ragtop69gs Posted April 29, 2015 #1 Posted April 29, 2015 I did a search on HID brand preference and came up with lots of old threads, so what brand of HID currently available has been dependable for you ?
Flyinfool Posted April 29, 2015 #2 Posted April 29, 2015 Unfortunately the company I got mine from went through some internal issues and went from great to bad customer service to the point they had to change names and reopen. Sorry I can not help with currently available stores. There are a few that I am looking at to get HID for my truck but I have not yet pulled the trigger to know 1st hand how their customer service is. A few thoughts to help muddy the waters for you..... The HID that I got a 35 watt and it is way brighter than the halogen it replaced. The new 50/55 watt HIDs are now available from almost everyone and are even brighter yet, but at 55 W will not give you any savings in power draw from the bikes electrical system. If the HID I have now ever dies (it is now 5 years old), I will most likely get a 55W, but I do not think it is worth upgrading my 35W, just for the sake of upgrading.
djh3 Posted April 29, 2015 #3 Posted April 29, 2015 Specific brand I dont know. Its been in the bike for 3 or 4 years now and the bulb I think has went ka-put. Looking for another. My kit came off e-bay and was a "slim" ballast model in the 35w realm. I just found a seller with good ratings was about all I could do. Specific kits etc I dont know if its worth all the heart ache. Cycle gear has a kit for $60 but is not bi-xenon that I can find. Motorcycle Superstore has a bikemaster kit with H4 hi/low for about $64. OK so now to e-bay. Here is a 55w complete kit for under $30. It appears the 35w jobs are more than the 35w ones now. LOL
ragtop69gs Posted April 29, 2015 Author #4 Posted April 29, 2015 I currently have a HID but it's not Bi-xenon, I don't like not having an even brighter option for the times I want more light. I'll take a look at your linked seller. Thanks.
ragtop69gs Posted April 29, 2015 Author #5 Posted April 29, 2015 I don't like buying from china sellers. I'm going to buy a car kit to get lamps for both bikes.
Flyinfool Posted April 29, 2015 #6 Posted April 29, 2015 These are some that I am considering fr my truck. They are not cheap but I do not mind paying more for quality. This place is very highly rated on the truck forums. http://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-systems.html
Flyinfool Posted April 29, 2015 #7 Posted April 29, 2015 These are some that I am considering for my truck. They are not cheap but I do not mind paying more for quality. This place is very highly rated on the truck forums. http://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-systems.html
slowrollwv Posted April 29, 2015 #8 Posted April 29, 2015 I got mine from HID Country. It is 35 Watt Bi-xenon 6000K. It is plug and play for the most part. I like it and it has been in the bike 4 or 5 years.
Flyinfool Posted April 29, 2015 #9 Posted April 29, 2015 Mine also came from HID Country, They are the ones that went so far downhill with customer service that they had to close and reopen under a new name.
djh3 Posted April 30, 2015 #10 Posted April 30, 2015 As far as not buying "Chinese" good luck. I have seen a couple from Japan an Europe but wow are the prices up there and no gaurentee it aint made there and rebranded anyways.
ragtop69gs Posted April 30, 2015 Author #11 Posted April 30, 2015 As far as not buying "Chinese" good luck. I have seen a couple from Japan an Europe but wow are the prices up there and no gaurentee it aint made there and rebranded anyways. I know most come from China, I just prefer to deal with North American sellers. Warranty issues are much easier to deal with if you have a problem with the product. Sellers from China get extremely cheap shipping because they ship in bulk, if you need to return an item to China it costs too much .
syscrusher Posted April 30, 2015 #12 Posted April 30, 2015 Get what is called a hi/lo type bulb. It has an HID for the low beam and a halogen for the high beam. The low beam is actually brighter than the high beam but this gives you a less bright option for group riding or whenever you need to tone things down. You have two light sources in case one fails. There are no moving parts to fail or adjust and it's far simpler to implement than the linked explanation states. I didn't need to do any splicing, etc. to make mine work. http://www.ebay.com/gds/Difference-Between-Single-Beam-Hi-Low-and-Bi-Xenon-HID-/10000000019653525/g.html
djh3 Posted May 1, 2015 #13 Posted May 1, 2015 Ragtop, Ah gotcha. Yea I ordered a replacement bulb from someone in Oregon. When parts got here they were wrong, contacted and sent shipping label and refund shortly there after. So that was a bonus.
ragtop69gs Posted May 1, 2015 Author #14 Posted May 1, 2015 Get what is called a hi/lo type bulb. It has an HID for the low beam and a halogen for the high beam. The low beam is actually brighter than the high beam but this gives you a less bright option for group riding or whenever you need to tone things down. You have two light sources in case one fails. There are no moving parts to fail or adjust and it's far simpler to implement than the linked explanation states. I didn't need to do any splicing, etc. to make mine work. http://www.ebay.com/gds/Difference-Between-Single-Beam-Hi-Low-and-Bi-Xenon-HID-/10000000019653525/g.html Well if that's the case I may as well stay with what I have as that's how my setup works now. I was really wanting HID for Hi & Lo
Flyinfool Posted May 1, 2015 #15 Posted May 1, 2015 It depends on if you ever ride in the dark or not. If you never ride at night, out of the city, then having a dim HI beam is no problem because. If you are after night time visibility, then HI / LO HID or Bi-Xenon is what you want. Choose based on YOUR needs
spike13 Posted May 2, 2015 #16 Posted May 2, 2015 I am using a 35w version from this ebay seller. Customer service was good when i fried a ballast they replaced it in two days time. http://www.ebay.com/itm/OPT7-AC-55w-HID-Kit-Motorcycle-9003-H1-H4-H7-H11-5000K-6000K-8000K-10000K-Xenon/121352839808?rt=nc&_soffid=5004595800&_soffType=OrderSubTotalOffer&_trksid=p5731.m3795 I did end up putting a 10 second delay relay in after killing the first ballast with the help of RedRider
syscrusher Posted May 5, 2015 #17 Posted May 5, 2015 (edited) It depends on if you ever ride in the dark or not. If you never ride at night, out of the city, then having a dim HI beam is no problem because. If you are after night time visibility, then HI / LO HID or Bi-Xenon is what you want. Choose based on YOUR needs You're making the assumption that having the 55w HID in the LO position somehow affects it's brightness. I assure you it does not. It's only maybe slightly less irritating to truckers since it's not aimed at them. On the bike I'm only 5 or so feet in the air, what the hell do I need to see up higher than that? Try a HI/LO type and THEN tell me what you think of it on a country road or dim stretch of Interstate in the middle of the night. Also, remember that this comes with the other advantages that I mentioned earlier that Bi-Xenon does not offer. You do realize that the Bi-Xenon typically just has a "motor" that moves the same HID capsule into a different position to focus the light higher, hence "high" beam. When that capsule goes, you're done dealin' because you ain't got a headlight at all now. Edited May 5, 2015 by syscrusher stuff
Flyinfool Posted May 5, 2015 #18 Posted May 5, 2015 You're making the assumption that having the 55w HID in the LO position somehow affects it's brightness. I assure you it does not. It's only maybe slightly less irritating to truckers since it's not aimed at them. On the bike I'm only 5 or so feet in the air, what the hell do I need to see up higher than that? Try a HI/LO type and THEN tell me what you think of it on a country road or dim stretch of Interstate in the middle of the night. Also, remember that this comes with the other advantages that I mentioned earlier that Bi-Xenon does not offer. You do realize that the Bi-Xenon typically just has a "motor" that moves the same HID capsule into a different position to focus the light higher, hence "high" beam. When that capsule goes, you're done dealin' because you ain't got a headlight at all now. Are you saying that with your setup when you switch to HI beam that the HID LO beam stays on and the 55W halogen bulbs comes on at the same time? So your headlight is now pulling 110W of power? If that is true then I stand corrected, and this old dog has learned something new today. My only assumption was that the HID LO beam turns off when the halogen HI beam comes on. If this is not the case then there will be a lot more light available because you are in fact running twice the lighting power. I know that my charging system with the installed accessories that I have, would not handle the extra 55W of draw, I am right at the edge of power now. As far as the headlight burning out while riding, every headlight I have had burn out while riding blew the headlight fuse so it got real dark real fast. So HID vs 2 element halogen makes no difference there. After the first time it got real dark real fast on some country twisties at 1:00AM, I now have driving lights that are on any time I am away from street lights. So if/when the headlight goes out, I can still see.
syscrusher Posted May 6, 2015 #19 Posted May 6, 2015 Your assumption about running only either halogen or HID was correct. The one about the HID not being many times brighter in a useful way wasn't though. The 55W HID lights up the road, the ditches, road signs for several miles ahead, etc. When I ride with a group I can use the dimmer high beam, win - win!
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now