Anyone run HIDs in their bikes?

[B5234FT]

I know the aftermarket retrofit kits for halogen lamps aren't great, but a proper bixenon projector retrofit isnt feasible sadly. I did one on my car from theretrofitsource in the US and they're excellent, but bulky!.

Does anyone use an H4 kit? If so, has it been reliable, is the beam pattern and good and would you recommend it.

Cheers

[redeem ouzzer]

Nope. It's illegal to fit a HID in a reflector designed for a normal bulb for good reason.
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[hmmmnz]

i had hids on my fazer. how ever i fitted projectors inside the original light housing, mainly because the original fazer reflectors are so shit its ridiculous.

best mod i did to that fazer, the difference was astounding.

what bike have you got?
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[B5234FT]

Yeah I did the same on my car, but it's a little tighter on space and its a winter bike so I cba investing the time.

I'm well aware of the law and beam pattern issues. Some are awful, some better but no way to know except trying them, hence the question.

It's a GPZ500S which has a woeful headlamp.

[MCN]

It may well be illegal but you'd need to look for a polis that was prepared to do you. Most probably do not notice. I'm sure that fitting a 6inch exhaust to a car is illegal but there are thousands so it and most said.

There may have been a clip.of some UK rider get to g an on the spot (no pun) fine and points when an Austrian bike cop u-turned to follow and pull him over.

Edit I'm on a phone and it is an idiot. Mixing my letters and words. The bastirt.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Didn't work for the ST2.
A word to the wise. If the ballast doesn't get xx volts your lights go out.
So if your charging system/battery fails your lights don't go dim, they switch off as I found out when my reg/rec went fizz.
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[tom_e]

Get some decent LED lamps, straight fit into the original housing and uses the original H4 connectors on the loom so if something does go wrong you can chuck a normal H4 bulb from the nearest petrol station/halfords/back of your shed in.

[B5234FT]

tom_e - any suggestions mate? I've seen total replacement units for round lamps, but not many LED H4 bulb replacements? Have you any real world experience of them as that sounds ideal

[tom_e]

https://www.horizonleds.co.uk/h4-cree-philips-led-headlight-kit-g4

I've had that set fitted since this time last year and they've been faultless. Not cheap but a massive upgrade from even the best standard bulbs.

[B5234FT]

Cheers!

I read the reviews of some earlier Philips lamps and they didnt stack up well against halogens, but will have a look at these. If they can supply a single bulb the cost isnt that bad really.

[Az]

When I bought my GSXR it had a HID kid installed. It's pretty crap and the wiring is a bit of a ballache to route and hide so that it doesn't look messy.

Also when my ignition is on (but bike isn't running) the headlight flickers occasionally.

I'm guessing it's just a cheap HID kid. Looks cool in the day though, emits a nice blue light. At night it's a load of shit on the other hand.

https://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy178/AzAndBikes/GSXR%20HID_zpstd63f09t.png

[davebike]

Yes on both my bike and a previous one

You WILL need to adjust the alinement

Nice power saving and much brighter

On the Fazer very good

Previous bike CB500 VFR800 charging system and all HID or LED lighting very very good lights ! 55w rally spot for main beam !
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[goonerfromlag]

Had a set from hid4u retrofitted to my falco & properly adjusted. Was great for my winter commute down the M11.
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RSV1000R

[ADSrox0r]

I have them on the VFR which already has good lighting anyway but the HIDs make it a pleasure to ride at night. Passes MOT fine with them in.
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Current bikes: '08 VFR 800 VTEC(yo) , '07 ZZR1400 Winter hack: '95 Aprilia 650 Pegaso Currently lusting after: RC30

[Pete.]

Yes, I have HID dip beam but done right
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[ADSrox0r]

Yeah my MOT centre said my dipped spread is fine but they would fail it with HIDs in the main beams because of the delay on startup. The VFR (6th gen) has a cluster of four H7 reflectors so it works very well.

I've never had anyone flash me with them in so I'm happy I'm not blinding anyone. Conversely, when I first bought the bike it must have been owned by a hobbit because the suspension setup with me on (200 odd pound gorilla) cast the dipped beam way too high and I was getting flashed on a regular basis with standard bulbs in until I adjusted everything.

I wouldn't hesitate to fit them on any bike I own so long as it works correctly. For instance if I tried to fit one on the Peggy with its 90's square lens it'd just blind everyone, not much point saying "at least they saw me" if all they saw was a small supernova in their retina as they careened towards me at 60mph.
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Current bikes: '08 VFR 800 VTEC(yo) , '07 ZZR1400 Winter hack: '95 Aprilia 650 Pegaso Currently lusting after: RC30

[iooi]

[BTTD]

[B5234FT]

The GPZ already has a headlight relay and delivers 13.2 to the back of the bulb under load.

It's only got a single bulb, so it's asking a lot!

Swapped in an Osram Nightbreaker I had spare to replace the chavvy blue coated bulb dated 2004 so will see if that helps in the meantime.

Pete, have you ever had the bulb out of yours?

Cheers

[UncleFester]

Just fit a set of CREE LED driving lights.

Wired them up to a switch on the bars - can see AND can be seen.

Picked them up off Ebay - these look similar

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-12V-30W-CREE-LED-Light-Motorcycle-Motorbike-Moped-Boat-Headlight-Spot-Light-/222254099105?hash=item33bf606aa1:g:bxoAAOSwiYFXHhpT

All you need to sort is a relay, a switch and some wiring.
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2017 Z1000SX

[B5234FT]

It's not driving lights/high beam I want, its dip.

Main beam is fine, but when you meet an oncoming car, you need to drop from 60 to about 30 to still be able to see your braking distance.

Driving lights wont help this unless you leave them on with dip, and the beam pattern isnt suitable for that.

[Kickstart]

[UncleFester]

Thats why i like the infill of the accessory lights i have, they are set to be VERY dipped and don't illuminate further than the stock dipped cut off but within that range, visibility is as good as i'd ever want.

Added to that the triangular light pattern makes you stand out just that bit more.

I don't like the addon / retro fit projector stuff, it relies on you taking the existing light unit to bits and then relying on the original focusing glass lense not messing about with the HID light pattern. HID is focused by the projector lense, it does not need a secondary focusing lense as well.
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2017 Z1000SX

[B5234FT]

[B5234FT]