| Author | Message | ||
     Petebueller |
Someone in NY state asked me where he could get good bright headlight bulbs for his 1125R. He is looking for recommendations on type and retail supplier. I don't think he is looking to go HID. I said I'd post the question. Can anyone help out? | ||
| Ccryder |
An improvement over stock (w/o an increase in wattage)would be H8 Silver Stars, Hella or, PIAA. If you go H11, they are 20 more watts than stock and have to be modified slightly with a Dremmel to fit. | ||
| Black_snowman |
If you want better visibility, I think HID is well worth the extra time, money, and effort. I love mine and the whole shooting match only cost me $135 with shipping and taxes. That's only twice what some of the after market bulbs run and dramatic improvement. Many of the "white" aftermarket bulbs are worse than the stock "yellow" ones for visibility. | ||
| Baggermike |
www.starrotors.com have the cheapest hid digital kit 120.00 and if you want white 6000k and if you want a blue tint 8000k. the digital has many benifits like a small box so you can mount it easier and also 15% brighter and a faster warm up. HID lights do not have a filiment it creates an arc to creat light and will out last filiment bulbs like the piaa, also only 35 watts and brighter than 100 watts, I would not put 55 watt H11 bulbs extra heat and extra power to drive them and the charging system is weak so by adding 55 watts you are taking a chance of having a dead battery and then if you run high beams and low beams that is an extra 80 watts for all four bulbs running, I have all four of my headlights hid digital from star rotors and replacement bulbs are only 20 if you do not like the color or is to bright, the higher the kevlen color the bluer but less light, I have the 8000k and on low beams I get flashed at sometimes, these are the same bulbs used in todays high end cars. | ||
| Black_snowman |
I got the StarRotors kit but just did the lows. I opted for the 5000k color temp. It's the same color as my white LEDs I bought for my daytime running lights and the light they put out is awesome. I can see better on my lows than I could before on my highs and I haven't had anyone flash me yet. For my highs I put in modified H11s. They don't reach out much further than the low HIDs but do give me more angle to see ahead further in sharp turns, which is pretty much the only time I use them so the higher power demands and heat aren't a big deal. Baggermike, where did you stash your ballasts? If I bought a 2nd set I'm not sure where I could fit them. | ||
| Funktron |
Has anyone introduced an inline switch for their HID setup? I've read a bit that HIDs don't like to rapid on/off switching that happens when we turn the bikes on (lights come on) and then start them (lights go out till started then back on). I need to do a bit of searching for the wiring diagram for this beast. | ||
| Baggermike |
Funktron I got the digital boxes so they are smaller and I got two right up under the nose of the windshield in a v shape and my xm antenna is on top of it so if you go back and see the pictures of my bike or email me and I can send you a picture and the other two on the bottom lip, but they are digital so we are talking small compared to regular HID. you need to hook up a switch to the ground of the lights for low beam only this way you can control high beams on and off and low beams on or off or both on, I found out along time ago and I know this bike will do it and is the low beams on with the high beams limits you long range vision, the light is reflecting from the low beams in front of you so your eye's will not open as much as just high beams on and by turning the low off you can see further down the road. | ||
| Black_snowman |
I have an in-line switch. I have it wired between the old bulb connection and the feed into the HID kit. The Star Rotors kit came with a small extension that wasn't keyed so you can change the polarity to match the ballast requirements. I cut and wired a Double Throw Single Pull (DTSP) 20 amp switch from home depot and covered it with a waterproof cover from the local marine shop. I made a bracket out of some thing aluminum scrap we had at work. Here's a pic of the completed install: http://www.blacksnowman.com/img/bike/Buell_1125R/H ID_switch.jpg | ||
| Petebueller |
Thanks for the Info, I have an HID high beam with a Hella conversion on my Firebolt and I'm thinking of going back to Halogen. On high it is like someone turned the street lights on all the way down the highway, but the warmup is a drag. Do cars (like BMWs) with HIDs have the same issues with warmup time? An HID low in my bike would not be practical for various reasons, and I wouldn't recommend HIDs until they evolve a bit. I've heard good things about the Silver Stars so I may look at them. H11 could end up trouble. Charging systems on bikes seem to be pretty marginal anyway. I burned out a phase on an alternator on a bike a few years ago and I am wary of putting on too much stress. This is why the HIDs initially appealed. I haven't got a workshop manual for an 1125R yet (on order but I don't think I'm the only one waiting  ). Without it I am totally ignorant on the lights. I'd always assumed that H8s were 65W, but looking on the net I see ranges from 35W, but they appear to have a range of different fittings. What headlight bulbs do the 1125Rs use please? Can't wait for the manual. They really help with stuff like this. Thanks again for the replies Peter (Message edited by Petebueller on July 03, 2008) | ||
| Midknyte |
...I wouldn't recommend HIDs until they evolve a bit... huh, wha? They've already progressed from analog to digital ballasts. And either way, they use less power than Halogen. eh, just called me biased. I'm really appreciating my switch to HID. | ||
| Thurstonbuell |
These may be of interest to some ??? http://www.eautoworks.com/product-eAutoWorkscom-18 3998.htm | ||
| Midknyte |
Anyway Pete, you heard right - halogen for halogen, the SilverStars put out a cleaner whiter light than regular halogens of the same wattage. If you choose them, you'll certainly not regret it. Just pay attention to your wattage (for power drain) and be mindfull that they still run just as hot in your headlight assemblies. | ||
| Baggermike |
YOU would not reccamend H I D until they evolve a bit what are they suppose to evolve into? silverstars cost around fifty dollars as do piaa bulbs that have a filament that can break and does break after so many hours, how many times have you replaced bulbs at your house? anyway you are looking close to 100 for regular bulbs and can get digital H I D's for 120 and will out perform and outlast filament bulbs, HID bulbs create an arc that jumps across two electrodes so can stand up to the vibration of bikes and out shine any filament bulb you can buy and they also run cooler, research is the best way before buying anything but www.starrotors has the cheapest digital HID duel bulb kits for 120, that works out to 60 a bulb something to think about when buying regular bulbs because you will be replacing them more often than HID bulbs. Also do not touch the bulbs any bulbs, the oil from are fingers will cause premature failure. | ||
| Ccryder |
Peter: There are 2 different ways that HIDs can go hi-low. One is via "shutter" the other is to move the light capsule. With a Firebolt you do not have either of these options since your headlight reflectors are NOT designed for Hi-low. Best option, since you already have an HID kit is just put it in your low beam. Get a set of SIlver Stars or PIAA bulbs for your hi beam. Since your low beam is always on, the warm up issue is non-existant. That is why I stayed with HIDs on my low beam. Even with "digital" ballast, there is a warm up time. This is the downside of ignighting any HID capsule. As I mentioned previously there are way to eliminate this issue in hi-low type reflectors. The HID evolution is here and getting better and cheaper every month. Time2Roll Neil S. | ||
| Palerider |
Most of you guys all seem pretty knowledgeable with bike mechanics. I'm not, except for the average maintenance. What's really involved in installing HID's? Cutting, splicing? How difficult? And how does this all work with the warranty? | ||
| Palerider |
Everyone's waiting for service manual, but the electrical manual IS available if it would help as well as the parts manual. I ordered all three in case I decided to dabble. Never thought the important service manual would take so long. | ||
| Petebueller |
May have touched a couple of nerves, but no regrets, its a good discussion. Neil, your observation on the HID evolution are sort of mine. I think that they are getting better (and cheaper) every month. If someone asks my opinion though, I'd have to say wait. (I may be twisting your intentions here - not sure) At the moment many are adding circuits to overcome bulb lifetime issues with warm-up, it is a bit of a case of needing to add a correction to a modification. These are my issues. You'll need a beer and some patience to go with it. Probably because my lights are almost a year old and I have a brick for a ballast, if I flick high beam I get an EMF that crashes the software in my speedo. About 10 minutes after I stop it works again. So now I have to pull it all down and shield the ballast. If I flash someone I have to hold it on a bit longer (so the speedo doesn't crash). It takes a good part of a second to warm up which means that anyone I do flash laughs at the little blue fairy light for an instant and a half before it burns their eyes out. Even new HIDs with digital ballasts don't seem to me to be warming up much faster. Neil the shutters must be the go for the cars with HID - makes sense. I looked at the Hellas with shutters but they are so expensive, and they would turn the Firebolt fish eyes into something alien. Another minor issue is that aftermarket HIDs are not legal here. To be legal they must come with the vehicle, they must be dot rated, and the vehicle must have auto levelling headlights. I'll bet not many on the forum have chosen the dot rated versions, and even the dot rated are not legal aftermarket here. I don't run HID low beam because of the substantial brightness of just the Halogen in my low beam. The auto-electrician that set up my headlights said that they relieve low beams of a bit of shadow, all perfectly legal. It has a strange pattern, and I finally worked out that what they do is turn the reflector upside down and then adjust the beam. It is magic, it gets rid of the sharp cutoff, it doesn't blind oncoming, it doesn't get into the inside rear view mirror of anyone I follow. It does shine brightly in side mirrors sometimes, and is very bright in the mirrors of cars as I pass them. I sometimes get flashed after I overtake. That is with a 1500 lumens H7 bulb; a 3200 lumens HID Xenon is just too bright in that configuration. The HID high beam is an excellent light, and it works well with the Halogen low. The Hella low is a pencil beam, and the beam goes beyond the high projector beam into the distance. However, when I switch from high to low on dark roads my eyes need time to adjust to the reduction in brilliance. Some may say that this change would be less if I had an HID low beam, but I think that the change must be greater with sharp cuttoffs on low beam. To my mind it an indication that my high beam is too strong. I can choose HIDs for myself, but I couldn't recommend them to others because there are quirks. Thinking about it now, HIDs with mechanical shutters for high / low really look like the future, but it is the sort of thing that probably needs to come stock. Palerider. They are not too hard to fit once you find space for everything, and it seems like many here have done that. I moved the horn to fit the ballast, but ballasts are getting smaller. I have even seen versions where the ballasts are built onto the back of the bulb (so noting to fit) Thanks for the tip on the electrical manual. I didn't even know there was one. Anyway I think I'll go with Midknyte and look at the SilverStars. So for the moment does he need 6 x 35W H8 bulbs? Thanks for the replies | ||
| Nxtr |
I am pretty sure it is only 4 H8's the 2 running lights I belive are wedge bulbs. I am thinking of goin to the SilverStars as well, just having a problem finding them in H8 (if you find them let us know where). On the other hand most H8's out there are junk bulbs. I did find some at Hoen http://www.hoen-usa.com/fog2.htm I am debating between the xenonmatch (blue type, brighter white light) and the endurance (yellow type, easier for on coming traffic to see you since you will stand out) or a combination of yellow in the lows and blue in the highs (this may create a big green blob of light LOL...) Still thinking about HID just dont want the hassles of in line switch etc... Also a cheaper alternative to the uber expensive led stop/tail light, found here http://denniskirk.com/jsp/product_catalog/Product. jsp?skuId=22459&store=Main&catId=&productId=p22459 &leafCatId=&mmyId= Who knows, as for now the stock lights are fine... V/R, Nick | ||
| Baggermike |
I read a article about the colors of lights and safety and it seems yellow is the best from what I have read, also with HID lights you do not have to hook up a switch and the bulbs are only 20 dollars if you did have one go out, www.starrotors.com has the cheapest HID lights at 120 a pair, and are digital with very small boxes compared to non digital, I would research and call the companies and ask the questions that are being asked here, I have ridden all my life many bikes and HID lights offer the best performance and compared to PIAA Bulbs they are not to much more money but will out perform them, now the install is complicated compared to regular bulbs so that is something to think about I took my whole light assembly off to do all four lights and was tight getting the boxes mounted, there are non biased reviews of lighting for motorcycles and is were I read that yellow is the better color when it comes to safety and talked about bright lights making the bike look further away than it is and this is why they take a left in front of us, you also give up the high beam flash if you do the high beams in HID. I hoped this helped. Happy fourth of July | ||
| Puzzled |
Are the starrotors HID's hi and low beam? I just purchased a set of hi/low beam HID's with the shutter for my Road Glide and I love them. I ride with some bikes who only have HID low beams and they blind me when behind me. I recently installed a single beam HID in a Gixxer and I installed them on the hi beam circuit leaving a halogen for a low beam. My train of thought was to try and spare the riders in front of this bike. | ||
| Baggermike |
I am not sure the 1125R has just four of the same bulbs with different reflectors. I had on my electraglide was a magnetic thing that would pull the bulb in closer for high beam, Just email them I think they might but not sure. | ||
| Petebueller |
I checked out the link Thurstonbuell, thanks. The wiring on modern bikes is minimalist, and if you upgrade the current draw on the bulbs you need a better harness. If you put a better harness and use relays you will get much better out of most stock lights. Baggermike, I worked in France before common Europe and they had yellow lights by law then. They were easier on the eye, and like the reputation probably better in fog. They didn't seem to light up as far down the road. It's interesting about the bright lights being seen as further away. I've heard that some agencies are discouraging dual low beams on motorcycles for the same reason. I'll check the link and look for green blobs thanks Nick. I've been surprised at the number for 1125R owners going for light upgrades. You seem to be OK with yours. The Firebolt lights were not great, but I thought that stock they would be excellent on the 1125. |
