| Author |
Message |
    
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 09, 2007 - 09:59 pm: | 
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Sam,
I understand I would need two ballasts - my question is if the ballast for the high beam would be able to tolerate being turned on and off fairly regularly. |
Captnemo
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 09, 2007 - 10:50 pm: |
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Cruisin,
I noticed that the lights that you installed are 65W. With the stock lights being 55W, have you noticed any wiring harness issues with the increased heat?
Assuming 13.5 volts while running, the amperage for the 55 watt bulb is 4.07 amps, while the 65 watt bulb in the Hella housings draws 4.81 amps. Less than 3/4 of an amp shouldn't damage anything in the circuit.
HTH. |
Samiam
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 01:13 am: |
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XL1200r,
That's actually exactly what will reduce the life of your ballast. In a perfect world you'd get the longest life out of a ballast if you only turned on the bulb once, and left it on till it died. By fairly regularly do you mean once or twice a ride or flashing traffic? The closer together your flashes the quicker your ballast is going to die. Something I'm probably going to be doing soon to try to prolong the life of both my ballasts is hook up a headlight cutoff relay so I can keep the headlights from turing on until I get the bike started. I'm sure the ballasts are loving the surge of when I turn the key to on, and then again right after I start my bike.
Sam |
Gearhead998
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 08:49 am: |
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Great, thx for the input guys, I will be ordering a set of those. Sorry about highjackin the thread |
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 11:11 am: |
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Sam,
Not flashing traffic, just at night, you turn the high beam on and off as needed depending on oncoming traffic and so forth. Not flashing constantly, just a few times during a night ride, which is not all that often, but often enough.
I'm wondering if a better option would be to just do the low beam HID and leave the high beam halogen - I know a number of car manufacturers do it this way.
Aren't the headlights supposed to stay on even while you start the bike? They're hardwired into the ignition, so what would cause them to go off while you start the bike? The stayed on with my sportster, maybe the wiring is different for the Buells? I haven't taken delivery on my '07 yet, so I can't see for myself.
(Message edited by xl1200r on January 10, 2007) |
Cruisin
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 12:24 pm: |
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Gearhead998 - no problem. Some people don't want to open the holes in the fairing but realistically it's a small concession to make when talking about safety riding at night. The hella lights are very well made, very sturdy, and VERY bright. One of the best mods I made for the bike - I do enough riding at night that these were a worthwhile investment and at $60 per side, it's not that much more than replacing the stock lights.
Just make sure to drill out the old mounting posts completely from the stock bracket - you'll need the space to mount the new ones. JB Weld is your friend! It may not look as pretty but it's all completely hidden under your fairing so don't worry about making it look good. If you have any questions feel free to PM me - or give me a shout from the RAN. XB9 was a great help when I did mine. |
Garp
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 07:30 pm: |
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I'm wondering if a better option would be to just do the low beam HID and leave the high beam halogen - I know a number of car manufacturers do it this way.
I think that is a MUCH better option. HID lights need some time to warm up before they put out maximum light, some up to 30 seconds, so they are not useful for lights that need to be turned on and off frequently, such as High Beams |
Tcskeptic
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 08:59 pm: |
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I covered a small kitchen funnel with foil which I carry between my teeth while riding. When I need a little more light I just light my zippo with a left hand flip and hold it out in front.
Substantial improvement over stock. |
Diablobrian
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 09:51 pm: |
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I still say a stamped stainless steel insert that would slip right into the existing
headlight reflector assembly would eliminate the melting by preventing degradation of the
reflector and by disipating heat. They would be very cheap to produce once the punch and
die were made.
Silly, I know to come up with a $.75 fix for the problem, but that's just me. |
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 11:12 pm: |
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I still say a stamped stainless steel insert that would slip right into the existing
headlight reflector assembly would eliminate the melting by preventing degradation of the
reflector and by disipating heat.
I was thinking something similar not too long ago.
How smooth does the reflector need to be? It would be easy to find a glue that could handle the heat, and carefully lay some heavy duty tin foil in place over the reflector. On the same note, maybe using silver leaf could work?
I was also thinking, that someone with enough patience and time could cut out pieces of tin or stainless to fit each facet in the reflector and glue them into place.
Or... Would polishing just the plastic be an improvement? I'm guessing the plastic is black, but maybe using a plastic polisher would make it reflective enough to work???
Any thoughts? |
Samiam
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 12:18 am: |
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XL1200r,
No, the headlights cut out as soon as you hit the start switch, reason being (I believe) to let the starter have the extra current to turn over the motor.
As for the flashing, the high beam actually doesn't take too long, 10 seconds most of the time, to warm up to sufficient brightness. And if you turn it on after not long being off it takes less time. I haven't had problems yet with my high beam, and I try to use it at night often.
Sam |
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 09:55 am: |
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Sam,
You're correct as to why the lights turn off, it's just odd as my HD that wasn't too old left the light on through the start cycle.
That's just how advanced our bikes are I guess  |
Aldaytona
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 01:03 pm: |
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I have recoated 2 pairs of housings with metallic paints, I am going to do the foil/metal liner on the next set.
I just installed PIAA H3 extreme white plus bulbs in a painted set of housings yesterday, but haven't had a chance to try them at night yet. |
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 03:25 pm: |
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Aldaytona,
Keep us posted with this. It's ideal that after you use the foil/metal inserts that you use the same bulbs so you can compare directly.
I'm interested to see how this might turn out... |
Aldaytona
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 04:17 pm: |
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Xl1200r, I repainted a set for a friend and he likes them better than stock. I painted mine with a different paint, but have only used the stock bulbs.
I'm waiting for a set donated by a BadWeb poster to try the foil/metal linings and I want to try one last type paint in a set as well.
I'll keep everyone posted. |
Henrik
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 05:01 pm: |
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Modern high output flashlights utilize coated aluminum reflectors. Works wonders as a heat sink, and the coating is quite heat resistant.
Keep in mind that reflector shape as well as uniformity of the coating has a huge influence on both beam shape and output.
Henrik |
Diablobrian
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 05:20 pm: |
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That's why I was talking about a precision made punched reflector,
so that proper shape and focus can be retained.
If the dies are made well and polished smooth the reflector
would not need any further polishing and should have output the
equal of or even greater than new, depending on the shape
and polish level. |
Sparky
| | Posted on Monday, January 15, 2007 - 12:16 pm: |
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I had my housing chrome plated. Am waiting for an opportunity to reinstall it and compare with the stocker. |
Treadmarks
| | Posted on Monday, January 15, 2007 - 12:56 pm: |
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Or you could install a set of these fuego 4" babies for only 200 buckarronies a set.
Driving would make a good low beam.
Spot would make a killer high beam.
 |
Starter
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 07:37 am: |
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Sparky, where did you get this done and which process did they use?
I looked into this with a chrome plater that specialises in plastics in Australia and they were of the opinion that the OEM coating was not at fault. He believed the plastic was not up to task in the heated environment and therefore degrading beneath the coating, hence why when you look at the house it looks sort of perished and the coating wipes straight off.. |
Sparky
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 02:02 am: |
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Classic Components in Santa Ana, Ca. did the plastic chroming. Their website says they offer traditional electroplating and chrome coating on plastic and magnesium parts.
I don't know what process they used on my housing. They have a toll free number, 1.888.327.4189, ask them.
I listened to their pitch at the Long Beach IMS a couple years ago. The rep said the chrome finish would harden with the heat from the bulb, so I went for it. Whatever they used, it looks like a fairly thick coating, smooth and shiny on the outer surfaces but kinda orange-peel like on the inside reflector. It doesn't just wipe off, but then, I haven't put it to the test yet. |
Gearhead998
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 08:48 am: |
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has anyone tried the Halogen/Xenon H3 bulbs that American Sportbike offers? |
Aldaytona
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 09:46 am: |
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PIAA H3 Extreme White Plus = WOW. |
99buellx1
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 09:25 pm: |
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http://www.ifmracing.com/modules.php?name=Forums&f ile=viewtopic&t=148
HID conversion. |
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