[Gs921441]

Now i am getting used to my new bike i have been looking at ways i can spoil it. One thing i would welcome some opinions on is what to upgrade the bulbs with. The choice is between both dipped lamps to HID or put on Philips X-treme Power bulbs (as below). I am not worried about costs as both are cheapish to do but was wondering what riders experiences are with both.
I do a lot of riding home from work late at night and had HID lamps briefly on a F800ST before i got brave and upgraded to my lovely RT. One thing i did notice when i changed the bulbs is that for some reason cars seemed more willing to pull over and let me pass.
Please kindly share your thoughts. Thanks

http://www.nippynormans.com/product...x-treme-power-h7-bulb-twin-pack-php-12972xpx2

 

[DanMartin]

HID is one of the best upgrades you can do. I put no faith
in the upgraded halogen bulbs.

Dan

 

[Atomicman]

HID is one of the best upgrades you can do. I put no faith
in the upgraded halogen bulbs.

Dan

+1 :toast:

 

[deanwoolsey]

Upgraded halogen bulbs simply run hotter to get brighter. That means a shorter life. HID is the way to go.

 

[dshealey]

HID, Well worth it.
Bulb upgrades, slightly better than useless.

I was one in my early LT ownership that first tried bulb upgrades, found them no real help at all. Put the HID in, and what a difference.

 

[saddleman]

I just installed two HID bulb kits in a new 2012 R1200RT for a buddy of mine. He did not want to ride to the BMWMOA rally without them.

 

[johnbaker15]

HID's, for me it was not just the brightness. The kit I used not only goes further down the road, but lights up the edges of the road better also. I only replaced the low beam.

 

[ka5ysy]

+++++ HID

I did the 3-bulb upgrade in addition to the Clearwater Krista lamps that I moved over from my R1200R. I can definitely see the road at night !

 

[palajoe]

I installed the 1off motorsports 6500K HID kit on my '11RT a few months ago. A dramatic improvement over standard! I fully believe this is the best bang for the buck when it comes to safety upgrades. I was able to do the install myself, which wasn't too difficult. Hardest part was finding a place to secure the ballasts. I was afraid that the bulbs would have too much of a "blue" appearance, but they have proven to be just a pure bright white color.

Definitely important to make sure the headlights are aimed correctly, as you can tick off your fellow motorists pretty easily. I too find that people are more willing to get out the way.

Unfortunately, it looks like 1offmotorsports may have gone out of business. Just checked their website and it is shut down.

 

[racer7]

HID is the brightest and 1off quit selling them so you'll need to go elsewhere. They had quality problems with their last electronics supplier- not as as good or reliable as earlier.

There is one halogen bulb that is a worthwhile upgrade- same life as stock because of a different filament/capsule design. It is the Osram 65W Rallye H-7 which is actually a std H-9 hi beam burner in an H-7 base. Stock color temp and much better durability than any high output H-7 capsule. About 40% more light, more than any of the hotter H-7 filament types, and about 2/3 of the output of an HID (stock is well under half of what an HID can do). It works well in the RT reflectors in all 3 spots.

My current setup is HID low plus the Osram 65W in the hi beam slot. The latter bulbs are also in a pair of Hella FF50 driving lights all triggered by the hi beam switch for simplicity of use.

You cannot run above the 65W on stock wiring with good output and there are no other H-7 types without some significant drawback. Candlepower is an online vendor for it. The 65W IPF H-7 has same output but a std H-7 filament winding and much shorter life as a result.

 

[Atomicman]

HID is the brightest and 1off quit selling them so you'll need to go elsewhere. They had quality problems with their last electronics supplier- not as as good or reliable as earlier.

There is one halogen bulb that is a worthwhile upgrade- same life as stock because of a different filament/capsule design. It is the Osram 65W Rallye H-7 which is actually a std H-9 hi beam burner in an H-7 base. Stock color temp and much better durability than any high output H-7 capsule. About 40% more light, more than any of the hotter H-7 filament types, and about 2/3 of the output of an HID (stock is well under half of what an HID can do). It works well in the RT reflectors in all 3 spots.

My current setup is HID low plus the Osram 65W in the hi beam slot. The latter bulbs are also in a pair of Hella FF50 driving lights all triggered by the hi beam switch for simplicity of use.

You cannot run above the 65W on stock wiring with good output and there are no other H-7 types without some significant drawback. Candlepower is an online vendor for it. The 65W IPF H-7 has same output but a std H-7 filament winding and much shorter life as a result.

:yeah: I used the Osram 65W H7 in my High beam with the HID's in the lows and Clearwater Glendas caliper hight for additional side fill and conspicuity.

Yana shiki HID conversions have been stellar. No issues whatsoever. I have had them in for over 2 years now. They have perfromed flawlessly.

Their 6k are great. Not blue.http://www.yanashiki.com/product_p/hidh7-6k.htm

 

[tsperez]

As Racer7 advised... I have the HID low beams (4300) and Osram 65W high beam. It's a nice setup.

tsp
My Blog

 

[ka5ysy]

1 Off Motosports

1 Off Motosports website home page:

Thank you!
We appreciate everything our family, friends, customers, vendors, have done for us and look forward to the next step in our lives.
1 OFF Motorsports wants to thank all of our customers for the past 5 years for all of your business, support and friendship. It has been an amazing opportunity and a wild ride but unfortunately it is time for us to move on from this venture.
1 Off Motorsports wants to thank all of our customers for the past 5 years for all of your business, support and friendship. It has been an amazing opportunity and a wild ride but unfortunately recent circumstances out of our control has forced us to no longer be able to operate.
We appreciate everything our family, friends, customers, vendors, have done for us and look forward to the next step in our lives.

So much for their "lifetime warranty"

 

[twinsig]

"My current setup is HID low plus the Osram 65W in the hi beam slot."

This bulb is acceptable for an 1150 with 55w OEM?

Wont affect the wiring?

I certainly want to get more from the HighBeam also, I did the Halogen upgrade with little to no difference on Low & High Beams.

 

[r_figueroa]

There are really only two ways to get more light- either run a higher-power (wattage) lamp, or go to a different technology, such as HID.

Higher power bulbs can cause problems with the supply wiring. BMW tends to go light on wire size, so I would be wary of using higher-power lamps.

Changing the color temperature doesn't make more light, but it may seem brighter- our eyes are more sensitive to the blue end of the spectrum, so the higher temperature lights seem brighter.

I have mixed feelings about HID retrofit kits. Yes, they put out a lot of light, but the OEM reflectors are not designed for them and so the light pattern is different. I installed an HID kit in a previous bike and was never happy with it even after a fair amount of fiddling with spacers- I was getting too many flashes from oncoming vehicles. That bike had some unique lighting arrangements, so I suspect the real problem was the bike, not the HID's, but the principle is the same.

After using them for a year or so, the ballast on one died and I replaced them with halogens, which brings me to my next point- the quality of the components is crucial. Do your research, too. See who has a good rep and avoid the inexpensive ones found online.

You may see better with HID's, but I wonder if the reported willingness to pull over and let you by is because they feel blinded?

 

[JonA]

lowbeam = HID
highbeam = high power halogen

works for me

 

[Triple Threat]

DDMtuning.com

I've installed their products on 5 of my vehicles so far and I'm very, very pleased. Dual kits run about $40 per set.

I went with the 35W 5000K for the low beams lights and a 55W 6000K center lights. Total cost was about $70 and I have a spare ballast and a spare light bulb (buy dual kits for both and you don't need a high/low kit, that is for bulbs that do both high/low duty, RT's lights are separate, you also don't need mounting brackets).

Hope this helps,

Triple

 

[gbaltyn]

Xenon Depot is one of the vendors that supports this site. Great customer service and the HID kit on my 2005 LT is probably my favorite upgrade.

 

[golf18]

HID - 5k low beam 35w , the best

 

[Atomicman]

HID - 5k low beam 35w , the best

Yanashiki 6k is great. Not Blue!