What HID's do you reccomend?

[SportBKRider]

Have been looking into Hid's.. What models do you reccomend? How have you liked yours? How much did you pay?

[Jim]

done some research on eBay, when I first got my bike. you'll need the dual beam ones, which i've seen for around $200 - $250. let me know what you find, since i'm kinda still looking to upgrade from my H4 bulbs

[KillBill]

I think PunjiStick put some in his GSXR

[KB]

You should get the ones that come with the flush mount blinkers and the chrome polish for your extended swingarm, and lowering links.

KB

[SportBKRider]

HaHa, Not my style, and no I don’t wear a man hole cover around my neck..

I'm looking for safety factor here.. I am going 5000k(pure white) so they are brightest.. I have seen to many clips of bikes not seen by other cars, Plus I live in Boston.. where no one can drive..

[SportBKRider]

V-HID 35W SLIM BALLAST XENON HIGH/LOW MOTORCYCLE KIT H4 5000K PURE WHITE
I got LED bulbs from this company.. They were the highest quality I have seen.. Also very inexpensive.. I think I'm going for this one.. Want sure how the electro magnit works..

[brendanp]

I got 6000 low beam on my bike. They are great!

[Jim]

i want a 6k set, but dual beam. brendan, how much were yours?

[KillBill]

I bought a set of PIAA's that work amazing....think they were like 50 bucks for 2

[Jim]

i have PIAA Xtreme White's in my bike now. i've had them in my truck for a while too. great bulbs, but i think they use alot of wear on the battery. HID's run cooler and I believe wont drain the battery as bad

[marshdrummer]

I've bought 4 sets from ebay - 4 different sellers. All have been perfect. Haven't spent over 85.00 for a set yet and all have lasted over a year (except for the one I blew up). They're so cheap now, I see them as throw away products. So if they last a couple seasons, you got your money's worth.

BTW - I've done 3K (sporting them now, the 'brightest' of the bunch), 8K - (loved them, might go back), 10K, and 12K (not too fond of blue or purple).

[Jim]

wanna 'throw away' a pair to me then

[marshdrummer]

Sorry, they're all being still being used! (except for the one I blew up!)

[SportBKRider]

5k is pure white, brightest you can get.. the others are tinted glass which blocks the light rays. Have you gotten the HID's with the Electro magnet that moves the bulb from high-Lo ?

[Jim]

V-HID 35W SLIM BALLAST XENON HIGH/LOW MOTORCYCLE KIT H4 5000K PURE WHITE
I got LED bulbs from this company.. They were the highest quality I have seen.. Also very inexpensive.. I think I'm going for this one.. Want sure how the electro magnit works..

just went on the site, and the kit is a sigle bulb. do they make a kit for 2 bulbs, so i wont have to deal with 2 seperate wiring kits?

[Jim]

nevermind found it

[Jim]

SportBKRider, those are the HID's you've been using? no problems with them, and easy install?

[KB]

I don't ride at night you can't see my chrome rims.

Ok seriously now...............Are those HID lights really worth the money? I hear a lot of folks making the switch.

KB

[Jim]

2 of my friends i go riding with have them. one has a 4k kit and the other has an 8k kit. their headlights have way more visibility down the road than my PIAA bulbs.

[markbvt]

Apparently HID conversions are not street legal. This site explains why they're a bad idea:
Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

--mark

[Jim]

still gonna get them

[SportBKRider]

Nope. I have not gotten them before. I have used this cite.. They seemed to be great quality good price.

They seem to be Plug and play with stock wiring which is nice. Some people make a on/off switch to save bulb life.(starting the bike can switch them on and off.)

"Most" HID's are fully streat legal. Law is for watts most HID's are 35w.. much lower that stock bulbs40/lo 65/hi. Colors can be illegal. These are fully legal as stated by the cite.

[SportBKRider]

my cuz has a low only and the stock high bulb.. the low is far brighter than even the high.. They are amazing..

[markbvt]

BS, huh? Here's a letter from the DOT to the manufacturer of an HID conversion kit:
Mr. Jeff Deetz, Sales Manager, Santeca Electronics, Inc., 7215 East 21^st Street, Suite D, Indianapolis, IN 46219

The most relevant portion:
"the Thunder Beam light source must comply with, inter alia, the dimensional specifications for the metallic wire coil filament size and location, the electrical connector size and location, and the ballast would need to be a design currently on file for use with an H1 light source. Complying with the dimensional aspects of the H1 light source appears to be an impossibility considering that the wire coil filament and the electrical connector are not a part of your design. Furthermore, there are no ballast designs on file for use with an H1 light source. Thus, your company’s HID conversion kit is not a design that conforms to the Standard and could not be certified as complying with FMVSS No. 108, nor imported into or sold in the United States."

If you go back and read the article I originally posted, you will see why HID conversion kits are illegal. In short, putting an HID light source into a reflector and diffuser that were designed for halogen bulbs creates an incorrect beam pattern. This can cause excessive glare to oncoming traffic, and can also render your own night vision less effective because you get used to having an excessively bright spot ahead of you.

Furthermore, it's quite easy for a company to lie on their website and claim that their HID kit is DOT-approved. The DOT's own documentation indicates that no HID conversion kit is legal, and as it happens they've been cracking down on companies who make these kits.

It's a damn shame, because I was really interested in putting an HID conversion kit on my Triumph and on a '71 Honda that I'm rebuilding with a friend (the thing has an appalling 35-watt incandescent headlight, and an equivalent-wattage HID conversion kit would be awesome for it). Unfortunately, after reading information from people who work with lighting professionally, I just don't feel that it's worth the potential compromise in safety.

But if you still want the kit, go for it. My point in bringing this up was just to offer information, not try to convince you one way or the other. Let us know how it works out.

--mark

[brendanp]

i want a 6k set, but dual beam. brendan, how much were yours?

Sorry jim, forgot about this thread.
About 145.00 or so for high and low.