Cant afford HID light Conversion? You can now!
 

Cant afford HID light Conversion? You Can now! These look brilliant!
I have just fitted a Phillips super power 80% more light Bulb to the XT and thought the result was amazing, till I saw this!
OK the Bulb was 23 euros against 89 Quid for one of these..... but even so.

Guess what Im saving up for!:thumbup1:

They even do kits for C*rs and 4WD vehicles.

HID50.com 50 watt HID lighting

Martyn

Nice find Martyn!
The light on the R100 GS's is like a glow worm. Been looking for something to upgrade it for a while.
Like you, I will have to start saving:(

John

Hi Martyn,

I've been testing the Philips bulbs since they were first brought into the country.

Pro's- much brighter, pure white light.
- improved penetration (oh er Mrs)

Con's- more costly that the standard fitment
- much reduced life span. I was getting around 300hrs worth of use but as I average
about 2.5 hrs per day then they were only lasting about 4 months.

you mean these ones?
 

If they are the same as these..... then 4 months use? 23.50 Euros here, What price in UK I dont Know. Hmmmmm ....maybe it would be cheaper ( and BRIGHTER) within 12-18 months to buy the HID replacement, although the HID only comes in 35 watt for the H4 fitment for a Bike, but that is equivalent to a 200watt Halogen or more in brightness.

I will agree the Phillips is MUCH brighter, a very 'White' light, and and a move I would recommend to anyone wanting brighter lights on a budget. They would have been Killer on My K100.........

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...f/DSC05244.jpg


Martyn

Another option Lights at Trail Tech Home

not really an option!
 

The ORIGINAL post (by Me) was HID lighting you can AFFORD! I don't call $525 affordable, I call that EXSPENSIVE!

They are nice though. Good Find. for people with deep pockets :thumbup1:

Martyn

Mornin' Martyn,

yep thats exactly the same bulb!

I've spoken to the UK supplier of the unit, who spoke to Philips in Holland, who indicated an expected life span of 500 hours, in normal use. I've asked if my gentle type trail riding should be taken into consideration and they say no.

And before anyone asks, no I havn't touched the glass on the original, nor any of the replacements!

Worth every penny!
 

I've done the HID conversion on the low and high beam on my KTM 950ADV and added Touratech Hella fogs also converted to HID. Main units are 50 watts and the fogs are 35 watts.

Night becomes DAY in a very big way!!!!!!!

Converted low/main and the fogs for a total of £300, brilliant value and I also used HID50.com 50 watt HID lighting.

Roger O.

To true a true HID unit is expensive its the ballast so Im told. But There just (haha just still pricey to me) $119 US each thats about 55 pounds UK?

Be careful of the bulb not to get your fingers on it some how makes them go bad faster. Also some after market bulbs get hot (and suck up the power) and can melt the hosing or wires.

The smaller 35w HID lights may give out enof light to shut down the main head lights on the bike giving more power to play with.

I dont know to get them or not its $250 for 2 plus a light bar I can make the bar and wire them up but $250 for something I hope to never need to use seems a little steep.

Two!?
 

Hi Martyn,

have you read the info on the website you linked to?

The H4, single bulb applications (like my XT) don't sound too promising!

Of course I may consider an additional light, rather than a replacement H4 HID product!

Thanks for making us aware of the product.

H4?
 

What about H4 filament? If I understand it correct, then HID version of H4 only changes the focus (position of filament) with internal motor, meaning I'll have the same light illumination power all the time and only the focus point changes when switching between high/low beam(?)

Will that blind the oncoming vehicles? Or on the contrary, the high beam maybe will be too weak, since HIDs are mostly specialized for "improving" low beams?

Also I've heard from a guy who tested it the H4 HIDs high/low switching motors are prone to get "sticky" in time (with all the heat and dirt going on behind the reflector), meaning it just blocks at one position and you don't have any low/high swithing anymore (whether it'll stay always low or high beam ...or something inbetween)

Can anyone confirm this about H4 versions of HIDs? Or they've been improved by now and they're worth buying in H4 format now?

Hid Blurb
 

Hi, this is copied from the HID 50 website...

Definition of HID

High intensity Discharge lighting is light from a plasma discharge rather than a filament. The system involves a combined igniter and ballast to start the light and maintain the current, and certain gases and metal salts to create the light. Overall the system uses less energy than halogen lighting, while producing 4 times more light per watt.

A 35 watt HID is a 35 watt HID, and sweep away the advertising propaganda that many web sites try and tell you, they produce slightly over twice the amount of light that a 55 watt Halogen light bulb does. As you have probably read on our page regarding lumens, a 55 watt halogen bulb produces a standard 1400 lumens of light. A 35 watt HID produces a standard 3200 lumens. That means sweep away the bizarre maths behind some of the claims (and I have read farcical claims of 300% more light and 50% less power), the reality is a 35 watt HID produces 128% more light than a 55 watt halogen bulb, and consumes 36% less power.


So less drain on the already weak elactrics of the XT :thumbup1: and MORE light 128% more.. which is more than double for a third LESS power:thumbup1::thumbup1:... that seems fair enough to me!

And Margus, if you check the site these are solid state switched, no magnets, no moving parts, nowt to 'stick' so more reliable.

so all in all Guys....... I would conclude by saying, More light for less power with better Bulb longevity and only 89 quid plus postage.....:D

Martyn

Hi Martyn,

the bit that worried me was this section'


The third type of H4 conversion on the left above is called a "telescopic" H4 HID. The telescopic H4 HID has a number of points on which it suffers. Firstly, the critical issue of light source placement. The real H4 halogen bulb has two offset light sources, on different axes and at different lengths from the base of the bulb. The telescopic H4 or 9007 burners have either the burner or the shield on a telescopic motor which slides either the burner or shield up and down along the axis of the bulb to replicate low and high beam. The HID burner is located on the central axis of the bulb and as such BOTH the low and high beam light sources are in the incorrect place. Further, the small telescopic motor in the base of the unit is prone to break down on cheaper units.

There is no such things as a perfect H4 HID conversion. In all cases, the beam patterns distort and are not faithful to the original. It is not possible to perfectly duplicate the H4 halogen light source with a HID unit, despite the best (and worst) claims in the market. How close you get to the original beam pattern depends on how much you spend on the H4 unit. The cheap ones are abysmal, the more expensive ones are merely satisfactory.



STOP PRESS: We have just started doing single H4 kits (specifically for bikes) as we have found a high quality unit that is as close as we have seen to worthy of replicating a halogen H4 bulb's beam patterns. It does this by having the telescopic bulb at a slight angle, this getting much closer to the correct positions of the high and low beam light sources. As with all H4 kits, it is only available in 35 watt HID. If you are prepared to accept the limitations of any H4 conversion kit, then this is as good as it gets for H4. A single H4 with an Ultra-35 ballast to do high and low beam is now available for £89, plus £6 p&p ... in 6000K only




Finally above right, we have the dual burner, dual ballast H4 / 9007 conversion. Unfortunately even with this set up, the light sources are NOT quite in the correct positions. We have tested this type of H4 burner to see if it is worthy of selling but have been unable to get a satisfactory beam pattern. We feel strongly that any HID conversion that fails to duplicate the original design performance of the respective halogen bulb is not suitable to be called a replacement. The idea of conversion is to boost lighting performance within the same parameters of the original design.

they do at least tell you its not perfect...
 

They at least admit its not PERFECT, they admit to testing other types which they wont actually sell..... how many other companies would do that? I feel that this company havent hidden anything from me, its all in the blurb, which i have read... and as a result i would buy the product knowing the limitation of the XT's headlamp (poxy at best) and knowing that an HID would even a 35 watt unit make riding at night, especially off road a much safer option than it is now.


Martyn

Mornin' Martyn,

I know what you mean, they do seem to be a genuine operator.

Please let us know when you've tken the plunge and how things go and if you don't mind why not give us a bit of a fitting/installation report etc?

Looking forward to the next installment.

Will do, but its gonna be a while....
 

Mornin Reggie, Yep, I will do a full report as and when I do a fitment along with pics etc.... Its gonna have to wait a while though as I am in the process of saving for ITV (Spanish MOT), next Insurance Installment, a Front wheel respoke and a Pair of Motorcross or Enduro boots.......... In that order! THEN an HID light set up.....:thumbup1:

Martyn

Martyn, something that might make a better/simpler job of a HID conversion is this:
Busters Motorcycle Accessories

This unit takes 2 H1 bulbs. I'm thinking of getting one for my Airhead GS PD, if I can think of a way to mount it in the fairing.

They do other shapes with twin lamps as well.

John

I recently fitted a hid low beam conversion (h7) and a upgrade H3 high beam halogen blue bulb (Included in the pack price for free) to my ktm 950 the cost was £140 all in. and the result is fantastic the difference is so much better than I ever thought it could be the fittings etc seem excelent quality and now I can see at night very very well where as before it was very poor quality lighting on the bike. Ireally wish I had done this years ago. Autolamps-online were the company and there sales people were superb knowing the best advice and offering various set ups. very quick service and superb follow up service.

Hid50
 

Yes indeed guys, I can assure that I am a very genuine operator ;-)

I am one of the two guys (both bikers) behind HID50.com 50 watt HID lighting and am a long time HUBBer and bike traveller. We dont market the HID product. We just sell by word of mouth. Its a hobby rather than a business, and was set up to offer the best quality HID kits I could find to bikers, by bikers. Thats why all the pics on the site are of bikes ;-). I also want to make available to bikers stuff that the mass market companies dont ... like 50 watt HIDs, "military spec" componentry, and mixed bulb kits for Triumph or KTM bikes.

As mentioned before, we are not in it to make a profit but just to cover our costs and pay us for the time involved, so thats why as mentioned before, we have no interested in pushing products. If there is no such thing as a perfect H4 HID conversion, thats what I will tell you.

We also put together mixed bulb kits for KTMs and Triumphs ... which need 2 HIDs but have two different spec bulbs (a H3+H7 for the KTMs and a H7+H9 in the Triumphs).

I deliberately source "military spec" components in the kits (at considerably greater expense) which are made by Alcatel in France. So while the kits and bits are all put together in China (As is everything these days) the electronic components inside are largely French. So basically they are the most expensive kits I can get out of China. I obviously do a lot of long distance riding myself and I dont want to go anywhere with a cheap kit. There is a huge difference in quality of components inside the kits, and the sad reality is basically no distributors ever sell or supply the expensive quality kits. So again, thats something we do ... offer a quality of component that you wont get on ebay.

If any of you guys want to buy any of the full kits from us(HID50.com 50 watt HID lighting), just mention the "HUBB discount" and you will get £20 off the web price. :-)

If you dont want to buy anything, thats fine too. Peace :-)

Very interesting thread this one. I guess these are xenon arc lamps you use Colebatch. What sort of high voltage do you need to strike them? Do you find that the lifetime of the lamp is reduced with frequent starting or that they last better when on for longer periods?

Have to say that I am very tempted for the KTM990.

Hi Matt ...

Re Xenon Arc ... yes that exactly what they are. Re Voltage ... but 23,000 volts is what the igniters initially strike at, though that falls mack to a steady 85 volts once the arc has been created and stabilised.

The first generation vehicular High Intensity Discharge lamps that were around in the late 90s and early 2000s had an issue with have a limited amount of starts before they had reliability issues. Its no longer the case with the current generation of componentry.

There is a good write up of a 990 installation here if you wanted to read up more on that specifically:
Youngblood's KTM Projects - 990S HID kit install introduction