HID main beam not very effective - too low?

[FatBob]

I have Les Wassal 50W HIDs fitted to main and dipped beam. The dipped beam is fine but the main beam doesn't seem to add much. Given how bright the HIDs are I expected it would be like daylight with both lights on, but the main beam doesn't seem to extend much further down the road than the dipped beam does. It takes a few seconds to come up to full brightness which I think is normal, and when I have got off the bike and looked at it both bulbs are very bright, although the main beam is more blue in colour - they were both supposed to be the same but i don't think there is a label to say what colour temperature they are.

I have played around with the low beam height adjustment a bit to get the beam as far forward as I can without dazzling people, i think it is in about the right place now - some light is scattered (intentionally I presume, to illuminate road signs etc) but I can see the end of the light beam on the road some way in front of me. I get flashed by oncoming traffic very occassionally but not often. I did lower the beam slightly because when I came up behind a car at a junction my headlight seemed to really illuminate the insde of the car, and the driver usually dipped their rear view mirror to avoid the dazzle.

As far as I know there is no separate height adjustment for the main beam. It seems to me that it is too low because when I hit a bump and the front comes up a bit, I can see a bit further down the road.

Any suggestions? Looking through the forum, no one else seems to have had this problem. The bulbs are seated correctly as far as i can see from looking through the lens but I haven't removed the caps on the back of the lights because it was such a pain to get them on in the first place (I didn't fancy disassembling the windscreen and instrument panel so I fitted HIDs with everything in place)

 

[Myke Rocks]

Headlight adjustment

I have Les Wassal 50W HIDs fitted to main and dipped beam. The dipped beam is fine but the main beam doesn't seem to add much. Given how bright the HIDs are I expected it would be like daylight with both lights on, but the main beam doesn't seem to extend much further down the road than the dipped beam does. It takes a few seconds to come up to full brightness which I think is normal, and when I have got off the bike and looked at it both bulbs are very bright, although the main beam is more blue in colour - they were both supposed to be the same but i don't think there is a label to say what colour temperature they are.

I have played around with the low beam height adjustment a bit to get the beam as far forward as I can without dazzling people, i think it is in about the right place now - some light is scattered (intentionally I presume, to illuminate road signs etc) but I can see the end of the light beam on the road some way in front of me. I get flashed by oncoming traffic very occassionally but not often. I did lower the beam slightly because when I came up behind a car at a junction my headlight seemed to really illuminate the insde of the car, and the driver usually dipped their rear view mirror to avoid the dazzle.

As far as I know there is no separate height adjustment for the main beam. It seems to me that it is too low because when I hit a bump and the front comes up a bit, I can see a bit further down the road.

Any suggestions? Looking through the forum, no one else seems to have had this problem. The bulbs are seated correctly as far as i can see from looking through the lens but I haven't removed the caps on the back of the lights because it was such a pain to get them on in the first place (I didn't fancy disassembling the windscreen and instrument panel so I fitted HIDs with everything in place)

I note the term in your statement: " I Think".
Suggest you get your headlight set on a beamsetter.
That way you do not blind anyone on dip, but get maximum benefit on main.
When I bought my bike on Isle of Wight, (11,000 miles & under BMW warranty) I could barely drive it that evening, because the dip was illuminating the front wheel & main beam not much higher.

Fitted HIDs. No different. Had set on beamsetter. Now brilliant.

( Before anyone comments, it was not the load toggle on the rear of the headlight assembly. this was already set to highest point)
Myke

 

[IanNicky]

I look forward to the reply, because mine is the same

 

[Kamikaze]

Sounds like you're retelling my experiences. HID fitted to both last week, same result. Still much better than before, though.

 

[mr badger]

Don't forget that HIDs take a short while to get up to full brightness. They also take a while to 'burn in' from new. Naturally the dip has loads of time to both warm up as you ride and also to burn in properly.

Some on here just have HID burners on the dip for this reason.

I've got both dip and main as HIDs and with good setup (don't forget to use a beamsetter while you're sat on the bike) have got used to the transition.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Also..............the beam pattern on main is appalling and there is nothing you can do about it. HIDing main does make an improvement but not as big a one as HIDing dipped.

I'm assuming you've spoken to Les about this to get his take on it

Andres

 

[Les Wassall]

they were both supposed to be the same but i don't think there is a label to say what colour temperature they are.

Each bulb has a silver tab on the cables, with the K and the watt.



when I hit a bump and the front comes up a bit, I can see a bit further down the road.

You may have a fitting problem there, is the bulb in the correct position.



(I didn't fancy disassembling the windscreen and instrument panel so I fitted HIDs with everything in place)

 

[Les Wassall]

I'm assuming you've spoken to Les about this to get his take on it

No

 

[IanNicky]

Dont get me wrong Les im not complaining about your product, just the fact that the full beam dosn't seem to be no where as noticable as the dipped when running HID's

 

[Les Wassall]

Dont get me wrong Les im not complaining about your product, just the fact that the full beam dosn't seem to be no where as noticable as the dipped when running HID's

That’s the problem with the lights the design of the small high beam, it's not the HiD it's the lens, there is an improvement but not as much as the dip beam, same on the GS range.

I always say that it's best to do both for cosmetics and there is some improvement, but if you leave the high bean with a halogen it's next to useless with the dip HiD.

 

[Les Wassall]

FatBob you wrote on another thred a few weeks back,

"Since fitting some HIDs from Les Wassal on the GSA last winter and getting used to actually being able to see something when riding in the dark, I now find it a shock when I drive my car (1998 BMW)."


have you had this problem 12 months ?

 

[DLBass]

Here's my 2p's worth

I fitted the full kit and caboudle from Les (HID Main, Dip and Spots) on my 2008 GSA.

Drove down a quiet country road at night and spent some time setting them up. Staggering is all I can say!

Main adds greatly to the light thrown down the road (once fully warmed up), and dip is fantastic too. If anything the spots just add a bit of width and make you more visible to other road users, but I'm glad I did them too.

Get them set up and they will blow you away, well pleased with mine!

David

 

[bose]

cost

So whats the cost to HID the dip an main on 2008 GS1200 ,also what would a set of HID spots come too also ???

 

[Yonkyo]

I also tried a HID in the high beam on my GSA, but i was unimpressed with the beam spread. I think the main beam reflector is just pants.

So I went the rout of extra lights.

50w 6k HID Low beam
35w 6k HID Micro DE’s Aux’s (Low beam)
55w Halogen FF50 Aux’s (High beam)
55w Hologen high beam

Just the HIDs iluminated

Turns night to days (almost) for me.

HID’s supplied by Les

 

[Les Wassall]

Here's my 2p's worth

I fitted the full kit and caboudle from Les (HID Main, Dip and Spots) on my 2008 GSA.

Drove down a quiet country road at night and spent some time setting them up. Staggering is all I can say!

Main adds greatly to the light thrown down the road (once fully warmed up), and dip is fantastic too. If anything the spots just add a bit of width and make you more visible to other road users, but I'm glad I did them too.

Get them set up and they will blow you away, well pleased with mine!

David

 

[Les Wassall]

So whats the cost to HID the dip an main on 2008 GS1200 ,also what would a set of HID spots come too also ???

Loads of info on the web site, or pm me for Forum discount

 

[Les Wassall]

I also tried a HID in the high beam on my GSA, but i was unimpressed with the beam spread. I think the main beam reflector is just pants.

So I went the rout of extra lights.

50w 6k HID Low beam
35w 6k HID Micro DE’s Aux’s (Low beam)
55w Halogen FF50 Aux’s (High beam)
55w Hologen high beam

Just the HIDs iluminated

Turns night to days (almost) for me.

HID’s supplied by Les

looks good, can i borrow the picture

 

[chad]

i fitted a set of les's HIDs to another members 650twin and he is staggerd by them

tis good kit and easy to fit

 

[Beemerman59]

I also tried a HID in the high beam on my GSA, but i was unimpressed with the beam spread. I think the main beam reflector is just pants.

So I went the rout of extra lights.

50w 6k HID Low beam
35w 6k HID Micro DE’s Aux’s (Low beam)
55w Halogen FF50 Aux’s (High beam)
55w Hologen high beam

Just the HIDs iluminated

Turns night to days (almost) for me.

HID’s supplied by Les

Yonkyo - yours is the same set up I'm planning on getting when my bank manager allows me. I have 50watt HIDs on both dip and main and like everyone else I agree the main beam is better but not by much. I agree this is the lamp design and not the HID. So, I'm looking at the FF50's to add as spots but don't know if the FF50 with standard halogen is much better than the standard main beam with HID? What would you say? If there's no great improvement of the FF50's over the HID main I will have to think about the FF50's with HID.

I have now made a couple of brackets that allows me to put my GSA OEM aux lights onto a Migsel light bar, so can now add the FF50's when I know which way to go.

 

[Les Wassall]

i fitted a set of les's HIDs to another members 650twin and he is staggerd by them

tis good kit and easy to fit

Thanks Chad and if you have any pictures can you send them to my gmail, of the DE brackets