HID Headlights

[PaulSmith]

i'm very drunk, so I might regret this post but.... I'm a fan of popcorn and a good argument. Understanding comes out of many arguments.

PaulSmith, please rebut every single one of the points that BikerDude has made.
...

Hi AyJay, hope it was a good party. If you read the posts above you will see that I have rebutted, with evidence, almost every one of BikerDudes objections, but BikerDude has not one single piece of evidence supporting his claims. Not one!

For example, in response to his claims about 'the arcs in all HID bulbs being in the wrong place' I posted a photo of a measurement of a bulb. His response was to ask if I measured from the centre of the arc, a question you have repeated. His 'knowledgeable' posts would suggest that he had some familiarity with the specifications for a H4 bulb so this would seem like a reasonable question. I then posted the H4 specification and there is no measurement to the centre of the arc. The measurement is to the break point where the high beam ends and the low beam starts, in other words, exactly what was shown in the photo I posted to rebut his daft comment about them all being wrong.

Maybe you think I was slagging him off about his behaviour, but I wasn't. He has has repeatedly suggested that he has experience and expertise in this area and has repeatedly demonstrated his lack of knowledge. Even among natural bullshitters that is not normal behaviour. He has repeatedly come up with wilder and wilder reasons why aftermarket HID bulbs could not possibly work. Despite the evidence that they do. That is not normal, and it is borderline unhealthy. 

But just to satisfy your curiosity...

• 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?
  
• A. No. The measurement is of the breakpoint between low and high beam. The arc was measured to be in the correct position relative to the break point in both low and high beam modes. 
  
  
• 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.
  
• A. Of course there is lateral movement because there is movement. But the 'flapping' referred to is probably twice what you would get from the coiled filament of a standard bulb and in no way could it be enough to affect the alignment.
  
  
• 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.
  
• A. What can I say. The bulbs I photographed had their shrouds in the correct place. Can you show an example of a faulty shroud?
  
  
• 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.
  
• A. I find this surprising given that the arc is producing three times the lumens of a traditional bulb. Of course a larger hole would increase the light exposed but it would also increase the risk of light going where you don't want it and causing dazzle. 
  
  
• 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. have you any evidence of heat damage to the back of the bulbs? I haven't seen any. Given that the solinoid is moving the bulb holder, which is designed to carry a plasma arc, I would not have expected the solinoid temperature to be an issue, but if you have evidence, I am open to correction. 
  
  
• 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.
  
• A. Are we talking about the same bulbs? I haven't encountered any that were 'screwed in'. Water sealing of the headlamp unit is performed by the rubber boot not be the bulb/baseplate assembly. The same boot that is used with standard bulbs. 
  
  
• 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.
  
• A. You are right. I rarely get the promised three to ten times the life of a standard bulb and usually have to settle for two to five times the life.