Honda Activa Ownership and Modifications


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I own a White Honda Activa which I bought a year back on dhanteras. Till now I have covered 4250 kms only. I used only two free service coupons at 400 and 2027 kms. The third and fourth have not been used as third service is between 5500 to 6000 kms. Till now I have very good ownership experience with my ativa. I get a mileage of 50+ kmpl when driven at a speed of 40-45 kmph. I have also reached the top speed of 85+ kmph several times.

I have a two year warranty on the vehicle, but now I can't stop myself from doing some modifications. I have recently added another horn (same as stock type) and now its a pair of horns. Earlier I had decided to install a windtone horn but Dropped the idea as it would not suite to an Activa.

I'll be posting about more mods and upgrades soon. Other Activa Owners also please share your mods/upgrades and suggestions.
 
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Activa HEAD LAMP upgrade.

I am not at all satisfied with the light of my Activa. When I see any oncoming activa, it seems that the light is sufficient enough but when I drive the light seems to be too low.

Using the formula P =V * I I calculated the following

The Bulb 35W (2.9 Amps of current is consumed when connected to a 12 v source)
The battery provided is 12v 3 amps. (Provides 36W max. current)
The alternator is a 0.110kW ie 110W @ 5000 rpm. (Provides 9.16 Amps of current)

A 55W/60W bulb will consume 5Amp current. The bulb will get proper current after the vehicle reaches 30 kmph.

As the alternator provides 9.16 Amps of current Will the current setup be able to withstand a 55/60 W bulb ???
The wiring & relay will definitely have to be changed as the stock wiring is not sufficient.

Experts please give suggestions. .
 
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I too feel that most two wheelers especially scooters get weak headlights. This is a good DIY Shantanu, I think Varun is using 55W bulbs in his Access 125 without any wire/holder change. So I guess Activa wiring too should be able to take the extra load.
 
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Hi Shantanu.lko, I am using 55\60 (800's stock bulb) in my access. I haven't faced any problems till now. The only issue is the bulb is bit dim at idle speed.

I have a central locking too, I haven't faced any issue with battery.

I also need a suggestion, the tail lamp bulb frequently burns away, any particular reason ?
 
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Both goes away at a time, usually the one which turns on with the headlamp goes first.

I think the bulb is getting less power (voltage) Due to the use of 55/60 bulb. Someday please check the voltage at the rear bulb holder at low(idle) RPM. The bulb fuses away due to low or flactuating voltage. Why don't you replace the bulbs with some custom LED.
 
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The main reason I dint replace with LED's is because it has 2 filaments. I also tried to to get a led (ready made with holder) but it has a single connection (single filament).
 
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After I get my activa serviced, I'll start led and light modifications
I ll change the rear light to led's

btw: you can add two led strips and connect them to the couplars
 
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@shantanu:- kindly please update the thread i also wanted to know how to change headlight bulb from stock i too have an activa 2010 the headlight is to weak that i can't see oncoming potholes/traffic please help..


Regards
S.M
 
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@shantanu:- kindly please update the thread i also wanted to know how to change headlight bulb from stock i too have an activa 2010 the headlight is to weak that i can't see oncoming potholes/traffic please help..


Regards
S.M

Welcome to TAI,
I'll very soon work on my activa lights and update the thread.
 
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I own a White Honda Activa which I bought a year back on dhanteras. Till now I have covered 4250 kms only. I used only two free service coupons at 400 and 2027 kms. The third and fourth have not been used as third service is between 5500 to 6000 kms.
 
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I have a two year warranty on the vehicle, but now I can't stop myself from doing some modifications. I have recently added another horn (same as stock type) and now its a pair of horns. Earlier I had decided to install a windtone horn but Dropped the idea as it would not suite to an Activa.
The way to!!! Do you have a relay installed for the horns? Why did you not look at heavier horns like the Roots - Minisonic or similar?
I agree with you on windtones. I have seen people haveing windtones on their Access / Active. Mostly those are the school chaps using the bike for tuition centres & somehow did not appeal to me due to my age factor.

I am using 55\60 (800's stock bulb) in my access. I haven't faced any problems till now. The only issue is the bulb is bit dim at idle speed.

I have a central locking too, I haven't faced any issue with battery.

I also need a suggestion, the tail lamp bulb frequently burns away, any particular reason ?
Good Varun. My wife's Kinetic Honda's lighting is also insufficient sometimes. All I could opt for is only a 35W Halogen bulb upgrade as the holder size is scooter type and 35W was the maximum available with the pin type holders.
Is your central locking similar to the car's - I mean, electical actuator type?
Please check the voltage output at the Voltage regulator. If the RR unit is throwing out higher & unregulated voltage you can observe this. Is the speedo bulb doing good in your setup. If nothing works, you can use a RR unit of a Pulsar / Bajaj Rickshaw (that version which goes for 2 headlamp type). They are easy to wire up and rugged for higher current applications. In your case you are loading the regulator by about 85 % more that what it is designed for. Such 85% operation margins are never seen on Electronic circuits.
I think the bulb is getting less power (voltage) Due to the use of 55/60 bulb. Someday please check the voltage at the rear bulb holder at low(idle) RPM. The bulb fuses away due to low or flactuating voltage. Why don't you replace the bulbs with some custom LED.
With lesser Voltage there is no reason that a filament bulb will fail. A 12V bulb will outrun the vehicle itself if used on a 6V electricals bike. The filament burning off could be due to improper voltage after the regulator. BTW there is a 2 filament LED bulb conversion available on ebay.
The main reason I dint replace with LED's is because it has 2 filaments. I also tried to to get a led (ready made with holder) but it has a single connection (single filament).
Wont a strip of LED do the job. You are the more experienced in such DIYs. Thats why I wanted to know if you gave a thought. Even before going the LED way I would highly recomment replacing the RR unit.

For Info: In 2/3 wheelers the device is called an RR unit - Rectifier Regulator unit. The unregulated AC from the alternator is fed into the RR unit. The RR unit has 2 outputs. One of them delivers a regulated 12V AC for the headlamps & tail lamps. The other output channel is a regulated DC for charging the battery. I guess, the AC regulator part could have got affected due to loading it with 60 W (Head lamp) + 6W (Tail lamp) + 6W (2 X 3W) (Speedo bulbs). So please check the AC output first to sort this out.

The other Alternative is to use a Rectifier unit from a Bajaj Diesel Rickshaw and convert all AC to DC and feed to the battery. You can have all the lights operated from the battery itself. This way you can operate the HL at its full performance & get rid of the filament burning problem. You will have to take care that the HL goes off while cranking, just to protect the battery from overload while starting the scooter with HL on. You can see this happen in all Tata cars. Might be in other cars too, but at least not seen on my dad's Ikon or Uncle's Accent.

Hope this is enough input till the New year holidays. Enjoy Modding your scooters.
 
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Thread Starter #15
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@ Ilango Thanks a lot for the info. No, I haven't installed a relay for the horns. Both the horns are rated 2Amps and the headlight does not dim while using the horn so I didn't use a relay.
I was thinking to replace the back light and speedo lights with LEDs and upgrading the HL to 55/60w. But,now I'll upgrade the RR unit if I upgrade the Headlamp.

BTW: Will the Bajaj Auto RR unit overload the Alternator and the ICM ?? As the activa coil is only 0.110kW ie 110W @ 5000 rpm.
 

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