Looking for suggestions on higher output headlight bulbs

[eddd]

I'm getting ready to install a multiple relay system for my R1100RT headlight. Now that I will not have to worry about overloading the factory wiring, I want to upgrade my bulb to a high output type and I am looking for suggestions.

 

Thanks.

[Mike]

Well, the limiting factor isn't just the wiring. Higher wattage bulbs can also melt or distort the bulb housing or reflector. Truthfully, the best approach is to buy a high quality bulb (e.g., Silverstar Ultra; some swear by the Euro version) that's rated at the same wattage that's specified by the factory. If that doesn't cut it, auxiliaries are the way to go.

[Heck]

HID kit....around 99 bux and get lotsa light....

[OoPEZoO]

Go HID......you will never go back to standard lighting.

[jskene]

If you upgrade to an HID conversion, you don't need to upgrade the wiring. HID systems draw only 35 watts, lower than the stock bulb's 55 watts.

 

Dual bulb conversion kits are now under $100 on EBay.

[JR356]

Hi,

 

The folks over on ADVRider.com found this deal,the price is for a pair!!

 

http://ww.vvme.com/catalog/list-s-10145-10146.html

 

 

JR356

[DavidEBSmith]

You can read a very cogent explanation here of all the reasons you shouldn't replace your halogen headlight bulb with an HID conversion. It's especially true for the R1100RT headlight, which has a pretty mediocre reflector design to start with. You will get lots of light, much of which will be going into places that aren't useful, like up in the air or into the eyes of oncoming drivers. Plus, on the R1100RT, you have a stock dual-filament single bulb in a reflector with two separate focus points for the high and low beam, so any HID replacement will necessarily be some sort of kluge to make one HID discharge point show up in two places.

 

More light or brighter light is not necessarily better light or more useful light.

 

Your best bet for an R1100RT is to use a higher-output standard-wattage clear-capsule bulb like a Philips VisionPlus or Osram SilverStar (not Sylvania SilverStar, which has a light-eating blue coating). Philips has a new bulb called the X-Treme Power which actually tests out to be markedly superior, but I haven't personally tried one yet.

 

Higher-wattage bulbs have the disadvantages of producing more heat and having significantly shorter lifespans. You're better off with a better-designed standard wattage bulb on the R1100RT.

 

Installing the headlight relays will improve performance with any bulb. I've participated in a side-by-side test and in identical headlight reflectors with identical bulbs, the bike with the headlight relays cast a noticeably brighter beam.

[USAF1]

 

Pat

[OoPEZoO]

You can read a very cogent explanation here of all the reasons you shouldn't replace your halogen headlight bulb with an HID conversion. It's especially true for the R1100RT headlight, which has a pretty mediocre reflector design to start with. You will get lots of light, much of which will be going into places that aren't useful, like up in the air or into the eyes of oncoming drivers. Plus, on the R1100RT, you have a stock dual-filament single bulb in a reflector with two separate focus points for the high and low beam, so any HID replacement will necessarily be some sort of kluge to make one HID discharge point show up in two places.

 

More light or brighter light is not necessarily better light or more useful light.

 

Legitimate question here.....not trying to pick a fight. Have you ever ridden a R1100RT at night with an HID bulb installed?

 

I respect Daniel Stern....he is the man when it comes to aftermarket lighting, but I have ridden with both standard and HID bulbs in my RT, and they would have to pry my HID headlight out of my cold dead fingers before I went back to a standard bulb.

[BUSTED]

I've run 100/80 bulbs with no problems for about 11 years now on a couple 1100 oilheads. Much brighter than the 60/55's.

[snod]

I have ridden side by side with a HID installed in an R1100RT. I believe his was a 99 and mine is a 97. I have 10 gauge from the battery to 30 amp relays and a Osram SilverStar H4 bulb. I don't know what brand his HID set up was. His HID was "better"/brighter than my low beam alone. My high beam was "better"/further down the road than his low beam. With the HID set up he was using, he only had low beam. When I turned on my PIAA 1100's (ezmount) and low beams my lighting was more effective than his, both close and far. When I went to my PIAA 910's (EMP mount), high beams and 1100's, my lighting was FAR superior to his. Brighter up close and MUCH brighter down the road. I just don't think the 1100RT is well suited to HID conversion. Mount good HID's on EMP mounts and then you could have outstanding lights.

[kcscout]

I have ridden side by side with a HID installed in an R1100RT. I believe his was a 99 and mine is a 97. I have 10 gauge from the battery to 30 amp relays and a Osram SilverStar H4 bulb. I don't know what brand his HID set up was. His HID was "better"/brighter than my low beam alone. My high beam was "better"/further down the road than his low beam. With the HID set up he was using, he only had low beam. When I turned on my PIAA 1100's (ezmount) and low beams my lighting was more effective than his, both close and far. When I went to my PIAA 910's (EMP mount), high beams and 1100's, my lighting was FAR superior to his. Brighter up close and MUCH brighter down the road. I just don't think the 1100RT is well suited to HID conversion. Mount good HID's on EMP mounts and then you could have outstanding lights.

 

So, if I'm reading this right... on your 1100RT:

* You upgraded the wiring and relay.

* You replaced the stock light with a SilverStar H4 Bulb.

* You added a pair of PIAA 910's on high beam.

 

That it?

Do you have any part #s?

Thanks in advance.

[snod]

So, if I'm reading this right... on your 1100RT:

* You upgraded the wiring and relay.

* You replaced the stock light with a SilverStar H4 Bulb.

* You added a pair of PIAA 910's on high beam.

 

That it?

Do you have any part #s?

Thanks in advance.

 

I also have PIAA 1100's mounted under the oil cooler with a Cycle Gadgets/EZ-mount. They are switched by the turn signal cancel button. The PIAA 910's are mounted above the mirrors on EMP mounts. They are run from the high beam switch. The upgraded wires/relays are pieces I put together myself. It is much like the kits you can buy from Eastern Beaver. It uses the stock H4 connetor to run a pair of 30 AMP Bosch relays, one for low beam and one for high, 10 gauge direct to the battery, 20 AMP fuse. The Osram bulb is nothing special just a good H4. Sorry no part numbers for any of it. I tend to agree with EB that the 1100RT reflector limits the effectiveness of any HID upgrade. Both the PIAA 1100's and 910's out distanced the stock BMW reflector with an HID low beam only upgrade. The stock high beam "shined" further down the road than the HID low beam. The only time that I felt the HID upgrade was better than my multiple light set up was when we were both on low beam only. The HID set up was low beam only, he had no high beam. Of course this is based on my eyes and judgement, not subjective testing.

[OoPEZoO]

I have ridden side by side with a HID installed in an R1100RT. I believe his was a 99 and mine is a 97. I have 10 gauge from the battery to 30 amp relays and a Osram SilverStar H4 bulb. I don't know what brand his HID set up was. His HID was "better"/brighter than my low beam alone. My high beam was "better"/further down the road than his low beam. With the HID set up he was using, he only had low beam. When I turned on my PIAA 1100's (ezmount) and low beams my lighting was more effective than his, both close and far. When I went to my PIAA 910's (EMP mount), high beams and 1100's, my lighting was FAR superior to his. Brighter up close and MUCH brighter down the road. I just don't think the 1100RT is well suited to HID conversion. Mount good HID's on EMP mounts and then you could have outstanding lights.

 

So......His HID low beam wasn't as good as your high beam, and it was even more noticable when you kicked in your extra lighting? Sounds like common sense to me. My only real question is why or should I say how does someone install a low beam only HID on a R1100RT? Do they make kits that have a HID low beam and standard high beam? It doesn't make sense to me considering that the R1100RT uses one bulb for high and low beam.

 

For what its worth, I'm running an HID high/low beam setup with a set of PIAA driving lights (on their own switch) under the oil cooler that are only enabled when my high beam is active. The only thing the PIAA lights do is light up the sides of the road and a little of the ditch when going around corners. I eventually would like to add some low beam driving lights attached around the front calipers, but haven't got around to it yet.

 

As far as the headlight bulb itself, there is a MAJOR difference between my low and high beam. My low beam lights things up really well (ie. better than any other standard or high wattage bulb I've ever used with stock wiring), but my high beam is just nuts. I don't get to use it much because of the time of day and congested roads I ride, but when I need it......I wouldn't settle for anything less.

[JR356]

Get the Bi-Xenon conversion from the same page I listed above.

Since this is an auto kit,there are two complete MC setups,you can sell the other,or go in with a buddy on the buy.

 

JR356

[USAF1]

You need to understand that there is a BIG, BIG difference between an HID bulb acting as an H4 (2 filaments) and an HID bulb that is basically replacing the H3 or H7 or H9 (all single filaments) or whatever......

 

As I understand it....(at risk of repeating myself) all HID's are single filament bulbs.....(whereas the H4 is a 2 filament bulb) Soooooooo, when you are replacing an H4 with an HID.....that bulb has to move.....via a small servo.....to adjust the light within the reflector so that the output is hitting another area of that reflector.....the spot that the H4 Hi-beam would be hitting on.

 

I know that there is somebody out there that can explaian this much better.....so if you can help out here....please do so.

 

And yes, I do agree that the output of the HID is far and away much more than what is being put out by the Halogen style of bulbs......no one is disputing that. You just have to understand how the HID's have to work, in order to have it presume the job of an H4.

 

I installed HID's in my LT.....and I will also, never go back to the halogens..............

 

But, if I still had my RT (which only had the H4)......I'd do exactly as EB has said....precisely because of the inherent problems he's tried to point out.

 

Pat

[OoPEZoO]

You need to understand that there is a BIG, BIG difference between an HID bulb acting as an H4 (2 filaments) and an HID bulb that is basically replacing the H3 or H7 or H9 (all single filaments) or whatever......

 

As I understand it....(at risk of repeating myself) all HID's are single filament bulbs.....(whereas the H4 is a 2 filament bulb) Soooooooo, when you are replacing an H4 with an HID.....that bulb has to move.....via a small servo.....to adjust the light within the reflector so that the output is hitting another area of that reflector.....the spot that the H4 Hi-beam would be hitting on.

 

Yup, I know how it works. When I hit my high beam switch, a little servo moves my bulb in the housing to reflect the light to a different spot in the housing. If you stand by the mirror and look through the side of the headlight, you can watch the bulb move in and out while you modulate the high beam switch. I don't see this as a problem......I think it is more of an inovative solution. If you buy a quality HID kit and properly aim your headlight, the low and high beam both put out fantastic amounts of useable light. I honestly don't see one negative with running a HID setup.

[Mike]

You can read a very cogent explanation here of all the reasons you shouldn't replace your halogen headlight bulb with an HID conversion. It's especially true for the R1100RT headlight, which has a pretty mediocre reflector design to start with. You will get lots of light, much of which will be going into places that aren't useful, like up in the air or into the eyes of oncoming drivers. Plus, on the R1100RT, you have a stock dual-filament single bulb in a reflector with two separate focus points for the high and low beam, so any HID replacement will necessarily be some sort of kluge to make one HID discharge point show up in two places.

 

More light or brighter light is not necessarily better light or more useful light.

 

Legitimate question here.....not trying to pick a fight. Have you ever ridden a R1100RT at night with an HID bulb installed?

 

I respect Daniel Stern....he is the man when it comes to aftermarket lighting, but I have ridden with both standard and HID bulbs in my RT, and they would have to pry my HID headlight out of my cold dead fingers before I went back to a standard bulb.

 

I don't have any experience with an aftermarket HID kit in an RT, but I did use one for my last car, a VW R32. One of Mr. Stern's disciples, also a lighting engineer, told me it was pure heresy--I would cause light to scatter everywhere, motorists would crash, and the planets would collide. So, I installed the kit, and took some photos of the beam pattern, which I sent to the guy. His response? "Darn, I don't believe it. That's exactly the same as the stock (halogen) pattern. I guess sometimes these HID kits do work. But usually they don't."

 

The key, as it turns out, is how accurately the HID's arc mimics the position of a well-made halogen bulb. It often ends up a mess, but it also quite often works very, very well. For that reason, if you're considering an HID conversion I'd draw on the experience of others who have had success with the same model vehicle as you have. If someone else has had luck with Brand X, you likely will as well.

[blackyam]

Your best bet for an R1100RT is to use a higher-output standard-wattage clear-capsule bulb like a Philips VisionPlus or Osram SilverStar (not Sylvania SilverStar, which has a light-eating blue coating). Philips has a new bulb called the X-Treme Power which actually tests out to be markedly superior, but I haven't personally tried one yet.

 

What about the Philips MotoVision bulb? Is it any good (compared to the others suggested)? TIA.

[11101110]

The only problem with the HID kits is some hid bulbs may not have the gas discharge tube properly aligned for proper light distribution. If it is properly aligned (exact same position as the filiment) then there should be no beam scatter beyond the stock pattern. There will only be more light "within the lines".

[gezerbike]

Does anyone here have any experience with HID set up offered by Aerostich ? I want to increase the lighting on my Airhead GS, but as most know, the electrical system in it's stock form leaves a lot to be desired. I could upgrade the electrical system ( $ 600 ) then add some PIAA's ( $ 300 ) or, I could just go with the Aerostich uprade HID for less than $ 200....should increase lighting over the stock 55/60w stock bulb AND put another 25-30 watts back into the electrical system. For those in the know, would you go with the single or double H4 set up ?

[smiller]

I've run 100/80 bulbs with no problems for about 11 years now on a couple 1100 oilheads. Much brighter than the 60/55's.

FWIW, me too. That, and a couple of Hella FF50's on EMP mounts don't leave me wanting for any more light.