you need to remove the two phillips screws that hold the brake light housing. The red plastic lens will come out, with the light bulb connections.





You will need to twist the orange connector about a quarter of a turn counterclockwise, and carefully pull out the connector and the bulb from the housing.



At this point you'll have to remove the bulb from the orange connector. You will need to gently push the bulb INTO the connector and twist it slightly counterclockwise. If you look at the corresponding picture, you'll see how the inside of the orange connector has two channels (only one is pictured, the other is opposite to it) that end with a 90 degree turn, where the two metal bumps on the bulb base slide into.



You can now insert the new bulb into the orange connector, by sliding it in and turning it clockwise.

NOTE: the two channels inside the orange connector are of different lenght, as the metal bumps are located on different spots on the bulb base. Make sure to note which side of the bulb base goes where, into the orange connector.



You can now re-insert the orange connector into the light housing, and screw the assembly back onto the chrome base on the scooter. Be sure not to overtighten the two screws, or you could crack the red plastic lens.

Et voila'! You now have a flasing brake light, which should make you more visible from behind and hopefully safer on the road.

Let me know if you have questions, or if you want to see the full size pictures to see more details.

Have fun!

Texio

awesome! hope to meet you around sometime soon and see that in person! I have backoff wig wag on my honda reflex, I will get one for my piaggio fly soon!

Nice! How do you like the light? Works as advertised?

That sounds like a good idea. Can you possibly take a photo of the light in action? Does it seem brighter? Is the pattern of light that it give off different?

I have the same bulb and it works as advertised. The flashing effect is very quick, and shouldn't be confused with pumping the brakes. It is a relatively inexpensive and easy safety mod to make.

I found that if you put the bulb in the wrong way, it will immediately flash and stay constantly on - even when not pressing the brake lever. It is pretty apparent when it is not correct, but better if you take the time to orient the bulb properly into the socket.

It seems to work as advertised, it's very bright and flashes rapidly for 2 seconds before staying on every time you squeeze the brakes. I had found it should only go in one way, since the two channels inside the orange socket are of different lenghts, but I guess it would be possible to force it in the wrong way and observe the effect harnadem described. It's easy to just reinsert it the right way at that point.

It would appear to be a little brighter than the stock incandescent bulb, but it's hard to compare them side by side, I'll have to look at it next to my friend's LX50. I believe it might also be brighter since the stock bulb was white and the red only came from the red plastic, while the 20 LEDs light up red themselves.

It's hard to take a picture of it in action as it flashes very rapidly (20 times/second) but is definitely noticeable with the naked eye and I believe it catches the attention of somebody following me better than just a steady red light.

I don't believe the pattern of light is different, since the light is diffused by the red plastic lens in the same way for the two bulbs, other than the different intensity.

I had also bought 2 matrix II bulbs from autolumination.com and they have since broke and eventually they told me that their bulbs are not meant to work with a battery charger like the battery tender. I had asked them to help me replace them with ones that worked, but they would not answer my email. Of course they do not say anywhere on their site that their bulbs do not work with chargers. Beware when replacing bulbs with LEDs from that company.

Pssst - I bought one of these lights about 2 months ago and just the other day (Wednesday I think) it stopped working. Luckily it didn't go out completely but it did stay in the on position, like I was riding with my brakes on!

You should probably keep your old light bulb and a screwdriver in your bike just in case.

-Mel

Interesting. I wonder if anyone else that used that bulb experienced something similar. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it, thanks for the warning!

Are we playing musical avatars now? I thought that this was a reply from lucky bastard at first ...
Edit - found the thread that explains this in the General Forum

I have one in my LX150 and I love it! It's been installed for months and working fine. I do however have the original bulb because I'm not sure if the flashing LED is legal in the Garden State of New Jersey.

I figure when I go for the state inspection in 2008 I'll just swap out the bulb. And that will take only a couple of minutes.

A couple of reasons why I like it 1) easy to install and it works, 2) no cutting of ANY wires, 3) it's inexpensive, 4) maybe the vacationers who are down the Jersey shore will see me earlier and slow down or stop.

Be Safe!

Ray

I think mine just stopped working too. I noticed tonight that it flashed when I first turned the key, but then just stayed on.

Mel, did you contact the seller?

I got two of their lamps and a brake light modulator. The lamps were DEFINITELY not as bright as the OEM bulb. The modulator crapped out after several stops, AND did not quit in a fail safe mode. That is to say, the brake light did not work.
I restored everything to original, and can only say I was lucky to find the system was not operational in time to prevent a major problem.

They offered to replace the modulator but the cost of returning the defective one was more than I paid for it in the first place.

I eventually went to Comagination and bought their brake/head lamp modulator kit and installed it. Both have worked flawlessly. AND they are fail safe.

I have found that in ALL applications that I have tried, LED replacement bulbs, are NOT as bright overall, as the incandescent bulbs.

The LED bulbs do have a very narrow focus plane in which they are brighter, but the overall pattern is not.

FYI Mine lasted two weeks and I'm sending it back today.

It is true that it is difficult (not technically, but cost/implementation/etc) to get LEDs to be an adequate replacement for conventional bulbs. However, the newer high output LEDs are extremely bright, and with the proper mounting scheme, heat sink, and reflector/lens they can be superior (energy savings and output). A common reason for LEDs failing is improper heat dissipation, and current regulation (voltage fluctuation/spikes).

I have found many applications where the LED was better, but many more where they were just not bright enough (as is common). However, they are more efficient, so that alone can make up for lake of brightness in many applications (usually battery operated).

Aftermarket companies in general quite often don't put the correct amount of design robustness into their products, however sometimes they go far beyond and make innovative and durable products.

hmm sounds like a good safety feature...
does anyone know if these flashing brake light bulbs are actually legal in australia? ive never seen them before

I know these are more expensive,

http://www.motorcyclelighting.com/universal-hyper.html

But I put them on my LX150, and just ordered a set for my GTS. And baby they are bright!

Did any of you ever install a modulator in an lx150? I bought a modulator from Comagination and it fits into the brake light housing on my 250GTS just fine, but is too large to fit into the housing of my wife's LX150. I'm guessing I'll need to tap the wires under the seat, but not quite sure which cable bundle I should start with.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Mine (autoillumination) broke after about 1000 miles. I do use a battery tender.