Anyone with experience installing a headlight on Levo/Kenevo?

[Tim69]

Im sure this has been covered. but searched for lights and so on.... and found nothing of interest.
can someone tell me from their experience - if its worth it to buy the original (and expensive!) cable to hook up a light, to the dedicated connecto on the Brose motor? or just "hotwire it" to the battery harness, and it will work fine..? are there advantages? or disadvantages to either way? if so what are they..?
i've been looking for cheap alternatives to buying the customized headlights built especially for Ebike's, as i cant afford to spend 800 pounds! on a light..
so got a few from china that work on voltages up to 80 volt, but my problem is this - wiring it up.
checked on wiring harnesses, and the wiring plus shipping was at least 30 pounds! finally got a cheap one off Ebay.. but ended up getting one for a Bosch motor instead of the Brose motor i have..so it had the wrong connector. so if anyone needs one for a Bosch motor... iv'e got one for cheap!
would love to hear from anyone with real experience at installing lights...
what type of light? rated power? how you wired it? what kind of switch used? and so on..
Thanks!
Tim

 

[c4s2rs6]

Hi Tim
I installed a Lupine SL SF for Brose. Install was easy as per the video that you should find from Tori if you search for Lupine under the Specialized section. I think the light is limited to 1100 lumens on the Brose (6V) but can output 1300 lumen on 12V motor systems. Happy with the light but would want something brighter or an extra headlamp for proper off-road night riding. Use it mostly on roads. All in all it’s an expensive set up probably but did come with the correct Brose cable. Presume the cables not that expensive separately. Guess hot wiring could give reliability issues. Either way better watch that the current is not too high

 

[Churchill]

<----- I just slap a bunch of lights on a handle bar extension.

I use a couple of Dinotte kits and a couple of Nitecore bike lights. I've got nearly 7000 real lumens. It's insanely bright!

 

[Churchill]

When I ride by, people be like:

 

[Bryan Wells]

Lupine for the Brose S is incredible performing! it has running ring led's, the low beam comes on at dusk, then the high beam is bright AF. The best part is the low beam stays out of peoples eyes due to a hard cut-off point, then the high beam opens up the cut off to fill the void. In one word, Perfection, it beats everything i have ever seen. It takes power from the motor, has a wired remote with green low beam light and blue high beam light on it. you can fully turn it off still... need i say more, i'll post a vid of mine soon

 

[DanDilla]

Running a Supernova M99 Mini Pro on the Light connector.
cable was like 12€ at R2 bike, shipping to uk 10€.
wanted to buy just the connector but didn’t find them anywhere, even front and back are a Little different As the back does only support 3w Max or so.

the Supernova E3 Tail light is also super bright, small, and fits perfectly on the seatstay where the braking cable is connected. Cable fits in the chainstay (Also the Aluminium one)

if you want to connect directly to the motor wires you could use the M99 Pro or one of the Lupines and get even more light.
But I liked the tail light much more than the Lupine ones, it doesn’t distract me, but everyone directly behind you will get mad, even by daylight front looks much better too and I like the light distribution. I could take a picture the next time when I’m riding at night...Supernova is like 12w (6v/2a) vs 19w on the battery.
But even with the 12w from the light output passengers stop and turn in he other direction if I forget to change to low beam (Street legal mode)
theres Also a hard cut off line on Low beam.

 

[Tim69]

Wow! Thanks for all the answers.. !!??
But I guess I should have been more specific.. I'm sure the Lupine, and supernova and others are great lights..!
But I just don't have hundreds of pounds to spend on a light..?
In the past I have been verry successful in making homemade "ghetto" lights that ran on 12v batteries. But on an Ebike it's redundant to ride with another battery, so wanted to hook up to the bikes battery. For that you need a variable voltage light, and they are easy to find on eBay, alliexpress and so on ..
The question is: is there any advantage to using the special light connector on the motor!?? Or is it just for convenience?
Will it make any difference if I hook up straight to the battery cable? Or does the specific light connector provide some special functionality I'm not aware of??
Like turning the light on and of automaticaly ?? Or some other advantage I'm not aware of?
Would love to hear from people who have installed their own lights, or "Ghetto" lights.. and have experience with this.?
Thanks again!
Tim

 

[Zimmerframe]

Not what you're looking for as I guess you want the ease of not having to charge. When I bought them my e-bike had a usb outlet port, so you could just leave them plugged in ...

XANES SFL-01 600LM XPG + 2 LED Bicycle German Standard Smart Sensor Warning Light Waterproof Bike Front Light Headlightt Flashlight 5 Modes USB Charging Night Riding Bike & Bicycle from Sports & Outdoor on banggood.com

With two mounted and running .. I think they're actually more effective than the headlights on my van !

Less effective in the mist as you'd expect !

 

[ridehard]

what is the power output of those spare ports on the motor? (in terms of Amp and Volts)
also, is that connector a standard one that you can find in electronic stores or proprietary?
interested to see what else is possible to connect from those spare ports (lights, cell. charge, external sensors like gps, etc.)

 

[Tim69]

Not what you're looking for as I guess you want the ease of not having to charge. When I bought them my e-bike had a usb outlet port, so you could just leave them plugged in ...

XANES SFL-01 600LM XPG + 2 LED Bicycle German Standard Smart Sensor Warning Light Waterproof Bike Front Light Headlightt Flashlight 5 Modes USB Charging Night Riding Bike & Bicycle from Sports & Outdoor on banggood.com

With two mounted and running .. I think they're actually more effective than the headlights on my van !

View attachment 18166

View attachment 18167

Less effective in the mist as you'd expect !

View attachment 18168

Not what you're looking for as I guess you want the ease of not having to charge. When I bought them my e-bike had a usb outlet port, so you could just leave them plugged in ...

XANES SFL-01 600LM XPG + 2 LED Bicycle German Standard Smart Sensor Warning Light Waterproof Bike Front Light Headlightt Flashlight 5 Modes USB Charging Night Riding Bike & Bicycle from Sports & Outdoor on banggood.com

With two mounted and running .. I think they're actually more effective than the headlights on my van !

View attachment 18166

View attachment 18167

Less effective in the mist as you'd expect !

View attachment 18168

Ohh.. so they were 5v? I assume?
Since they plugged into USB. Nice!
But yes, im looking to connect to the bike so I don't have to worry about carrying another battery, charging, ECT..
Tim

 

[Tim69]

what is the power output of those spare ports on the motor? (in terms of Amp and Volts)
also, is that connector a standard one that you can find in electronic stores or proprietary?
interested to see what else is possible to connect from those spare ports (lights, cell. charge, external sensors like gps, etc.)

Exactly... Me too!
By the way - You can buy a USB port converter from China that will hook up to your Ebike battery and convert it to a standard 5v USB port... if that's what you need.
I don't know what the amp. ratings are on the two motor connectors, ( there is one for a front light and one for a rear light) or if they can be purchased in a local electronics shop.. I've certainly never seen this type of connector before.. it has an "o" ring to make it watertight.
You can see the two motor connectors in the picture I took, on my Kenevo Brose motor:
The two round connectors, one with it's cap one, the other with the cap removed. The flat connector is the assist mode switch connector.
Tim

 

[Ed_M]

Funnily enough I made a USB powered cable off the front light port the other week. You can get the Lupine Brose cable on eBay for £17 and like somebody said a circuit board off Amazon/eBay to convert to USB.

i dropped a waterproof connector in the cable at the front so I can run a front light or use USB to charge my phone on long rides.

For the front light port here are the values provided by Specialized UK,

MY 19 2.1 Mag S Motor, 12V supply, 24W, 2A maximum
MY 18 1.3 Motor (FSR only) 6V supply, 2A maximum
MY 17/18 1.2 Motor, 6V supply, 1A maximum
MY 16 1.1 Motor, 6V supply, 1A maximum

 

[Tim69]

Funnily enough I made a USB powered cable off the front light port the other week. You can get the Lupine Brose cable on eBay for £17 and like somebody said a circuit board off Amazon/eBay to convert to USB.

i dropped a waterproof connector in the cable at the front so I can run a front light or use USB to charge my phone on long rides.

For the front light port here are the values provided by Specialized UK,

MY 19 2.1 Mag S Motor, 12V supply, 24W, 2A maximum
MY 18 1.3 Motor (FSR only) 6V supply, 2A maximum
MY 17/18 1.2 Motor, 6V supply, 1A maximum
MY 16 1.1 Motor, 6V supply, 1A maximum

Oh!! Wow... Now that's surprising! Had no idea that these connectors supplied a reduced voltage!.. just assumed it was full battery voltage.
So it has a voltage reducer built in to it!? Hence the current limitation.
It that case.. it's even better news! I can use all my 12v lights on this power supply, don't even need to get new variable voltage ones... Hmm..
Thanks!
Tim

 

[ridehard]

Funnily enough I made a USB powered cable off the front light port the other week. You can get the Lupine Brose cable on eBay for £17 and like somebody said a circuit board off Amazon/eBay to convert to USB.

i dropped a waterproof connector in the cable at the front so I can run a front light or use USB to charge my phone on long rides.

For the front light port here are the values provided by Specialized UK,

MY 19 2.1 Mag S Motor, 12V supply, 24W, 2A maximum
MY 18 1.3 Motor (FSR only) 6V supply, 2A maximum
MY 17/18 1.2 Motor, 6V supply, 1A maximum
MY 16 1.1 Motor, 6V supply, 1A maximum

thats great, thanks!
just the kind of info i was looking for.

only thing now, is that M19 uses a 3-pin connector, and that Lupine cable seems to fir MY18 that has only 2 pins, so i can't really tell what the pinout is on that connector.

a waterproof connector on the other side is great idea, and swap leads as needed for phone/gps/light on the front of the bike.

 

[Ed_M]

The MY19 uses a 2-pin connector (the green one at the bottom). I used the Lupine cable to pug directly into it.

 

[Troutwrestler]

I bought a Lupine cable from eBay. It was about a tenner. It plugs into the port on the Brose motor, and has a bare black and red wire at the other end. I ran it up through the frame to the ports where the brake/gear/dropper cables exit. I used an old female connector from a broken battery pack, and joined it with a cable connector.

This runs my £10 Magicshine headlight on the bars perfectly. I still use a 18650 battery pack for the helmet mounted light.

 

[miPbiP]

I have a 19 Levo. It has ports to run a light? Where?

 

[benny.c]

For the front light port here are the values provided by Specialized UK,

MY 19 2.1 Mag S Motor, 12V supply, 24W, 2A maximum
MY 18 1.3 Motor (FSR only) 6V supply, 2A maximum
MY 17/18 1.2 Motor, 6V supply, 1A maximum
MY 16 1.1 Motor, 6V supply, 1A maximum

I was looking at the Lupine system for my ‘17 Levo but looking at the above it’s not going to have enough juice. The light is 12W at 6V so 2A draw.

 

[Ed_M]

I have a 19 Levo. It has ports to run a light? Where?

Take your left pedal off and the motor casing. There are two plugs blanking plugs on the motor, green is the front light, red is the rear light.

Both ports are active when the TCU is on so you need a light to auto sense the light conditions or fit a switch.

 

[derby]

My 2018 Levo has no obvious power port for accessories. Seems like a USB output could be wired up somehow. Then it would be easy to power or recharge lights, phones, bike computers, etc.

To keep it simple and easy, I use a Nightrider Lumina 1200 Boost for handlebar light, $99 USD retail. Great light for technical trail night riding, wide angle, smooth beam. Multi power button shows red when getting below 20% or so. There is a higher cost version with a remaining power indicator "gas gauge".

For better longer distance visibility for very fast descending speeds, and better ability to see around very tight corners and hiking around off the bike at night, I add a Nightrider Lumina 1000 Boost light as a helmet light, and is also a good handlebar light using the same quick release mount as the 1200 lumen version, $79 USD retail.

There are much higher powered NR lights up to 4200 lumen duel beam. But pairing a 1200 and 1000 are plenty bright for trail riding when both are in the low power mode.

These are compact and light weight, USB rechargeable, and the battery and high quality light is in one unit, very quick to install and remove the mount from a handlebar, and the mount has a quick release to remove the light. The helmet mount straps take a little time to install, so I just have a second helmet ready for night riding with the special helmet mount already installed for quickly adding the light.

 

[Tim69]

O.K. - so I realized the 6v 2 amp. Output on my 18 kenevo, was not suitable for my needs from an off-road lighting setup ( of multiple lights) the 6v lights I know of are not strong enough for my needs..
So decided to hook up the " multi-voltage" (12 to 100v) light I got off eBay for about 10$, directly to the battery cable - as i had seen in this video, from Supernova :
And according to the attached diagrams.

So striped the cable, soldered up the plus and minus wires, and routed the cable thrue the downtube up to the bars! And hooked it up to the light, and WoW! It works great! I've got 38v power on my handlebars! For any lighting or other needs I want!
And yes, before you all scream how dangerous this is.. I put a 5amp fuse on the plus side of the connection to the battery cable, in case of any shorts.
Hooked up a temporary toggle switch( till I can order a proper handlebar mounted switch) and tried it out, and it is a great light! With three power modes+ flashing mode.
Took it out on a ride at night, and the light was great!!!.... Only one "tiny" little problem..........
When I switch the light on....the motor power dies... And won't come back on till I switch the light off, and turn the battery switch off and on again.
Apparently the bike has a "CanBus" system.. like on motor vehicles, and senses a problem and shuts down the system when I turn the light on.
Any bright ideas how to get around this wonderfull technology!!?????

 

[Zimmerframe]

Any bright ideas

Is this a light orientated play on the words ?

That sounds frustrating.. All looked great up until that point, I was going to suggest Abba - Super trooper as your theme to play with your light .. it looks like it fell off a lighthouse !

Sadly not a clue ... but it's bumped your thread back up so someone might see it and have a better idea..

 

[Tim69]

Is this a light orientated play on the words ?

That sounds frustrating.. All looked great up until that point, I was going to suggest Abba - Super trooper as your theme to play with your light .. it looks like it fell off a lighthouse !

Sadly not a clue ... but it's bumped your thread back up so someone might see it and have a better idea..

Ha! No pun intended...
Didn't notice the play on words till you mentioned it..?

 

[Kave]

I will order the Supernova Brose cable and try to wire up some Magicshine lamps I got.
The 270€ Supernova lamp is a bit on the expensive side.

 

[Tim69]

I will order the Supernova Brose cable and try to wire up some Magicshine lamps I got.
The 270€ Supernova lamp is a bit on the expensive side.

Exactly... I have nothing against the "pro" lights.. im sure they work great! But to pay 1/4 of the price of the bike? for a light!.. I don't have that kind of money... And don't believe they are realistically priced.
I'm sure we can find some kind of a work around..
What year motor do you have!?
Are your lights 6v or 12v!?
What are you thinking of doing?
Tim

 

[Kave]

My bike is a 2019. I have not checked yet what Voltage my lamps are. I guess they are 7.4V, so I will try to see what happends when I connect them to 12V. I guess a LED lamp will work ok anyway.

 

[grantini]

Im sure this has been covered. but searched for lights and so on.... and found nothing of interest.
can someone tell me from their experience - if its worth it to buy the original (and expensive!) cable to hook up a light, to the dedicated connecto on the Brose motor? or just "hotwire it" to the battery harness, and it will work fine..? are there advantages? or disadvantages to either way? if so what are they..?
i've been looking for cheap alternatives to buying the customized headlights built especially for Ebike's, as i cant afford to spend 800 pounds! on a light..
so got a few from china that work on voltages up to 80 volt, but my problem is this - wiring it up.
checked on wiring harnesses, and the wiring plus shipping was at least 30 pounds! finally got a cheap one off Ebay.. but ended up getting one for a Bosch motor instead of the Brose motor i have..so it had the wrong connector. so if anyone needs one for a Bosch motor... iv'e got one for cheap!
would love to hear from anyone with real experience at installing lights...
what type of light? rated power? how you wired it? what kind of switch used? and so on..
Thanks!
Tim

I just installed a lupine all sf. It is awesome. Product support was excellent too. The only issue was cabling which was tight and the connector was damaged in the process. I cut off the connection and spliced in another and it works great

 

[grantini]

I started a thread a couple weeks ago about doing just what you want to do. Rob Silvers picked it up and ran with it, while I bailed and opted for the Lupine option... Here is the thread Rob started where he built a "ghetto" light... The $45 Turbo Levo Hardwired Headlight Thread - EMTB Forums

 

[Bryan Wells]

I LOVE the lupine light, the spread is so good! Plus it’s automatic

 

[Tim69]

I started a thread a couple weeks ago about doing just what you want to do. Rob Silvers picked it up and ran with it, while I bailed and opted for the Lupine option... Here is the thread Rob started where he built a "ghetto" light... The $45 Turbo Levo Hardwired Headlight Thread - EMTB Forums

Great! Thanks..
I'll check it out???
Tim