H.I.D. Lights

peakrunner · 12-11-2003, 08:13 AM

I have seen some post of people running HID. I just wanted to get an update on what you think about them, what confiuguration you're running (1 Hid or 2), and what brands/distributors people like. Thanks in advance.

repoe3 · 12-11-2003, 08:17 AM

1 or 2 would mean low or low and hi beam. the biggest difference in opinoin is about the K rating. 5200K is the whitest/nicest and 8000k is a bit blue bit identical to the OEM parts used in bmw cars. midnight moose is a good source for the 8000k units at a resonable price. i really like mine regardless. well worth it. never really use the high beam so i stuck with just a low beam HID unit. even when i do turn the hi beam on, it adds more light, but a yellower light to the HID.

repoe3

peakrunner · 12-11-2003, 08:29 AM

Do these kits plug into the factory switch on the handle bars?

repoe3 · 12-11-2003, 09:59 AM

no, they interface the wiring between the headlight and electrical boxes. the biggest issue is mounting the ballast and then there is just lots of wires running around, but it look okay to me.

repoe3

johnnydanger · 12-11-2003, 10:10 AM

To clarify on Repoes statement: Yes the high low switch on the handle bar still functions as normal, but the light and ballast plug into the wiring for your existing bulbs not directly to the switch.

I have the 5200K high beam and couldn't be happier. I don't know how anyone that rides at night can survive with the stock lighting. Shouldn't motorcyclists be able to see extra well at night? For some reason most bikes bite the big fatty when it comes to lighting. Lucky for us we've got an okay beam pattern, and a seperate high / low beam for more light potential.

I firmly believe that the best upgrade I've done to my bike has been the HID high beam. Do it, you'll be like it. Thousand points of light. Tunnel of love. Oh my god, what the hell is that bright thing burning my eyes out?!?! Werd.

nosmo_king · 12-11-2003, 10:23 AM

The HID's are a must, IMO. And I'd go with both high and low beams. You'll be able to see for miles and might even notice fewer cagers making left handers in front of you, or pulling out from your right. Really makes you visible

Search for "Midnight Moose", and you'll find lots of discussion about a group buy done a year or so ago.

nos

Flatbutt1 · 12-11-2003, 02:08 PM

I went for the PIAAs instead But now my stock headlight looks like its dying by comparison. I'd thought about just putting a PIAA bulb in the headlight housing in place of the stock bulb. Has anyone tried that? Any issues with heat?

RBMann · 12-12-2003, 01:07 AM

I had to replace my 5200K Moose bulb. Now they only sell 6000K and 8000K. The 6000K I bought looks blue and seems to have less light output than the 5200K. All the Moose bulbs have a coating on the inside of the capsule. My understanding is the coating is for color and hurts the light output.

While the bulb lasted past the one year warranty, 400 hours was a lot less than the lifespan claims. Also the first replacement 6000K Moose sent did not work and they had to send a second.

So I looked around and ordered a rebased Philips 4100k H1. It is in the mail. I can't wait to see how it looks at night.

RB

bikerfish1100 · 12-12-2003, 01:45 AM

i'm running PIAA 1100x driving lights on the fork legs, and a PIAA superwhite 55w=85w as the low beam. very happy with the results. felt it was the lo beam that was severly underpowered, so i bumped that one up first. when the stock hibeam goes, i'll replace that with a PIAA as well. not HID intensity, but nice bangforbuck improvement, with plug&play ease.

SCOTTinNJ · 12-12-2003, 03:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bikerfish1100
i'm running PIAA 1100x driving lights on the fork legs, and a PIAA superwhite 55w=85w as the low beam. very happy with the results. felt it was the lo beam that was severly underpowered, so i bumped that one up first. when the stock hibeam goes, i'll replace that with a PIAA as well. not HID intensity, but nice bangforbuck improvement, with plug&play ease.

Bikerfish1100, those PIAA superwhites (not the 1100x driving lights) blow quickly. They are great while they work though.

Flatbutt1 · 12-12-2003, 06:57 AM

Hey Scott
just how quick is quickly?

pwillikers · 12-12-2003, 07:37 AM

HID retrofits of stock halogen headlight reflectors that I've seen are not acceptable. Halogen reflectors are designed for the characterisitcs of halogen bulbs, not HID bulbs, so upgrading to HID results in a brighter but messy light pattern. Headlights designed with separate reflectors for high and low beams suffer less than do single reflector high-low bulbs, but they still suffer. I'm hoping for a total reflector and bulb HID replacement to become available.

Do you guys that've made this upgrade concur with my "brighter buy messy" assertion?

I found this good description:

The headlight reflectors and lenses of OEM HID headlights (=optics) are engineered specifically for use with HID arc capsules. The design not only considers the source focal points, but the amount of lumen to be distributed. These factors are often overlooked when retrofitting is considered. OEM HID optics distributes the increased lumen output of this bulb farther ahead on the road, wider to both sides, without giving more directly in front of the subjected vehicle. This provides motorists with much WIDER AND DEEPER night time vision.
By contrast, halogen headlight optics do not spread the light to the degree of OEM HID. This is simply because a 55 watt halogen bulb (or even a 100 watter) cannot match the lumen output of HID. A lower number of lumens means less light to spread out. And a bigger portion of the total light output have to be placed where its mostly needed: straight ahead. Now, consider what what happens when someone inserts a 2800-3200 lumen HID arc capsule into a headlight designed to distribute only 1/3 of this amount of light. Suddenly, there's too much light in areas that does not need more light:
Too much light above cutoff line which would be above horizon on a flat road. This will glare oncoming traffic.
Too much light below cutoff line which would glare dangerously towoards oncoming traffic on a hill.
Too much foreground lighting. The driver will get the intense foreground lighting back in his own eyes, making eyes less sensitive for down the road illumination beyond 70 meters down the road.

Malc · 12-12-2003, 08:05 AM

The only downside to HID's, which I've never seen mentioned, they are very bad in fog.

johnnydanger · 08:26 AM

Some HID retrofits screw with the light pattern as you say, but those are generally the H4 replacements that have a misplaced gas chamber in the HID bulb that doesn't correspond to the locale of the stock filaments (high or low). The kit I got from Misterjung.com has the gas chamber in precisely the same location as the stock H1/H7 filaments and makes almost exactly the light pattern of the standard bulbs, just conservatively 3.5X brighter!

A light source is a light source and if it's in the same location and is the same size as the filaments of the standard bulbs it will produce a virtually identical light pattern. However, this isn't to say that the light pattern will be good as most motorcycles have $#!t light patterns. Our S is better than most, but you'll see that with even a normal bulb there are 2 hot spots one on each lower side and a bunch of noise at the close up periphery.

My old H1 PIAA superwhite lasted merely 100 hours. At $30 a piece or whatever they are, that adds up to the cost of an HID fast.

repoe3 · 12-12-2003, 08:26 AM

not to mention, the cutoff line is exactly the same with the HID installed. but i do see people flip their mirrors up to the night position when i am behind them when it is dark. just tells me they see me.

repoe3

Joe · Joe's Garage

Our low beam is a focus type lens Assembly the arc of the HID is in the same plane as the wired filament so the pattern is the same but with a lot more intensity with the HID.... The high beam is where you get more side scatter but it's still a lot brighter in the same areas as a normal filament bulb. If you do a search of HID's in the archives I've gone through all these questions before and have posted side by side comparisons(inc pics) of stock vs. HID with HID being a substantial improvement.

HID Lighting Comparison........(Photos)

As far as holding up..... mine have been in service for over three years with my hi beam on all the time no problems over 40k on the bike.

Just ask anyone that has the 6k or lower temp HID setup to go back to stock is like riding in the dark.

BTW since these HID's have been in I haven't been cut off once they are so attention intense your noticed even in daylight.

moose · 12-12-2003, 12:54 PM

Hi Johnnydanger: The kits from misterjung look interesting for the very reasons you mentioned. Are you pleased with the performance? How long have you had the kit installed?

I have PIAA superwhite low beam and the Hella equivalent high beam bulbs. They were a noticeable improvement, and no problems in over 2 years (~20,000 miles), but I carry spares just in case. More light is a good thing, and more than I currently have would be great.

johnnydanger · 12-12-2003, 01:04 PM

I've had the HID high beam in for about 10 months and have used it for probably half of the 22,000 miles in that time. It's performed flawlessly and is a real cooker being the 3200 lumen 5200K kit. The light difference will blow you away if you ho the HID route.

The only disadvantage which is just a little one is that when you hit the high beam it will 'pop' full brightness and then dim to maybe 50 or 60 percent then power up over the next few seconds. It's more pronounced when it's really cold out, but as I said is barely a concern. You still get ample light very quickly and the 'pop' really gets peoples attention if you're flashing them.

Apart from the intensity of the light, HIDs have a couple advantages. They are generally accepted to have upwards of 1000 hours of life for the light and ballast compared with 100 - 200 hours for a typical bulb of any brightness. They also only draw 35 watts and 3-4amps when warmed up (they will draw 9 amps momentarily when starting up). This translates into a lot more power available for other aux lighting or electric clothing etc. Especially handy if you have the smaller alternator.

bikerfish1100 · 12-12-2003, 01:18 PM

help me out here. i've used H4 bulbs for years in my earlier K bikes. Johnny, you state 100-200 hrs life for those, and others have statedonly 100 hrs for std halogen. at 60 mph avg (which is on the very high side, given real world riding habits), that would translate, again figuring hi miles and hi hrs of life, as a mere 12,000 miles before going. yet i've seen upwards of 35K miles on a 55/100 H4 (and that's going with a conservative estimate of it's life). so, i'm wondering, where are your stated avg hrs of bulb life coming from? not debating the improved performance of the HID units, nor that they have an extended life span, only questioning the "fact" of short Halogen life.

pdonnell · 12-12-2003, 01:31 PM

Stick with Joes comments in the archives. I've used the MM 8000K bulbs and they suck. (compared to 4100 to 5200K capsules) And since the MM product is from Asia they have a very high failure rate.
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Wish I listened to Joe years ago.