HID Lighting for Headlight??

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Tim_S

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Has anyone tried the HID light's for their headlight? Supposed to be less taxing on the electrical system? If so, where and what kind did you use, cost? and ease of installation?
Thanks ,,,,,,,,


Tim
 
I looked around at a hid system that zooms the light like on a car. Cheapest I could find was $3-400 though. I'll stick to my xenon.
 
Pelican

Is the xenon the bright white type light? I forget?? It's just an xenon bulb your using right ?


Tim
 
yes, just a xenon bulb in an aftermarket reflector. Is basically the same price and brightness as the halogen just more white than yellow.

Was just looking through ebay there are cheaper hid kits than what I listed, but they don't come with a reflector. The one I was really watching came with a special reflector to optimize the beam, and zoomed between hi and lo.

I'd be interested to know if anyone has tried any of these hid kits also.
 
I enquired about one , the supplier said it required neg earth, but thats all I can tell you, he had one fitted on a commando and said it was brilliant.
 
I have three HID bulbs on the front of my Fuelie Commando. Fantastic light. Got a football field in front of me at night. They are Chinese built Hella copies from e-bay. Used two car kits at around $89.00 each and have a spare left over.

The first one I tried was the bi-zenon for High and low beam and it didnt have good focus and the telescoping light bulb that changed the focus died from vibration in about 6000 miles.

I now have a 35 watt halogen for low beam and an HID for high beam in the main reflector and two HID bulbs with projector lenses and a sharp cutoff to keep them down on the road and ditches. Jim
 
I've got a xenon now and it is pretty darn good, but I'd also try an HID. Cost is no biggie due to the safety trade off but do you need an extra ballast or relay or something for HID?

Is there an on-line source where one can check out the HID kits?
 
Yes an HID requires a ballast. They come in two sizes, a standard model and a thin model if you have limited space. Just go to e-bay and key in HID.
 
Scooter62 said:
Jim

Any issues with positive ground or did you change to negative ground?

Scooter
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I am running negative ground although I don't believe there would be any issues with positive ground. You would have to isolate the chassis of the ballast from the bike chassis. Jim
 
I now have a 35 watt halogen for low beam and an HID for high beam in the main reflector and two HID bulbs with projector lenses and a sharp cutoff to keep them down on the road and ditches. Jim
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Huh, I'd only heard of HID as low beams not hi, d/t the relighting time.
How that work for you?
 
hobot said:
I now have a 35 watt halogen for low beam and an HID for high beam in the main reflector and two HID bulbs with projector lenses and a sharp cutoff to keep them down on the road and ditches. Jim
Click to expand...

Huh, I'd only heard of HID as low beams not hi, d/t the relighting time.
How that work for you?
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Modern HID's only hesitate for a fraction of a second. Since I have twin HID driving lights that stay on I don't even notice. Jim
 
My son has HIDs on a Triumph 675 Daytona, a Honda Rukus scooter, and multiple 4 wheel vehicles. He uses modern lights with a ballast that is slightly smaller than a pack of cigarettes and about 1/2 as thick. They do require a "relatively" high voltage to start so you have to rev the Rukus to get them going...it's not an issue on the Triumph or the cars. It seem that once they are on (the Rukus) they seem to stay on OK. The newer types are much better than the older ones were. I don't know what would happen at a slow idle on a Norton. They do run very hot so you have to be aware of nearby plastic.
I like Commoz's idea of a halogen bulb for low beam because the HIDs are only available bright. To really get the best light from them you need an engineered reflector to properly focus the beam but we all know anything is better than stock on a old Brit bike.

Scott
 
KickStarter said:
My son has HIDs on a Triumph 675 Daytona, a Honda Rukus scooter, and multiple 4 wheel vehicles. He uses modern lights with a ballast that is slightly smaller than a pack of cigarettes and about 1/2 as thick. They do require a "relatively" high voltage to start so you have to rev the Rukus to get them going...it's not an issue on the Triumph or the cars. It seem that once they are on (the Rukus) they seem to stay on OK. The newer types are much better than the older ones were. I don't know what would happen at a slow idle on a Norton. They do run very hot so you have to be aware of nearby plastic.
I like Commoz's idea of a halogen bulb for low beam because the HIDs are only available bright. To really get the best light from them you need an engineered reflector to properly focus the beam but we all know anything is better than stock on a old Brit bike.

Scott
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I just drilled a hole for the halogen low beam right above the hid bulb in the reflector. The focus is pretty poor [it's very low] but when the dual driving lights are on you can't even tell the halogen is on. I just put it there to keep the law happy. Jim
 
I asked around some more and found these lights are being used on a number of bikes with guys I know. As found on ebay ...... http://tinyurl.com/27z6j58

The ad gives a good description of their product. The down side is where you have to send your money. But all reports say there hasn't been any problems. There product has been good too.


Tim
 
Tim_S said:
I asked around some more and found these lights are being used on a number of bikes with guys I know. As found on ebay ...... http://tinyurl.com/27z6j58

The ad gives a good description of their product. The down side is where you have to send your money. But all reports say there hasn't been any problems. There product has been good too.


Tim
Click to expand...

I have bought five kits now from HongKong without problems. I did have a problem with the bi-xenon bulb like the one pictured. It got loose in it's socket and hung down lower and lower. My light was at treetop level by the time I got back from a trip a few years back. It may have been a one of a kind failure.

There is another type of kit available that uses a solid mounted shield next to the bulb. To get low beam this shield is electrified and it draws the arc to the side causing it to change focus. A friend of mine has one of them that he got from HongKong also and it works well. I didn't see any of them listed in the quick look I took. Jim
 
Ok Jim, new generation is fast to come on, cool. Thank guys for reviewing current crop of HID lights. If ya come across a HID narrow pencil beam set in 4" size please ping me.
 
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