It’s fair to say that standard Lambretta headlights aren’t really of much use. The 12v DC system on my Quattrini Eibar Series 2 is a lot better but still doesn’t really stop a rabbit in its tracks. Luckily Scooter Center in Germany have been developing these LED headlights for various models and they’ve sent us one to try out.
I’m sure the majority of Lambrettas hardly ever get used in the dark, so why would you need an expensive LED headlight? Daytime headlights are just as important as good lights at night, especially in dodgy weather. With the halo ring sidelight on this Moto Nostra headlight, it’ll make you and scooter stand out, day or night.
What’s in the box?
The 120 mm e-marked LED headlight comes boxed with an aluminium mounting ring, 2 screws and some heat shrink tube. It fits various models so it’s pre-wired with a connection plug, You’ll need to cut that off if fitting to an S1/S2/S3 (the S3 has an adaptor for the wiring as well). The quality of the headlight looks very good and it’s noticeably heavier than the standard headlight (as you’d expect).
Fitting
I’m no electrics wizard but fitting seemed pretty straightforward (just 4 wires) so I gave it a go. The first job is to remove the original headlight then straighten the tabs that hold it into the chrome headlight bezel. My 1962 headlight glass and reflector dropped apart at this stage so they were getting ready for resealing.
You can see most of the fitting process in the video above. It’s not exactly plug and play but is very straightforward. With the old headlight removed you can mount the LED to the aluminium ring. Firstly you have to bend the two tabs up to allow it to fit to the headlight using the two screws supplied.
Soldering
If you’ve already cut the connector block off you’ll also need to strip the four wires back and cut the bullet connectors off your original headlight wires. Alternatively, you could use female bullet connectors on the LED to connect to the existing male bullets on the scooter but they need to be sheathed to avoid short circuits.
SLUK Inclusive policy
We like to be inclusive at ScooterLab so on the left we have a photo of my electrickery in glorious technicolour. Then, on the right, we have the same photo adapted especially for any of our readers who happen to suffer from colour blindness.
For viewers watching the internet in black and white – the red cable is on the left.
Join the wires
I connected mine first just by twirling and taping them together just to make sure everything was going to work, amazingly it did. It seems I’m not quite as stupid/colour blind as I thought, either that or the wiring is virtually idiot-proof! The connections are as follows for the S1/S2…
- Black on LED = earth
- White = low beam
- Red = high beam
- Green = side light
Black from LED connects to white (earth) that goes to headlight rim/earthing point
White from LED connects to the blue from the light switch
Green from the LED connects to the yellow from the light switch
Red wire goes to red
It’s best to solder your wires together, rather than using connectors etc. I improved my dodgy soldering technique during the fitting of this headlight. Even so, if I was still at school my report may well have read “Could do much better.”
Fit the ring
The aluminium ring arrives flat but you need to bend the two side tabs to a 90º angle so the two small bolts can be used to attach it to the LED headlight. These allow the headlight to be moved to set the aim.
Battered ring
You’ll probably notice that the ring looks out of shape, it is – so please don’t adjust your TV sets. There’s a reason for that, the Eibar headset is slightly different in diameter to an Italian S2 headset. We found that out whilst making our first SLUK XL5 screens. It means the ring is put under a bit of pressure when you knock the headlight rim back on and screw the headset back together. It holds it in place very well though and on Italian scooters it should be a perfect fit.
Back together
With the headlight rim screwed back on I wasn’t sure about the look of the LED at first, the halo makes the light look smaller than standard – although it is growing on me. I put the SLUK screen back on though and the LED doesn’t look too out of place.
Verdict
The headlight is very good quality and is easy to wire up. The halo sidelight is fantastic, it’ll get you noticed day or night so is well worth having as an added safety feature. The dipped beam is the best headlight I’ve used on a Lambretta, as is the main beam. They use just 20 watts of power but give off 1200 lumens – equivalent to a 100w bulb (a standard 45w/45w filament bulb is just 400 lumens) and the beam pattern is quite well spread. Unlike many annoying car LED headlights the actual beam isn’t likely to give oncoming drivers a migraine or make them squint and doesn’t have that blueish tint to it.
If your middle-aged eyes leave you needing all the help you can get – or if you love the latest bling, the Moto Nostra headlight is well worth having.
Iggy
Price & availability
Good stuff doesn’t come cheap, especially in the scooter world. The Moto Nostra LED headlight will set you back £187 including the mounting ring, cable sheaths and tie wraps. You can get yours direct from Scooter Center here.
Coming soon
The TV/SX/GT headlight fitting kits are being worked on now and should be available by the end of the year. You can check out the other LED options for vespa and other models here.
Get it quick and save 10%!!!
From now until the 4th of December Scooter Center’s CYBER WEEK sale means you can save 10% on this product and everything else. Just enter the code ‘CYBER19’ at checkout here.
SLUK Shop is the perfect place to start your Christmas shopping
It’s nice to see SC have finally released the adapter ring for Lambrettas. I had a right chew making one of these fit without it.
I really want a good headlight for a GP
Any ideas??
I just fit one to my ’64 Li125.
First, it’s important to emphasize that this is DC only. You will blow the unit if hooked up to AC.
On mine the mounting ring fits the other way. It does not extend out away from the light as shown in the video, it fits tight against the headlight. Then pop it in the bezel and fold over the bezel’s retaining tabs, very straight forward and easily done.
The large “lens” area with the vertical lines goes to the top. Take care to line it up as the beam has a sharp, straight, cut-off. In the video the headlight is cocked to one side.
The headlight’s outer cover is plastic and somewhat easily marred. Leave the protective film on until you have finished mounting it.
Highly recommended.
Would this work with a DC ignition without a battery or is a battery necessary?