How reliable are HIDS

[Berin]

I know they are bright, but do they break? I had a couple of HID diving lights that gave a lot of problems with the ballasts and the bulbs were about £100

has anyone had a HID kit on long enough to know how long they last?

 

[D6]

in theory they will last longer, no filaments, v v v reliable on bm cars etc, never changed one in the garage, bikes should be same, bulbs are between 15 an 25 quid now, even the older ballasts dont seem to go,must be some but i havnt done any

 

[MikeP]

Mine is coming up to four years old and 30k miles. Some of them have been over some rough ground.

Never given it a thought!

 

[ianboydsnr]

I had a ballast go last year, only a few months old, but been fine ever since, my other bike has been working fine for the last 12 months, they are supposed to have many thousands of hours life.

 

[Micky]

Mine's been on three 'bikes, done upwards of 100,000 miles, been on some of the roughest roads possible, even 'no roads' ... and still working OK

Saved my bacon riding through the Altai mountains of Mongolia at night

Wouldn't leave home without one

It's 'family'



www.adventure.gs

 

[Flipfly]

I had a cheap ebay one go within a year. Replaced with a Les Wassall item which is much better quality. Starts up quicker and without problems, is brighter and just looks much better built.

 

[zoltan]

I had the NN on my RT . On my wifes SAAB it went after 1 year , fitted £250 .Replaced under warranty in the end .

 

[ECM]

The Xenon bulbs ads are all over lasting longer then normal light bulbs. But the ballasts are the tricky parts....

I had two €50,- chinese sets. The second one survived a bike crash (I think...) so no results on that. But the first one was burned to smokes after 3 months..

Now I got a brand new Less' special to try out.

 

[rc mad]

had 4 on my bike for just over a year. The low beam works perfectly, its on all the time, no option to shut it off with the igntion. The tt suplied high beam is fine as well. Its the least used aux ones that caused the only problem i've had, literally popped a ballast, smoke and everything

i can only assume that its a manufacturing defect thats taken longer to appear cos i don't use the lights much., Got a 2 year guarantee so i should get a replacement.

 

[Coolcarbon]

4+ years, no problems....(that's most likely put the kiss of death on it now.. )

 

[(RIP) Tunneruk]

I'm fitting a full kit to my GSA today courtesy of our fine compadre Les. A bit off topic but I'm just looking forward to fitting them!

I'll come back and find this thread in a couple of years and give you an update!

 

[brassmonkey001]

Had mine on a couple of years. Like RC Mad, my headlight is permanently on. I ride off road every day in all weathers. Never had a problem.

 

[andyclift]

Had my Touratech ones for a couple of years - no problems.

 

[Phil Clarke]

I suspect the divers lights hids use similar micro ballasts to hids for bicycle lights. These are excessively expensive but I haven't heard of any reliability problems, even on mountainbikes.

 

[Rushy]

Apologies .......very slightly off topic but only just.

Some talk on this thread about moving HIDs from one bike to another.

With that in mind can you swap a HID kit from a 1200GS onto an 1150GS or are they different because of the canbus?

 

[shugie]

Some talk on this thread about moving HIDs from one bike to another.

With that in mind can you swap a HID kit from a 1200GS onto an 1150GS or are they different because of the canbus?

Different bulb types, won't fit.

 

[Les Wassall]

Some talk on this thread about moving HIDs from one bike to another.

With that in mind can you swap a HID kit from a 1200GS onto an 1150GS or are they different because of the canbus?

I have spare Burners in stock

 

[bustupbiker]

I know they are bright, but do they break? I had a couple of HID diving lights that gave a lot of problems with the ballasts and the bulbs were about £100

has anyone had a HID kit on long enough to know how long they last?

Put them in my 12 2 1/2 years ago, no problems yet.

 

[(RIP) Tunneruk]

I fitted mine today, Bought a full kit from Les Wassall for the Dip and Main beam lights + the two BMW spots. The instructions supplied were spot on, The kit itself was made very professionally and fitted very easily. Tidying all the wires and cable was a bit of a challenge but I got there in the end. Waited for it to get dark and went out for a spin. The light is nothing short of spectacular. It's transformed riding at night for me! I can't recommend them enough!

 

[Packer]

Fitted mine September 06 and done around 15,000 miles since including some gentle off road.

I also like to get a move on and get the bike airborn on highland roads regularly and despite the dip being wired on no problems whatsoever.

To me they are such a contribution to safe night riding that even if they were guaranteed to fail every year I'd still want them and would simply replace them every 10 months. They really are that good!

p.s. mine are "only" the 35 watt variety and not the "full fat" 50 watt searchlights!