HID technical (sort of) questions....

[Monty]

Aight,

We all know the group HID thing is going down, and I had a few questions I wanted to chuck out here while we're waiting. Hopefully someone will have some ideas. Basically, I just wanna know what I'm in for if I get in on this thing. Anyone else that has any questions feel free to add them on.

1.) Is one of the listed bulbs brighter than the others or is the only difference in the light the color tint?

2) Is there really a much more noticeable difference in light when moving up to HID? i.e. is this just cool factor or will I finally be able to see shid at night...

3) Do I need to run an inline switch to shut the light off for starting etc? Those who run switches, do you leave your HID off during the day time or do you use it like the regular factory light and run it all the time?

4) Do you guys change out your high beam to something else? I thought I read somewhere that someone was running a yellow high beam....if so, why??

Thanks,
Monty

 

[ICEMANN]

Did you read my post, it's on page 2 now, everything you wanted to know about HID?

1. HID bulbs are at least 3x brighter, 3xwhiter, 3x further light thrown foward, and 3x more available usefull light as compared to two 100 watt stock bulbs side by side. MY opinion. Most advertise as just 3x better than stock. Do a search on "ICEMANN" and read all the hid posts w/pics. It's more like the sun at night. You cant outrun the headlight. The tint color difference is in the "K" value. The more "K" the more bluer the color. Like the audies and bmw lights youve seen.

2. Cool factor has nothing to do with it. You will start dodging incoming bugs you never saw before. In the back of the pack you will light up the ground in the front of the front rider in the pack.

3. The switch is optional but nice to have. When warming up the bike at night your not advertising. Easier to work on the bike when you can see what your doing from not being blinded. imagine a welders arc at 3 inches. Same thing at 100 feet.

4. Any stock bulb in the highbeam will look so yellowish and more like "pizz" compared to the HID you will not use it or really need it.

5. I posted about custom made pure yellow bulbs on HB3 bases that I had manufactored. The yellow cut right thru the HID and actually had a signifcant effect on the ground especially in rain or fog.

6. I have nothing negitave to say about HID other than if you dont ride at night save the money. Install is simple IF you can take the nose section off.

JD

 

[grabntwist]

Ice, Im thinkin' of adding bi-xenon and converting my hi-beam. Can you hook me up. I was thinkin' about 9-10k since its only the hi-beam

 

[ICEMANN]

the highbeam lens is pre focused for the stock bulb it doesnt fair well with much anything else. lens distorts it badly. not sure what to recommend

 

[Monty]

Did you read my post, it's on page 2 now, everything you wanted to know about HID?

Ahhhhhh, damn....sorry bro, missed it, my bad. If I'd have seen it I wouldn't have started this one....guess I'm just excited.

Thanks for takin the time to post again though, I appreciate it.

Gonna go and work on my search skillz a little....

 

[busapilot911]

Iceman, How easy would it be to switch the the "high beam" switch wiring to work in the opposite direction? I mean have the HID hooked to the current high (switchable on/off) and the current low (always on) be the non HID.?
Did that make any sense?
I think this might have been an idea Revlis had awhile ago.

 

[justintime2]

6.  I have nothing negitave to say about HID other than if you dont ride at night save the money.

I disagree with you on this one bud. One of the things I like best about your kit I put on is the daytime visibility!

 

[shortBoarder]

I emailed Mike at XenonKing some questions + he got right back to me (on a Sunday!)...I've copied the email below in case anybody had the same questions that I did.....


--snip--

- How does the light handle hi-beam?  Does it just get brighter?

It depends on the bike. Some bikes have two seperate bulbs, one low beam, one high beam. If this is the case you have an option to buy 2 kits, one for each beam. You can also just buy a low beam and have a halogen high beam, it all depends on what you want for the bike.
(note: Icemann answers this question earlier in the thread)

- How big is the ballast (how much space will it take up on the cycle?)

Check this link: www.xenonking.com/installation.htm it shows the size of the ballast. You should not have a problem with the installation for the bike.

- How many watts will this system draw from the bikes electrical system?

It will only draw a 35 watt of  electrical energy from the bikes electrical system.

- What is the life expectancy of the bulb?

The life of the bulb is 3 times than that of halogen bulb. We give a 1-year warranty on all parts.

- Are the 6000K bulbs tinted blue to achieve the higher color temp?

None of our bulbs are tinted, all tinted bulbs are fake. The 6000K achieves the blue tint because of the higher kelvin rating and the chemical balance that goes on within the filaments of the bulb.


craig



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[HMan]

I've somewhat had this answered but want to be sure. Is the 5300K bulb a better choice than the 6,000K bulb when it comes to ehancing visibility at night?

 

[shortBoarder]

I've somewhat had this answered but want to be sure.  Is the 5300K bulb a better choice than the 6,000K bulb when it comes to ehancing visibility at night?

There isn't a remarkable difference in the human eye's resolving power between 5300K and 6000K; you won't see a lot more with the 6000K over the 5300 and vice versa. From a pure physiological standpoint, our retinas resolve warmer colors with better detail than cooler colors (this is visible in extreme cases), but we're really splitting hairs....

I'm going for the 6000K since I'm hoping that other drivers will notice the different color tint against the majority of vehicles with traditional warmer-looking halogen bulbs. I always notice when a BMW, Audi etc. is running high color-temp HIDS, so I'm considering the 6K simply to look "different" from the crowd in the hopes of being visible. As Icemann mentioned, the 10000K lamps are practically sky blue (and possibly illegal?); The 6000K is a good cool-white lamp, with a tinge of blue, so I'm going for that.

Brightness will be a greater factor at night than color temp, and an HID, regardless of the color temp of the lamp you're using, will outperform the traditional halogens.



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[ICEMANN]

Hey to answer your question about switching the hi/low around on the wiring. It can be done pretty easily. You have a couple of choices. The way the switch harness is wired the LOW BEAM has to be "on" for the high beam to get power. So you can cut and splice and change it at the sockets. But the low beam socket on the highbeam wires. You can change it in the right handle bar switch assemblyl or you can manually change the wiring and make it how you want.

JD

 

[busapilot911]

Thanks Ice.