HID to light up the night!

[G-Rex]

I did a search, and found a few answers, but not alot of follow up related specifically to my question.

 

I'm considering changing out the high beam, low beam, and both fog lamps on my R1150RT to HID.

 

As I see it now...

 

Pros:

Light that doesn't stop

Less heat

 

Cons:

Finding a place to mount the ballasts

Possibly needing to carry stock bulbs if HID blows

 

Has anybody done this and have any long term comments on it? I am looking at adding auxiliary lights above the mirrors also, more than likely HID as well.

 

Thanks!

[AndyS]

Yep, done it - but not to all the lamps.

Finding places for the ballast is not a problem (especially if you don't have speakers fitted).

 

HOWEVER and it is a big however, these bikes were not designed for HID, and with the amount the bike pitches during accelleration / deceleration and over undulations, the lights become VERY anti-social for other road users. You WILL blind them. If they then drive into you, you will not be too happy. And remember when you are dazzled at night, you cant see the road so you head for the light.

 

Be very carefull with your decision.

Extra halogen lights would be a more sympathetic approach. These can be selected on at YOUR discression and so make it better for all parties.

 

I would be interested on what the auxilliary lights are like with HID's fitted though.

 

Andy

[philbytx]

I HATE HID's of any kind but especially on bikes, SUV's and trucks!

 

Ok, Rant over...

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

A single HID used as a high beam will have a several second lag before being full bright. If you need a high beam quick, HID may not suit your need.

The R1100RTs have a single source for low and high enabling a single arc for the HID. A shield on a solenoid moves the shield out of the way for very fast, no lag, high beam.

 

I believe the shield approach is the method used on Euro cars that look like their high beams are on but only at a very very dim level.

[G-Rex]

HOWEVER and it is a big however, these bikes were not designed for HID, and with the amount the bike pitches during accelleration / deceleration and over undulations, the lights become VERY anti-social for other road users. You WILL blind them. If they then drive into you, you will not be too happy. And remember when you are dazzled at night, you cant see the road so you head for the light.

 

This my only real concern. I've read that if you take the time to properly aim the lamps, this should be a non-issue though?

 

I HATE HID's of any kind but especially on bikes, SUV's and trucks!

 

I am interested in everyone's viewpoints, so I would like to ask why you hate HIDs as much as you do? Is there a reason other than what AndyS gave above?

 

A single HID used as a high beam will have a several second lag before being full bright. If you need a high beam quick, HID may not suit your need.

 

I can't recall ever being in a situation where the presence/lack of high beams immediately was a make it or break it for any given situation I've ever been in. I don't think that this will be much of an issue for me personally.

[Jerry Duke]

I changed to HID on my R11S and LOVED it!!!

I went with a 4300 low and a 6000 high and noticed a major improvement in dusk and dark riding. Many times especially in dusk conditions, I'll ride with both low and high beams on so that I'm noticed, I've never had someone flash me.

I've followed my wife to get her opinion and she says the light is clearer and doesn't bother her like conventional more yellow lights do. Must be something with the clarity of the light.

[philbytx]

Firstly, I use Osram SilverStars in our cars and on both bikes and find them much better than stock and I never have a problem.

My stock BMW Ellipsoids in the GQ are fabulous anyway but the SilverStars really do light up the road. When I first bought the RT, I decided to supplement the stock lighting using auxiliary PIAA's with Martin Fab mounts. When I later added the SilverStar bulbs, it really lights up the road without blinding others.

 

As far as HID's go, both Deb and I find that most of them on approaching vehicles temporarily "blind" us, especially when they are on SUV's, trucks etc. i.e. higher vehicles!

 

[flars]

I replaced the H4 bulb in my '98 RS with the 'bi-xenon' bulb (with the moveable shroud) and I liked it so well I quickly replaced the low beam in my 2002 R1150RT.

I have followed my wife on both bikes, and have asked her if the lights offended her (in an Acura TL, to give you an idea of how low she would sit to the road). She does not object to them, and she is very outspoken about badly aimed lights. Of course I am careful to respect everyones mirrors when I stop behind them at night, but I did that before I got the HID. I have never been flashed by oncoming traffic. I did not adjust the headlight on either bike.

The RT previously had the Osram/Silverstar bulb, and the light doesn't compare in any way shape or form to what the HID throws.

The HID lights up the sides of the road more than the halogen bulbs did - either that or I can just see the light better now. Riding in SC or NC or GA at night, on two lane roads will make you a believer in HID - even without the high beam on.

[Jerry Duke]

I'm more concerned with how I see than what others think about my light selection. Too many of the idiots out there don't see or care to see us anyway.

But that's the great thing about the US of A. We have choices and options.

[NonComp]

I'm surprised HIDs are legal. I had one behind me the other night - a full-on jacked up 4x4 which put his headlights in the middle of my rear window. I finally had to change the side mirror alignment to get the glare out of eyes. It was painful. If a bike had been passing I would have had no idea that it was there.

[Jerry Duke]

I think the jacked up truck was more of a problem than it being HID.

[kmac]

The need to change from hi to low beam radily is a neccesity for me. I use it to flash people who look like they are gonna pull out in front of me at dusk or night. I just hit the hi-low switch if they look like they are gonna roll the stop sign or stop light and pull out in front of me. I have had people start to roll out, then i flash the highs, and they have stopped and taken a second look and noticed I was a motorcycle that is close and not a car that is far away.

 

As to HIDs...I have never ridden with them on a bike, I am sure they are nice and bright to look at, but I friggin hate them on anything I have to look at. Even low cars, the hot white light is so glaring in my face or rear view mirror, I just wanna stop in the road, and bash out the other cars head light with a hammer....of course I am too nice of a guy to actually do that....But i have felt like it.

[NonComp]

I think the jacked up truck was more of a problem than it being HID.

Sure. If the guy had his highbeams on the whole time. This wasn't just annoying. This was dangerously distracting.

[kmac]

It is a big problem even with stock headlights on trucks when they lift them and they usually lift the front an extra inch or so to level them out and they never readjust the head lamps and they just blind anyone in front of them, now add HIDs in that morons truck and you have a recipe for aggression.

[ESokoloff]

I'm surprised HIDs are legal.

 

Unless factory equip, they aren't.

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

First and foremost, one should never put an HID bulb in a housing that does not have a horizon built into the beam. Most modern cars and motorcycles' low beams have such a horizon regardless of manufacturer, but there are some older cars that don't. The headlight on the 1150RT clearly has the horizon but about half the people I know have theirs adjusted way too high, exposing oncoming vehicles to the beam of the light. A lot of people are used to older sealed beam lights that just kind of faded out along the top edges of the light pattern rather than being cut off like they are now. Many of the complaints I have about people retrofitting HID bulbs into their cars and trucks are because they're not the right kind of pattern, and the other is because they're not willing to adjust their lights correctly to prevent it from shining into everyone's eyes.

 

Also, get ready for someone to post a link to someone's web site about how the shape of the HID arc is not correct for lenses that were built for the cylindrical shape of a halogen bulb. It's fun reading and probably correct, but the person who wrote that has clearly never put an HID in any of his lights. That's all I have to say on this one.

 

I've got an HID low on my RT. I keep my lens adjusted so that it does not shine in the mirrors of cars that I'm riding behind while following at a safe distance. My opinion is that you will not need the fog lights in any way once you upgrade the low beam. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've never turned mine on in the many years I've been running an HID. Don't spend you money on the fog light kits until after you've seen the low beam HID.

 

I have an HID high beam on my KTM mostly because I don't ride it on the highway much at night and I want the extra light for riding on the dirt. My experience is that yes, it does take a while to warm up (maybe 5-10 seconds) but once it's hot, the time to full brightness after dipping it for a little bit than re-firing it is shortened considerably.

 

For all you people who are mad at me for having an HID light on my motorcycle.... at you least you see me.

[AndyS]

I have an HID low beam currently fitted, and I totally disagree with BONEY on the point of not needing to use auxilliary lights. I find my aux lights are the only thing on this bike that fills out the missing side of the beam to what should be there on low beam.

Also, there is a hole in the middle of the low beam illumination generated by the main beam reflector.

The Optics Design Guys got this well wrong,the dip beam pattern should not be affected by the main beam reflector, but it seriously is. Fitting an HID makes this dark blob even more noticable. So the aux lights help to blend this out too. I have fitted a switch to my low beam so that I can turn it off until I need the extra ooomph needed by the HID. I tend to run the Aux lights as riding lights until it gets too dark to be safe behind them.

 

If you set the dip beam sufficiently low as not to blind oncoming traffic, you may as well have left the halogen unit in and set it a little higher to get the desired throw of light up the road.

 

Andy

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

I wonder Andy, whether what you're experiencing is a product of the Queen's version? I have no hole or blob or "missing side" of my beam. I have an even dispersion of light from the front of the bike to the beam's horizon, which tips up slightly on the right side of center to illuminate signs on the side of the road.

 

And my halogen fog lights, when turned on, make no useful difference in illumination.

[Jerry Duke]

I agree with Andy, especially taking a left turn. The light goes up into the trees.

I see BMW has solved this problem with the K1600's adaptive light.

[flashman51]

I have an'04 RT. I did replace all the bulbs with HID'S. Amazing light. I have yet to use the high beam, so you might pass on that. I will warn you, some people become very angry with how bright the lights are. Last night I had a guy ride me for about five miles with his highs on. I finally pulled off the road and he screamed at me for the brightness of the lights. This has only happened once. But probably once a month, people will pull behind me and turn on their high beams on. Still I feel much safer with my new lights.

Good luck

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

I have an'04 RT. I did replace all the bulbs with HID'S. Amazing light. I have yet to use the high beam, so you might pass on that. I will warn you, some people become very angry with how bright the lights are. Last night I had a guy ride me for about five miles with his highs on. I finally pulled off the road and he screamed at me for the brightness of the lights. This has only happened once. But probably once a month, people will pull behind me and turn on their high beams on. Still I feel much safer with my new lights.

Good luck

 

Perhaps you need to adjust your headlight so it does not shine in everyone's eyes.

[kmac]

I have an'04 RT. I did replace all the bulbs with HID'S. Amazing light. I have yet to use the high beam, so you might pass on that. I will warn you, some people become very angry with how bright the lights are. Last night I had a guy ride me for about five miles with his highs on. I finally pulled off the road and he screamed at me for the brightness of the lights. This has only happened once. But probably once a month, people will pull behind me and turn on their high beams on. Still I feel much safer with my new lights.

Good luck

 

Sorry about that I didn't know that was you.....

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

I have an'04 RT. I did replace all the bulbs with HID'S. Amazing light. I have yet to use the high beam, so you might pass on that. I will warn you, some people become very angry with how bright the lights are. Last night I had a guy ride me for about five miles with his highs on. I finally pulled off the road and he screamed at me for the brightness of the lights. This has only happened once. But probably once a month, people will pull behind me and turn on their high beams on. Still I feel much safer with my new lights.

Good luck

 

You might give this some consideration:

You feel safer with the HID and the amount of light you get.

However, aren't you more at risk of some dude turning you into a speed bump?

 

Don't misinterpret, I love my HIDs but, I take the time to make sure they aren't a distraction....even during the day on two-up rides when they want to aim high.

 

Please take the time to make sure you aren't a problem to others while solving your own.

Be safe.

 

[NonComp]

I just had another HID run-in two nights ago. Dark, very rainy. Making a left-hand turn from a four lane street into a side street (poorly lit intersection). Car waiting at the light has HID lights. As I'm looking left and beginning the turn, I'm squinting to see through the glare in my face, trying to determine if there is someone in the crosswalk. As it turned out, there was, but I could barely see them.

 

One of the problems with these lights is, even if they are aimed properly, it means nothing if (in this case) the cross street at the intersection is on an uphill grade onto a level through street. I guess if you live on the prairies, they may be OK.

[philbytx]

The most ridiculous thing about a lot of those damn HID's is that if the damn turn signal is adjacent to the headlights and is blinking, you can't see it because of the HID glare . DAMHIK!

[pfb]

I have 1 riding season with an HID H4 hi/lo on a R1150R. I can't recall which spectrum it is but it was one level below the whitest option. I had enough cabling on the unit to mount it under the tank. Dressing the wires around the headlight area took some time to ensure proper movement/strain relief. Depending on the unit you get be careful tie wrapping wires together. I had a very thin 'sense' type wire I tie wrapped to the wire running 23kv and it went 'poof'. My fault. I left the original light socket hardware in place in case I needed to go back to stock. I carefully aimed everything. So after 1 season I am used to the light. Shadows move around differently. Made me a little jumpy at first. With the high beam on country back roads it's like day time. So far no angry oncomers.

[AndyS]

One of the problems with these lights is, even if they are aimed properly, it means nothing if (in this case) the cross street at the intersection is on an uphill grade onto a level through street. I guess if you live on the prairies, they may be OK.

 

Exactly my point. with accelleration, undulations, road geography etc these lights become eyeball destroying weapons. Once blinded by them, it takes too many milliseconds to recover. leaving you dangerously vulnerable. HID's are to be used with extreme caution and extra lights which fill the road where you need the light are a better option IMHO.

 

Andy

[mrmouse]

To carry you point further after reading this post .It is clear there are cars out there not designed for HIDS and there operator do not adjust the headlights for the difference in replacement bulbs or ride height. The factory IE. Bosch headlights have a internal shutter to cut off all the above road level light in low beam then opens when on high.Any light without focusing control over 35watts should be treated as a off road light/High beam . Our RT light needs to be adjust as well, as doses the ride height /sag . It is not the product it is the operator.

[NonComp]

It is not the product it is the operator.

As mentioned above, it is also sometimes the circumstances and topography.

[AndyS]

....As mentioned above, it is also sometimes the circumstances and topography.

 

+1

 

Also, I found out almost to my cost this morning. Your brain looses it's ability to calculate approach speed of other vehicles if it has very bright lights! A vehicle approaching you with bright lights looses all sense of mass, and therefore rate of change of size at it approaches you. This leaves you with one less sense to quickly call on.

 

Andy

[NonComp]

A vehicle approaching you with bright lights looses all sense of mass, and therefore rate of change of size at it approaches you.

That may be because it is distance between lights that helps your brain determine the approaching speed of a vehicle. This is the achiles heel of motorcycles: not enough separation between light sources.

 

I would speculate that the brightness causes you to squint, which blurs the image of two headlights into a single light source. You then lose the ability to judge the changing distance between the lights as a measure of speed.

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

Also, I found out almost to my cost this morning. Your brain looses it's ability to calculate approach speed of other vehicles if it has very bright lights! A vehicle approaching you with bright lights looses all sense of mass, and therefore rate of change of size at it approaches you. This leaves you with one less sense to quickly call on.

 

Excellent point. We detect closing rate based upon angular separation rate of the lamps, in daytime it's similar except with the whole vehicle combined with ground covered using fixed references. It's been awhile but, as I recall it isn't terribly linear as one gets close which is why "awwww shoot" is uttered so frequently. This is a problem if they are too bright because you can't really look at them even with peripheral vision or approaching a vehicle from the rear with dim red or yellow taillamps. There was some testing to support that in the late '80s.

[AndyS]

.....That may be because it is distance between lights that helps your brain determine the approaching speed of a vehicle. This is the achiles heel of motorcycles.....

 

 

That's what I'm saying. Now add to the fact that if the approaching motorcycle has a light so bright that you can't make out the bikes outline, all you get is a single fireball of no known size approaching you, leaving you unable to calculate speed (until the point of collision - when you realise that it was quicker than hoped)!

 

.....Excellent point. We detect closing rate based upon angular separation rate of the lamps, in daytime it's similar except with the whole vehicle combined with ground covered using fixed references. It's been awhile but, as I recall it isn't terribly linear as one gets close which is why "awwww shoot" is uttered so frequently. This is a problem if they are too bright because you can't really look at them even with peripheral vision or approaching a vehicle from the rear with dim red or yellow taillamps. There was some testing to support that in the late '80s.

 

Yep.

 

Andy

_________________________

[kmac]

Even on vehichles that came from the factory with the HID lights on the, like some newer BMW cars and Acuras etc... even with the head lights adjusted correctly, they just suck to see coming at you. As the operator of a vehichle equiped with HIDs, a person may like the lights, but as a fellow road user, i detest them and wish they would get outlawed!

 

JMHO, and remember, I am a moron.

[g_frey]

Tried nighthawks, silverstars, off brand 100 watters, all did not satisfy. Went to HIDs on the low beam. Loved it. I can actually see the deer now. No panic stops in 3 years. You can adjust the beam easily from the riding position so I hardly ever get flashed. For further safety try four 55 watt auxillary halogens mounted to aim to the sides of the road. On lonely country roads, just the ticket. Will not work in cities! On group night rides I am always put in front to show the way. Avoided a herd of ELK on road that the following group ran into. Our last rider was frantically waving to slow them down but they didn't see him either. If you do install HIDs put the ballast in then double all fastening systems. Miles and vibration will move most of them and they are usually mounted near the steering!!! One caveat, don't use anything above 5000K. Blue light hides mule deer.

[NonComp]

Avoided a herd of ELK on road that the following group ran into. Our last rider was frantically waving to slow them down but they didn't see him either.

Or, do your riding during the day and kick back with a beer at sunset!!

[kmac]

even if that is the PLAN...that is not always possible. If you commute on a bike you will often be driving at night during the winter.

[NonComp]

I do on occasion, but in sub-urban traffic. No lack of light.

[Paul De]

I converted my '99 RT to HID which uses a single bulb with solenoid activated high/low beam....and adjusted the aim to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. I really like the improvement over the wimpy OEM lighting which was a real deficiency of this model RT

 

Aside from a much improved whiter lighting down the road, which improves riding safely in a state with almost as many deer as people, I also seem to be experiencing many fewer cars that turn left in front me where I need to slow/brake to maintain a safe cushion during the daytime.

 

I am sure that the drivers in my state haven't all of a sudden become more courteous and have stopped cage bullying the guy on the bike and letting me pass before turning left. Whether they are giving me space because the whiter higher lumen light makes them better see me, or these cagers are discomforted by the higher lumen light, I don’t care, at least now they are now giving me more space which improves MY safety.