Voge lighting specifications and LED units by model

The first point to establish about lighting on a current Voge is that in most cases there is nothing to unscrew.

The 500DS list, which is representative

Lamp	Specification
Headlight	12V 10/20W LED
Front position light	12V 2.6W LED
Tail and brake light	12V 4.2/7W LED
Front indicators	12V 1.8W x 2 LED
Rear indicators	12V 1.8W x 2 LED
Number plate light	12V 0.257W LED

Two figures separated by a slash indicate that the lamp has two levels of output: dipped and main beam at the front, tail and brake at the rear.

Why the wattages appear so low

A 20 W LED main beam is not a dim main beam. A 55 W halogen unit dissipated most of that power as heat, whereas an LED of a fifth the wattage produces comparable light. Comparison with the figures familiar from an older motorcycle is therefore misleading.

The number plate light at 0.257 W, a quarter of one watt, is the clearest illustration of the change.

What a failure means

A halogen bulb is a consumable. An LED is a sealed unit, generally integral to the lamp housing, and when it fails the housing is the replacement part. Three consequences follow:

• A single indicator that has stopped working is more often the connector or the flasher relay than the LED itself. The connector is checked before a light is ordered.
• A headlight in which one function works and the other does not, dipped but no main beam, is generally the switch or the wiring, since both functions share a single LED module.
• All lighting dead simultaneously is a fuse rather than fifteen concurrent failures. Ratings are in fuse ratings by model.

The pre-ride check

The maintenance plan lists every light as an inspection item at each service, and the pre-ride check in every manual calls for the headlight, tail light, brake light, indicators and plate light to be confirmed before riding.

That check identifies a failed connector while it remains a five minute job, which is the reason it appears on the list.

LED retrofits on the older models

The 300 and 125 class manuals still list conventional bulbs in places. Replacing those with LED retrofits produces two predictable problems.

Indicators flash rapidly. The flasher relay measures current in order to detect a failed bulb. An LED draws so little that the relay reads it as failed. A resistor or an LED-rated relay is required.

The beam pattern is lost. A headlight reflector is designed around the exact position of a filament. An LED emitter in the same socket sits differently, and the result dazzles oncoming traffic while lighting the road less effectively than the unit it replaced.

Related pages

Beam adjustment is covered in headlight beam adjustment, and wider electrical symptoms in blown fuses and electrical faults.