headlight upgrade

[garyS-NJ]

Just added some auxillary LED spots to my '84 xvz12 and still not enough light for me.. (the spots do help for sure tho). I'm looking at options of:

1. swapping existing bulb (H4 55/65W?) with an H4 80/100W or even 110/100W - will the electrical system supply the power and still charge the battery and keep the ignition( ignetek) running?? will the bulb be too hot for the housing or the external cover, or the socket, or any of the wiring packed into that area?

 

2. H4 LED bulb installed into the OEM reflector - are there any LEDs with the amount of power we want here (an honest 40W, over 3amps DC) that will remain cool and fit??

 

3. an HID bulb fit into the OEB reflector - is there any they will drop in and produce more light and also last more than a year of riding??

 

there hasn't been any posts on this lately and I know the technology and products are evolving quickly so what's going on out there??

[garyS-NJ]

old but good educational thread here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?211400-What-is-the-brightest-H1-bulb

[garyS-NJ]

good stuff here too: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?368824-Lumen-output-of-HID-35W-car-headlamp-versus-new-single-LED-22W-1400-lumen-headlamps

[Flyinfool]

I have had my HID in for 5 years now and it is still the original one I installed.

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?45603-Just-got-my-new-HID-headlight

 

IF you go with the hi power halogen light you will need to get a ceramic connector and deal with the switches and wires not being designed to handle that much current. You also have to watch closely the LED headlights as some of them draw well above the 55/65W of the stock bulb and will tax the electrical system on the bike.

 

As to whether your charging system can keep up, that depends on just how much power all the other stuff you added draws.

[garyS-NJ]

Oh, and if I was going to buy a headlight to modify by removing the lens and installing an HID projector, is there a regular automotive rectangular headlight that I should start with rather than a Yamaha motorcycle light?? At this point, the reflective housing is just there to allow aiming of the HID projector/

 

this company sells HID projectors and I'm happy with a auxillary pod I bought from them a few years ago but seems like they might not sell that 68mm projector anymore.. http://www.e-r.com.tw/products1.html.. My pod has a mounting hole on each side with a big rubber boot on the back where as the light they are selling now looks more compact with a single mounting tab.

[garyS-NJ]

aha, this is the pod I bought. I bought two of them with 35W HIDs but direct from Ethan & Renee Taiwan. I think I bought one with a high and low beam (the window that moves inside to produce a cut off) and one fixed low beam (or high beam, I can't remember, that bike has been off the road for a while...). either way though, I was very happy with the amount of light these produced and with the low beam cut off, they didn't upset oncoming traffic. seems Ethan & Renee no longer sells this pod and Futurevision doesn't sell it with 35W HIDs. However, the 35W HID projectors I bought from Ethan & Renee are so bright that they did annoy some riders they were in front of me as they felt they were being followed by un-nerving amount of light (probably no good looking in the rear view mirror..) http://www.futurevisionled.com/products/auxiliary-lights/68mm-weather-proof-oem-bi-xenon-projector.html#details

[garyS-NJ]

I have had my HID in for 5 years now and it is still the original one I installed.

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?45603-Just-got-my-new-HID-headlight

 

IF you go with the hi power halogen light you will need to get a ceramic connector and deal with the switches and wires not being designed to handle that much current. You also have to watch closely the LED headlights as some of them draw well above the 55/65W of the stock bulb and will tax the electrical system on the bike.

 

As to whether your charging system can keep up, that depends on just how much power all the other stuff you added draws.

4 years sounds great! Do you know if that hid bulb will plug into my oem '84 xvz12 reflector housing and not interfere with anything wiring and stuff) behind my light??

[garyS-NJ]

Oh and I didn't link any led bulbs drew near as much current at the stock 55/65 bulb..??

[Flyinfool]

I am not certain on an 84 as the layout is a bit different than on my 88. BUt I believe you have a standard H4 bulb so if you get a BiXenon H4 bulb it will mount correctly but needs slightly more room on the back side, that is the part I am not sure of on your 84. Looking thru the post that I did will give you more info as to some of the things I ran into with mine. You will have to find a place to mount the ballast and a relay, and do some wiring, but there is plenty of room for that and it is not complicated unless you want it to be.

 

Bottom line is that the light is so much better that I would do it again in a heartbeat. If this system dies I will get another HID. I have yet to see a side by side comparison between a modern high output LED headlight conversion and a HID conversion. My HID is 35W and blows away the stock 55/65W bulb. The better LED conversions are in the 80 W range.

[Flyinfool]

Oh and I didn't link any led bulbs drew near as much current at the stock 55/65 bulb..??

 

This one draws 50W

This one draws 80W

 

There are others that draw as little as 13W bu the light output is also only around that of the stock halogen. The 2 above are rated at a lot more light than the stock halogen. So it still takes more input to get more output.

 

Even with the HID, you can now get them in 35W or 50W, the 50W is a lot brighter than the35W, but the 35W (50W did not exist 5 years ago) that I have is magnitudes brighter than the stock halogen or a Silver star.

 

When comparing light output, watts are meaningless, there is no direct correlation between watts and brightness, especially when comparing different technologies. The watts are all that matters to your bikes electrical system. For light output you need to compare lumens or candlepower or ccm or any measurement of light output. It still gets difficult to compare one rated in candlepower to one rated in lumens to one rated in ccm.

[garyS-NJ]

Yes on the electricals.. I might have to take my light out if nobody else can comment on the clearances. Yes I think even one 35w hid will beat the 55w oem halogen. BTW that 55w led is a pair totaling 55w and likely runs well under that.. and the pic says 1800 lumens each (*likely overstated). Vs a 35w hid which I know runs about 3500 lumens. And both of those ratings are lumens at source which doesn't consider the optics which has a big effect on the light that reaches the road. As for your hid, how is the cut off for low beam? Can you see it on a wall at 30 feet? My photon hid pod makes a sharp cut off so can be run without blinding on coming traffic.

[garyS-NJ]

I'm so lazy... just stuck my head and hands under there and seems like plenty of room behind the reflector to accommodate an led cooling fan or the heat produced from a hi watt halogen.. which just leaves question if the stator will produce the power for a high watt, and if the clear protective cover will take the heat or start to cloud from the hid uv exposure. Somebody here must have tried an led or put and hid in there somehow.. I've seen hid projectors that fit in a 7" round with the front lens removed .

[Flyinfool]

I have zero clouding from my HID.

 

As for the stator handling it, it depends on the total draw of all of your electrical accesories.

[garyS-NJ]

I don't have anything extra except 24w total of the spotlights. How did you mount the hid? Just dropped the bulb into the oem headlight? How's the lowbeam cutoff??

[Flyinfool]

The low beam cut off looks the same as the stock bulb.

 

The bulb mounts just like stock into the housing.

 

If you get the 35W HID you will have a LOT more light and the total draw with the spotlights will only be 4W more than stock. That will be no problem for the electrical system to handle.

[djh3]

Jeff, you need to tell him about the separate triggering of the HID system. I may have the diagram you sent me for the switch with the warning light. Or you could give him the set up finally ended up using off the brake light.

[garyS-NJ]

I read somewhere about jumpers required to trick your computer into thinking the light is OK even tho there is a low draw with hid or led. And I know I would need a relay to power the hid. But tin a bizenon, there is one hid bead that's ignited and then it physically moves into hi beam or low beam position? So seems I need to trigger the relay(s) with the hi beam lead or the low beam signal. I'd rather led but don't think nimble gonna find one that is as bright as an hid.. and as for hid, any one using 55w instead if the 35w?

[Flyinfool]

Jeff, you need to tell him about the separate triggering of the HID system. I may have the diagram you sent me for the switch with the warning light. Or you could give him the set up finally ended up using off the brake light.

 

All that good info is in the link I posted back in post #4

 

I read somewhere about jumpers required to trick your computer into thinking the light is OK even tho there is a low draw with hid or led.

See post #4

And I know I would need a relay to power the hid. But tin a bizenon, there is one hid bead that's ignited and then it physically moves into hi beam or low beam position?

This is correct. Actually for the HID the main power is wired direct to the battery, the relay is built into the HID controler. The controller then has a lead with the headlight connector on it that plugs into your existing headlight wiring to control turning the HID on/off and Hi/Lo beam.

 

So seems I need to trigger the relay(s) with the hi beam lead or the low beam signal. I'd rather led but don't think nimble gonna find one that is as bright as an hid.. and as for hid, any one using 55w instead if the 35w?

I have the 35W on my bike and it is many times brighter than the stock bulb and I like the reduced load on the bikes electrical system. I have the 55W on my truck and they are noticeably brighter than the 35W, but not by enough to make me run out and get a 55W for the bike. If this one ever burns out I don't know if I will replace it with a 55W. I just hate to lose the power savings from the 35W.

[GeorgeS]

I have a few comments. as to the problem of not enough light from head lights. I also had this problem on my old 93 Ford Thunderbird.

I did this modification, and it does help. I installed a Relay, " Close" to the Actual headlight bulb. Two of them, one for each side. I installed #14 Stranded wire from the Battery directly to the new relays. ( and of course included an In Line Fuse ) . With this wireing modification I eliminated The HIGHT CURRENT flow " THRU " the Headlight Hi - Lo Beam Switch. ( on the old thunderbirds, these Switches, were a HIGH Failure Rate item, due to the High Current Flow, thru the Switch !

 

I also , did this Mod. to my old 89 Venture, ( before I sold it ) . SO, Install a relay, Close to the Head light LOW Beam , Voltage Feed point, and run a heavy wire Directly to the Battery. ( With an In Line Fuse ) Bye doing this you Eliminate " most of, not all " of the Voltage Drop, associated with DC flowing thru Small Size Wire !! And of course, the Ignition Switch Contacts.

[[[ Larger wire, = Lower Resistance = Higher voltage at the Bulb ]]]

After the Mod, the only current thru the Stock, head light wireing circuits " thru the mfg. switch " is the current flow to operate the Relay !!

 

Last night I was driving in Rain Storm, Dark nite, and noticed that my 08 Chev, Trail Blazer, also suffers from not bright enough head lights.

I am planning to do the Mod to that vehical also. Same as the old 93 T-Bird.

 

Some vehicals, do use Relays to feed the Headlights, Some do not!! Adding the Relays, is not a HUGE Improvement, but it is an Improvement. You end up with , maby 1 to 1/2 Volt, higher Voltage At the Light Bulbs, and this gives you Brighter Headlights, for your

low beams.

 

Same as we have all been doing for our Horn Circuits, on our Ventures.

 

One more comment: I recommend buying " BOSH " Relays for this type of modification, most good auto parts stores have them.

There are cheaper ones out there, but Bosh, for a few bucks more are worth it !!!

[garyS-NJ]

Great idea george even with a light upgrade. Last time I check voltage coming off my ignition. Switch it was almost a volt low.

[garyS-NJ]

And light output is exponentially proportional to voltage

[Rick Butler]

You know guys,

 

I think today I would probably look at a LED replacement and the one Cycle Gear sells is priced pretty good:

 

http://www.cyclegear.com/SPEEDMETAL-LED-Conversion-Kit

 

I've been running an H4 HID for several years now and I'm dissapointed that I keep loosing balasts. Luckily I have my running lights to get me through the dark when I loose one. It's interesting that the company I bought my first HID kit from now has gone to LED and no longer carries HID conversions. Nice thing about either of these is that they draw about half the amps and are pretty much plug and play?

 

Hope this helps,

 

Rick

[Karaboo]

Last night I was driving in Rain Storm, Dark nite, and noticed that my 08 Chev, Trail Blazer, also suffers from not bright enough head lights.

I am planning to do the Mod to that vehical also. Same as the old 93 T-Bird.

 

I was disappointed with the light output on my 06 Envoy (same vehicle) as well, until I found a kit to put a couple of relays in that not only remove voltage drop, but keeps the low beams on when the high beams are on. It really fills in the gaps at night. You can even go with the system to keep your fogs on with high beam as well (if legal in your area). I can't remember the link, but if I find it I will post it.

[mralex714]

This one draws 50W

This one draws 80W

 

There are others that draw as little as 13W bu the light output is also only around that of the stock halogen. The 2 above are rated at a lot more light than the stock halogen. So it still takes more input to get more output.

 

Even with the HID, you can now get them in 35W or 50W, the 50W is a lot brighter than the35W, but the 35W (50W did not exist 5 years ago) that I have is magnitudes brighter than the stock halogen or a Silver star.

 

When comparing light output, watts are meaningless, there is no direct correlation between watts and brightness, especially when comparing different technologies. The watts are all that matters to your bikes electrical system. For light output you need to compare lumens or candlepower or ccm or any measurement of light output. It still gets difficult to compare one rated in candlepower to one rated in lumens to one rated in ccm.

I bought one of those 80w ones,it was the worst headlight I have ever seen. But I think the real problem is these lights were meant for clear lens, ant thoughts?

[Flyinfool]

HID and incandescent are both an omni directional light output from the light producing element. A LED is at best 180° or less, some much less of light output and requires a reflector and lens designed for the different way that LEDs produce their light. A LED in a housing and lens system designed for it is a wonderful light source. But put that same LED in a fixture not designed for it and the result can be disappointing to dangerous.