Subjective HID effectiveness eval for RapiDog ET AL

[JonyRR]

So, after spending the bucks for the complete HID conversion during our group buy; I like to ride alone, at night, far away from the madding crowd that crowds the greater Seattle/Tacoma megopolis. If you ride your S as a real streetbike, ride at night and like to see at night, these things are a lifesaver; they should be required equipment! And, in my opinion, the hi-beam is the truly wonderous one....5000 feet down the road and a nice white light to boot (4000K bulbs). Fooking'eh, mon. Yes, they ARE worth it.

HID lo beam

HID hi beam

[JonyRR]

Oops, forgot the shot of HID lo, hi, and QH driving lites...the one on the right is my old PIAA 100w 'super white' bulb...bah!...halogen is so feeble compared to hid...

[GotRoad?]

Thanks for the pics JRR. I too, did the hi/lo HID set & I've got to say that the combo blows any halogen setuo away. Happy night riding !

[Rapid Dog]

THANKS JR!

[Moybin]

Looks great, I'm sold, even though I'm not doing much night riding just because we have a deer population explosion here in eastern Iowa.

And since I'm strapped for cash just now, can anyone reference the models of cages that have the same bulb and ballast arrangement so I could start lurking the wrecking yards?

[Joe]

It's about time you guys are finally seeing things my way.............HID's homemade since 99.(salvage yard system)..................the only problem is once your use to them it's hard to settle for anything less.....:P Also being seen more during daylight is one of the best advantages I wasn't even counting on originally. I have over 4 years and 40k on the bulbs and ride always with high beam on except at night with oncoming traffic. A name brand bulb should last longer then the bike

This is how we made them fit before there were different based bulbs.....Epoxy a H7 base to a D2 housing



I'm glad a lot of people over the years have switched over and I haven't heard anyone say they were sorry they did...... It's a lot of jing to invest in lights ....but it's the best mod I've made so far.....stay tune for a Blue tooth com system

[JonyRR]

Moybin, the fly-in-the-ointment here is that the S uses an H1 and H7 bulb. there are no 'native' HID bulbs with either base. there are aftermarket companies that specalize in 'rebasing' HID bulbs with the requisite h1,3,7,etc base so the bulb will fit in the holder. I have to say the xenonfactory kit I and others bought in this group buy was a very quality set, with 'gen 2' phillips ballasts; everything went exactly as the instructions states, which is a rarity, as we all know. I'm sure you could cobble something up, and I did consider it, but I considered all the unknowns and decided I could afford a 'turnkey' solution. I absolutely love 'em and can't imagine having to go back to halogen bulbs. BTW, did you get my post last night from my aol account?

[Joe]

Originally posted by Moybin
Looks great, I'm sold, even though I'm not doing much night riding just because we have a deer population explosion here in eastern Iowa.

And since I'm strapped for cash just now, can anyone reference the models of cages that have the same bulb and ballast arrangement so I could start lurking the wrecking yards?

Here's a start a friend of mine picked up a new pair of Phillips D2 based lamps and 4th generation ballast on ebay for $200 last week........it's easy to use these for hi-beam but your going to need a asian(H1) or rebased Phillips for low.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7904949848&category=33710&sspagename=WDVW#ebayphotohosting

[Joe]

There is a way you can make a D2 base fit a H1 housing but it takes careful work with a dremel and epoxy .........your better off buying a commercial re-based lo-beam and you can still use a salvage yard ballast.

[Moybin]

Thanks to JonyRR and Joe for their replies. I'll be keeping my eye on eBay.

JonyRR: I did get your emails, and have replied.

[Highlander179]

Is there a difference in ballasts? xenonfactory uses Polarion for 4000K applications, but someone else for the 6000K. Is it the ballast that makes the light, or the bulb?

[Joe]

Originally posted by Highlander179
Is there a difference in ballasts? xenonfactory uses Polarion for 4000K applications, but someone else for the 6000K. Is it the ballast that makes the light, or the bulb?

In theory all the lights should trigger the same they use a very high voltage(25kv) to ignite and a little under a 100 to sustain them. The reason they carry different ballast is probably different base sockets on the bulbs so you need a different connector from the ballast.