HID Headlight Kit

[HaulinAshe]

Skooter and All,

Does anyone have comparison pics between "not quite stock" and the 5k HIDS?

I run the Philips H4 Vision Plus and Philips Xtreme Power H4 bulbs. Both are noticeably whiter than the true "stock" H4. It would be great to see how they compare.

 

[Bill]

Problem I had was not that they would fire but that they would quit after about 15mins.Might have been the bulbs or the ballasts, It seemed to be vibration related as they would flicker sometimes even when on while riding.

If I stopped, turned off the ignition and then immediately restarted the bike they would fire

Chris

I had that same problem a few years ago with my CBR1100XX. It was the bulb burning out. I replaced it with a better bulb and have never had another problem.

 

[Mcgyver74]

Jeff,

Did you have to run a seperate relay for the upgraded bulbs or were you able to tie into the stock wiring?

 

[bmwhd]

I agree with the theory that the headlight housing erosion is UV light based. One of the big wins for my old eyes with HIDs is that the extra UV pumps up reflective signage and road markings at night. After nearly 20k miles of HID, the erosion in my housing is much less than those pictures. Two dime sized areas of slight clouding in the plastic chrome above the bulb.

I'll continue hunting for some 4300K bulbs of the same quality as the 5000Ks I've been selling but they're getting darn hard to find.

Skoot - I still think I must have accidentally sent you 6000K bulbs. Your photos look like that to me and nothing like the 5000Ks I've got in my bike. We'll see what we can do in any case.

 

[Fred W]

I agree with the theory that the headlight housing erosion is UV light based. One of the big wins for my old eyes with HIDs is that the extra UV pumps up reflective signage and road markings at night. After nearly 20k miles of HID, the erosion in my housing is much less than those pictures. Two dime sized areas of slight clouding in the plastic chrome above the bulb.

While the erosion may be caused by UV light, and the HIDs may emit more UV light than stock Halogens (which should be zero), if your eyes can pick up UV light bouncing off of signs then your eyeballs are significantly more advanced than mine.

Hint: UV (Ultra Violet) is above the visible light spectrum. Any UV light being broadcast by a lamp would be completely wasted energy, therefore not desirable.

Furthermore, if the erosion is actually caused by light emission (UV or visible), then why is the erosion limited to just the area immediately above the capsules? The light intensity broadcast by the capsule should be about the same in a half circle arc around the top half of the reflector when in low beam position, and a full circle when in high beam.

The heat, however, would be more intense directly above the capsules, as the heated air rises in the otherwise still air confined in the headlamp bucket, hence my reason for thinking it might be heat related.

FWIW, I had very similar amount of reflector erosion (~ dime sized) after a similar amount of mileage (~20k) on my old headlamp buckets with 4300k HIDs.

 

[Zorlac]

Never mind.

 

[Keeper of the seven keys]

I had a similar experience when I put HID's in my 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. I was hoping for a lot more light,but I was very disappointed. I'm glad the kits were not too expensive. I was considering putting HID's on my FJR,but now I don't think I will waste my money or time after this big letdown. Thanks for the review though. :blink: :angry2:

 

[bmwhd]

I agree with the theory that the headlight housing erosion is UV light based. One of the big wins for my old eyes with HIDs is that the extra UV pumps up reflective signage and road markings at night. After nearly 20k miles of HID, the erosion in my housing is much less than those pictures. Two dime sized areas of slight clouding in the plastic chrome above the bulb.

While the erosion may be caused by UV light, and the HIDs may emit more UV light than stock Halogens (which should be zero), if your eyes can pick up UV light bouncing off of signs then your eyeballs are significantly more advanced than mine.

Hint: UV (Ultra Violet) is above the visible light spectrum. Any UV light being broadcast by a lamp would be completely wasted energy, therefore not desirable.

Furthermore, if the erosion is actually caused by light emission (UV or visible), then why is the erosion limited to just the area immediately above the capsules? The light intensity broadcast by the capsule should be about the same in a half circle arc around the top half of the reflector when in low beam position, and a full circle when in high beam.

The heat, however, would be more intense directly above the capsules, as the heated air rises in the otherwise still air confined in the headlamp bucket, hence my reason for thinking it might be heat related.

FWIW, I had very similar amount of reflector erosion (~ dime sized) after a similar amount of mileage (~20k) on my old headlamp buckets with 4300k HIDs.

Didn't I mention I'm part wolf ;-) Actually, I don't know if HIDs produce any more or less UV light than a halogen bulb but I had been told once that reflective paint contains phosphor to convert UV light to visible for the purpose of making it stand out. Perhaps that's false. Whatever the cause, HIDs show my old eyes markers and signs better than halogen.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Thanks to all for a very informative thread.

A couple comments:

When comparing -- insure the B+ voltages are similar (datel/voltmeter readings), especially when comparing with Halogens involved (not sure about HIDs?).

Be fussy about adjustment -- I've seen many bikes with auxiliary lighting installed where the owner said the stock lights where no good when they were nowhere near in proper adjustment.

Interesting to find out that there's (apparently?) no wattage savings with HIDs -- I've always wondered about that, how do you get something for nothing?

The retro-reflective issue -- I, personally, cannot stand any more light in a night-time metro environment. Any ret-refl road signs tend to blind me with high-output lighting. I, years ago, went 'the full monty' on one of my first sport-tourers with high wattage (illegal) headlights operated by relays direct from the battery, etc. (and learned to hate it...). I ultimately resigned myself to stock or slight improvements (quality-wise) over stock. IOW, (for me) it's the quality of the light -- definitely not the quantity.

It seems clear to me that auxiliary lights are the answer to riding at night in the BFE (if you have the power to run them...?).

Thanks again -- good stuff...

 

[bmwhd]

I had a similar experience when I put HID's in my 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. I was hoping for a lot more light,but I was very disappointed. I'm glad the kits were not too expensive. I was considering putting HID's on my FJR,but now I don't think I will waste my money or time after this big letdown. Thanks for the review though. :blink: :angry2:

I personally take no offense since I'm not selling these as a revenue venture (at least not a net positive one :glare: ) but I'd really encourage anyone to not make up your mind based on photos alone.

I've never known anyone else to not see a major improvement in the low beam by converting their FJR to HID. However, this particular bulb is a bit different than other HIDs I've used in that the beam cutoff is very sharp. This tends to focus the extra light (~3000 lumens vs. the OEM's 1000) in a way that under certain conditions can wash out the surroundings. This is rarely a problem in practice but it can happen.

High beam is another story and is very subjective. I think these are better than stock myself but this is certainly an area where reasonable people disagree.

All in all, for me the advantages of HID far outweigh any negatives. YMMV of course.

 

[RadioHowie]

this is certainly an area where reasonable people disagree.

There is absolutely NO place on this forum for reasonable people to disagree. Just can't happen.

Maybe for people to disagree reasonably, perhaps. But "reasonable people"? No such thing.

:blum:

 

[Fred W]

Howie, stop being so unreasonable.



FWIW, I think you do get quite a bit more usable light output from the HIDs in low beam. I think you also get more light in high beam as well, but since the high beam light pattern from the FJR headlight bucket is so gawd aweful shitty, you just get more shitty light. IOW a different light source can not improve the beam pattern of the reflector. It isn't any worse than the halogen output, but it really isn't any better either.

Therefore, if your goal is to get better light when running out in the wide open prairie, then HID replacement lamps are not a good solution. Aux lights of any type would be a better choice.

But, if your goal is to achieve better low beam, in-town, and in traffic performance the HID replacements may work for you. Albeit with a risk of fouling your reflector eventually due to Hot UV rays.

And furthermore, if you want increased conspicuousness during daylight hours, the HIDs (especially when left on high beam :devil: ) will accomplish that quite nicely.

As in all things in life, your level of satisfaction is directly attributable to what it is that you want.

 

[RadioHowie]

Howie, stop being so unreasonable.

Buh-buh-buh...it's my JOB!