Are HID Lights worth on an R1100RT?

[Beto]

I have an R1100RT with PIAA lights mounted under the oil coller to draw attention while riding during the day or night. I am very pleased with the set up. However, a friend of mine replaced the stock lights (High and low beam HID lights, which require 2 ballasts) in his R1150GS and the difference is very notisable.

 

I normaly ride secondary roads during the day but somethimes ride before down.

 

Would I benefit by replacing the stock lights by HID lights?

 

What are my options and where can I get them?

[Jerry Johnston]

I personally haven't installed them but a LONG while back I copied this address for them that may (or may not)help.

http://www.hidkits.com/whats_new_9003_bi_xenon.htm

[Paul_Burkett]

Sylvania Silver Star bulbs are a notcable improvement over stock lights and about $50.00 for both high and low beams.

[DavidEBSmith]

The R1100RT has a single H4 bulb for high and low beam. So to convert it to HID, you either lose one of the beams, or have to go with one of the hokey kits that has a solenoid that moves the bulb back and forth to try to simulate high and low. Even if you do that, the reflector in the R1100RT headlight is designed for a bulb that has some shielding that the HID bulbs don't, so you get light scattered in unwanted and annoying directions.

 

So I would say skip the HID headlight and go with a good H4 bulb like the Philips Vision Plus or the Euro-spec Osram Silver Star (not the U.S. Sylvania version), available from www.powerbulbs.com among others. For a bit more light, add a headlight circuit relay, which you can either wire yourself or get a nice pre-wired harness from Eastern Beaver . That will get you noticably better light from the headlight for under $100.

 

Beyond that, the answer is adding bigger and better auxiliary lights than the under-the-nose PIAAs.

[Beto]

Thank you very much for your insighfull information. I will simply skip the HID lights and replace the light bulb.

 

Regards,

[Rocketman51]

I totally disagree. The HID dual beam set up is what the RT needs. I have had it installed for 2 1/2 years. No problems, Just great light, and I am able to see whats ahead at night. Yes, expensive, but well worth the money.($310) Hey, you spent good money for the BMW, whey be cheap when your life is on the line? I sugest you stay away from the deep blue 8000K light. Go with the Crystal white 4300K bulb. I have the 4300K in my RT, and the 8000K in my Acura. The 4000K does a better job. web page

[smiller]

I didn't want to mess with HID replacements for the reasons that David mentioned -- plus I wanted to keep my headlight modulator -- so I went to a 80/100 watt headlight lamp (which made a big improvement all by itself), then added Hella FF50's on EMP brackets above the mirrors. A flexible setup (can aim it wherever I want and I can turn off the Hellas when in town and I don't want to annoy other drivers.) A lot of light output with this setup (probably more than HID, albeit at a much higher current consumption), can't imagine needing any more for on-road use.

[SageRider]

I have had HID on my R1100-RT for several years. Light output is fantastic. Does not blind oncoming drivers if aimed properly and with a clean headlight lens.

My particular kit is no longer available, but did not have any problems with focus in either the low or high beam positions.

 

The only drawback I have experienced with HID out here in the land of no lights whatsoever is that at times the beam can be almost too bright. The contrast between areas lighted and not lighted is total. Lots of light or no light. Also, bounce back from reflective signs can be bright enough to cause some discomfort.

 

I would still take HID over any headlight replacement bulb available.

 

Auxiliary HID lights would probably be the optimum solution (for me).

[Barglowski]

The R1100RT has a single H4 bulb for high and low beam. So to convert it to HID, you either lose one of the beams, or have to go with one of the hokey kits that has a solenoid that moves the bulb back and forth to try to simulate high and low. Even if you do that, the reflector in the R1100RT headlight is designed for a bulb that has some shielding that the HID bulbs don't, so you get light scattered in unwanted and annoying directions.

 

Some of the above comments are dispelled by a bit of research:

- There are 3 types of HID for the H4 bulb.

1) you lose the high beam (low is all you get, although it's plenty bright!

2) you get a HID high and a Halogen low

3) you get a solenoid driven high-low mechanism

I've seen three types of solenoid mechanisms for moving the arc, and the one linked in a post above shows a fairly similar "shielding" to the normal H4 bulb. Other mechanisms hold the bulb from the front and side, and therefore shield some light output from the front and side. By deduction, you could even say that the only shielding on a standard H4 bulb is on the very front, which will not even use the reflector of the headlamp assembly!

 

Since there are so many variants of HID H4 bulbs, you should exercise care in what you order.

 

And, some riders would say all those lights hanging off the ends of the mirror and forks look rather hookey!

 

Later,

jan

[RFW]

If it burns out, you sure won't benefit from the $500+ replacement cost!

 

Bob.

[Art..]

Hid bulbs rarely "burn out". The light is produced by storing a charge in a capacitor, which is then used to fire an arc across a gap between electrodes. Once the arc is present, it can be maintained using relatively low wattage (30 watts).

 

There is no filament to burn out or break.

[RFW]

Hid bulbs rarely "burn out". The light is produced by storing a charge in a capacitor, which is then used to fire an arc across a gap between electrodes. Once the arc is present, it can be maintained using relatively low wattage (30 watts).

 

There is no filament to burn out or break.

 

Of course. But that doesn't mean that they NEVER fail. Just this week, I saw two different cars with one of their HID headlights running at a bare glimmer.

 

So it may be a rare event that one fails, but when it does, it is big bucks! I'm not a fan of the lottery!

 

Bob.

[SageRider]

Of course. But that doesn't mean that they NEVER fail..So it may be a rare event that one fails, but when it does, it is big bucks...

My HID headlamp setup was not any more expensive than a set of dual PIAA auxiliary lights. The PIAAs (or a conventional headlight bulb for that matter) will last nowhere near as long as the HID bulb, and replacing just the HID bulb is much less expensive than the entire kit since the ballast is not being replaced. In addition, when on the road, if my HID system fails, it can be converted back to conventional within 5 minutes.

All that said, with my current setup I have no redundancy. If the HID system goes, my parking lamp will be my only forward illumination. My comfort level would be much higher with a redundant lighting system.

[smiller]

My HID headlamp setup was not any more expensive than a set of dual PIAA auxiliary lights.

 

PIAA's are not exactly an advertisement for cost-effectiveness.

 

On another note, part of my hesitation to go with HID was the large number of kits available, over a wide price range, each claiming to be superior to the other, plus decisions on color temperature and such, etc. Seemed like too much of a roll of the dice. But I'll bet that isn't much of a factor anymore as the situation has probably sorted itself out over the last year or two as the fly-by-nights go out of business and the dependable vendors succeed.

 

[SageRider]

PIAA's are not exactly an advertisement for cost-effectiveness.

Agreed!

But, as with Microsoft, good marketing can overcome anything...