Its normal, they should come on.
Thanks, weird as I never noticed it until today.
Yes, it is normal.
As for the headlight mod I'd leave it, I much prefer to have two sources of light just in case one fails at a critical moment.
It might look a bit odd though with the huge difference in colour temperature, and I suppose that might attract the attention of the police... especially if retrofitted HIDs are an MOT failure.
Yes, attracting police attention was one of my concerns because as you say there is a noticable difference in colour temp. Having said that, in regards to MOTs, I've seen on forums quite a few times that people have passed even with retro fitted HIDs?
I think I'll run them and see what happens, at least I'll be able to see where I'm going until I get stopped by plod (sooner or later I imagine as I live in London).
I fitted a cheap(ish) HID kit that I got off eBay. Difference is unbelievable! Previous owner must have done headlight mod as currently both lights come on for dipped beam. Main beam is not HID and when riding it cannot be seen above the dipped beam! The bike has passed its last 2 MOTs with the kit. I'm in N.Ireland so had to go to MOT test centre, both years the inspector brought me over to the headlight analysis machine to point out that there is no clear beam pattern. I just explained that having nearly been killed too many times, lights that shine through solid objects have made a huge difference, which they have. I would hope police would understand that logic too.
Your just noticing the side light because now it sticks out like a yellow sore thumb! I rectified this with a super bright LED one.
I'm not sure if it's just the cheap kit I bought but I get a lot of stray light coming from my headlights. For example when riding in the evening behind a queue of 6 cars I can see my lights illuminating the reflective signposts ahead of the first car in the queue!
I don't ride much in the dark, anytime I have there have been a few oncoming cars flash me.. But at least now they see me!
New MOT regs come out in April and one of the regs is retro fitted HID kits, this will be a instant failure on cars unless OEM but not so sure about bikes. Worth having a chat with your local MOT man before your test if you've got HID fitted.
I am happy with the choice that I have made. It got to the stage where every other ride I took there was an incident of some kind resulting from not being seen. It was putting me off. I have seen a marked improvement since fitting the HID kit. I acknowledge the risk of dazzling other motorists on the 2-3 times per year I find myself riding in the dark however, I feel that the chance of that causing an accident is greatly outweighed by the chance of my HIDs preventing an accident.
Do others with HID conversion have same issues with blurred beam pattern?
The beam pattern on mine seems to be quite good, perhaps not as clearly defined as halogen, but not far off. As for dazzle, I was worried about this but if correctly aimed, or preferably aimed a tad lower to be on the safe side, I don't think it will cause problems. With HIDs fitted its significantly brighter than before, but to me its still not as bright as OEM HIDs I see on cars (from both the perspective of a rider and other road user), perhaps the poor reflector design is to blame.
I fitted mine as there have been too many occasions where I've felt vulnerable due to not being able to see clearly after dark. Having said this, on top of the new MOT rules (I will probably need to refit the halogen MOT time), if I get hassled by the police I think I can live without it. If I can't, I'll buy some aux lights.
I replaced both bulbs with HID's the H4 unit has a solenoid built in to dip the bulb.
passed MOT OK
ATB YFM
