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-   -   DIY: Honda Activa Headlight Upgrade (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/162465-diy-honda-activa-headlight-upgrade.html)

MODS: KINDLY MOVE TO LIGHTING THREAD IF THIS DOES NOT BELONG HERE

Recently, I was forced to take my fathers Activa to office - a commute of 32 km each way - and on my return journey, I realized that the incandescent bulb of the headlight was useless. It probably, merely, served to tell people of my presence on the road.

I decided to switch to a halogen bulb with stock holder, and I did - but things improved only marginally, as the reflector was filled with dust, and the bulb just gave a point beam, which would never illuminate the road.

From here, I decided to get a new sealed beam, and fix a H4 Osram Silver Star (stock 35/35 W), which is working well in my RX135



The H4 bulb was not a straight fit on the old type doom:



The part that needs to be sawed off:



Used a hacksaw to do the needful:





Check the correct seating of the bulb and fix the clip and connector:





Again, the H4 connector had bullet type connectors and was not a straight fit to Activa's connector, so I had to cut the wires just behind the stock holder, skinned them long, and inserted them into the holes in the bullet connector and crimped them - a crude but good connection - finally taped the wires up:













Finally I replaced the stock dust cover:



The difference in light:

Before:


After:


For the above pics I have kept the same exposure value (Lumia 720) and same engine RPM, to get as accurate a comparison as possible with this setup.

I am not really sure if this DIY really has a place here as its a fairly simple one, but I decided to share anyway. If someone can help me with getting the electricals right for complete DC conversion, that will be my next project :)

Full DC will open up more possibilities of using LED indictor bulbs with digital flasher and projector setup.

Holy!!
Doing this on my 10 year Honda Dio and 1.5 year Hero Dawn ASAP :)

Excellent idea, kudos for your skill.

I have seen many Dio with projector setup, and it looks really good! However, I really do not know if its justified investing INR5000 for lighting on a vehicle whose market value is about 15000. May be if the bike is used extensively at dark hours, it may make sense?

For my dad's kinetic, I have bought this

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1550L...256728332.html

I'll wire it such that it will run off the battery and come on whenever the headlight is on.

LEDs are fast becoming very good and cheap; makes sense to use them rather than trying to improve on stock headlights.

Hey autocrat,

You're the man! This is what I've been thinking to get done for a while and there you are, with this! Fantastic write up with a lot of pictures for explanatory purposes.

a quick question though - After i saw those bits off, does that imply, there would be an issue with the fit at the time of reverting to the stock lamps (if, ever stupid:!)?

Cheerio,
-Shivang Gandotra

Hello MetalBuff,

There will be no issue reverting to stock :)

Wonderful and very useful DIY buddy. Thanks for sharing. I hope many Activa owners (and other too) will get benefited.
Can you please share the light throw on a open area? On the walls it looks like a point beam to me.

Mr. Boss,

Its indeed a point beam, but the point beam is wider and brighter, and the surrounding areas also have improvement.

Also, the normal halogen had 2 filaments along the axis of handlebar, parallel to each other. The Silver Star filaments are along the axis of the vehicle, and almost in line with each other, which produces a different kind of beam for high and low. I will try to take pic with low beam and share the results sometime soon.

Great DIY Sir. The rider gets a better vision and also isis safer at nights. Overall rideability increases.

1) How would a 60/55W hold onto?

2) Would there be reflector damage?

3) Will the electricals be able to take the load?

Any DIY is welcome here be it small or big. Helps a lot of members directly/indirectly.

Are the reflectors designed for HS1 bulbs? The old activa had S1 bulbs which have a different design. Using the halogen HS1 here will not focus the beam correctly. In the picture you posted, you can clearly observe that the low beam cutoff is gone. Hence do focus the beam a little low else it will cause glare and also be ineffective since the beam is scattered upwards.

I tried this mod on my old bajaj wave and gave up due to this reason. Nevertheless a clean DIY! Moreover the old activa and dio had better electricals compared to the current lot. The current ones are horrible with puny batteries and weak alternators. My dio barely manages 35/35w. Can't even dream of an upgrade :Frustrati

Hi a4anurag,

1) If the alternator produces enough juice, a 60/55 can be fitted. However, in stock condition, I do not think the alternator produces enough. You need to get the coil rewound for this. As far as I know, old Activa produces 110W@5000 rpm and it may not be enough.

2) 60/55 will definitely produce more heat. OE reflector / lens may sustain, but aftermarket ones may give up soon. My 2006 Indica could easily take 130/100, but my cousins that came in 2009 got badly damaged with 100/90. Instead of upping the wattage, I feel its better to go full DC and projector setup, with HID or LED. They give more lumen per watt - but have to spend more.

3) If you get coil rewound, then you need heavier gauge wires, and relays to isolate the switches from high currents. Plonking a 60/55 in the existing setup may not really give you extra light. Also, the bulb will take little more time to light up. I had a Philips 60/55 on my RX and I see Silver Star 35/35 fared better that that. Downside of Silver Star is its not as long lasting as normal halogens. For my RX I have changed the sealed beam from stock to one from Autopal. The Autopal lens gives good spread in low beam.

Hi Audioholic, I will take pic of low beam and post, may be on Sunday. I will be traveling this weekend so may not be possible until I return. I have used the lowest possible position for the doom. Activa's adjustment range is frankly bad - it goes from high to highest :)

You got a bulb with the wrong base. A correct replacement bulb would have been a direct fit.



What do you mean by full DC? Are scooters working on AC these days? Please excuse me if it sounds silly, the last scooter I rode was a 6V Bajaj Super of 89 vintage. If you explain the issue in detail then I can help.

Hi Fighterace,

I wanted to fit a H4 bulb that provided better illumination. The stock dome does not accommodate H4, hence the DIY. AFAIK, Osram Silverstar is not available in the stock base.

Honda Activa stock electrical setup has the headlight / tail light running on AC and rest of the bulbs and horn are on DC powered by battery. When i said full DC, I meant that even the headlight has to run on DC powered by battery. I hope this clarifies.

I think the H4 with a 65 deg angle is what you needed, but what is done is done. It's just that you cant go back to stock, not that you would want to either.

What about focus and throw? If the reflector is designed for a different type of bulb, won't these be affected? I remember my father fitting a halogen bulb in our Super (in it's original 6V avatar), back in the days when halogens were what Xenons, or rather LED's, are nowadays. While it was a plug-and-play replacement, I remember the beam pattern changing. And the intensity was notably improved.


No problem at all, an extra rectifier in the headlamp circuit should convert the AC to DC. Depending on the rating, you can use the standard rectifier that charges the battery, or can make a custom unit. I'll be glad to help.

Putting the battery in the loop will need some major modifications though.