Motorcycle HID retrofit - illegal in UK?

wazza300 · 3 Jan 2015 at 20:35

you could be wearing a dayglo pink jumpsuit and they still wouldn't see you

but it does wonders psychologically

Sagalout · 4 Jan 2015 at 14:19

Installed mine too. Very pleased with the kit. The anti glare bulb (5k) makes a huge difference and I'll be surprised if I get any flashing drivers as it doesn't really glare any more than the halogen did.

I need to replace the bulbs in the aux lights though now - will just fit some LED's I think.

IMG_7016 by sagalout, on Flickr

Griffo · 5 Jan 2015 at 00:18

It's that abrupt cut-off that stops me thinking too much about this. My commute is twisty and who knows when you'll have a night time ride. The bleeding the default lights have helps on the corners.

The_Abyss · 5 Jan 2015 at 00:47

The adaptive LED headlights on the new 2015 Multistrada look really good for this, adjusting the beam to light where you're going rather than where you're pointing.

Participant · 6 Jan 2015 at 22:16

Participant said:
I have a wiring issue though: the lights are as expected at low beam, but when I switch to high beam, both lights switch off. The one thing I didn't do was check the configuration of the kit's connection to the wiring loom, stupidly assuming that it was standard and would be the same layout on all kits. So hopefully I just need to move the pins on the H4 plug.

Found the problem with some help from a multimeter. I was getting 14V at the H4 connector on high beam but zero volts at the relay. Tracing it back I found that I'd managed to crimp a wire connection on the outside of the insulation, lol.

Redid connection and high beam, solenoid, flash, and low beam is all working as expected.

Finished off the garage blipper too, which is great fun, then went for a scoot round the block to test alignment. I must say the lights are amazing. Should be a much more pleasant commute home tomorrow.

Participant · 7 Jan 2015 at 18:51

Now with LEDs, £3.59 from eBay!

The commute home was an absolute joy compared to the halogens. They're so bright :cool:

. Nobody flashed me either and they seem perfectly aligned.

wazza300 · 7 Jan 2015 at 18:54

is the colour ok now you've got used to it? or is it still too blue? looks ok to me,think id go for that colour bulb aswell

and yh you want some led white parking light bulbs next,have some good ones on my zx10 (I see you already have em haha)

did the headlight seal backup aswell? I had to put some clear silicon sealer round mine just to be sure

TallPaul_S · 7 Jan 2015 at 19:25

TBH I wouldn't worry about dazzling people, on my ride home every 1 in 5 cars has lights that burn my retinas for a second or 2. Seems that misaligned bright-as-**** headlights are standard fit on most new cars. Give them some of their own treatment.

I occasionally pass a BMW bike with auxillery lights and bright as hell LEDs or HIDs and it doesn't blind or dazzle at all.

Griffo · 8 Jan 2015 at 00:01

I recall - and am too lazy to check - bluer light places more strain on your beautiful eyes. Yellow less so. Pointy sticks much more so. And grit is right out.

Knowing is half the battle.

Sagalout · 9 Jan 2015 at 20:03

Yeah, I'm really happy with mine too - makes a huge difference on dip...not so much on full beam. Used all this week and not one person flashed me

Participant · 9 Jan 2015 at 20:43

wazza300 said:
is the colour ok now you've got used to it? or is it still too blue? looks ok to me,think id go for that colour bulb aswell

and yh you want some led white parking light bulbs next,have some good ones on my zx10 (I see you already have em haha)

did the headlight seal backup aswell? I had to put some clear silicon sealer round mine just to be sure

It's OK, but I'm still going to swap them with the 4300K bulbs (that should have originally been delivered) when they arrive. The colour temperature looks great when you look at the front of the bike, but when you're riding at night it's more blue than I want. It makes thing look slightly washed out and I'm only interested in lumens and visibility.

Sagalout said:
Yeah, I'm really happy with mine too - makes a huge difference on dip...not so much on full beam. Used all this week and not one person flashed me

How does the dip / full beam even work? Do you just revert to halogen for full beam?

Let's be honest, anti-glare bulbs are an inferior substitute for bi-xenon projectors with solenoids to take care of dipped / full beam. 'Anti-glare' translates to reduced light output once you get past the marketing, you've just joined the ranks of every other muppet that sticks HIDs in a reflector unit as far as I'm concerned

.

wazza300 · 9 Jan 2015 at 20:54

im gonna be joining the muppet gang soon and sticking some in my reflector headlight

saw one bike today omg he blinded me,idiot,he didn't have hid lights either,was an offroader

Sagalout · 10 Jan 2015 at 09:56

Participant said:
How does the dip / full beam even work? Do you just revert to halogen for full beam?

no, it's a hid in there too, but just not as effective. The GS main beam is terrible as standard due to the reflector design, so making it brighter doesn't add much

Participant said:
Let's be honest, anti-glare bulbs are an inferior substitute for bi-xenon projectors with solenoids to take care of dipped / full beam. 'Anti-glare' translates to reduced light output once you get past the marketing, you've just joined the ranks of every other muppet that sticks HIDs in a reflector unit as far as I'm concerned .

Each to their own - mine looks more stock than your chavtastic angel eyes

Also, I do a lot of touring in Europe, especially Germany,Austria and Switzerland and if you get caught there with HIDs (projectors or reflectors) you will be getting a 150 euro fine and your bike impounded unless you remove them. I can revert back to being type approved before I leave in about 30 mins

Participant · 11 Jan 2015 at 22:48

Sagalout said:
Each to their own - mine looks more stock than your chavtastic angel eyes

You can't get any less stock looking and any more chavvy than HIDs in reflectors. At least someone somewhere stuck angel eyes (which I can switch off in a second) into a vehicle from factory. Nobody ever stuck HIDs in a reflector from factory, because it's inconsiderate to glare other road users.

Sagalout · 11 Jan 2015 at 23:15

So show me your leveling and washers? Your bike is just as 'illegal' as mine, the main difference being you've made yours untourable for you and any future owners with s permanent DIY bodge , whereas mine can be put back to stock within a few minutes.

wazza300 · 11 Jan 2015 at 23:57

thinking about it how can it be more dazzling or blinding than an ordinary bulb? the light is still reflected off the same reflector

whether you shove a regular bulb in there or hid bulb,you can still adjust the beam downwards so it doesn't dazzle

Dogbreath · 12 Jan 2015 at 07:43

Participant said:
You can't get any less stock looking and any more chavvy than HIDs in reflectors. At least someone somewhere stuck angel eyes (which I can switch off in a second) into a vehicle from factory. Nobody ever stuck HIDs in a reflector from factory, because it's inconsiderate to glare other road users.

Not actually true. Some car manufacturers have used HIDs with reflectors, it's quite possible to design a reflector that works correctly with the shape of the HID light source. Projectors are much more compact and cheaper however, so they are more common despite being an inferior solution in terms of light output.

Sagalout · 12 Jan 2015 at 07:56

Participant · 12 Jan 2015 at 23:13

Sagalout said:
So show me your leveling and washers? Your bike is just as 'illegal' as mine, the main difference being you've made yours untourable for you and any future owners with s permanent DIY bodge , whereas mine can be put back to stock within a few minutes.

It's by no means permanent :confused:

. Everything factory is still in place and no cutting or permanent modification was involved. Granted it's harder to revert to halogen than your solution, but then it's better than your solution as it's a) brighter b) less glary and c) less likely to get me pulled over in the first place.

If I was worried about touring I'd simply revert to halogen before I set off. I could do this in 1hr.

Dogbreath said:
Not actually true. Some car manufacturers have used HIDs with reflectors, it's quite possible to design a reflector that works correctly with the shape of the HID light source. Projectors are much more compact and cheaper however, so they are more common despite being an inferior solution in terms of light output.

Projectors are cheaper and inferior? What?

Dogbreath · 13 Jan 2015 at 08:40

Participant said:
Projectors are cheaper and inferior?

Yes. Cheaper to make and inferior in that they are not as efficient as a reflector, they lose more light because they use a mask and because they don't capture all the light from the lamp. For the same light source (i.e. either halogen or HID) a reflector will be much more efficient at actually collecting light from the lamp and projecting it in the desired direction.

Participant said:
What?

Hard of hearing?