are xenon blue head light bulbs legal ?

[adam_co_92]

hi, i work in a car service and repair garage and due to my persuasion, the boss has lately started stocking bike stuff(oils, batterys, bulbs etc) in the parts shop, i have noticed some blue xenon headlight bulbs that will fit my zzr400, these are emarked and it says on the packet that they are 30% brighter than standard and are legal in most countries, what i want to know is are they actually legal and will i get pulled for them, thanks alot, adam
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1993' KAWASAKI ZZR 400 N
HOPEFULLY PASS MY TEST WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH OR SO, WISH ME LUCK

[Kickstart]

Hi

Depends on how blue they are.

Proper HID kits for aftermarket use are not legal.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Faraz]

[The Tot]

Faraz,

They're not legal for cars either UNLESS it is a Factory-Fitted piece of equipment whereby the lenses have been designed to facilitate the different beam pattern caused by a discharge beam as opposed to your incandescent (normal fillament) type bulbs.

So chavs who retrofit HID's into their standard headlight clusters will invariably create a dazzling beam for oncoming road users. The same is applicable to bikes.

IIRC, you need to have a self-cleaning headlight if your vehicle is fitted with HID's and must have self levelling suspension.

Nevertheless, I've had them on my last 2 bikes and the difference is like night and day. I've had the beam tested at the MOT centre and passed. Not had anybody flash me so I can only take that as a positive.

Technically they are illegal... but so are race cans and small plates... except this one is a potential safety aid, especially in winter
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[The Tot]

To the OP,

Blue xenon ones are "xenon-look" only and will actually emit less light than your stock light bulbs. The colour temperature of a bulb is inversely proportional to its luminosity. I believe standard light bulbs have a colour temperature of about 3000 Kelvin which gives a yellow light. The further towards 12000 K (bluer hues) you go, the less light you are emitting onto the road.

If you want plasma cannon type visibility for night/winter use, you'll be looking at the HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE (HID) kits. My recommendation is a 4300 K colour temperature which is like diamond white whereas 6000 K is more of a cool-blueish daytime white if you want the most intense light.

Too blue and you'll be impersonating plod... and gets speeding bikers paranoid if you're followed by one lol
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[adam_co_92]

These arent xenon lookalikes, it says that they something about xenon gas inside them and im sure they sed something about 4300k also they are from germany and are supposed to be similar to the ones fitted to the new bmw's etc, the picture on the packet shows a very very light blue more like diamond white as you sed so i think these me the ones you are recomending, but does anyone think im likely to get pulled off pc plod for these as i dont fancy taking my light bulbs out everyday to show them theyre emarked also on that note how often do you guys get pulled for race cans, small plates and tinted visors
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1993' KAWASAKI ZZR 400 N
HOPEFULLY PASS MY TEST WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH OR SO, WISH ME LUCK

[Mystery]

tinted visors are almost no trouble unless you get pulled for a few things and get a pain the ass cop which will pull you for everything s/he can

small plates are 50/50 depends on how tight the cops are in your area some people have been pulled like once in 5 years of having one and some been pulled a few times

race cans depends on how loud it is you might not get a pulled on or not, i know i dragged it out abit but hope it helps
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Carbon knuckles assure you maximum protect against debris and unfortunate accidents or if someone cuts you off, their side mirror.Mopeds are like chubby chicks.. they are really fun to ride until you're friends catch you on one

[cyberglass]

If you want some decent lights look into a set of osram night breakers or philips extremes.

The philips are pretty much the brightest you can get legaly without going the HID route. There was a test done on them a while back in a magazine ill dig it out.and post it up.
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DL650 Vstrom 2004
DRZ400S 2003
Yamaha R1 2005

[The Tot]

You can be like a midnight star, in the case of my 929 which has a huge reflector/lens surface area at the front. I'm running H7 HID 4300K low beams and Philips Vision Xtreme High Beams! I won't go ANYWHERE without the combo. The low beam has high enough intensity to mark out small objects on the road such as wildlife LONG before they would be able to trouble me. The high beams give sufficient range to let me know which way the road is turning in about 1km... A dark A40 is a good way to test my theory.

Anyway, for comparisons of HID's with Philips Xtreme Vision on the ZX6R and 929 Blade.

https://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v191/10/100/500990711/n500990711_606532_921.jpg

6000K at night

https://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v191/10/100/500990711/n500990711_606531_707.jpg

Beam pattern

https://p1.bikepics.com/pics/2007%5C11%5C07%5Cbikepics-1080695-full.jpg

Philips Xtreme Vision

https://p1.bikepics.com/pics/2007%5C11%5C07%5Cbikepics-1080697-full.jpg

Philips Xtreme Vision beam pattern

It's not a good control test since I used my camera for the HID shots and my mobile for the Xtreme Visions. The lens and optics on the phone camera make it appear brighter than it really is

https://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2227/10/100/500990711/n500990711_2056662_7388.jpg

HID 4300K with Philips Vison Xtreme

https://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2227/10/100/500990711/n500990711_2058891_4034.jpg

Close up beam pattern

https://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2227/10/100/500990711/n500990711_2058889_3520.jpg

Far beam pattern.

In any case, your ZZR will probably use a dual filament bulb in which case you'd require a H4 bulb. These, in my experience are no where near as good as the single filament H7's if they have HID conversions. My advise is to go with the Xtremem visions.
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[sickpup]

[Kickstart]

[The Tot]

[Mystery]

[Acemastr]

I had 8000k ones in my saxo long ago, they were very blue but didn't ever attract any attention and went through an MOT.
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2017 KTM 350 XC-F - 2014 Yamaha R6 - 2005 Yamaha YZ125
2016 Toyota Tacoma Limited

[Kickstart]