Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

LoveMyHonda wrote:If I remember right tj did a write up on hid installation, involved some cutting of the headlight bucket. It's rough on the charging system from what I've heard so no one does it for long.

A HID head light needs a lot of startup current but do not draw much current once lit.

If LED lights are used in combination with a HID lights, I think that would be a nice combo.

"they" make a hid/ headlight that also has a incandescent lamp for the low beams. (the low beams can run off ac power) This, combined with LEDs for every thing else is the best way to go

Power to the coil is relative to the amperage the cdi gets, it's an ac cdi. If this were not true then why change your lights to led.... Your head light draws amps, and wattage is the direct result of amperage, resistance ,and voltage....

The headlight has its own pickup in the stator. Deleting this creates a "racing stator" as it no longer powers a headlight. I converted my blinkers to LEDs on my Aero (always under construction) to reduce the current required so they would work when idling w/o a battery. Using an automotive flasher relay solves the blinking too fast problem, and adding a diode to the 'clicker' circuit should fix the problem of all 4 lights flashing.

Reducing the power required by the electrical system will reduce drag on the crank, but whether its enough to have any noticeable difference in mileage or power I cannot say for sure. My relatively uninformed guess would be that power would have no observed difference but mileage would gain slightly (like 1 mpg).

So many experts here, but i was the first to do it, a 35 degree projection beam works, i have the euro led conversion, now what ride is a dream you can't have

i can kill poor running bikes at idle with power.... and 50cc isnt very much to create drag on

as i was reaserching the topic i found this argument has already been brought up on here
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=26369

Trafficjamz wrote:LED lights will not help gas mileage or starting.

The stock headlight on our scooters take ac voltage to light.

Am LED light can only use dc voltage.
\.

I run an LED taillight on my moped and it is a/c.. works fine. Just make sure its regulated because it will blow.

Its funny, I have a spree I'm working on that has a switched headlight. Thought it was pretty but now I might need to try it out and see if I can notice a difference.

I'm all for members thinking up mods and objectively testing

To go along with empirical mod and test, here's rough numbers. It ignores generation losses. Yet if we factored in a steep 50% loss, mpg gain is not looking large.


-- Armchair calculations --
Most here run their stock scooters flat out, it's fun, and within or below most any town's speed limit . So rated hp from a stock scooter is used.

---
Wikipedia Reference:
1) Watts/hp
Horsepower (hp) is the name of several units of measurement of power, the rate at which work is done. The most common conversion factor, especially for electrical power, is 1 hp = 746 watts.

2) How many hp is a representative Honda scooter?
1984 Gyro NN50 hp: 3.7 hp @ 6000 RPM, 3.4 ft/lbs torque @ 5000 RPM

3) What is the equivalent hp output?
3.7 x 746 = 2.76 kw

4) What percentage of engine output does a headlamp draw?
Head lamp load is 25 watts on low or high beam
25 watts/2720 watts = less than 0.01 ==> 1%

5) What is our expected savings?
From #4 above, removal of the headlamp load will save around 1% energy.

Assuming 70-80 mpg, gain is estimated at 0.7 to 0.8 mpg

My reason for wanting to have an led taillight is for when I forget that the key is on and then engine isn't running. So the battery won't go dead as fast. And led lights light so much faster than standard bulbs so the brake light comes on faster.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Wheels is the electric man for sure, 1% saving. I doubt it helps my start up then more than likely its just a good running bike and thats that.

mousewheels wrote:Assuming 70-80 mpg, gain is estimated at 0.7 to 0.8 mpg

Rounds to 1 mpg

LoveMyHonda wrote:Power to the coil is relative to the amperage the cdi gets, it's an ac cdi. If this were not true then why change your lights to led.... Your head light draws amps, and wattage is the direct result of amperage, resistance ,and voltage....

The AC circuit for the lights is totally separate form the electronics that power the cdi and coil.

You can not get a better, hotter or more powerful spark because your lights use less power.

As far as getting better mpg because of lesser watt bulbs........like mouse said maybe 1% difference.

The direction of the wind has a larger effect on MPG than lower watt light bulbs.

Pineapplegti wrote:

Trafficjamz wrote:LED lights will not help gas mileage or starting.

The stock headlight on our scooters take ac voltage to light.

Am LED light can only use dc voltage.
\.

I run an LED taillight on my moped and it is a/c.. works fine. Just make sure its regulated because it will blow.

Your taillight is not AC it is DC and that is why the LED works fine for a tail/stop lamp.

LEDs only work with DC power.

Dude leds can work with ac, its called using a regulator and or zeners... I know the head light has its own coil, called a lighting coil. If that lighting coil is not being used it does NOT create a drag anymore.

who knows, who cares.