Xenon lights

Just purchased a XenTech H4 6000k HID kit off ebay for $75 shipped. (Cheapest anywhere else is amazon.com for $120 before shipping.) After reading a few different opinions and articles, it appears that XenTec kits arevery well made (Based off of Philips and Bosch technology). They also have a 2 year warranty. For now I will install them and eventually replace the H7 high beams, though not likely with HID kits. I'll post pics of the entire install as well as the before and after results. From other posts I've seen, it appears one of the better places to mount the ballasts is on the ECU (for a Gen 6) between the fairing with uber-strong double sided tape. I used this method on my VW and the ballasts have stayed in place through all types of Colorado weather and several hundred miles.

 

I had the Xenon lights on my '07 BMW K1200GT. (They were an $875.00 option.)

Xenon bulbs reportedly produce a light that's more balanced towards daylight, hence they are supposed to offer better night visibility, less eye strain, and greater safety. They also reportedly make it more likely to see and detect the telltale retinal reflections from animals lurking in the vegetation along the sides of country roads at night or when riding in daytime along a heavily shaded road through forrested areas with high tree canopies.

Unless you do a lot of night riding (which I don't), I question whether Xenon bulbs are worth the expense.

Although I have very good eyesight, and wear only weak prescription eyeglasses, I (as mentioned) tend to avoid night riding on 2-lane secondary and country roads because it's rather like riding in a fog. That is, one simply can't see beyond the limited cone of light from the motorcycle's headlights.

In addition, I've yet to find a plastic helmet visor that is optically clear when riding at night. Instead, I find that in marked contrast to daytime riding, in which my vision is quite clear and sharply focused while looking through these helmet visors, looking through them at night introduces a myriad of optical distortions (particularly halos, double reflections, etc.) as well as blurry vision. No matter how well I clean the inner and outer surfaces of these plastic visors, these optical problems remain.

[Riding with the visor up is not an option for me for two reasons:
(1) Last November I totalled my BMW, and had I not had my Shoei helmet's visor fully down, my face and eyes would've likely been severely injured, as the visor was pretty badly scratched up; (2) I'm not willing to risk having bugs, etc. striking my eyes.)]

FWIW, Larry Grodsky was killed by striking a deer while riding at night...

 

you guys may want to also consider vvme.com because on most of my car forums, they love this company. The products are solid, and come in at under $100 shipped.

Something I have noticed. Most people don't seem to know a lot about HID. They draw less power, and they give more light, but they have a much larger current draw upon startup. Just something to keep in mind.

 

I work for a company that sells HID lighting. I can't beat that price by much for 35w kits, but 55 watt kits and Hi-Lo setups I can beat just about anyone.

Here's an example of what you'd get for a dual bulb H4 kit. Two 35watt ballasts, 2 HID bulbs (3k-17k Temperature range - H4, H1, H7s, you name it), all the necessary wiring, install kit (with adhesive) and instructions (not pictured).

 

True, not a lot of people know about the true advantages of HID. I have been working with electronics for the better part of two decades, to include six years in the Navy. You are correct in the fact that HID ballasts draw a greater amount of current on start up. The duration, however, is very short and by no means enough to do damage to your battery or electrical system. I have installed a kit in my car that has been running a cheaper [quality] set for some time now and has yet to cause anything close to damage; never has killed my battery.

Stick with a Yuasa battery in the bike. By far one of the best and longest lasting on the market. The last one I had went for 16k miles in my Gen 6 Viffer.

 

Sorry Viff, I didn't mean to impose. I work at a "Pimp your Ride" store in SW ohio. I have done numerous HID kits, and there is just some basic knowledge that a lot of people don't know about them. I was in NO WAY trying to offend you or the products you sell.

We really should not be putting PnP HID kits in a reflector made for halogen bulbs. There is a good amount of glare created. Our bikes seem to do fairly well with it, however there are some bikes/cars that really should not have HID's. For best results, we should actually retrofit a projector made for HID's.

Sorry to ramble, I am just a lighting nerd. lol.

But that color looks great and the intensity looks great. Good choice in kits. Looks like the bulb was well designed.

 

HID head lights

Check with Viff from our forum, I know he can hook you guys up with HID. If you can not find him Let me know I will have him response to your post. By the way I like your last statement :smile:

 

HID lights

$75 that for one (1) set up right? Don't you have to get two since there is 2 low beam and 2 hi beam?

 

I didn't take any offense. Don't worry about it! :tongue:

 

Links

None of the link is working:unsure:

 

Nice lights

Great pictures, I cannot wait to have my put on.

 

ill take some also ill put them in at your house scubalong...

 

You could buy a secondary kit but on American models it would be H7's for the hi beams. For now, I am just going to find some nice, close to white PIAA's or something and swap them out.

Got the kit in today and installed it. Looks awesome, very nice at night. It does create a fair bit of side glare but overall is very nice. I don't ride a whole lot at night but they look great and will be nice for the times that I do.

If anyone else wants to do this mod feel free to PM me for q's. Oh, and to all those who feel you do, it is NOT necessary to take off the headlight mask an housing to change the bulbs. It can be done by taking off the fairings, corners, and black inner fairings, which gives you plenty of room to work from the side.

 

I'm planning to get two Xenon bulbs for my VFR. I'm a bit confused as the dealer said each bulb is only $19+ tax. I saw online that the Xenon HID kits for the motorcycle is more than $200. What's the difference here? Are you using just Xenon bulb replacements or the high end expensive Xenon kit? Also what about the Battery Draining issue with these high powered HID kits?

 

contact viff here in the forum he gets good deals on this stuff and he could probably get you extra bulbs

 

Xenon bulbs like Silverstars or PIAA's are regular halogen like the stock bulbs, they just use a different gas to be able to burn brighter. HID's are a whole differentl lighting system that is significantly more expensive...

The light on a halogen is thrown off by an element that's really hot. HID's make light with an arc of electricity. The difference in the way the light is created is why there can be glare or wierd light patterns when swapping an HID bulb into our stock headlights that were originally designed for halogens.

 

Eh Viff, Please post or PM me your prices and details on the ones you can get.

 

I have a set of HID H4s in my VFR for the low beam and I love the quantity of light they produce. However, the light isn't as focused as it was with the halogen lamps--and it is because of the aforementioned reflector design.

The horizontal cutoff was fairly sharp with the halogens, but it's blurry with the HIDs. This probably causes a slight increase in glare to oncoming traffic... but no one has flashed me or made a big deal about it. With any luck, it's just enough glare to make me more noticeable.

 

I would like to know why most of you have 6,000k lights when the OEM HID's and proven studies show the 4,300K is the best to have for real world use. Ya 6K is a whiter light but it does not work as good as 4,300K. Bling factor= 6K use?

 

6k is actually a more blue light with regard to HIDs. A little known fact is that HID resellers sell HID bulbs in temperature brackets, if you order 4k-5k you'll get the same bulb. 6k-8k are the same thing as well.

6k is going to have a slightly blue overtone. It's really hard to even notice when compared side by side with 4.5ks.

The higher you go on the temperature range, 3k-17k+, the less effective (for driving purposes) light output you get. If I remember my numbers right, the difference between 4.5k and 10k is about 22% effective light.

However, if you want to keep a higher range temperature but maintain light output, you can always install a 55watt ballast instead of a 35watt standard ballast; the difference being 40% light no matter what HID bulb you're running.