HID Lighting

[DENCOUCH]

Okay, I am a fan of High Intensity Discharge lighting. The kits to change out the lighting are not very expensive, and the improvements are well understood. Is this one of those modifications that guys do when they are setting their bike up to travel the distance?

When I examine the Gold Wings, or Harleys out there... they appear to be covered with supplemental lighting, but not so the FLRs.

Curious about this.

 

[Ken45]

Well I guess it depends on how much you ride at night. With the deer population around here I try to avoid it, period. But IMO the FJR has very good lighting and the Goldwing has excellent lighting. Heck in fall, I hate even driving the truck after dark!

Being able to see a deer another 100' away isn't the issue, it's the one that jumps out of the brush 20' in front of you. Brighter lights won't help that.

Ken

 

[SkooterG]

and the improvements are well understood.

Not so much imho.

Lots of folk have done it on FJRs. There are a plethora of threads around here.

 

[DENCOUCH]

A lot of wide-open spaces in Eastern Washington & Oregon. Not so much deer jumping out at every turn, but racoons & opossums are everywhere. Once a person heads east, lotsa wide open country begins to appear. It may be my age, but I can never seem to have enough lighting.

 

[SkooterG]

Agree. Which is why I really like HID auxiliary lighting. I'm just not so enamored with putting cheap chinese HID lighting in a reflector designed for a halogen bulb.

 

[bramfrank]

I agree with Skooter. I went with Hella Micro DE Xenons (note, NOT the Micro DE non-xenons, which are conventional fog lights) - if you are patient they come up on eBay at better than regular prices from time to time - Garauld makes brackets that mount them beautifully. Don't mess with the stock bulb - blue and white bulbs are a crock and the wiring is pretty anemic so high wattage bulbs should be avoided. You might want to install a headlight modulator for more conspicuity. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=112046&view=findpost&p=513404

 

[MojaveFJR]

I am not so much for adding lighting to the bike as I would be interested in just swapping out the stock jaundice bulbs. I don't enjoy the night riding and am not concerned with dodging wildlife as much as just seeing the road in brighter/whiter light. Also think the brighter/whiter light would make it easier to be seen in the daytime as well.

 

[karstenp]

Refer to link below for my FJR lighting solution. Overkill for most but may give you some ideas as to what can be done on the FJR... Lots of additional information on lighting in various posts on this site.

FJR Aux Lighting

 

[DENCOUCH]

Refer to link below for my FJR lighting solution. Overkill for most but may give you some ideas as to what can be done on the FJR... Lots of additional information on lighting in various posts on this site.

FJR Aux Lighting

Thanks!

..on my way!

 

[TomInPA]

I use an expensive HID bixenon 4300K setup from HIDcountry in the headlights and an expensive LED Kristas for auxiliary driving lights. I have gotten dependable service for over 23K miles with this setup so far, and an excellent lighting pattern with great down-range and peripheral light, and good near-field fill. The lights are apparently aimed well because I never get a complaint from oncoming traffic, but the bike is very visible and gets pretty good respect from cagers. I really don't understand what the concern is by so many who have claimed problems with HID headlight conversions.

 

[Bugman]

I use an expensive HID bixenon 4300K setup from HIDcountry in the headlights and an expensive LED Kristas for auxiliary driving lights. I have gotten dependable service for over 23K miles with this setup so far, and an excellent lighting pattern with great down-range and peripheral light, and good near-field fill. The lights are apparently aimed well because I never get a complaint from oncoming traffic, but the bike is very visible and gets pretty good respect from cagers. I really don't understand what the concern is by so many who have claimed problems with HID headlight conversions.

Your LEDS lights are great! But, didn't you have HID wiring harness problems? and ballasts failures? and things?

 

[fljab]

Okay, I am a fan of High Intensity Discharge lighting.

Dunno what you're talking about!

This is actually an older setup - still sorting out the right power usage vs return.

 

[TomInPA]

I originally had a bad relay harness on one light. It was a loose connection on the positive plug of the main connector to the ballast. The ballasts and bulbs have been fine, and I have been trouble free over a year on the FJR now. I have installed many units on a lot of bikes, and the incidence of failure is pretty rare, and easy to fix if it does occur. The thing is, if they are going to fail, it is usually a very short time after installation. Once they have been in place, the reliability seems better than standard bulbs.

This thead was about the supplemental lights, and I think the LEDs are by far the way to go rather than HID in that application.

 

[worney]

Okay, I am a fan of High Intensity Discharge lighting.

Dunno what you're talking about!

This is actually an older setup - still sorting out the right power usage vs return.

Do you put on suntan lotion if you know you are going to walk in front of all those lights? :lol: Those are a lot of lumens!

-worney

 

[900gc]

Okay, I am a fan of High Intensity Discharge lighting.

Dunno what you're talking about!

This is actually an older setup - still sorting out the right power usage vs return.

Holy Moly! I thought I was bad!

Hella 60mm High and low beam halogen projectors with Philips HIR 65 watt 9011 bulbs 2350 lumens ea. all wired up with Eastern Beaver aux. harnesses to his PC-8 fuse panel. Headlights: standard wattage Osram Nightbreaker Plus H4 bulbs.

My favorite side effect of this setup is that many people move out of my way and slow down when I come up behind them during the day when the Hellas are off. I think that they perceive them as the "police lights" of a highway patrol bike! I've even had a couple of people pull off the road to let me by! :yahoo:

 

[ekms377]

I have installed several HID kits and yes they are worth it. The only thing you may have to do it adjust the beam. The light output is great and may eliminate the need for additional lighting depending on where you live and ride. The DDM kits are around $60 for the H4 hi/lo kit.

 

[SkooterG]

I have installed several HID kits and yes they are worth it. The only thing you may have to do it adjust the beam. The light output is great and may eliminate the need for additional lighting depending on where you live and ride. The DDM kits are around $60 for the H4 hi/lo kit.

Ahhhhhh...... You forgot the "in my opinion".

Cause not only do I think they are not worth it, but in no way do they out perform auxiliary lighting. (In my opinion)