HID Lighting, should I take the plunge?

[Bagpuss]

Well, there I am again, money burning a hole in my pocket and a desire upgrade my bike with something that makes a BIG difference.

Is it me, or are the standard headlights on a GS1150 p**s poor?

So would anyone recommend HID lights, like the kit from Nippy Norms?

I welcome any advice, pitfalls and sarcy comments....

 

[longdog]

Hi Bagpuss, I'm sure that Cool Carbon has done this in a nicely written piece along with some piccies too. He was chuffed with the result as I recall, but you'll need to do a search to find it!

 

[CoolCarbon]

Hi Bagpuss, I'm sure that Cool Carbon has done this in a nicely written piece along with some piccies too. He was chuffed with the result as I recall, but you'll need to do a search to find it!

See it here

CC

 

[ELIMINATOR]

Interesting, but it is only the dipped beam. I have issues with the main beam as well.

 

[CoolCarbon]

I have issues with the main beam as well.

Agreed, but I have found that the output of the Dipped Beam, if set as high as poss without blinding the vehicles in front, is so good that the main beam becomes more or less redundant anyway...

CC

 

[Bagpuss]

Many thanks CC for the link to your write up.

Very interesting, it looks like an essential upgrade!

 

[GSPeP]

I can only recommend the modification to HID

I installed Norman's HID kit in the dipped beam of my R1150GS. It turned night into day (without blinding oncoming traffic). I still have 2 Hella Micro DE foglights on the bike, but one can hardly see the difference when they are switched on or not. I should have done this modification a lot sooner.

HID dipped beam and main beam on:

PS: Coolcarbons's piece was a great help for the installation.

 

[Number8]

get it done !

i had thew btbr ,micro de and ff50's done and there good for the price , but not as good as it needed to be , so got a hid kit from ebay (for a car so 2 bulbs balasts etc) and have fitted it to both diped and main ....

the dipped beam is now as good as it should be ! the beam pattern is fine , just the original bulb isnt bright enough! but the main beam ... omg all the hid does is change the yellow spot in the distance to a blue/white one ! the main beam unit is totally rap , its just a spot light dosent spread any light anywhere except a ball of light about 5-6meters infront of u!

so im thinking of taking it off and flogging it here ... thats half the kit as the main beam is uesless!

now taken the micro de's off and got 4 FF50 driving lights off and arranged them perfectly ...

night into day , bliss!

but hid , expensive , but get it done ...

 

[Bagpuss]

Ta Number8, so what are FF50's???

Looking to get HID kit from Nippy Normans, do I need to buy extra lights also???

 

[sparkplug]

The FF50 is a driving or fog lamp.

When used in the BTBR (BigTrailBikeRider) arrangement these work in tandem with your full beam. The main beam and sidelights remain as they are but can be supplemented by using the Micro DE.

Despite the earlier comment in this thread IMHO the BTBR set up is really very good. I also went with the 50% brighter bulbs which make a big difference.

BTBR has done so many of these conversions that I'm sure there is someone not too far away from you. If you can, find someone to show you in real life how this set up works. The various pics on the boards don't really do it justice.

My night riding has become a pleasure again - and you get seen better when filtering even by day...

 

[Droopy Dick]

I have BTBRs set up, which was beautifully installed.

IN addition, I have replaced BOTH of the headlights with HID units.

The difference from standard is staggering.

A-road riding at night becomes a real pleasure!

 

[Number8]

The FF50 is a driving or fog lamp.

Despite the earlier comment in this thread IMHO the BTBR set up is really very good. I also went with the 50% brighter bulbs which make a big difference.

BTBR has done so many of these conversions that I'm sure there is someone not too far away from you. If you can, find someone to show you in real life how this set up works. The various pics on the boards don't really do it justice.

My night riding has become a pleasure again - and you get seen better when filtering even by day...

if u were refering to my comment , the btbr setup is great ...but its like ride "best buy" kinda thing , it is good dont get me wrong , but hid lights are better , but at a cost ..

Droopy Dick , agreed , but dont u also find that the hid diped beam just masks the micro de's and they almost become uesless, and the hid main beam is a pointless excerise as the beam pattern is shite!

Bagpuss, your not that far away from me , actually i was in rotherham yesterday, i get about a bit, if u fancy a ride down here i can show u the options , or maybe meet half way or summit ???

be easier cos i can show u all the options , also im selling half my hid kit for 100d if u want first refusal ... come down here i can fit it for u ... for no extra cost ?

pm me if ya intrested

 

[Droopy Dick]

Droopy Dick , agreed , but dont u also find that the hid diped beam just masks the micro de's and they almost become uesless, and the hid main beam is a pointless excerise as the beam pattern is shite!

No, As the Micro FEs are pointed slight to the outside of the bike, they nicely illuminate the edges of the road. And to be honest, notwithstanding the HID unit, the dipped beam light remains less than convincing. The lens pattern is, not to put too fine a word to it, utterly crap!

I was always quite happy with the main beam. It's a decent projector-style light that produces a good concentrated 'finger' of light. Changing it to HID was a real revelation.

It is important, as others have said to sort out your beam alignment. I found that I needed to have my main beam unit 'raised' quite considerably compared to the way it came from BMW.

I'm not too sure about Eliminator's suggestion of rotating the dipped-beam lamp such that it throws a V-shaped pattern forward. The who reason that it has the flat top to the beam is so that you don't cause undue dazzle to road users in front of you. If you realign the beam as he suggests, then I suspect that you throw a lot of light into the eyes of oncoming drivers.

I am aware that my set-up does cause some car drivers to use the 'dipping' lever on their rear-view mirror, notwithstanding that my lights are properly aligned and that the Micro DEs are set such that their beam (very flat at the top) is below the level of the main unit.

I pulled up alongside a bike copper today. He commented that the DEs and dipped beam were a 'bloody good idea' and might help car drivers to be aware of the bike.

 

[Number8]

No, As the Micro FEs are pointed slight to the outside of the bike, they nicely illuminate the edges of the road. And to be honest, notwithstanding the HID unit, the dipped beam light remains less than convincing. The lens pattern is, not to put too fine a word to it, utterly crap!

do agree with u there , they did , but i found that no so uesfull , probally due to riding styles , the beam pattern of the dipped beam actually isnt that bad , the standard bulb just dosent put out enough light to be any use , with the HID that fixes that and it becomes uesfull again

I was always quite happy with the main beam. It's a decent projector-style light that produces a good concentrated 'finger' of light. Changing it to HID was a real revelation.

It is important, as others have said to sort out your beam alignment. I found that I needed to have my main beam unit 'raised' quite considerably compared to the way it came from BMW.

thats what i found uesless , when riding fast in the dark i want a good spread of light everywhere , to which the main dosent give .
and done talk to me about alignment!!! LOL ive spend more time ing about getting it right than i care to think

I'm not too sure about Eliminator's suggestion of rotating the dipped-beam lamp such that it throws a V-shaped pattern forward. The who reason that it has the flat top to the beam is so that you don't cause undue dazzle to road users in front of you. If you realign the beam as he suggests, then I suspect that you throw a lot of light into the eyes of oncoming drivers.

agreed , just seems like bad idea ..

I am aware that my set-up does cause some car drivers to use the 'dipping' lever on their rear-view mirror, notwithstanding that my lights are properly aligned and that the Micro DEs are set such that their beam (very flat at the top) is below the level of the main unit.

I pulled up alongside a bike copper today. He commented that the DEs and dipped beam were a 'bloody good idea' and might help car drivers to be aware of the bike.

as do mine , i do get flashed occasionally when riding hard as the distance the rear shock travels that on hard throttle i iluminate the tops of road signs, but thats some thing im hoping to sort with a new harder shock .
aye , i have noticed that in the week (2500 miles, dispatcher ) ive ridden without the micro de's ive had more people pul out on me and just not see me , so am at the momet looking for some running lights for the front as ive still got the wires from the autoswitch there and not being used .

not sure what to use tbh , ile keep looking tho
a pic of the bike before i took the micro de's off

 

[Droopy Dick]

as do mine , i do get flashed occasionally when riding hard as the distance the rear shock travels that on hard throttle i iluminate the tops of road signs, but thats some thing im hoping to sort with a new harder shock .
aye , i have noticed that in the week (2500 miles, dispatcher ) ive ridden without the micro de's ive had more people pul out on me and just not see me , so am at the momet looking for some running lights for the front as ive still got the wires from the autoswitch there and not being used .

For the first time, I this week tried out BTBRs suggestion of filtering (in bright daylight) with all the lights on, that is, the two HID units, the Micro DEs and the FF50s. I did this on both slow-moving traffic on dual-carriageway and also on ordinaary two-lane road with a 3' wide hatched painted 'divider'.

And what a difference it seemed to make!

Mind you, it was at around 1730/1800 driving west in to the setting sun, with a high degree of dazzle. I kinda worked out that it might be a good idea to have as much light as possible visible/attracting attention in car drivers rear-view mirrors as possible.

I suppose the downside is that oncoming traffic does get a fair bit of light, but it's obviously not something I'd do after dusk.

 

[Number8]

For the first time, I this week tried out BTBRs suggestion of filtering (in bright daylight) with all the lights on, that is, the two HID units, the Micro DEs and the FF50s. I did this on both slow-moving traffic on dual-carriageway and also on ordinaary two-lane road with a 3' wide hatched painted 'divider'.

And what a difference it seemed to make!

Mind you, it was at around 1730/1800 driving west in to the setting sun, with a high degree of dazzle. I kinda worked out that it might be a good idea to have as much light as possible visible/attracting attention in car drivers rear-view mirrors as possible.

I suppose the downside is that oncoming traffic does get a fair bit of light, but it's obviously not something I'd do after dusk.

tried that before , but found instead of 100%people justkinda not realy doing anything , it made a nasty split of ppl , 50% diving outa the way and 50% having no idea what to do and getting more in the way ...

altho it depends where u are , m25 noting u do makes any differance , M62 moses parting the read sea , M1 50/50 split deffo a big devide ...

more pics of the bike in daylight in a lit garage ..
taken from the same spot , u can tell how much light it throws out as the cam has had to change to a very quick shutter speed (surroundings balck) oh and the guy operating the controls is my house m8 jim