HID's Abroad

[Cole]

BMW manual says stick tape on your lens

Yep, it works and is cheap, and takes about 60 seconds with a swiss army knife and some PVC tape (the pen knife does NOT scratch the glass, or at least my old pen knife didnt...)

The part you have to completely cover for riding in RHT (Right Hand Traffic ... i.e. Europe) is the bit that creates the 15 degree upsloping cutoff on the left hand side - its pretty obvious when you look at the reflector.

The pic below shows what needs to be covered. The result is a flat cutoff on both sides of the headlight - and consequently no moaning.

 

[zerocool]

I understand the legal stance on HID in the UK, but what about abroad, anybody have any evidence of fines/confiscation etc?

 

[Cole]

I understand the legal stance on HID in the UK, but what about abroad, anybody have any evidence of fines/confiscation etc?

No, on the contrary. After hearing a year or two ago from assorted Spanish, Dutch and other motorcyclists that they would love to fit HIDs to their bikes but dont dare cause their police are far stricter than ours, recent visits to Holland and Spain shows that there are now significant numbers of local bikes in both countries that have had HIDs fitted.

I guess the local police there have far more important things to worry about too than a motorcycle whose headlight is now merely the same as a modern car's headlight (and still only half as bright as both the car's headlights put together).