Motorcycle HID retrofit - illegal in UK?

Participant · 30 Nov 2014 at 10:00

Hi

My aim is something like this:

I do quite a lot of riding on dark country lanes on my commute, and while the headlights on my 2012 SV650S are a lot better than my YBR125, I'm looking for more.

However, would it be illegal / an MOT fail for me to retrofit HID lights to my bike, even if I do it 'properly' with projector lenses and servo-controlled high / low beams?

The missing link being the self-levelling and self-cleaning requirement that applies to cars...

If yes, what are my options? Would H4 LED bulbs drop into my bike, and would they work OK with the factory lenses? Simplest solution would obviously be to buy some better halogens, Osram or Philips etc. But again, I want more light output than halogen offers.

Cheers.

Dogbreath · 30 Nov 2014 at 10:30

The best mod you can make to the headlights on the SV is to fit some decent bulbs (e.g. extreme vision) and install a relay and some heavy duty wiring to minimise the voltage drop through the standard loom.

The light output of a halogen lamp increases with the cube root of the applied voltage, so even a small voltage drops causes a significant reduction in light output. The colour temperature also lowers with reduced voltage, so the light looks more yellow.

Eastern Beaver make a wiring kit for this, but it's a simple circuit and easy enough to make one yourself.

Doing this makes a big difference, and remains legal and non-annoying to other road users.

Participant · 30 Nov 2014 at 10:43

Depends what you mean by best, I guess. Light output from a correctly installed bi-xenon HID setup will dwarf the arrangement you mention, and the legality doesn't seem to be all that clear.

MOT-wise, they just test alignment don't they?

Annoyance factor - if correctly aligned, it shouldn't be any more annoying than all the other HID lamps on the road, i.e. every other car now.

wazza300 · 30 Nov 2014 at 12:38

They fit the headlamp just like a regular bulb don't they? The retrofit type

You need to find a friendly mot man,or just swap over the bulb come mot time

Participant · 30 Nov 2014 at 12:51

Not sure why I need to though, as aren't they just verifying the alignment? The issue with HIDs and alignment seems to be caused by incorrect light diffusion when HID bulbs are used in conjunction with halogen headlights. Not sure that an MOT tester will bother verifying self-levelling and self-clean...or will they?

The main issue seems to be, and again I'm open to challenge on this, police seeing an overly bright headlight and pulling you over and giving you a fixed penalty. Since I'll make sure I do it properly, I'm not sure in practice it actually matters, even if it is technically illegal?

ElliorR · 30 Nov 2014 at 13:02

Been trying to find info online and this is something I've found from DoT from 2010.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives....ormation-sheets/aftermarket-hid-headlamps.pdf

Reading that, if no amendments have been made, you are meant to change the whole headlamp as the reflector inside is designed for halogen and HID needs a different reflector. Of course a lot of people do fit HID systems to their bikes and I bet they don't change the full headlamp.

Participant · 30 Nov 2014 at 13:12

Thanks for that. I'd definitely be changing the headlamp to projector, the only issue I've found with that is that you have to mount the projector securely to the unit and some people seem to have issues with it bouncing around!

Screwing it into the headlight bulb retaining clip seems to be one option.

wazza300 · 30 Nov 2014 at 14:13

its a bit like road legal/non legal end cans

aslong as you aim/adjust the beam down so its not blinding folks then I cant see any problem tbh other than passing mot,then its down to each mot man whther he passes it or not

im thinking about putting one on my bike,the halogen superbright bulbs simply arnt bright enough

kitfit1 · 30 Nov 2014 at 15:44

wazza300 said:
its a bit like road legal/non legal end cans

aslong as you aim/adjust the beam down so its not blinding folks then I cant see any problem tbh other than passing mot,then its down to each mot man whther he passes it or not

im thinking about putting one on my bike,the halogen superbright bulbs simply arnt bright enough

Your 100% correct. The MOT for exhausts is very simple, no leaks, a check for "Not for Road use" or "Race use only" stamp and make shure the baffle is fitted. If any of those are identified, then the bike will be failed. The check done on the lights is purely a dipped/hi beam height test. If they see that you have HID lights, it will just be added as an advisory in the same way as if you had duct tape over your "Not for road use" stamp on the exhaust.

Dogbreath · 30 Nov 2014 at 21:12

wazza300 said:
im thinking about putting one on my bike,the halogen superbright bulbs simply arnt bright enough

Depend on how crap the wiring and the reflectors/lenes area. The lights on my 1999 Fireblade with decent halogen bulbs are quite a lot better than the ones on my car.

Tefal · 10 Dec 2014 at 08:37

cree make a set of h4 LED bulbs that are great.

Dogbreath · 10 Dec 2014 at 16:52

Tefal said:
cree make a set of h4 LED bulbs that are great.

Cree make LED's, they don't manufacture any H4 bulbs that use them. The beam pattern from LED H4's is even worse than it is from HIDs.

Participant · 19 Dec 2014 at 20:07

Update, I ordered a full projector / bi-xenon kit from China via eBay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231207897562

I went for white angel eye, red demon eye (not sure if I'll bother wiring these), and 4300K bulbs.

Should be a fun little project to install it!

ElliorR · 19 Dec 2014 at 20:10

Ah from China. This is what the Apple slaves, er I mean happy workers, make on their days off.

wazza300 · 19 Dec 2014 at 20:37

How do you fit them inside your current headlight? You have to heat up/split the headlight casing?

Participant · 20 Dec 2014 at 06:35

wazza300 said:
How do you fit them inside your current headlight? You have to heat up/split the headlight casing?

Yes the first step is to remove the headlight unit and either go round the edge with a heat gun, or stick the whole lot in an oven at 90c for 7 or 8 minutes. This softens the butyl adhesive enough to separate the lens from the unit.

Apparently this is the hardest bit, but I'm sure the wiring will cause me some pain as I want it a certain way.

- Default of angel eye and headlight low beam on with ignition
- High beam operates with factory switch and keeps angel eye on
- Option to run just angel eye during a bright day
- Option to switch on demon eye for fun from a separate switch

Sagalout · 20 Dec 2014 at 10:42

I've just ordered a set from here: http://hid50.com

Bit more expensive, but the guy is a member on UKGSER and they have excellent reviews for quality and longevity, and very easy to fit as it's all plug and play canbus.

wazza300 · 20 Dec 2014 at 11:53

I split mine with a heatgun in the past,be carefull not to get any of the black adhesive on the chrome lens,its like treacle when you separate the two halves

think I might go for plug n play

Participant · 21 Dec 2014 at 05:54

Cheers wazza, I'll watch out for that.

Ummed and ahhed about 4300k vs. 6000k for a while, but wanted max light and max oem, so 4300k it was. 5000k would have worked I think, but the kit I wanted didn't have that as an option.

Sagalout said:
I've just ordered a set from here: http://hid50.com

Bit more expensive, but the guy is a member on UKGSER and they have excellent reviews for quality and longevity, and very easy to fit as it's all plug and play canbus.

Not much mention of projectors on that site and the kits don't seem to come with them. I take it you're ordering them separately?

Rich43 · 21 Dec 2014 at 08:42

I just mounted a cree LED lamp on my handlebars like I would with a push bike, problem solved

My next mod is to put a amp in my top box or under seat if it fits and mount a speaker on pillion seat which I never use.