| Author | Message | ||
     Punkid8888 |
So I have been looking through all the old threads trying to find as much information as possible about the difference in HID kits. It seams the only real difference between kits is the size and quality of the Ballast, and the Design of the bulb, (laser aligned with a steel base, or plastic base and not laser aligned) the K rating really is more of a preference as almost every kit offers a wide range (I like the 4300K to 5000K range) The price ranges from about 100 dollars (cheapy ebay) which some will come with two bulbs and two ballast, but have plastic adapter plates. Or about 180 dollars for a kit that has been laser aligned with a real metal base, but you only get 1 bulb, and 1 ballast. So this large price difference is making it hard for me to decide on a cheapy kit and get double the quantity, or spend the bucks and get quality. I plan on only running the low beam as HID and leave the high beam stock I was hoping to get some people to chime in on their kits, likes, dislikes and price. I don’t need to know the actual brand name because none are probably sponsors. But I would really like to know if your kit was a laser aligned kit or not and maybe some accompanying photos of the light pattern. Thanks | ||
| Metalstorm |
I havn't really done much research so take this for what it's worth. I would prefer 1 quality light. I would would probably use it in my high beam so I'm not blinding large oncoming metal cages with my low beam at night. I imagine a high beam HID would cut a nice swath through the dark back roads quite nicely. I might also add some small cheap (ebay) driving lights aimed low (relayed to the low beam) for better daytime visibility and better spread of non blinding light at night when the the high beam's off. | ||
| Punkid8888 |
Well HID will not blind other vehicles if aim correctly. And most choose to not use it in the High beam because of the warm up time needed for HID, and the cycle life limit of the ballast. I am not trying to be rude, but I am not asking if HID is better or not then standard lights (there is already too many threads on this) I want some opinions from people who have installed HID and know the difference that I am talking about, and if they effected the overall performance of the lights, ie. light pattern, Ballast problems that sort of stuff. Thanks | ||
| Chrisb |
Ft_bstrd has a kit from these guys. http://www.texonstore.com/servlet/the-HID-CONVERSI ON-KIT/searchpath/40453/start/9/total/13/Categorie s He's got some miles on it and prob be along shortly to fill you in. I noticed they are $40 off right now. I may be pulling the trigger on a kit or two. | ||
| Metalstorm |
See, I told ya I havn't researched it much  Thank you by the way, I didn't know they require a warm up time. Sorry I didn't notice the I was hoping to get some people to chime in on their kits part of your post. I gotta read slower so I take it all in. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I bought the high end single bulb $200 unit. I was no thrilled about the price, but the setup went in great, and worked perfectly, and continues to do just what I wanted in every regard. It lays down enough light to peel paint off a barn, and it's fairly rare for me to get "flashed" by oncoming traffic. Its remarkable to see stop signs lighting up 1 or 2 miles down a straight road as well... So long after I stopped sulking about on price, I am still enjoying the quality. So there is one data point... but maybe the people getting the cheap kits had just as good an experience. Another data point would be the self contained external HIDs (where the ballast and bulb and everything is built into an extra light). Maybe Baja Designs or something? Those looked intriguing. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Yep. I have the Texon kit. I would recommend them again. They have good quality kits that are easy to install. I've had them in for 15,000 miles without a single problem. You can order replacement bulbs from the company as well as replacement ballasts. The bulbs are rated for 2500 hours. At 50mph for 2,000 hours that gives you 100,000 vehicle miles. You can expect to replace a bulb every 10,000 miles. That's 10 bulbs over the same period of time. That's about $100-$150. So the cost is basically the same for much better lighting. | ||
| Punkid8888 |
Metalstorm, thanks for not taking offence, I know its still early  (here anyway) chribs, I looked into the site, but the only thing they don’t talk about is if the bulbs have been laser aligned, it also appears to be made from plastic which leads me to believe it will result in a less crips top line to the light pattern. But we will have to wait and see if anyone with this product has an opinion about it. Reepicheep & Ft_bstrd, do you know if you kit was laser aligned? also do you have a picture of your light pattern? what color number did you go with? (Message edited by punkid8888 on January 09, 2008) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
 "Laser" alligned is marketing hype. I looked at the bulbs side by side (seen here). The element in the old bulb is in the exact same place as the capsule in the HID bulb. The light emitted is in exactly the same place. Your reflector cone provides the "alignment". I'm sure a metal base would be nice, but I wouldn't make it a go/no go factor. The HID bulbs provide more light with less heat than their incandescent counterparts. The part making the light is on the other side of the reflector cone from the plastic base. Here is what it looks like in the fitting.  I have looked at it and it looks just like it did when I installed it. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Mine was XenonDepot... I think it was claimed to be laser aligned, but I'm inclined to agree with the wisened fat one. It's probably marketing fluff. I went with the daylight white color. Thats the natural HID color, any "bluer" then that and you are getting blue out by taking away non blue colors, meaning you are taking away light. There do seem to be differences in projection pattern. Somebody here had pictures of an Aerostitch kit installed, and the projected beam cut off (to not offend oncoming drivers) was not nearly as clean as the XenonDepot install was. At least not in the pictures... obviously there are tons of variables, and I would not be the least bit suprised if the kits sold today by both companies use all different components today then they did two years ago. | ||
| Midknyte |
Does anyone know the operating temps of: Standard bulb SilverStar of equal wattage to the Standard and an HID ? How do they actually compare to each other? | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The aerostitch kit is the one from Texon. Texon just has them cheaper with different K rated bulbs available. I'll post pics of the beam pattern later. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I'm running both stock highbeams with silverstar bulbs, and I'm very happy with the output. Temperature doesn't seem to be an issue. | ||
| Rhinowerx |
I bought the 6500K Kit from CQLight.ca for around $100 - does that mean it's cheap (crap)? What comes in the box (instructions not shown)  Been running it for over a year, on the low beam side and I have the 'dual headlight on' mod running both lights at once - no heat issues Installed...  More than happy with the light output (pictured with both HB and LB on)  I'm getting ready to do the same to the FAT BOB  Cheers, -Jack | ||
| Ccryder |
Jack: Looks great. $'s does not mean crap or quality. I have $300 in my ST set up and it's been on the road for over 50,000 miles. Only problem was the nut behind the bars (me). I put a 15 amp fuse in the wire harness from the battery feeding the HID harness, with a 20 amp fuse. Guess which one blew, guess which one was a REAL PIA to get to? Lesson learned. Time2Work Neil S. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I measured temps for stock filament versus HID, don't know if I posted them or not. The bottom line is that the HID is much cooler then the stock filiment bulb. I also recall that the stock HID *with* the high beam was significantly hotter then the old low beam by itself used to be. I did that check to see if I just wanted to wire the high beam on "all the time" since the HID was now cooler, and I chickened out based on temperature. It was cooler then it used to be running both high and low beam filiment bulbs, but was still getting hot enough that it alarmed me. For what that's worth. That "cheap" unit looks pretty nice, but you will have problems putting it into an "S" bike. The leads don't look long enough between the various parts, meaning everything has to be stuffed under the windscreen. And I don't think the S bikes have enough room in there, especially as the throttle cables need some room to flop around in there. Unless maybe you relocate the horn... that might give you room. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
That is the one thing I really liked about the Aerostitch/Texon kit was that it was specifically designed for motorcycles. There is a significant amount of wiring harness length.  The two bundles of wires are wiring looms that run between the power source and the ballast and between the ballast and the igniter. Both are sheath wrapped. Looks like both kits are good quality. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Here is the beam pattern of the Texon kit with the S lights.  Low beam only  Low plus high beam | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
How much is that kit Fat? | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
$140 right now at: http://www.texonstore.com/servlet/the-HID-CONVERSI ON-KIT/searchpath/40453/start/9/total/13/Categorie s | ||
| Rich |
I bought the cheap kits($80 shipped) for a couple of my bikes, H7 for my Suzuki and H4s for my RoadGlide. They work pretty well, worth the money if you ask me. You won't be sorry. | ||
| Punkid8888 |
Hmmm, this is all good information and I appreciate it, Here is another question regarding the color temp. Is the color temp number determined by the bulb? Or the ballast? or the combination of the two? That kit looks nice but I notice the marked down units are not in the range between 4300 5000 (which I thought was suppose to be the closest to white) they say they have a 6500K which they state is white, although every other web site says this is starting to have a slight blue tint. so what heat color did everyone go with? | ||
| Reepicheep |
I'll try and dig up what I got... I think it was the 4300 kit. I think I throw just a little bit better pattern then Fat Bastard does, but not dramatically. I think CorporateMonkey has the same kit I have, and posted pictures. I might have posted pictures as well. | ||
| Ccryder |
Color temp is dependent on the gas and coatings in the capsule (bulb). The ballasts are a means to generate the high voltage to create the plasma arc. Usually, as color temp, in HIDs, goes up, light output goes down. The break point is in the 4500-5500 deg range. Time2ROll Neil S. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The kit I have is the 8300K kit. It was all that Aerostitch had at the time. I bought from them even though it was more expensive because I knew that if I had a problem with the kit that their customer service would help me out. I would go with a lower kelvin kit if you have the option. The whitest are between 4000K and 6500K. Within that range you won't really be able to tell a difference. Above that range and you get lots of weird blue lights. Below that range and you get yellow. 3500K is YELLOW and 12000K is BLUE. | ||
| Hogs |
This guy seems to have lots and Cheap... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ewItem&rd=1&item=180204155546&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA :IT&ih=008 Comments? What ya all Think? | ||
| Ccryder |
Heck for that price I WOULD take a chance! Neil S. | ||
| Rich |
That is a sweet price! I have a 8000 in my Busa, two 6000 in my RoadGlide. I got them from bombaymotorsports.com, a fellow I know and trust. (Message edited by Rich on January 10, 2008) | ||
| Vortec57 |
For that I think I'm gonna HAVE to take the chance. What bulb model do we request for the Buell's though? Next best I'd found was from Hong Kong and about 95 bucks after shipping. | ||
| Punkid8888 |
I believe the S models are H7 and the R models use H4. but I could be wrong |
