Xenon Lights

[dusty30]

Just was wondering if any of you guys have added the xenon lighting system to your bike? If so, was it worth it? how was the installation, and how did you do it? I am considering doing this instead of the light bar, the only light bar i've found i like is the baron ultimate light bar, and i'm not to crazy about it!

[fidgit]

If you mean by xenon, the supposedly "HID" kit you can buy off ebay, i have it on my 900c- it looks cool as hell, works well enough, but probably not as well as say a silverstar sylvania(spelled wrong) I get a LOT of comments and a TON of questions/admiration/jealousy from it though so i give a A- overall

heres a quick pic-

[Taz650]

Originally Posted by fidgit

If you mean by xenon, the supposedly "HID" kit you can buy off ebay, i have it on my 900c- it looks cool as hell, works well enough, but probably not as well as say a silverstar sylvania(spelled wrong) I get a LOT of comments and a TON of questions/admiration/jealousy from it though so i give a A- overall

heres a quick pic-

Which headlights are those and how easy was it to install? I’m planning on changing my headlights soon. How much was the HID kit?

Thanks

[LOWFLYER]

HID headlamps are a wonderful upgrade to a motorcycle, especially the Rogue! That was my last upgrade. A few things to keep in mind though:

1. Unless you have a projector beam style enclosure like the V2k (not LT) you will be blinding everyone with a light pattern made only for a regular halogen bulb so be prepared to be lit up with high beams by oncoming traffic at night and maybe even during the day.

2. Higher Kelvin temperature does not mean brighter light! These people that get themselves the 12000K purple HID lights are doing themselves a disservice at nighttime and putting them at risk for an accident. While it may look nice, there is no value added lighting benefit, just a color difference. See below:

-5000K Pure White has an approximately 3200lm output, which is more than 3x the light output of the traditional halogen light and is the color temperature with the most output. This is what you see traditionally as factory OEM on most vehicles equipped with HID ie: BMW, Mercedes, Lexus etc etc.

-6000K Diamond White has an approximately 2800lm output, which is 3x the light output of the traditional halogen light and slightly less light output compared to the 5000K.

-8000K Iceberg Blue has an approximately 2550lm output, which is about 3x the light output of the traditional halogen light and slightly less light output compared to the 6000K.

-10000K Brilliant Blue has an approximately 2200lm output, which is more than 2x the light output of the traditional halogen light.

-12000K Exotic Violet/Purple has an approximately 2100lm output, which is more than 2x the light output of the traditional halogen light.

3. HID kits have become very affordable. You can get them on Ebay for as little as $74 shipped from US sellers. Be mindful though about what you're getting as far as warranty and such.

4. Look for plug and play that don't require any splicing of wires. What you will get is a bulb, ballast, and ignitor so think about that when considering this mod. Where will you stuff the ballast and igniter if your housing is not large enough to hold it. Some ballasts have the igniter built in and some do not, but the ballasts are usually around 5x5x.75 so they're not huge.

Me personally, I went with an 8000K kit that in hindsight makes me wish I would have gone with maybe the 5k or 6k instead. I wanted the blue light, and while brightness is sufficient and the effect is what I desired it leaves me wishing for just a little more light output for those roads that are completely unlit at night time. (damn deer....) Whatever way you go, you won't be disappointed with this upgrade. Cheers.

-Justin

[plasma blue]

/\ true.
My PIAA is 5K & 3K I think
Works very well but coverage is not 100 % when mountain riding.
Added 2 lights and all is well, so light bar is Recomended for best results.
I added 2 of these 20w lights and all is GOOD!

[fidgit]

Originally Posted by Taz650

Which headlights are those and how easy was it to install? I’m planning on changing my headlights soon. How much was the HID kit?

Originally Posted by LOWFLYER

HID headlamps are a wonderful upgrade to a motorcycle, especially the Rogue! That was my last upgrade. A few things to keep in mind though:

1. Unless you have a projector beam style enclosure... you will be blinding everyone with a light pattern made only for a regular halogen bulb..."

2. Higher Kelvin temperature does not mean brighter light! While it may look nice, there is no value added lighting benefit, just a color difference.

- Justin is totally correct, I went with the 6k and its great, its not as focused as a BMW/Merc headlight setup, but I wasnt expecting that so im ok.

I bought it on eBay from a seller that I think was out of china.... I wasnt expecting great stuff but I was proven wrong- The ballast, bulb, wiring, all of it was good quality and easily installed. Not too difficult, but you definitly need to know a little bit about wiring/electronics before you just jump into it.

Good luck!

[LOWFLYER]

Originally Posted by fidgit

- Justin is totally correct, I went with the 6k and its great, its not as focused as a BMW/Merc headlight setup, but I wasnt expecting that so im ok.

I bought it on eBay from a seller that I think was out of china.... I wasnt expecting great stuff but I was proven wrong- The ballast, bulb, wiring, all of it was good quality and easily installed. Not too difficult, but you definitly need to know a little bit about wiring/electronics before you just jump into it.

Good luck!

Good choice with the 6K, in retrospect I wish I had gone with that. It looks very nice on your bike fidgit. One thing to prospective buyers though, if you can, try and go with a US seller in case you have problems. Shipping back and forth to China takes a couple of weeks and the anticipation can be maddening. Cheers

[fidgit]

Originally Posted by LOWFLYER

Shipping back and forth to China takes a couple of weeks and the anticipation can be maddening. Cheers

this guy was great, it only took a week, though now that i think about it I really only bought it from him because it was about $60 and all the local places/US websites were charging over $100. The shipping was expensive but still less than what they wanted so i had to jump on it.

[LordGT]

Originally Posted by LOWFLYER

HID headlamps are a wonderful upgrade to a motorcycle, especially the Rogue! That was my last upgrade. A few things to keep in mind though:

1. Unless you have a projector beam style enclosure like the V2k (not LT) you will be blinding everyone with a light pattern made only for a regular halogen bulb so be prepared to be lit up with high beams by oncoming traffic at night and maybe even during the day.

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?

[LOWFLYER]

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?

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.

[LordGT]

Originally Posted by LOWFLYER

Hey Mike! Nice to see you buddy! Ok, *takes big breath....

Anyway, you got my # Mike so feel free to call me if you have any more questions, we haven't talked in a while.

Thanks for the HID class. Oh and by the way, did you install the Digital or Analog set up in your V2K?

And if I remember right, you ONLY changed the LOW BEAM to HID, and left the High Beam Alone??? Yes???

[brent4a]

Any one using the ones that allow you to have a highbeam ? I think the bulb either moves up and down or there is a 2nd bulb ?

[LOWFLYER]

Originally Posted by brent4a

Any one using the ones that allow you to have a highbeam ? I think the bulb either moves up and down or there is a 2nd bulb ?

There is nothing currently on the market that allows you to have an "HID" high beam. Currently single bulb housings with the H4 bulb (low/high beam all in one) will loose their high beam function with this conversion which is why most manufacturers using HID have a halogen high beams separate. The same is true for those that change out their separate high beam (9006/9007 size type bulbs) for HID. They will have the added benefit of another HID headlamp but the light output would be the same as the HID lamp in their low beam. Because of this, HID is not a good choice for high beams because they take over a minute to heat up or come on full power so you would loose the ability to “flash to pass” or just flick on your high beams for a dark corner. Those vehicles that do NOT have a secondary halogen high beam (like my wife's 04 Nissan Maxima for instance) simply have the angle of the light adjusted by the car upward at the flick of the light stock for greater light coverage. I've heard something is in the works for the single low/high beam user, but nothing is out on the market yet. Hope this helps. Great looking bike Brent!

[LOWFLYER]

Originally Posted by LordGT

Thanks for the HID class. Oh and by the way, did you install the Digital or Analog set up in your V2K?

And if I remember right, you ONLY changed the LOW BEAM to HID, and left the High Beam Alone??? Yes???

I installed the Analog HID as Digital was not out (that I knew of) at the time I did the conversion.

Yes, I only changed out my low beam. See my previous post for answers as to why I only changed out the low beam.

[LOWFLYER]

Any moderators watching? How bout a sticky on this???

[fidgit]

Originally Posted by brent4a

Any one using the ones that allow you to have a highbeam ? I think the bulb either moves up and down or there is a 2nd bulb ?

I have Two bulbs, but I have a side by side headlight

[brent4a]

Thanks lowflyer ! I recall seeing somewhere, cant remember right now as i just got home from a 12hr shift, a kit for the H-4 that has a way of just moving the HID bulb up when you hit the hi-beam. I will see what i can find when i wake up later.

[ROLAND]

One question, please...
I did put the accesory light bar in my V2K ( the one that kawa sell) which uses a 35 W hallogen lamp each. It is the same type of bulb used in some house lamps. This is very poor compared to the main headlamp and quite frankly, doesn´t even look good ( the light is rather yellowish ). Anybody know a reliable house/brand where I can purchase new bulbs which can fit and project a better light, more white/bluish ?
Thanks in anticipation.

[cugambit]

i have a 84 kawasaki 550ltd and put a sylvania silverstar on it it made a worthwhile difference i would pay it again and i put the old bulb in my saddlebag to take along just in case the silverstar blew better than nothing or throwing it away