Front Light

[spud]

whats the best headlight for a SX/Li special folks?

[MK Monty]

Depends if you want to see what's in front of you
Bin the coolies hat and reeded glass that just glow and scatter the light and go for a Jockey B headlight then you can look at different options of H$ halogen or HID lamp options

[Tractorman]

Depends if you want to see what's in front of you
Bin the coolies hat and reeded glass that just glow and scatter the light and go for a Jockey B headlight then you can look at different options of H$ halogen or HID lamp options

Can only agree with MK Monty these light are brilliant it a pity they don't make them for GPs.

[coaster]

Depends if you want to see what's in front of you
Bin the coolies hat and reeded glass that just glow and scatter the light and go for a Jockey B headlight then you can look at different options of H$ halogen or HID lamp options

Can only agree with MK Monty these light are brilliant it a pity they don't make them for GPs.

I agree with the above, Jockeys conversion good with the halogen but if you gave DC conversion then the HID takes it to another level.

GP owners should be looking at Scomadi as they now do a modern clear lens and reflector which I believe would fit the GP headset.

[Fast n Furious]

I'd like to see if a Scomadi lamp will actually fit a GP.
I had read on me grapevine that the glass is slightly smaller, which is better than bigger of course.
Can anyone confirm?

[kennystag]

Hi I got a head light bulb from someone one here for my GP and it is a cracking light, who are you ,and what type of bulb was it.
Thanks
Stag

[Knowledge]

I'd like to see if a Scomadi lamp will actually fit a GP.
I had read on me grapevine that the glass is slightly smaller, which is better than bigger of course.
Can anyone confirm?

I had a play with a Scomadi light fitting a while back. Yes, it is slightly smaller, but it is also quite deep.

The reason I was looking at the Scomadi light is that I wanted a clear lens for my GP, and the Scomadi fitting offered me this. Although it looked about right, I decide to not buy the Scomadi item as it was £65 and might not look right in the Innocenti light rim, as the curves of the lens are a bit squarer than the original item. The other matter was that the owner of the Scomadi said the lights were dreadful. It takes an H4 lamp.






I am going to try to vacuum form a new headlight lens in clear plastic later in the year. but in the meantime, I will use a diffused GP item: they are only a fiver.

[coaster]

The diffused 'ribbed' standard lenses are only part of the problem, the reflector needs to be of the type in the Scomadi picture to cope with the focus. I note what your Scomadi rider said about the light being dreadful but that statement might be relative to what he is used to. Was he a 'seasoned' Lambretta rider? or a newby to scooters? If I owned a GP I would definitely persevere with the Scomadi light but would put a HID H4 lamp in it. At £65 it isn't much more than the Jockey's offerings and you could always use the Scomadi rim as well if it doesn't sit right in the Lambretta one.

Edit: I just had a closer look at the photos and it looks like that is an HID lamp in there. The lamp base is the same as my HID and other giveaways are that there are only 2 wires going to it and also looking at the front of the lens, you can see the chromed shroud that covers the lamp. My Jet doesn't have the shroud fitted and the light is amazing out on the road. My LiS has the shroud but I've only tried it in the driveway...did SEEM similar though

[Meds]

A few question for those with jockey headlights.
How much room is left inside the head light?
what did you use as a connector block?
What's the best lamp to use? (it Seems a bit silly to spend £60 on a quality reflector and put a crap lamp in)

[landybretta]

A few question for those with jockey headlights.
How much room is left inside the head light?
what did you use as a connector block?
What's the best lamp to use? (it Seems a bit silly to spend £60 on a quality reflector and put a crap lamp in)

Still enough room if you discard the original junction box and use "wago" connectors, (the lever type are best).
I use the 35w bulb supplied with the lamp and find it a huge improvement on the original light and would recommend it.
You could use a larger wattage bulb but be aware that the lens is plastic.

[Knowledge]

Edit: I just had a closer look at the photos and it looks like that is an HID lamp in there. The lamp base is the same as my HID and other giveaways are that there are only 2 wires going to it and also looking at the front of the lens, you can see the chromed shroud that covers the lamp. My Jet doesn't have the shroud fitted and the light is amazing out on the road. My LiS has the shroud but I've only tried it in the driveway...did SEEM similar though

Well spotted Colin, but the HID was what we were playing with while the top was off the headset: it isn't actually fitted. The owner, despairing of years of lousy lights on his traditional scooters, was a bit p!ssed off the discover that the Scomadi lights were little better (35/35w lamp). He purchased an HID kit off ebay, but it was a two-lamp kit and needed modifying to suit the Scomadi. As he was electrically inept, he asked me to have a look at it when I was round his house measuring-up the size of the headlight. I didn't have time to fit the HID, and to the best of my knowledge, the scooter still has the 35/35w lamp.

It is interesting to note that Scomadi list an HID conversion for their scooters, so that must be acknowledgement that there are improvement to be made to the lighting.

[Wack]

I can't understand why no one has made a modern light unit to fit a GP?

[coaster]

........................... He purchased an HID kit off ebay, but it was a two-lamp kit and needed modifying to suit the Scomadi. As he was electrically inept, he asked me to have a look at it when I was round his house measuring-up the size of the headlight.

Sounds like he bought a generic set for a car which is fine. It should have 2 ballast units, 2 HID Lamps, a relay and a small mystery box and a wiring harness. You won't need the harness or the little mystery box. Just use one of the ballasts and one of the HID lamp units and also one or two of the connectors in the loom. basically the DC feed from the light switch goes strainght to the ballast which converts to about 20k volts which powers the single filament (not exactly a filament) in the HID. The dip function works by toggling the glass HID tube up or down by means of a solenoid in the lamp base. The wires for that connect to the wires from the Dip switch. One of the leads from the HID will plug straight into the ballast (that's the 20k volt one and you will note that it is like a thin HT lead. Unfortunately it probably won't be long enough to reach where the ballast will need to be fitted. Mine is attached to the horn mounting bracket but extension cables with the correct plugs are available on ebay in various lengths. Give me a shout if you need to

[Knowledge]

With the greatest respect Col, a lighting upgrade on someone else's Scomadi is not high on my very long to-do list, but I can't wait to show you what is, cos it is right up your strausser.

More later

[Fast n Furious]

It certainly looks like the Jockey boxenstop SX and LI lamp assemblies came from the same plant that made these Scomadli GP units.

[coaster]

It certainly looks like the Jockey boxenstop SX and LI lamp assemblies came from the same plant that made these Scomadli GP units.

I had the same thought, the venting is exactly the same.

[peejay]

i've just fitted a Boxenstop light to my SX.
the M o T tester was most impressed with the brightness and said that there was every chance that it might actually blind someone coming the other way!!

he checked the beam angle and it was spot on (i had set it up as per the owners hand book

[rossclark]

Would have been interesting to see how that looked with the rim(s) in place as the fit doesn't look too bad - better than I'd have expected, and better than some of the plastic GP units I've seen.

[Fast n Furious]

Just a word of caution to those contemplating HID conversion with these Chinese made conversion kits.
The 23kV wire from the ignitor to the lamp is usually made from a silicone insulated wire, which is exposed around the connector area. If this wire comes close to the metalwork of your scooter it will most likely arc across to earth especially in damp weather. It likes to burn a neat hole straight through the insulation and once it happens can only get worse. I recommend that you wrap this area with extra insulation tape to keep the wire away from any earths.
I found that a 55/60W Halogen lamp is a bit too much for the reflector and begins to burn and discolour it after a while. If you prefer to stick with halogen, then I recommend sticking with the stock 35/35W that comes with the headlamp. This discoloration doesn't happen with the HID.
The HID lamp runs marginally cooler than its Halogen relative, but the downside is the ignitor, which has a metal heatsink that radiates a lot. I mounted mine in the headset upside down so the heatsink can radiated upwards and is not in contact with any wiring.
Only time will tell if this conversion is reliable.

[Fast n Furious]

Thought I should report on my HID conversion now that it's been nearly a year in operation.
Very reliable generally...........
I really need a bigger battery though for use around town on a night. The battery I have in there is only 2.1AH. It really needs a 4.8+AH. If the battery is too small, then it doesn't take long for the battery voltage to fall below 9V which kills the light dead.
They don't like wet weather, which tends to ingress past between the headlamp and the rim. The water plays havoc with the 23KV ignitor wire which again kills the lamp until it has dried out. So once the headlamp beam angle is set, its a good idea to use a bead of translucent silicone sealant around the rim gap to improve the ingress rating.
This product is moving on you'd expect though. I noticed one advertised recently where the ignitor, bulb holder and bulb are all one piece which is a much better idea for a scooter. Just hope there's enough room though.
Suppose I'll have to buy and try to find out?