Fitting TWO HID lamps

[Droopy Dick]

I am thinking of spending some of the tax refund which that nice <vomit> Mr Brown sent me.


Initially, I was going to go to Nippy Norman amd but one of his neat little kits.

However, as I think about it, and realising that I spend fair bit of time in the warmer months on the smaller country roads here in Hampshire, it struck me that whilst I had the headlight unit out of my bike I might as well replace both dipped and main beam with HID lights.

The immediate problem is where to hide the two exciters. Do they make a single unit that will 'excite' two HID lamps?

Anyway, has anyone else done this? If so what were the difficulties, if any? Where did you hide all the gubbins?

Any advice gratefully sought.

 

[MikeO]

First thing I'd look at would be whether you can successfully 'shape' the beam - if you can't then the lights will be unusable in the dipped beam position.

A misaligned 55w bulb might get you the occasional flash, a similarly adjusted HID will be a hazard to anyone driving/riding the other way or in front of you and would certainly get you stopped and ticketed at night - maybe even in the daytime...

Lots of discussion on the subject at Advrider - try doing a search over there.

Mike

 

[Droopy Dick]

I've already read a thread froma guy in Scotland who's fitted an HID in the dipped beam postion. The actual lamp (or bulb as some people call it) sits in exactly the same position as the normal H1 lamp, so the lenses will be OK.

But I will wander over and look the the Advrider site as you suggest. Thanks.

 

[Steptoe]

The exciters for my kit, fits up into the front section of frame (1150GS), where the chassis number plate is, it's secured by two bolts that come through two holes already in the headstock -


so it's tucked up out of sight and nice and secure

Thats for one light, the hella HID unit

 

[Droopy Dick]

Thanks, Steptoe.

What I wanted to do, thouh, is fit HID lamps in the headlights and not as driving/accessory lamps.

Mind you .. add two HID driving lamps as well ......... and I could light up Western Europe.

 

[Threshy]

Haven't done it but considering the same option. Did you finish your project and how did you get on?

Have you bought the kit and if so what did you get?

 

[Possu]

If you don't have ABS fitted, the best place to locate the HID Ballast boxes is in the space, forward of the battery, that the ABS gubbins would normally occupy.

Contact Nippy Norman, he'll give you the dimensions of the boxes. I've done this before but can't remember them off hand. You can't get one Ballast box to fire two HID bulbs, I've already asked. You'll need to buy two complete kits @ £220(?) each.

 

[Droopy Dick]

Well, I do have ABS, so I'll need to think of somewhere else to try to hide these infernal boxes.

 

[finglonga]

Have you seen THIS , the ballast is fitted on top of the airbox but I have seen some with it mounted under the beak on the ADVrider site.

 

[Threshy]

Not sure how waterproof the ballasts are, but if they get water inside there is a good possibility of ruining them. Therefore it might be better to put them elsewhere a little more protected. As I haven't got my GS yet I couldn't say what the best location would be.

 

[Lou Can]

Hey there Droopy, d'ya make any progress. I was thinking along the same lines and would be keen to hear how you might get on.

LC

 

[Jimb]

Reflectors

The reflectors are not designed for a HID lamp and the ones Iv'e seen have stripes of dark patches so you should think carefully, yes the light output is about 3 times a halogen but you need to see one in the dark and compare it to your own.

The add on lamps like Steptoe has are designed for hids and the beam is very broad and even, I would say the one I saw was better than a hid conversion in a standard headlamp.

Have a good look before you decide, I think Touratech do a complete replacement headlamp with a redesigned reflector for this reason.

Think carefully.

 

[Possu]

The T/tech HID light that replaces the headlight is main beam only. I enquired about this in Hamburg last December. Apparently it's against the law in Germany to have a HID light on the dip beam. Couldn't understand the reasons why.

They had an 1150 with all the bits fitted, HID included & main was HID, dip was normal.

I've read elsewhere that HID works best with projector headlights as fitted to the main beam on 1150's? Nippy Normans dip beam kit retains the stock headlight. Anyone know of a dip beam HID that uses a projector headlight?

 

[Droopy Dick]

The T/tech HID light that replaces the headlight is main beam only. I enquired about this in Hamburg last December. Apparently it's against the law in Germany to have a HID light on the dip beam. Couldn't understand the reasons why.

Oh that makes great sense.

So you're riding down a country road with great illumination and when a car comes the other way, you dip your headlight and suddenly get plunged into almost total darkness ......

 

[Possu]

Oh that makes great sense.

So you're riding down a country road with great illumination and when a car comes the other way, you dip your headlight and suddenly get plunged into almost total darkness ......

My thoughts entirely I said the same thing to the T/tech bloke & was met with no explanation

Perhaps you're meant to angle the main beam down to dip beam level.

 

[Threshy]

Would agree with Steve that projectors are the way to go, certainly on dipped beam which have a very distinct beam cut off and wider. Reading on www.hidplanet.com site, if you just put hid upgrades into halogen reflectors and fluted lenses, the beam spread wont be any better than the halogen just a bit brighter which would explain the striped effect. This method will also produce a certain amount of glare to oncoming traffic. Not good.

So does anyone know who does a retrofit projector with a clear front lense for the dipped beam? The good ol US of A seems to have more options than us in Blighty.

I think I might look at a hid upgrade for the main beam, approx £200 to £250 + a projector setup for the dipped. No idea on price on this one or even if it can be done.