Re: H.I.D. lights

[JCarver]

On the former board, there were several who were in the process of installing a HID lighting kit that is/had been on Ebay. This is the kit that replaces the headlight bulbs. Has anyone installed it yet? What are the results?

TIA

[SemperfiRider]

I retrofitted my '01 after the first year and still love it. It was a few years ago so I don't know if today’s kits are the same as mine, so I'll just make some general comments. I upgraded my package to include the BMW 'purple' bulb, over the normal 'blue' cast bulb. I'll never forget the night and 'DAY' difference of my first night test drive. Not only was there more visibility, the colors of objects were more vibrant and real. It was like driving in the daytime!

[RaffyK]

Just be careful. I understand the Chinese kits are made of glass bulbs/lamps rather than quartz and have a potential of breaking due to pressure or vibration. When they break, the anode will keep trying to strike and will short to the nearest ground. This potentially turns the bike live with 23000 volts and has been known to cause fires. The more expensive kits like have a fail/safe mechanism in the ballast that will prevent the ballast from striking if the bulb is broken or there is no bulb.

[CARNEYM]

Raffy would you recomend, I think the second one's are the china brand.

http://www.xenonking.com/5000m.htm

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HID-Xenon-Conversioni-kit-9006-H7-H4-H1-JDMHella_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ36476QQitemZ8000012193QQrdZ1

[RaffyK]

My preference is the www.hid-online.com kits. Yes they are expensive compared to the others. They do stand behind their product and I am very familiar with the kit. having installed close to 50 of them in the last 2-3 years.

No financial gain for me.

[CARNEYM]

Thanks Raffy, if I'm going to spend that much, I would rather have a proven product.

[TX03LTC]

Got mine but haven't installed them yet. FUD (fear-uncertainity-doubt) is a valuable instrument of sales. I personally can't believe that the Chinese versions would be allowed for sale in the USA if they failed as described. I could be wrong and hope I'm not because I fully respect Raffy's views.

[zippy_gg]

In response to:

"I personally can't believe that the Chinese versions would be allowed for sale in the USA if they failed as described."

The same could have been said for asbestos, Chevy Corvair, and VIOXX...
Sometimes problems occur after the product has been on the market for a while...:eek:
I bought and installed my hid-online kit and the installation was pretty straighforward and I am very happy with it!!!:D

Gilles

[EdBruce]

I purchased the hi & low beam HID's from Hid-online.com on
Raffy's recomendation. The kit is awesome!. It was very easy
to install (even for me who screws everything up). Was no
problem for them to ship and they answered my emails very promptly

Cheers

[CWF]

I don't know anything about the shorting safeguards in these kits but can tell you that I bought my HID low beam (one half of an auto kit) from a no-name oriental sounding gentleman (spoke with him over the phone to get details) off of e-bay and I received a kit made by McCulloch (sp?). I certainly wasn't a chinese kit and it's worked fine for about one year now.

One mistake I made was originally not specifying the color bulb I wanted and he sent me a 6000 K bulb. However he swapped it at no charge for a 4700 K bulb.

Also this kit was truly plug n play. I did not worry about running wires directly to the battery since I was doing only the low beam.

I can try to find his name and number if you want it.

CWF

[airborneod]

CWF,


If you can locate his name please do and post..

TIA

[JCarver]

I want to say "Thank You" to those who gave of their info, knowledge, and experience, it is greatly appreciated.

With what has been stated, I think I will wait a bit more before I make the plunge to HID. Thanks again and keep us posted on this.

tcars

[early1]

"Chevy Corvair,---"

Hey watch it now. Used ta race a Yenko Stinger, took down a few 'Porch' pilots along the way.

[meese]

I personally can't believe that the Chinese versions would be allowed for sale in the USA if they failed as described.

I don't believe any of these kits are "allowed for sale" but they are available nonetheless. Basically, you're upgrading your headlight at your own risk, but the results and increased safety are well worth the risk for most of us.

As for FUD, the hid-online kits are known to work well on the LT. The cheaper kits may work as well, but we haven't proven that yet. Sometimes you gotta pay for quality.