HID main beam not very effective - too low?

[Les Wassall]

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.

I find the FF50 a very good light, price, size and output, but as a standard Halogen next to HiD I find it can get a little lost, still sort of does the job but the light of it is so yellow next to HiD that it only tints around the HiD beam, a better result from HiD FF50's just the warm up time.

 

[chad]

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

bracket is now done and is being coated then i will get the FF50s fitted for dean

once done i shall get some pics to you mate

 

[Dave The Driver]

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

That bike looks clean and the light set up looks the dogs but..............it seems to be missing one do you have one of Les led side lights that would finish the job

 

[Yonkyo]

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.

I found that the standard Halogen high beam, combined with standard FF50’s are more than adequate for illuminating the darkness.

Plus, when you flick the switch, the light is instant. And to be honest, I spend most of my time on country roads and not in middle of the Moroccan Mountains. So the high beam is only used for short periods between oncoming traffic.

give it a go before splashing out all that extra dosh on total HID's (sorry Les)

 

[Yonkyo]

That bike looks clean and the light set up looks the dogs but..............it seems to be missing one do you have one of Les led side lights that would finish the job

Thats an old photo

I've since fitted a Les LED

 

[FatBob]

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

No

Yes I did!

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 ?

Yes.

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.

I have seen the tabs but couldn't read whats on them, it may have worn off?

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.

As the front of the bike lifts so does the light unit so inevitably the beam will go further. I can't be sure whether the light on the road is from the main or dip beam though.

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

Yeah, I'm mechanically challenged, I don't deny it! Too many times I have unscrewed something then struggled to put it back again so I prefer to avoid the problem!

Let me stress that I am not suggestions there is a problem with the HIDs, more likely the fitting or my expectations of what they will do.

I fitted the HIDs last winter, dip beam first then the main beam a few weeks later when I had more time. The improvement in the dip beam was so good I was expecting more from the main beam but it didn't work like that. I emailed Les at the time who said check the bulbs were fitted correctly, and that the improvement in the main beam wasn't as good as the dip because of the design of the light unit. The bulbs appeared to be seated correctly in the holders so I left it at that. Thought maybe it would get better over time as the HID burned in.

Don't use the main beam much during the summer so I forgot about it until now. No one else on the forum seemd to have the same problem (no reports of it at least) so I thought maybe i was missing something. Especially as a number of people were reporting that their (non HID) main beam was pointing up in the air and lighting the sky instead of the road. Maybe i need to adjust the beam up a bit, but the reaction of other drivers suggests that my dip beam is quite glaring already.

 

[Beemerman59]

I found that the standard Halogen high beam, combined with standard FF50’s are more than adequate for illuminating the darkness.

Plus, when you flick the switch, the light is instant. And to be honest, I spend most of my time on country roads and not in middle of the Moroccan Mountains. So the high beam is only used for short periods between oncoming traffic.

give it a go before splashing out all that extra dosh on total HID's (sorry Les)

Thanks Yonkyo - it seems my issues are like yours - most country roads with traffic so I want instant light, but also need to cover distance and pick up deer and roadkill as far away as possible.

 

[Berin]

My HID mains didn't seem to make much difference, but I set the height and also the lateral adjustment, both of which were way out and clearly had been from new. Makes a world of difference.

Also, when refitting the headlamp pod, make sure that it sits properly on the small seating post, otherwise it will illuminate the sky (damhik...)

 

[Les Wassall]

FatBob, pm me with a name then I will know who you are and we can get this problem sorted.

 

[Ali-bear]

....Any suggestions?

Ditch your Qatar MotoGP lights, stop blinding every other road user you come across, accept that you can't see as much at night as you can during the day.

Apparently any reply to this thread has to have an obligatory apology to Les for failing to heap praise upon him and his product/service, so here goes. Sorry, Les.

 

[Deleted account 211028001]

main beam HID

My HID mains didn't seem to make much difference, but I set the height and also the lateral adjustment, both of which were way out and clearly had been from new. Makes a world of difference.

Also, when refitting the headlamp pod, make sure that it sits properly on the small seating post, otherwise it will illuminate the sky (damhik...)

My HID main makes no difference also, how do you adjust?

 

[Berin]

Looking at the rear of the headlight pod from being sat on the bike, at about 2 o'clock from the dip bulb and slightly obscured there is a 13mm plastic hex nut (you can see it here on the diagram of the lighting system. It's a bit difficult to reach but I got a 13mm 1/4 drive socket on it. Turning in (clockwise) moves the beam angle to the right. On mine, it took a lot of turns, I sighted the beam up on a garage door about 10 m away and adjusted the height also. All seems to work fine now, plus it seems to be less dazzling for driver in front of me

My HID main makes no difference also, how do you adjust?

 

[Les Wassall]

Apparently any reply to this thread has to have an obligatory apology to Les for failing to heap praise upon him and his product/service, so here goes. Sorry, Les.

Accepted

 

[gsbiker]

Reading with interest. I currently have std original bulbs in my GSA. I want to brighten up the road like everyone else does. My hi beam is rubbish and this is because of the design. I can see that fitting HIDs should make it all brighter but there would be a disappointing comparison between hi and low beam patterns. The only thing I can think of is to keep low beam original and add HID to hi beam to improve the difference between the 2 lights. This obviously would not be acceptable cause it's the Low beam we all use mostly and want brighter.

What about fitting Halogen or HID auxiliary light to assist the hi beam only? this is 1x example but very costly...

http://www.touratech.com/shops/008/product_info.php?cPath=3_39_303&products_id=7539

 

[Deleted account 211028001]

Looking at the rear of the headlight pod from being sat on the bike, at about 2 o'clock from the dip bulb and slightly obscured there is a 13mm plastic hex nut (you can see it here on the diagram of the lighting system. It's a bit difficult to reach but I got a 13mm 1/4 drive socket on it. Turning in (clockwise) moves the beam angle to the right. On mine, it took a lot of turns, I sighted the beam up on a garage door about 10 m away and adjusted the height also. All seems to work fine now, plus it seems to be less dazzling for driver in front of me

thanks berin

 

[Snow White]

I've gone the other way. Fitted one of Les's wonderful HID lights into low beam (which are brilliant, thanks Les) and then fitted one of those new all singing and dancing standard bulbs that claim to be 90% brighter. They are fairly good and a definite improvement over a standard bulb. They also have the advantage of lighting up straight way. Still doesn't quite solve the problem of wanting to adjust main beam separably to dip beam but at the moment it's the best solution I have found without going down the spot light route (but give me time!)

 

[gsbiker]

I've gone the other way. Fitted one of Les's wonderful HID lights into low beam (which are brilliant, thanks Les) and then fitted one of those new all singing and dancing standard bulbs that claim to be 90% brighter. They are fairly good and a definite improvement over a standard bulb. They also have the advantage of lighting up straight way. Still doesn't quite solve the problem of wanting to adjust main beam separably to dip beam but at the moment it's the best solution I have found without going down the spot light route (but give me time!)

What HID set did you fit 35w or 50w?

What Halogen bulb did you fit in hi beam?