27-07-15, 10:48 AM
Fitting HID bulbs has been the single best safety improvement I have made to any bike I have ever ridden.
My first kit was a cheap and nasty Chinese one from ebay that cost about £25 and the bulbs only lasted about six months, but it was still the absolute dogs dangly bits. It was a car kit so the cables for one bulb were much longer then for the other so finding somewhere to tidy them out of the way was a bit of a nuisance. Do not go for the high K values as apart from looking naff (IMHO) and attracting unnecessary attention, they simply do not put as much visible light on the road. I would recommend bulbs between 4500K and 6000K and if you go for the H4-3 type kits then you get normal and full beam. (An electro-magent in the bulb housing physically moves the bulb from one position to the other and back.)
You do not have to make any permanent changes to the bike if you don't want to so you can put it back to standard when you sell it on, just run one power line from the battery to the back of the clocks.
One thing to watch out for are the H4 bulbs with the billet looking aluminium body such as these http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Car-35W-HID-H4-Co...51af5d92cb because the body does not disconnect from the reflector so you can not get them through the rubbers to seal them in place.
If you are a belt and braces type guy, you can carry a standard H4 bulb under the seat and if shit happens (typically the power line from the battery to the ballasts being too skinny and/or a connector coming loose) you can have it fitted and be on your way in 5 minutes, no tools required.
My first kit was a cheap and nasty Chinese one from ebay that cost about £25 and the bulbs only lasted about six months, but it was still the absolute dogs dangly bits. It was a car kit so the cables for one bulb were much longer then for the other so finding somewhere to tidy them out of the way was a bit of a nuisance. Do not go for the high K values as apart from looking naff (IMHO) and attracting unnecessary attention, they simply do not put as much visible light on the road. I would recommend bulbs between 4500K and 6000K and if you go for the H4-3 type kits then you get normal and full beam. (An electro-magent in the bulb housing physically moves the bulb from one position to the other and back.)
You do not have to make any permanent changes to the bike if you don't want to so you can put it back to standard when you sell it on, just run one power line from the battery to the back of the clocks.
One thing to watch out for are the H4 bulbs with the billet looking aluminium body such as these http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Car-35W-HID-H4-Co...51af5d92cb because the body does not disconnect from the reflector so you can not get them through the rubbers to seal them in place.
If you are a belt and braces type guy, you can carry a standard H4 bulb under the seat and if shit happens (typically the power line from the battery to the ballasts being too skinny and/or a connector coming loose) you can have it fitted and be on your way in 5 minutes, no tools required.