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I am going to
say this before we start, this is an illegal modification according to Department of Transportation's
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) . If you are caught doing it,
fines and tickets will follow, assuming local law enforcement has the tools,
time and the ability to distinguish between what is a complete system and what
is an "add-in" bulb w/ ballast.
So why mention it??? Because you
need to make the correct decision and shop for a complete lighting system. Do
it right.
No HID lighting system
available from any source is DOT / E approved if the reflector is not
designed for the HID bulb.
Here is a link to 2 nice kits
which are running lights...ooooooo. 2 HIDS on a bike????? you betcha...
http://www.blm-accessories.com/AuxLights.cfm
What you have is this. The bulb filament lights,
light is emitted in a certain spot and the reflector reflects, expecting light
from the bulb in a certain spot on the reflector. But the reflector is expecting
an H4 bulb not a HID bulb. Even the HID arc itself is not the same shape of a H4
filament so the reflection gets even more distorted. With just adding in a HID
bulb, the "focal point", which is the vertical and horizontal positioning of the
bulb filament as it resides in the reflector housing, is moved. Typically with
these cheap add in bulbs the filament is too far forward when the bulb is
inserted in to the housing. If you can find the correct size shim to use, you
could improve the overall beam pattern by placing it in between the bulb base
and the housing thus moving the bulb back around 1/16". This tightens the
pattern back up, eliminates some of the scattered glare, but it far from
perfect and no telling how much light you are still loosing or how much unwanted
glare you are sending out into on coming traffic.
Looking at these projected
results charts it looks impressive.....
but ... hey.... wait a sec...
..................aren't those little red cars on these............... why
aren't those little red motorcycles, where are the motorcycles?!?!?
Hint. Hint. Hint.
Hint. Hint. Hint.
..........motorcycle headlight patterns don't look like a car's headlight
pattern. I have never seen a motorcycle beam pattern displayed by
any bulb maker, Why is that? - Because bulbs are designed for cars
not motorcycles. You don't really think bulb makers have a selection of
reflector s form the top selling bikes of the last 10 years sitting around in a
lab to test with do you?
Installation Observations:
The stock reflector in your bike, like
and other non HID headlight is designed for an H4 not a HID bulb. The beam
pattern in a HID bulb and focus are not as crisp and as well defined as an H4 bulb. There is also
a large amount of misdirected light produced by this mismatch of reflector and
BID bulb. Sure it is still bright as hell over the
H4 but the glare coming off of it to on-coming traffic is going to be offensive
and you will blind people with this if you are not careful.
The High beam portion of this
setup is so weak I think my flashlight would do a better job taped to the
handlebars. It is the little blue bulb you see next to the HID bulb. These are
single element designs so the HID only has one filament, so therefore it is
either on or off. It is designed to be the "low beam". I suggest using
your running lights as you high beams. One little screw holds
the blue bulb in place in the assembly. Unscrew it, cut the leads to the bulb
and it comes right off. Tape and or heat shrink the cut wire leads you have left
so they don't short.
One interesting result of
removing this substandard bulb is when you flip on your High Beam switch on the left
handlebar, the low beam shuts off and since the blue bulb is gone, the headlight
turns off completely.
Adjust the light before you get
in traffic or everyone will flash the hell out of you.
If I had to guest as to the
gain of how bright it is, I would say nearly 3 times brighter and a 2.5x wider
pattern. It is impressive and only pulls 35W. There are several Kevin ratings to
choose from so know what you want and what it will look like before you buy.
Hint- Cops don't like blue and purple headlights on bikes.
With this HID,
you can go back to the stock factory setup in the time it takes to change a
H4 bulb.
The ballast mounts where ever you
can find room. Perhaps under the front upper cowl.
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