It's been said before, H4 HID kits just don't provide an even remotely accurate beam pattern. ...
HID's are illegal on any vehicle unless they are self levelling. Instant fail for MOT and fixed penalty from the long arm of the law. Been there,done it and paid the fine!!
Vehicles equipped with High Intensity Discharge (HID) or LED dipped beam headlamps may be fitted with headlamp washers and a suspension or headlamp self levelling system.Where such systems are fitted, they must work; however, it is accepted that it may not be possible to readily determine the functioning of self levelling systems. In such cases, the benefit of the doubt must be given.
Cheers once more for the info Paul Smith, the cree spot lights in previous post look great but not my cup of tea. Paul, what lit did you end up getting for your bike ? I've been looking at car ones on ebay with slim ballast etc but not sure if they will fit etc.
The reflector reflects the light from a point source in a pattern decided by its designers. It does not know or care how that light is generated, only if it is in the right place.
Bloody hell! I have just seen the kit I fitted for under a tenner! How the hell do that do that? http://www.ebay.ie/itm/2pcs-Pair-35W-55W-75W-Xenon-HID-OEM-Replacement-Bulbs-car-Headlight-Lamp-H4-3-/271930374963?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item3f50503b33
https://www.retrofitlab.com/en/hid-projector-kit/bi-xenon-mini-d2s-30-twin-kit-2.html
And that's the whole point, all retro-fit HID kit's on the market today don't have the arc in the right position. And the HID kits with mechanical hi/lo bulbs are the worse offenders - the arc poorly positioned and on every kit I've seen, and its compounded by the fact because the bulb has far too much lateral movement.the baffling for the dip beam is nearly always next to useless, so that you get overspill which dazzles other road users.on hi-beam the position and baffling is so bad that you just get some half-assed pattern and not all of the light being exposed to the reflector.
I mean, who would have thought that companies like Phillips and Osram wouldn't know how to make a H4 bulb properly?
Its OK, I was able to find the correct position for my self. Google H4 specifications and look at some of the figures that come up. The key figure is 28.5 mm from the base and it seems that my bulb is OK. Phew, what a relief.
Your being a tad simplistic, if it was that simple then we would all be running them.
So lets take at the HID bulb in the picture, which is just like all telescopic H4 HID kits available - [Which is why I used it.] did you measure to the center of the arc, from the base of the H4 plate? as most will be out a few mm, but can the same be said for Hi beam?is there lateral free-play in yours (as in vertical movement where gravity will be pulling the bulb mech downward, mean it out of alignment). And because the bulb is flapping about while the bike is moving you get additional dazzling of other road users.all telescopic hid kits that I have seen have two shrouds/baffles, an inner and outer. The position of the inner is almost always inaccurate and either allows some spillage on dip and/or obscured on Hi.The hole in the outer baffle (again on all kits I have seen) dosent allow enough light out so you don't get all the light being exposed to the reflector. [Do you get enough? I do]And the solenoid mech used in all kits I have seen is very cheap and chearfull to the point that when Hi beam has been on for a while the whole back of the bulb overheats, because its essentially just shy of being a short circuit.A lot of the telescopic kits are so poorly manufactured that the bulbs dosent stayed screwed into the baseplate assy and/or arent sealed so water/condensation can ingress into the headlight unit.And keeping on the subject of cheap and cheerful, most of these kits don't last anywhere near as long as stated, either the bloody bulbs or the ballasts go.
There are direct LED replacement H4 bulbs out there, but this example is tad too pricey - http://www.horizonleds.co.uk/cree-led-headlight-kits-dual-beam/h4-cree-led-headlight-kit