Which HID to go for?

Thinking about getting HID so wondering whether anyone’s got any experiance and/or recommendations.

Cheers,

M

I do Xenon in cars and haven’t done a bike yet but it’s all the same!

There is a lot of cheap JapCrap over here.

I use Carlight Systems but have fitted Pilot/Kaixen.

You need to know what bulbs you have in your bike, H1/H4/H7 etc

Below is a pic of the Carlight system, top, top quality, supplied and fitted for between £299-349.

A bike would normally use 1 bulb, the dip beam, although you can do both, Hi and Dip.

I would need to get a mix set from my supplier, let me do mine 1st and post the pics

Nice one Wiggetta! I might very well be interested, keep us aprised please!

What does HID stand for?

Thank Wiggy. Always good to get a professional opinion. Do you reckon that it’s a DIY or a pro’s jpb to fit something like that?

HID = Hit It Da Artist

HID = High Intensity Discharge, which basically means fookin bright headlights, like on high-range BMW’s.

A bike would still need a dip and main beam regardless of lighting type.

I never said you didn’t need dip and main?

What I meant is, if you only want one HID bulb in your system, you can run it on the dip beam and leave the Hi beam as the standard Halogen. Yes, you will always need Hi and Low beam to pass your MOT.

HID as Jay says means High Intensity Discharge, similar to flourescent lighting in principle, no filament, just an arc through a Xenon filled chamber.

What is the difference between Xenon- and Halogen lighting?

First and foremost: the light emission.
A 55 Watt halogen bulb produces about 1200 Lumen; a 35 Watt Xenon bulb will produce 3200 Lumen. This is almost 3 times the performance of a halogen bulb.

Secondly: the colour of the light.
The light from a xenon bulb is much ‘whiter’ than that of a halogen bulb.

Thirdly: the power consumption. The consumption of a halogen bulb is 55 Watt; that of a xenon bulb is 35 Watt. Less power consumption means less heat dissipation. A xenon bulb dissipates about 35% less heat, therefore keeping the reflectors/ lamp housing cooler and extending its lifespan. A xenon bulb will last 5 to 10 times longer than a halogen bulb.

Halogen

HID

I have a set on my pickup and the difference is comical,it makes the halogens look like candles, it also makes the bike a lot more visible in the daytime and down a country lane at night you’ll be noticing what sex the rabbits are in the hedgerows

I’m ordering my set today and will take some pics, the only foreseeable issue will be space, the headlights use a ‘ballast’ pack to ramp up the voltage to near 85v with an igniting voltage of 20’000volts :o these ballasts are the size of 2 fag packs each!

As regards DIY job, I would say no, you need to take feeds off the battery for these kits (some Jap kits are plug and play) and it requires mounting the ballasts somewhere safe, away from ECU’s etc and with H4 headlights some relay/diode work.

I’ll keep you informed

if you do want to buy them to fit yourself, drop me a PM with your bulb types and I’ll do you a deal.

You can buy off ebay cheap kits, that’s your choice, I swear by these.

Thanks for the info, Wiggetta. Luckily there’s space in my tail for ballasts, the side-pods are empty space. Always liked the idea of HID, more visibility has to be a good thing, both for you and those around you.

this is the prob Jay, the fly leads from ballast to headlight are about 12", in a car i mount them on inner wing/susp struts, on a bike this will mean inside front fairings, possibly cable tied to chassis, can’t drill anywhere on a bike normally as all stressed members!

Theres good reason for this, the leads are carrying 85v nominal with 20kV at startup, if these leads were cable tied the length of your bike it could interfere with ecu’s etc, shortest distance is best and you can’t extend them.

There’s enough room, but it’s tight

Oh, I see! Well, where there’s a will, there’s a gixxer, or something.

I’ve put a tracker in a breifcase, I sure as hell I’ll get them Xenons on my Gixxer

Ah, going to be difficult to find room on a Monster then. Maybe in front of the clocks under the nose thingy. Off to find fag pack sided think to experiment with

Thanks for all the info fella.

Mini Mo, the ballasts and all connectors are moisture/splash proof so you should be OK,

was you looking at just your Dip or Dip/Main being done, there is a ballast per bulb you see so it’s either 40 or 80 fags

LOL.

I have a single H4 bulb unit (high and low) on the Monster. Am I right in thinking that the way it will then work is that either high or low will be HID and not both. So I’ll have to get a moded housing to set it up with 2 bulbs. Damn this is going to get expensive

Had em on my R6 and man it looked cool, am doing the R1 soon but i dont use kits i use proper OEM ballasts of BMWs thing is there some modding is required, the ballasts are bulky but will fit behind the screen on a sportsbike but the results are amazing

ooh, you’re in luck
The H4’s are dual filament which means you will only need 1 ballast and 1 bulb.
There is a little solenoid that pulls the reflector out of the way on high beam.

Easy, if you think there is enough room for one ballast You won’t have to modify your headlight in anyway

there will be no difference whatsoever with these kits Flat, you can even chose the colour of your bulbs

Hit what??? Hit you okay no problem just let me get my new shiny baseball bat