The lighting on a scooter is more of an aesthetic value than a practical one. With its help, you can make the appearance of your vehicle more interesting. To some extent, in the dark, the backlight makes the moped more visible, which increases riding safety.
The main lighting element is LEDs in the form of a strip, strip or tube. LEDs are placed differently for different parts of the scooter. The best option is tape, since it is flexible, easy to attach and does not require too complicated installation steps.
LEDs have very good performance characteristics. Firstly, their cost is not high and you can choose a color to suit every taste. Secondly, they are very economical and durable. Despite the abundance of colors of light bulbs, blue and green colors are popular. You can highlight them as separate elements, for example, illuminate the license plate, or completely outline the contours of the motorcycle.
First of all, you need to decide which elements of the motorcycle will be illuminated. A large assortment of LED strips can be found in electrical goods stores, and at very affordable prices. In addition to the tape, you will need wires and a simple switch.
Motorcycle lighting with LEDs
An outdated but original format vehicle tuning LED strips of different shades are placed in the structural elements of the bike to create a glowing effect. With such lighting, the motorcycle is visible on the road, looks bright and stylish.
What's included in LED lighting:
- motorcycle wheel lighting;
- motorcycle license plate illumination;
- illumination of structural elements; motorcycle LED strip .
Until 2022, there were no problems with such tuning if the glow effect did not cause discomfort to other road users. The LEDs are hidden in a special cord; the tape creates an unobtrusive glow around the body and wheels without the effect of a “Christmas tree decorated with garland,” although such examples are also found. From a legal point of view, there were rarely any questions about the lights for wheels or motorcycle license plates .
Installation instructions
- The easiest way to secure the tape is with double-sided tape. To do this, clean the surface from dirt and degrease it. First, the tape is glued to the surface, and then the tape is placed. This method has one big drawback - the tape will peel off due to high humidity. Another way is to drill small holes and secure the tape with fishing line, or buy special plastic fasteners.
- The light bulbs are connected to the battery, so you need to think about where best to hide the wires.
- The wires are connected to the tape using a soldering iron. A toggle switch must be installed on one of the wires, which is best secured in the steering wheel area.
- To protect the system from short circuits, a fuse must be installed. If there are several lighting systems, a fuse is installed on each of them.
- The wires are connected to the battery as follows: the plus is connected to the fuse, and the minus is connected to the housing.
- When determining which parts of the motorcycle will be illuminated, there are a few things to consider. Firstly, the tape should not blind the owner of the scooter in motion, nor oncoming drivers. Otherwise, this will lead to a decrease in the level of road safety.
The backlight connection diagram is shown in the figure.
Connecting the lighting to a moped with your own hands will not be difficult. The main thing is to decide on the color of the light bulbs and the type of their connection. And then a little effort and the scooter will noticeably change. Additional lighting for a scooter is not prohibited in the traffic rules, but it is not allowed either. It all depends on how bright the scooter has become and what mood the inspectors are in.
Is motorcycle lighting legal?
The rules changed with the passage of the bill prohibiting unauthorized modification of cars and motorcycles, which came into force in 2022. A resonant incident occurred in Moscow at the beginning of 2022, where the traffic police fined Mosgostrans for decorating buses for the New Year with electric garlands, although this practice had been in effect for 5 years, does this mean that they will now fine the LED lighting of a motorcycle , we’ll figure it out a little later.
...and lasers
At any moment, classic light bulbs can disappear from motorcycles, as, for example, in the Honda CB 1000 R. Now we are waiting to see who will be the first to use adaptive headlights on a motorcycle. The next step is laser lights, which are already used in expensive cars.
motorcycle headlights
Enhancing optics on motor vehicles
The second type of improving the visibility of a lightweight vehicle on the road is enhancing the standard light. As in the case of a car, if the standard car light is not enough for you, replace the standard optics with legal LEDs or xenon, and install new light sources.
Until recently, all bright car lights were illegal, but now the situation has changed; from large manufacturing plants you can buy certified products that will not dazzle oncoming traffic and violate traffic rules. But taking into account recent changes in legislation, if LED headlights are not provided by the manufacturer or are not intended for a specific brand, this is an unauthorized change in the design.
There is no life without LEDs
LED is an abbreviation for the English Light-Emitting Diode - light-emitting diode (electroluminescent). Experts say that the introduction of LEDs can no longer be stopped. For a long time, we are no longer talking only about daytime running lights (DRLs - daytime running lights). LEDs win in terms of durability and electricity demand. In addition, their light intensity has been greatly improved over the past 20 years.
There is a very long path from the start of a project to the creation of a prototype. In the case of the BMW F 800 GS, this stage lasted more than 5 years
The diode is much smaller than a traditional light bulb, but it shines brighter and the light has a more pleasing color to the human eye. Bright daylight has a thermodynamic temperature of around 6000 Kelvin, LED light can achieve results above 6000 Kelvin, while xenon headlights only achieve 4000 Kelvin. A classic halogen spotlight with yellow light can reach from 3000 to 3500 Kelvin. The closer the reflector temperature is to daylight, the better you can see the road and obstacles on it. To this should be added another extremely important element - energy efficiency. Experts say that if all conventional incandescent light bulbs were replaced with LED light bulbs in the United States, as many as 40 power plants could be shut down at once!
The last thing is the longevity of the LEDs. The theoretical service life is approximately 10,000 hours. For comparison, a standard H4 lamp lasts only 1000 hours. Another advantage of LEDs is their enormous resistance to mechanical damage. A glass bubble cannot break in it, because it simply does not exist, just as there is no thin filament here that breaks away from vibrations.
However, the biggest advantage of LED lights is the accurate illumination of the road. A classic reflector is doomed to interact with one or two filaments, while an LED has several independent light sources. Thanks to this, the light can be directed exactly where we want it, with a very clear boundary between light and shadow. As a result, the field of scattered light becomes smaller. Effect: the light fills the entire area defined by the rules, drivers of vehicles moving in the opposite direction do not dazzle each other, and the entire road is illuminated to full capacity.
Traditional halogen lamps must be designed to a greater tolerance in this regard. The area of scattered light was much wider. As a result, the part of the road illuminated by diffuse light was larger and, therefore, less visible.
Ducati 1299 Panigale S (left) and Panigale V4 S – two headlights, both LED
Additional lights
An effective way to improve lighting on a gravel road or in off-road conditions is to install additional headlights. Until last year, in order to avoid problems with inspection, the owner of a bike or scooter installed an additional light and did not turn it on on public roads. In 2022, any post can stop transport and check the legality of the updates made.
See and be seen
Much more often we talk about engine power, motorcycle accessories, or how the exhaust sounds. But at the same time, we rarely discuss headlights. And yet the daytime running lights and the shape of the headlights are part of the motorcycle. And this is no less important.
Lighting professionals have to face many challenges every time. Firstly, there is the behavior of the motorcycle while driving, i.e. changing angles of the car, bouncing over bumps, etc. This leads to the fact that modern lamps are often very complex. Secondly, the approach to the client. Who buys a motorcycle based on the intensity of the headlights? Good lights are a much less important consideration when buying a new motorcycle than its attractive appearance. That's why modern lamps must serve two functions: look great and illuminate the road well.
Headlights give cars a face and make it possible to recognize the brand at first sight. That's why the design process starts with the headlights. The complexity of this case is demonstrated by the fact that the first work on the all-LED reflector for the BMW F 750/850 GS began in January 2013. Over the next 5 years, many unrealized projects appeared and countless kilometers were covered during testing. It's ironic: despite computer simulations based on vast amounts of data, despite many hours spent in a dark room and in a bright tunnel, despite access to automotive industry know-how, even the most advanced measurement methods cannot replace subjective human impressions.
Lumens, Kelvins, Candelas... To understand what headlight experts are discussing, you need to know at least the basic concepts of optics
BMW engineers can feel like pioneers in the field of LEDs. In 2010, in the powerful six-cylinder touring car K 1600 GT / GTL, they introduced the first winkle headlights, still based on xenon filaments. The control of the light beam was solved using moving mirrors. This solution was justified in the case of large and expensive cars (such as the K 1600 GT/GTL), but for many others, these headlights are too heavy, too complex and, above all, expensive.
Two years later, the BMW R 1200 GS debuted with full LED headlights, with integrated DRL (daytime running light). Engineers took care of good visibility at night and attracting the attention of other road users during the day. Now it's the turn of LED headlights in the popular F series models. An interesting fact is that this BMW headlight is the first that can be used worldwide, despite different regulations. Similar headlights are used by Honda in the Africa Twin or CB 1000 R and Harley-Davidson in the new Softail models.
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New rules
Illumination, additional headlights and replacement of weak halogen with LED light, according to current legislation, are equivalent to unauthorized modifications to the design of the car . The exception is when they are provided by the manufacturer or are intended for a car or bike model and have been tested, which is confirmed by certificates.
For violation, the inspector may deprive the driver of registration or even the right to drive a vehicle for a period of 6-12 months, and illegally installed lighting equipment may also be confiscated.
The legislator has provided a special procedure by which a car owner can register new optics and then there will be no problems.
Matrix light...
Let's return to the shape of the lamps. Daytime running lights can have any shape (the regulations only establish a minimum luminous surface area of 25 cm2). Thanks to diodes, lamps can have compact sizes. For example, the headlights that illuminate the corners of the Kawasaki H2 SX are mounted in the side fairings. If there were no diodes, this solution would not be possible because a properly powerful bulb would require more space and it would be difficult to install them.
LED headlights have another big advantage that is currently only used by automakers. In the latest car models, the lights adapt to the situation on the road, without the use of complex drive systems, etc. decisions. Such reflectors are called matrix reflectors. In great simplification, how they work looks like this: Many single, easily controllable LEDs emit a shaped beam of light onto the road. Its appearance is determined by sensors and cameras installed in the vehicle, which turn off individual LEDs to prevent the headlights from blinding the driver of a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction. These headlights are able to match the light beam to the curve, adapting it to the curved line in a few milliseconds. The very moment the bend tightens and yet the spotlight shines straight ahead,
Procedure for registering changes to motorcycle equipment
- Before making new lighting equipment, contact an accredited testing laboratory, which will issue a positive conclusion on the planned changes. At the first stage, plans may be rejected if they do not comply with the standards and regulations.
- With this permission, go to the traffic police and receive permission to install the equipment.
- Buy certified equipment from a reliable manufacturer from an official distributor and contact a qualified service station for installation. The traffic police may request documentation from the work contractors confirming the qualifications of the employees who made the design changes.
- After completion of work, return to the testing laboratory to check the changes made.
- Pass inspection.
- Return to the traffic police for a visual inspection for compliance.
At any stage, the procedure can be stopped or rejected; all stages of approval are paid.
New rules make it more difficult to install more powerful optics, but bright lighting gives lightweight vehicles confidence and safety on the road. Whatever option you choose to improve your visibility on the road, without certified equipment it will be illegal, which means it will lead to problems and costs.
In the catalog of the Wesem-Light online store buy factory certified products with test results on various brands of cars and bikes at an affordable price . Check out the options for additional headlights for your motorcycle right now.
LED Strip Light
Before the installation process itself, let's look at the material, that is, the tape itself. In the store, the price for this pleasure starts from 100 rubles (30 UAH) per meter. The price may increase depending on the number of LEDs (from 30 per meter), brightness and color. Such tapes have a relatively long shelf life, and they will also consume a small amount of electricity. You can easily install the tape anywhere on the scooter, it is so flexible that the backlight can be placed in any desired place. And if you don’t know which color to choose, use the most popular and quite beautiful colors - blue or green.
