Quick and easy HID upgrade.

[dpm]

So I had a pair of spare H7/4300k burners in the garage from OHs last car and in a spare moment thought I'd try one in the dip, not knowing how the can-bus was going to like it. No problems even with the elderly ballast I had to hand. So, how to install neat and reversible (I wouldn't attempt an MoT here with HIDs in...)?
One of these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140857752696?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Half inch hole in the rear cap, bung this in, done. Quick to strike, no errors, and barely even gets warm. There's a good clearance between the ballast and both fork and brake hose. And as I'd already blackened the bulb tip with a spray of VHT, no glare issues either. Result! I'll get some piccies up later if anyone wants them, but it really is self-explanatory.

 

[dpm]

totally forgot to add a photo. Here's one, in response to a PM...

 

[ralphy]

That looks a very neat solution.

Question for you regarding the 'glare' mod: why does the bike need it but a car doesn't - is it simply due to the height on the bike?

R

 

[dpm]

Most OE low beams use a "bulb shield" to ensure that only the necessary parts of the reflector are illuminated and to kill direct forward light. Some get away with the black tip of the bulb only, like the F658.
A drop-in HID has a thinner envelope and no darkened tip, there can be a fair bit of light forwards straight off the arc. Dabbing some black VHT on the end, as far down as the arc tube, reduces this to a level I'm comfortable with.

 

[Smythson]

It may not be that... look at the distance of the HID arc receptacle from the base as compared to the filament from the base - the HID is further out from the base so it reflects differently.

There a new(er) generation of HID bulbs that take this into account and have a blacked out section along the bulb... all said, a lot of people on here have these fitted through MoT so whether or not it's being tested...

 

[dpm]

nope, arc location matches filament position, that's a prerequisite. I'm more worried about stray light.

blacked-out areas have been in use for quite a while- it''s the difference between a d2r and a d2s in OE apps. The d2r has a blackened area to act as a shield, in reflector housings, the -s has no shield and is used in projector designs.

 

[ralphy]

Most OE low beams use a "bulb shield" to ensure that only the necessary parts of the reflector are illuminated and to kill direct forward light. Some get away with the black tip of the bulb only, like the F658.
A drop-in HID has a thinner envelope and no darkened tip, there can be a fair bit of light forwards straight off the arc. Dabbing some black VHT on the end, as far down as the arc tube, reduces this to a level I'm comfortable with.

Thanks for that info.

I'm going to give it a try - ballast ordered.

R

 

[Smythson]

nope, arc location matches filament position, that's a prerequisite. I'm more worried about stray light.

blacked-out areas have been in use for quite a while- it''s the difference between a d2r and a d2s in OE apps. The d2r has a blackened area to act as a shield, in reflector housings, the -s has no shield and is used in projector designs.

I stand corrected! I did mine over a year ago and couldn't for the life of me get an HID bulb that had the arc at the right distance so ended up having to tilt my headlight down a bit.

S