Well, I just tried the new firmware trick for turning off the headlight and I confirmed it.
Here are the instructions:
Hold the "flash" (high beam trigger) switch on the left hand side for a few seconds until you hear a noise from the
signal-horn. Then wait a little more (about 2 seconds) and that's it. The
main light turns off and only the LED light stays on.
You just need to turn on then off the maximum light (main high beam) to get back to normal. No need to turn the scooter off.
I am not sure on the rules, but this might be illegal to ride this way in the USA.
The front LED light is on, but the main lamp is off.
It is definitely saving energy to run with LED only, but it is likely a minor amount overall.
More importantly, if you let go right after the beep you will have both filaments on when flicking to high beam, but only if you keep riding to cool the lamp. Stop riding and it goes back to single filament after a few seconds.
Mr. Mik
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
I couldn't resist doing a quick estimate,
Battery capacity = 3.7kWh = 3700Wh
Bulbs consume 2 x 35W = 70 W
Assuming a 1-hour ride, the bulb consumes 70 / 3700 = 1.9% of available energy.
Assuming you ride 60 miles in that hour, (heh) that's 1.1 miles off of your unlit range.
Now in practice, the battery response is lower as the charge runs down, so the impact you experience may well be more significant than this.
But as I've said elsewhere, the safety benefits outweigh the costs, IMHO.
I don't think the headlight will reduce your range nearly as much as a collision would. :-)
Safe riding,
Arlo
Re-reading Mik's post, it seems my computation compares the improved, dual-filament-on state with fully lights-off mode. I am glad to hear that I can keep both filaments on, as I find the headlights a bit dim for twilight riding.
Thanks for the tech tips, guys, most helpful!
Arlo
I queried this with the service engineer when he came on Tuesday to do my annual service. If you run with both filaments on, or fit a higher wattage bulb, the regulator which feeds the 12 volts to all the subsidiaries ,including the back lights will over volt and blow the back lights. They designed the light to be"adequate" for 55 mph. Apparently from the designers, running with the main headlight off and just the LED will give an increase in range of....300 feet! I must admit I have found it makes very little difference as my commute which is a round trip of 35 miles and it just makes it. Also he dropped a little gem. The maximum speed is regulated to 64mph/ 100kph, quote "as anything in the states over 55mph is seen as a bonus"!! The bike is capable of much greater speed with a much greater corresponding reduction in range. Theoretical maximum design speed of the motor /gear box assembly is in excess of 90 mph. The sport version they are working on with a top speed in excess of a ton has a totally different motor/battery and has a proper gear change with a theoretical range of 150 miles. Love to see this one and how much it weighs!!
Regards
Ray
Ray
The only real reason I could come up with for having the ability to kill the headlight was that it might be beneficial to a technician that may need to keep the bike switched on for a period of time. Burning that H4 bulb in a stationary spot for a length of time might overheat it. As for driving with no light, it just doesn't make any sense to do so.
I tried the trick with activating both beams, and could not tell the difference. In fact, I couldn't tell whether it was buring both beams or just burning both indicators. Just not worth the effort.
That statement surprises me!
In dark areas with wildlife threatening to hop onto the road it makes a big difference. You could not miss it. Really much better than a single beam. Double the light, so to say!
(Of course, double the photons does not mean double brightness, it's a logarithmic function.)
The improvement is not as big as with a 35W HID light, thought...
Mr. Mik
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
During the daylight hours, I have started deactivating the main lamp and only riding with the LED.
I stopped next to a parked motorcycle police officer and show him the difference. He said the LED was enough.
I live and work in a rural area, and am often called in to work during the night time. I HAVE been in collisions with several deer and quite a few other night animals over the years, and I am thoroughly convinced that if you can see them, they are of little threat. It's the ones that come flying out of nowhere that an aircraft light wouldn't have made more visible that will slam into you and put your butt on the ground. Eyes are pretty easy to spot with even the lowest of light beams, but what I was really referring to is that if using dual beams up front is potentially going to destroy the light in the back, then it is simply not worth the extra effort.
I'd much rather have low light in front than no light in back.
This is about right when you drain the battery by riding 20min flat out, getting a range of about 30km.
35W x 0.3h = 10.5Wh used for lighting.
3689.5Wh / 30km = 122.9Wh/km
10.5 / 122.9 = 0.085km = 85m range reduction at extremely high speeds.
But if you try to get as far as possible, riding very slowly for 3 hrs getting 83km range, then you use much more for lighting and much less per km for riding.
35W x 2.5h = 87.5Wh for lighting.
3612.5Wh / 83km = 43.52Wh / km for riding.
That makes a difference of 87.5 / 43.52 = 2.01km range reduction at extremely low speeds!
These numbers are of course approximate and do not take into account a bunch of influencing factors, but I think it makes the principle clear.
The slower you ride, the more range you get, the longer it takes, the more battery capacity will be used up for lighting.
When riding very slowly, the protective effect of having the head light on might also be reduced compared to high speed.
It's a no-brainer: Leave the light on for everyday use, it might save your life.
For extreme range record attempts turn the light off from the start.
Mr. Mik
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
I think this is what happend when my headlight "went off" after my first deep discharge. I was messing with the flasher switch when it powered off so I don't think the headlamp going off "automatically" is a feature when the batteries are very low.
I just discovered this feature by accident and assumed it was the bike doing it. I ran it down just as much the other day for my second deep discharge and it didn't go off.
It was only when I read this that I remembered what I was doing at the time of it going out.
But I will turn it off when I go for a record attempt, which will be soon....LOL! I want 55 miles! Well I want 155 miles to be honest but let's be reasonable. :-)
Simon.
Simon