Lexmoto lowride

Hi all of the rear lights on my lexmoto lowride are not working any ideas

if its anything like Rant Machines old low ride.. I wouldnt bother fixing anything.. it will only stop working again a week later

Now now, that's a bit mean - it's only the solenoid that went wrong every other week, and you can fix that by making a rain sheild out of a bit of margarine tub or milk carton

Check the fuse for rear lights, then check the wiring is all plugged in correctly. If the fuse is blown switch it on, and then see which bulbs work. If one has blown it could have taken out the fuse as it went as they generally go pop if you hit a bump and a piece of loose filament bounces and shorts the bulb.

Failing that, check those two silver-finished plastic bits (which I've marked "A" in the diagram below) on either side of the headstock. They are really poorly designed and have a habit of cutting into the wires that run around the right hand side of the headstock, to the extent that they can actually cut through them. I once lost use of my secondary headlights to that design oversight. Turn your bars all the way to the left and check if "part A" has cut into the wires underneath. It has a little recess that's meant to allow them to tuck in, but it's too small, has sharp edges, and the wires are under too much tension to move with the recessed bit as the bars turn. I resorted to removing part A, using a file to make the recess much longer and with smoother edges, and then putting a little rubber strip over the resulting edge so it couldn't cut through soft butter let alone wiring.

Other than that, bear in mind that it's a Chinese bike, so a lazy final assembly by the dealership is one of your worst enemies. The wiring is vulnerable as hell, just runs up the inside of the rear mudguard and if they haven't secured it properly god only knows what could have happened to it. Also, on one occasion the wiring started hanging out the bottom of mine because it isn't properly secured inside the bike; pop your seat off, and then inside is a little plastic bit that (for memory) should pop out without the need for any tools - the tool tray is part of it, then there's a deeper section about the size of a 200 carton of fags. Once that's out, check the wiring underneath is actually secured in place properly. If you can't get that out easily, with the bike still on the sidestand, take a peek underneath for any trailing wiring. If you can't fit your head under, use a small mirror

If all else fails, pop to a dealership and see if Lexmoto feel like honouring their warranty

Actually hang on a minute (facepalm moment):

If the bike starts, it isn't a fuse problem. It only has one :lol:

The Lexmoto website offers a 10A blade fuse as well as the 15A glass fuse, but the 10A fuse doesn't actually fit anywhere into the bike.

Actually hang on a minute (facepalm moment):

If the bike starts, it isn't a fuse problem. It only has one :lol:

The Lexmoto website offers a 10A blade fuse as well as the 15A glass fuse, but the 10A fuse doesn't actually fit anywhere into the bike.

yeah, 99% of todays "little bikes" only offer one main fuse, leading directly off the thinner wire from the battery..

Actually hang on a minute (facepalm moment):

If the bike starts, it isn't a fuse problem. It only has one :lol:

The Lexmoto website offers a 10A blade fuse as well as the 15A glass fuse, but the 10A fuse doesn't actually fit anywhere into the bike.

You mean to tell me a bike with electrified lighting systems and other electrical auxiliaries runs all that through a single fuse?!

Even the Kymco engined, Indian built, CBF125 has 4 and that thing has me breaking sweat to keep up with its gremlins

Actually hang on a minute (facepalm moment):

If the bike starts, it isn't a fuse problem. It only has one :lol:

The Lexmoto website offers a 10A blade fuse as well as the 15A glass fuse, but the 10A fuse doesn't actually fit anywhere into the bike.

 

You mean to tell me a bike with electrified lighting systems and other electrical auxiliaries runs all that through a single fuse?!

Even the Kymco engined, Indian built, CBF125 has 4 and that thing has me breaking sweat to keep up with its gremlins

All bikes ive owned (road bikes), skyjet, honda, pulse, lexmoto, kymco, have all had single fuse..

All bikes ive owned (road bikes), skyjet, honda, pulse, lexmoto, kymco, have all had single fuse..

Translation: Remember all those bikes I had that always needed rebuilding or fixing? They had dodgy electrics in common

The jury is out on that new Lexmoto and I don't remember what Honda you had.

Sticking to the bike in question, the Lowride is effectively a rip-off GS 125 dressed up in fancy American-style clothing Well, so it claims to be anyway... but that's a whole other story.

Short version is, the entire engine, airbox, carb, wiring loom, blah blah blah are all robbed from a GS 125. Which as far as I was ever able to tell from reading all over the place, only has the one in-line fuse right beside the battery and nowt else! And I certainly had no luck locating other fuses hidden anywhere when thoroughly gutting the bike to check for any parts that needed replacement or overhaul in the weeks before someone squashing it for me

All bikes ive owned (road bikes), skyjet, honda, pulse, lexmoto, kymco, have all had single fuse..

 

Translation: Remember all those bikes I had that always needed rebuilding or fixing? They had dodgy electrics in common

The jury is out on that new Lexmoto and I don't remember what Honda you had.

my kymco never had dodgy electrics.. never had an electrical problem, in the 2 solid years i owned it..

And it was ridden through sun, rain and snow..

The pulse didnt either..

And nor did my skyjet either.. Well i bought it with naff electrics because the bloke crashed it, and result of headlight being ripped off upon impact, ripped some wires.. but quick solder job.. It never had a problem..

my kymco never had dodgy electrics.. never had an electrical problem, in the 2 solid years i owned it..

And it was ridden through sun, rain and snow..

The pulse didnt either..

And nor did my skyjet either.. Well i bought it with naff electrics because the bloke crashed it, and result of headlight being ripped off upon impact, ripped some wires.. but quick solder job.. It never had a problem..

I'm referring to the problems they had in general, and how it is a coincidence they had dodgy electrics in common. Having one fuse for the whole bike is bad! Sure it can hold up, but it's dodgy, and lends insight into the quality of the rest of the bike.

And the Kymco was misfiring when you sold it, sounded coil related if not carb. And you rebuilt it so often it never had chance to go wrong

And the Skyjet you fortunately got shot off quick enough you didn't get a dose of the horror those bikes reap!

But onto the topic at hand.

So it has one fuse, this can't have gone as it's still working.

Ollie points out the wiring used to rub through, check this first.

After that if no dice, check the bulbs in the back. Do the rear indicators work? Does the brake light work when pressed? If it all doesn't work, then that means the power line going to the back end is probably dead, there could be a big block connector to the rear or worst case, a short circuit has blown bulbs which would blow if no fuse was there to protect them.

Also provide pics of the bikes wiring at the back.

Also provide pics of the bikes wiring at the back.

For once I get to say this:

Oh ye of little knowledge Taking pics of the rear wiring on that bike is about as easy as working on the clutch in my BMW...

Because of the way that the rear of the Loweride is (badly) designed, it's a sod to get to. As noted above, it just runs along the inside of the rear mudguard, so access from above is impossible. Only has a few little tie wraps keeping it off the wheel, which is why I suggested this could've gotten buggered at some point. The pannier racks restrict your access from the sides, and in a stroke of genius it's the same bolt that holds them in place as secures the top of the shocks, so removing them is a nightmare. The bolts also go through the mudguard, so again you have to remove the shocks to get in from the top The easiest way to get decent access to the rear wiring (even for taking a photo) is getting it up on a paddock stand and getting the rear wheel off. Even then, that's not particularly fun because the exhaust is right in the way, so you need to at least loosen it up in order to be able to draw the axle out, but that being said I had to completely remove it to get enough space. So probably better to check everything else first, including checking the wiring in the midsection (where it can sometimes hang out the belly of the bike) and maybe just having a grope around under the mudguard to feel for an obvious break in the wiring before pursuing that possibility too much.

But yeah, check the bulbs, it's a bit fiddly but Fozzie is definitely on to something here. Could save yourself a whole lot of misery.

Edit:

Also, getting the rear wheel out is a sh*t because the mudguard hangs so low that you can't just roll it out, even on the paddock stand. Once you've removed the axle, you need two people on it: tie off the front brake, then one person stands over the bike and lifts the rear by hand while the other rolls the wheel out!

my kymco never had dodgy electrics.. never had an electrical problem, in the 2 solid years i owned it..

And it was ridden through sun, rain and snow..

It did when I had it - fully charged battery and electric start never worked, was forever kickstarting - almost broke my bloody foot once haha! Tbf kickstarting a big little bike like that looked cooler anyway!