Another question. H4 headlight

[Rumpelhardt]

I was told the same thing about blinding people by a guy at work. I'm just going to use a halogen H4 for now. I'll give one of the LED bulbs a try later if I feel the need.
My brother in law wants to try to make the HID work in his snowmobile so I might let him.

 

[16VGTIDave]

You are going to blind the hell out of every car you go by if you use that housing with an HID or LED bulb. Just an FYI.

I was doing the same thing, and after I got it hooked up I immediately tore it out and went back to H4 due to the blinding factor. I didn't want to be the asshat that I always yell about when driving that blinds me to death.

The only proper way to do an HID conversion is to use a true projector and retrofit. Nothing under $180 is a true projector with a blocking shield. Everything else try to use work arounds, but you will still blind people. There is a bunch of info if you do a bit of searching. Headlights are designed to have a very pronounced cutoff when in low beam mode, along with a dip on the oncoming traffic side to prevent distracting/blinding the driver. Anything else outside of that realm is illegal. All of the low cost HID and LED kits will not work. I did see an LED kit the other day that splits the reflector housing in two separate parts, which is better but still not ideal.

The only HID kits I've found that will work will not fit in a motorcycle 7inch housing. Those that have retrofitted tend to cut out the back and have the end of the projector sticking out. Not bad if you have a fairing, but it will look silly otherwise.

Also, be warned that those that have put true HID's in a motorcycle have complained about the loss of visibility when turning.

I fully disagree with your blanket statement.

As you stated, cheap H4 HID bulbs, the ones without the correct shielding, will cause glare and a poor beam pattern. I agree with this. That said, a good quality shielded H4 HID bulb will have a controlled beam pattern that does not cause glare. While projectors can be nice, they are not required to produce a reasonable beam pattern. In fact, projectors can produce such a precise beam pattern that they cause the turning problems many complain of. Also, the visibility of the motorcycle is severely compromised by such precise light control. In this case the light source, the HID, is NOT the problem, the projector is.

LED bulbs are the same. Currently, there are many different designs of LED replacement bulbs available. Most are junk. Phillips has brought some to market that they have certified as DOT compliant (which in reality is NOT a good thing). If they weren't so expensive I'd consider them. The LED bulbs I previously linked to were designed with the assistance and testing of a lighting engineer. Bottom line, they have very good beam control and a great price point.

Please remember that lighting technology is improving at a dramatic pace. There are many factors to be considered, and compromises to be made. Most of the information found online is years out of date and often only focuses on 1 or 2 considerations.

 

[Wolfe_11B]

I understand what you are getting at, but the fact remains that with any non-projector HID bulb, it is a complete crap shoot as to whether or not it will produce a proper beam pattern in a particular halogen housing.

I just wanted to throw it out there. Recently the police around my parts have been writing tickets for non-dot headlights, lots of friends have felt the wraith of Johnny law. Ticket plus inspection of compliance, doesn't sound like fun.

But alas, my rear led marker is non DOT. So do as you wish!

 

[16VGTIDave]

The "letter of the law" and the "intent of the law" are often different things. Unfortunately, at the side of the road, we are at the mercy of the enforcement officers and their intentions/interpretation. I've been lucky and have only been stopped in check points for drinking and driving. Never for vehicle compliance.

My headlight is an "E code" only lens with HID installed. The lens may be considered legal in Canada, but the HID is doubtful. That said, the beam pattern is good and aimed respectfully, and the 4300K HID appears to be a bright halogen light. Neither have attracted any attention. My tail light is marked "DOT" but I know that it hasn't been certified by the manufacturer. I also know that the Ontario Provincial Police (our version of State Police) has similar lights on their motorcycles, so...

My goal has been to exceed the "intent of the law" to be safer. Fashion and style be dammed! While that has me defying the "letter of the law", it hasn't been an issue as of yet.

 

[XSLeo]

I use a Candlepower Reflector. They come in standard 5 3/4 inch and 7 inch sizes. They use an H-4 bulb. When I first installed it on my 75 XS650 the extra draw of the H-4 bulb found every weak spot in my headlight and charging circuits.
When installing the H-4 headlight go through the electrics on the headlight circuits and charging circuits. Clean and tighten all connections in the wiring, open up the switches and clean the contacts. Check all solder connections, if they look bad resolder them.
I have looked at LED bulbs but the price is too high.
Leo

 

[JimVonBaden]

I've seen, and done, plenty of HID and LED conversions. Done right they work great!

http://www.jimvonbaden.com/R1200GS_HID_Install.html