Latest on HID's? (Sudden realisation that winter is here!).

bigblackfalco · Post by **bigblackfalco** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 4:01 pm

Can anyone tell me where the cheapest place is to get a single dipped beam H4 HID kit for my smelly Honda NTV. For all the good the headlight is, I may aswell be waving a white stick infront of the bike

My deciding factor here is that a standard Xenon bulb is expensive and a nightmare to replace on a bike that has an aftermarket fairing fitted round a standard old fashioned chrome headlight unit.
Bailey.

tripe · Post by **tripe** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 7:34 pm

check that you can actually fit an HID into an old style headlight unit, on some bikes there isn't enough space to fit the rear of the bulb unit. A friend discovered this with his Monster. hids4u.co.uk might be able to help if you give them a call,

Henry

bigblackfalco · Post by **bigblackfalco** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 8:38 pm

Yeah I noticed HID4u and I wondered about the amount of space required behind the bulb. The upside is that i have a spare headlight I could reconstruct if needed! I did actually see a headlight for my bike on ebay with a bit cut out....must've been for this purpose?!
It seems that I'd need the hi and low beam HID all in one unit.
Cheers for the input.

Me-109 · Post by **Me-109** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:28 pm

Yep, for a single H4 I think you need a bi-xenon kit at around £200 a pop. This may be the kit with the solenoid operated shield to make it dip or main - so space might well be an issue. Best to give them a call, methinks.

nab 301 · Post by **nab 301** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 8:35 pm

Throttlemeister posted this link recently(h1 kits)
It might be worth enquiring how much for h4
http://www.tunex.nl/catalogus/product_i ... 30060db8ec
Nigel B

throttlemeister · Post by **throttlemeister** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 8:45 pm

Yes, they also have H4 hi/lo kits.

boxerpan · Post by **boxerpan** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:28 pm

Didn't you see / feel it coming

Sorry

throttlemeister · Post by **throttlemeister** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:05 am

I am in the process of ordering. You can also order single bulbs, which is all I need for my R11S obviously. They are charging me €85 for 1.

Just drop them a line by mail and they will allow you to make an order to fit you.

nab 301 · Post by **nab 301** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:35 pm

Me-109 wrote:H4 This may be the kit with the solenoid operated shield to make it dip or main - so space might well be an issue. Best to give them a call, methinks.

H4 does require a solenoid operated dip shield.
I measured a kit in a local factor (presumably they're all the same ) and the projection from the p43t base which locates in the headlamp is 60mm.
Nigel B.

sproggy · Post by **sproggy** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 9:08 pm

throttlemeister wrote:You can also order single bulbs, which is all I need for my R11S obviously.

This may turn out in hindsight to be the stupidest question ever but I have to ask - why would you need only one bulb? Which of dip/main doesn't need an HID conversion and why?

throttlemeister · Post by **throttlemeister** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 9:44 pm

sproggy wrote:
throttlemeister wrote:You can also order single bulbs, which is all I need for my R11S obviously.
This may turn out in hindsight to be the stupidest question ever but I have to ask - why would you need only one bulb? Which of dip/main doesn't need an HID conversion and why?

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers"

I only need low beams and no high beams.

My reasoning:

1) I hardly ever use high beams, so I can save the cost
2) HID low beams produce so much light, high beams will be used even less
3) HID high beams will render the good old flash to a cager that doesn't want to move over more or less useless. HID is, like the name says, a discharge lamp. Which means it needs time to start up, like a few seconds to get fully started. A quick flash to get someones attention doesn't do it.
4) Halogen highs will appear almost yellow next to the white HID, drawing more attention when flashing them.

Me-109 · Post by **Me-109** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 11:01 pm

I find my high beam (both beams really, but noticably on high) comes up bright, then dips and comes back up to brightness in a few seconds. There is plenty of brightness there when 'flashing'.

You do get additional peripheral lighting, but it's not like making dip beam into main. The cut-off that dip beam requires to avoid blinding oncoming traffic is still noticable.

I find the main beam really useful on the quieter roads and backlanes where the pace can still be kept quite high. I think it all depends on the roads you tend to use and how often.