Quote:
Originally Posted by LordGT
Hey Justin, is there any other specs to look for with the HID?
Normal bulbs we look at wattage, HID you look at the Kelvin scale right? But is 6000K always the same briteness, or is there different strengths of 5000K???
And is there digital and Analog HID or am I going down the wrong road here???
Also is the light much brighter than the stock halogens in the V2K?
AND with the HID, do you still get the straight line cutoff type of pattern that we get with the stock V2K headlight?
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Hey Mike! Nice to see you buddy! Ok, *takes big breath....
First let me say the purpose of HID lighting is give you the benefit of pure white light (light sunlight) for the best possible visibility while using a minimal amount of power. Remarkably, HID lights are able to provide greater light output with less power consumption. Studies show that a 35 Watt HID lamp produced 3 times as much light compared to a 55-Watt halogen bulb. Also, the 55 Watt halogen bulb uses a continuous power draw of 10-15 amps, while the HID system uses 20 for start-ups but drops to a mere 3 amps during operation. In addition to high output and low power usage, HID headlights provide a longer service life. Under normal driving conditions, the bulbs will last approximately 4 years (3000 hours). That's up to 4 times as long as an ordinary halogen lamp.
?-Normal bulbs we look at wattage, HID you look at the Kelvin scale right? But is 6000K always the same briteness, or is there different strengths of 5000K???
Yes, and Yes. Whatever the Kelvin temperature, it will always be the same brightness; whether 5K or 6K or whatever. The lower the temperature the more yellow the light becomes like stock halogen bulbs, the 4-6k range is bright white like regular sunlight and even approaches that blueish tint around 6k. As you climb even higher is when it starts turning dark blue to the purple tint at which point you start loosing the brighter light benefit and while it's still slightly brighter than halogens it's more for look than utility. In my humble opinion anything higher than say an 8K kit (speaking from experience) would be risky for a nighttime rider as light output is very degraded and objects would appear obscured in the purple light as opposed to what you see from a regular halogen or say a 5k setup.
?-And is there digital and Analog HID or am I going down the wrong road here???
Yes and Yes again. Digital HID is fairly new and will cost quite a bit more. The last motorcycle setup I saw ran about $250 for the 1 bulb. The advantages to Digital are around 30% longer life b/c of the ballast and igniter being all one unit (analog both are separate), the unit is about half the size of the analog type and, they are more accurate with about 15% more light output. The last would be more important to someone installing them in a vehicle so you have two headlights that look exactly the same. (slight variations in color match are possible with analog HID, but like I said, that's only something to worry about when installing on a vehicle.
?-Also is the light much brighter than the stock halogens in the V2K?
Absolutely, more than 3x the output of a stock halogen when staying in the 5-8K range.
?-AND with the HID, do you still get the straight line cutoff type of pattern that we get with the stock V2K headlight?
Absolutely! That is the beauty of our V2Ks, they come stock with a projector beam headlamp assembly so the beam cutoff is perfect! Those with regular housings will have issues blinding oncoming traffic but call it rider safety
I think anything that makes a motorcycle more visible to the cages around us is a good thing. LOUD PIPES AND BRIGHT LIGHTS SAVE LIVES! hehehehe.
Anyway, you got my # Mike so feel free to call me if you have any more questions, we haven't talked in a while.