MisterB
Active member
When I first got Trail fever there were none available so I bought a Super Cub since my wife has some MC experience (in teens) and always has wanted a small scooter. I figured I'd ride it until the Trail came in then she'd ride the Cub.
The output from the headlight was horribly purple. Being a flashoholic changes the way you look at light sources and it just wasn't acceptable. I started my flashlight hobby on Candlepower Forums but eventually moved to Budget Light Forums (BLF). Saw a thread where the modder Clemence had swapped his scooter emitters and I used his work as inspiration to move forward.
The Super Cub was a nightmare just getting to the headlight but I got it done and the output is glorious.
The stock Trail output is much better than the stock Super Cub both in tint and beam shape but still fairly purple with poor color rendition. Using audio as an analogy it's like a 4" speaker with a whizzer cone; mostly mids and some highs but no bass.
I replaced the stock low beam emitters with a pair of Nichia 519A R9080 4500K and the high beam emitters with two CREE XP-L HI V3 3B 4500k.
The choice of Nichia for low was a personal preference, I think you could use a Cree XP-G3 and have great output.
Since the halo emitter is a "white" emitter it would've caused problems replacing it with a standard amber emitter which uses lower forward voltage, however, our friends at Cree have released the CREE PC Amber XP-E2. The "PC" bit means that it works in the 3.08-3.25V range making it a friendly swap with white emitter.
There are very strict laws regarding what colors can be used with vehicles and everything I found said only white and amber can be front facing. I'll update from the slammer if it turns out I'm wrong.
The mod was a bear mainly because of the adhesive securing the lens to the black case.
If you're familiar with surface mount soldering and emitter swapping and decide to give it a go, here are some tips.
*Insert 1/4" nylon ties (smooth side towards light) between the black clips and the lens. Cut off the excess beyond the lens to lower frustration.
*Use a heat gun on low to heat the joint where the lens goes into the black housing. You don't want to melt it, just soften the crazy adhesive. (Matt at local Honda dealer says it's probably Hondabond).
*When it's warm enough to budge, use a sturdy wide spudger to work the lens out, working your way around. After the lens is out 1/2",(12.7 Australian), use a brand-new razor blade to cut the adhesive around the lens. If you don't cut it the adhesive will string all over the place and make a mess.
*I used a butane powered hot air blower to get heat only the board directly under the emitter. When the boards are made they typically heat the whole thing and solder it all at once, we just want to unsolder a single component. The Halo board has a component nearby on the underside so be careful.
Here's a link to Clemence's thread on BLF: https://budgetlightforum.com/node/53834
His scooter is a Honda with very similar Stanley headlight circuit boards. You can see that he used a much smaller emitter than I did. That's how flashoholics roll, if it fits, it must emit! The XP footprint is a nearly perfect fit to the Stanley solder pads so I'll rest easier. After I verified it worked I used a toothpick and put a tiny bead of 2-part epoxy along the sides of the emitters for extra rigidity.
It just occurred to me that there might be an aftermarket solution that addresses this! LOL. I didn't even check but if it's as expensive as all the other bits on this bike I probably would have done this anyway.
Here are links for your convenience, not affiliated.
Amber halo emitter (x1) https://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=704&search=amber
Low beam emitters (x2) https://www.aliexpress.com/item/325...t_644232540.subject_0&gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt
Cree XP-G3 https://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_62&product_id=707
High beam emitters (x2) https://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_132&product_id=792
Huge disclaimer: I know this is "stupid" and "voids warranty" and all the possible negatives. I'm been modding flashlights and LED applications for about 13 years and have seen all the pushback, this isn't for everyone and I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. It's just my hobby, I'm a flashoholic. Also, a large chunk of my riding is at night so I appreciate the improved output. It's brighter, tint and color rendition are greatly improved, the beam profile and spill are more useful, and using the Cree XP-L HI for the high beams gave me high beams that really do their job.
I don't know what the specs are on the OEM emitters but the ones I replaced them with are able to run at over 10x the current our little headlights put into them so there's no issue there. If the headlight fails because of the mod that's an outcome I'm prepared to accept. There's a brighter light in my pocket or pack 24/7 so I'll limp home with that.
The reasons they use these too-cool emitters in stock headlights is because they are inexpensive, durable, and put out enough lumens within the broad range of "white" light to satisfy DOT demands.
If they paid 5-10 bucks more per headlight on an order of 100,000 headlights,... well, you can see how the bean counters would say to use the cheaper ones.
I've successfully posted pictures in the past but am unable to today. Will try imgur.
Halo emitter board (modded):
Low beam board(modded):
High beam board(modded):
The output from the headlight was horribly purple. Being a flashoholic changes the way you look at light sources and it just wasn't acceptable. I started my flashlight hobby on Candlepower Forums but eventually moved to Budget Light Forums (BLF). Saw a thread where the modder Clemence had swapped his scooter emitters and I used his work as inspiration to move forward.
The Super Cub was a nightmare just getting to the headlight but I got it done and the output is glorious.
The stock Trail output is much better than the stock Super Cub both in tint and beam shape but still fairly purple with poor color rendition. Using audio as an analogy it's like a 4" speaker with a whizzer cone; mostly mids and some highs but no bass.
I replaced the stock low beam emitters with a pair of Nichia 519A R9080 4500K and the high beam emitters with two CREE XP-L HI V3 3B 4500k.
The choice of Nichia for low was a personal preference, I think you could use a Cree XP-G3 and have great output.
Since the halo emitter is a "white" emitter it would've caused problems replacing it with a standard amber emitter which uses lower forward voltage, however, our friends at Cree have released the CREE PC Amber XP-E2. The "PC" bit means that it works in the 3.08-3.25V range making it a friendly swap with white emitter.
There are very strict laws regarding what colors can be used with vehicles and everything I found said only white and amber can be front facing. I'll update from the slammer if it turns out I'm wrong.
The mod was a bear mainly because of the adhesive securing the lens to the black case.
If you're familiar with surface mount soldering and emitter swapping and decide to give it a go, here are some tips.
*Insert 1/4" nylon ties (smooth side towards light) between the black clips and the lens. Cut off the excess beyond the lens to lower frustration.
*Use a heat gun on low to heat the joint where the lens goes into the black housing. You don't want to melt it, just soften the crazy adhesive. (Matt at local Honda dealer says it's probably Hondabond).
*When it's warm enough to budge, use a sturdy wide spudger to work the lens out, working your way around. After the lens is out 1/2",(12.7 Australian), use a brand-new razor blade to cut the adhesive around the lens. If you don't cut it the adhesive will string all over the place and make a mess.
*I used a butane powered hot air blower to get heat only the board directly under the emitter. When the boards are made they typically heat the whole thing and solder it all at once, we just want to unsolder a single component. The Halo board has a component nearby on the underside so be careful.
Here's a link to Clemence's thread on BLF: https://budgetlightforum.com/node/53834
His scooter is a Honda with very similar Stanley headlight circuit boards. You can see that he used a much smaller emitter than I did. That's how flashoholics roll, if it fits, it must emit! The XP footprint is a nearly perfect fit to the Stanley solder pads so I'll rest easier. After I verified it worked I used a toothpick and put a tiny bead of 2-part epoxy along the sides of the emitters for extra rigidity.
It just occurred to me that there might be an aftermarket solution that addresses this! LOL. I didn't even check but if it's as expensive as all the other bits on this bike I probably would have done this anyway.
Here are links for your convenience, not affiliated.
Amber halo emitter (x1) https://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=704&search=amber
Low beam emitters (x2) https://www.aliexpress.com/item/325...t_644232540.subject_0&gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt
Cree XP-G3 https://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_62&product_id=707
High beam emitters (x2) https://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_132&product_id=792
Huge disclaimer: I know this is "stupid" and "voids warranty" and all the possible negatives. I'm been modding flashlights and LED applications for about 13 years and have seen all the pushback, this isn't for everyone and I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. It's just my hobby, I'm a flashoholic. Also, a large chunk of my riding is at night so I appreciate the improved output. It's brighter, tint and color rendition are greatly improved, the beam profile and spill are more useful, and using the Cree XP-L HI for the high beams gave me high beams that really do their job.
I don't know what the specs are on the OEM emitters but the ones I replaced them with are able to run at over 10x the current our little headlights put into them so there's no issue there. If the headlight fails because of the mod that's an outcome I'm prepared to accept. There's a brighter light in my pocket or pack 24/7 so I'll limp home with that.
The reasons they use these too-cool emitters in stock headlights is because they are inexpensive, durable, and put out enough lumens within the broad range of "white" light to satisfy DOT demands.
If they paid 5-10 bucks more per headlight on an order of 100,000 headlights,... well, you can see how the bean counters would say to use the cheaper ones.
I've successfully posted pictures in the past but am unable to today. Will try imgur.
Halo emitter board (modded):
Low beam board(modded):
High beam board(modded):
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