I have been playing around with the HID Hi/Lo beam setup on my workbench. Pretty unscientific using another headlight shell (the FJR is together at the moment) and operating the Hi/Lo mechanism while watching the light dispersion using a welding helmet. You can actually see it operate and the light cutoffs and such pretty well using the welding helmet. I took the mechanism apart so as to try different mods with some alternate pieces so as to not damage the OEM parts....yet.
I had two older (Yamaha XS1100 retangular headlight housings/lenses so I can use one as a baseline with an H4 bulb in it and put the HID capsule into the other for comparison as I go along. I know the reflector is not the same as the FJR but I was looking for a way to do comparison testing not necessarily fine tune for the FJR yet. I fugure if the HID capsule can be improved to work in one headlight housing that was designed for an H4 bulb then the results should apply to the FJR reflector/housing.
I don't think the wings that swing in and out are the problem nor do they need to be modified.
The problem with the unwanted light cutoff in Hi beam seems to come from the shadow of the narrow sheet metal part that operates the wings. Normally, in the high beam mode the light source would have unrestricted 360 degree dispersion from the bulb onto the reflector. With the HID kit the sliding rectangular sheet metal "beam" underneath the bulb is always in the way. I think that it is casting a shadow that causes the unwanted cutoff of the high beam light. I'm talking about the moveable little rectangular sheet metal piece that operates from the solenoid and slides fore and aft to move the wings.
Solution...??....drill a hole or holes in the retangular piece so that the hole ends up directly under the bulb "filament" area when the rectangular piece is in the Hi beam position. With the hole in the rectangular piece over the bulb light source in the Hi beam position this allows light to shine thru the beam and onto the reflector where it was shielded before.
Unfortunately, this causes unwanted light to leak thru in the Lo beam position so I added a short tab from the angular cap at the far end of the lamp to cover the hole when it is in the Lo beam position.
So far I haven't actually drilled or modified anything as I only have the one kit and don't want to do anything rash yet. I have mocked this up with some pieces of aluminum and it does seem to work and to make a significant difference in the HI beam light pattern. It noticeably fills in the center top part of the HI beam pattern. Not perfect but much better.
Huge caveat here: I am just aiming the light against the basement wall inside so I am not outside or riding or seeing actual performance differnce over distance. Just evaluating the pattern close up with mock up parts. But by looking at the light and operation with the welding helmet you can see an obvious difference with this mod that fits my preconceived notions about what would help the situation on Hi beams.
I did put the capsule in the headlight shell without the beam and wings and it makes a huge difference in the Hi beam operation. The ground anode doesn't seem to make much differnce, just the (relatively) wide rectangular beam in the mechanism which is as wide as the bulb.
There is still an issue with the focal point of the light source in Hi beams. Normally the focal point would shift from Lo to Hi due to the lateral change in location of the element in play in the H4 bulb. No way to get around this but it doesn't seem to matter much IF the HID bulb is unshielded. Putting the beam in place on the capsule shields the top side of the bulb and the cutoff in the high beam pattern is obvious in my tests.
My plan would be to open a rectangular slot in the beam and then have it slide under a small tab added to the end piece of the capsulen to close off the rectangular slot when in Lo beam position.
Considering that this is in the brain storming idea generation stage of development I am looking for input from those that have studied the operation of the bulb. Does this seem feasible or not? Any problems?
I had two older (Yamaha XS1100 retangular headlight housings/lenses so I can use one as a baseline with an H4 bulb in it and put the HID capsule into the other for comparison as I go along. I know the reflector is not the same as the FJR but I was looking for a way to do comparison testing not necessarily fine tune for the FJR yet. I fugure if the HID capsule can be improved to work in one headlight housing that was designed for an H4 bulb then the results should apply to the FJR reflector/housing.
I don't think the wings that swing in and out are the problem nor do they need to be modified.
The problem with the unwanted light cutoff in Hi beam seems to come from the shadow of the narrow sheet metal part that operates the wings. Normally, in the high beam mode the light source would have unrestricted 360 degree dispersion from the bulb onto the reflector. With the HID kit the sliding rectangular sheet metal "beam" underneath the bulb is always in the way. I think that it is casting a shadow that causes the unwanted cutoff of the high beam light. I'm talking about the moveable little rectangular sheet metal piece that operates from the solenoid and slides fore and aft to move the wings.
Solution...??....drill a hole or holes in the retangular piece so that the hole ends up directly under the bulb "filament" area when the rectangular piece is in the Hi beam position. With the hole in the rectangular piece over the bulb light source in the Hi beam position this allows light to shine thru the beam and onto the reflector where it was shielded before.
Unfortunately, this causes unwanted light to leak thru in the Lo beam position so I added a short tab from the angular cap at the far end of the lamp to cover the hole when it is in the Lo beam position.
So far I haven't actually drilled or modified anything as I only have the one kit and don't want to do anything rash yet. I have mocked this up with some pieces of aluminum and it does seem to work and to make a significant difference in the HI beam light pattern. It noticeably fills in the center top part of the HI beam pattern. Not perfect but much better.
Huge caveat here: I am just aiming the light against the basement wall inside so I am not outside or riding or seeing actual performance differnce over distance. Just evaluating the pattern close up with mock up parts. But by looking at the light and operation with the welding helmet you can see an obvious difference with this mod that fits my preconceived notions about what would help the situation on Hi beams.
I did put the capsule in the headlight shell without the beam and wings and it makes a huge difference in the Hi beam operation. The ground anode doesn't seem to make much differnce, just the (relatively) wide rectangular beam in the mechanism which is as wide as the bulb.
There is still an issue with the focal point of the light source in Hi beams. Normally the focal point would shift from Lo to Hi due to the lateral change in location of the element in play in the H4 bulb. No way to get around this but it doesn't seem to matter much IF the HID bulb is unshielded. Putting the beam in place on the capsule shields the top side of the bulb and the cutoff in the high beam pattern is obvious in my tests.
My plan would be to open a rectangular slot in the beam and then have it slide under a small tab added to the end piece of the capsulen to close off the rectangular slot when in Lo beam position.
Considering that this is in the brain storming idea generation stage of development I am looking for input from those that have studied the operation of the bulb. Does this seem feasible or not? Any problems?
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