| Author | Message | ||
     Jeffs03xb9s |
I've dropped 10 bucks and bought the so called "HID" bulbs I'm sure you've all seen on Ebay. Before installing them I set the bike 15 feet away from the garage door(inside, completely dark) and took a footcandle reading with a light meter. Stock bulbs measured 30FTC Lowbeam and 85FTC on high beam(at 15 ' away). The replacements read 35FTC and 80FTC. Is the light brighter? technically no. Does it look brighter? Sure, its a whiter light so it looks brighter. My bigger concern... (and I may take the bulbs out) is that the stock bulbs are 55w H7's and these "HID" H7's are 100w. What to you all think.... shouldn't that generate far too much heat? Anyone know what the wattage is on the Buell upgrade light bulb? thanks -Jeff | ||
| Cygnus_x1 |
Thats crazy! Good idea though with the light meter. I bought the 100W for my Uly, and had no ill effects yet, but didnt notice much more light. | ||
| Jeffs03xb9s |
Anyone know what the small bulb socket bettween the headlights is for? Mine currently doesn't have a bulb in it? -Jeff | ||
| Dmextreme |
I bought sort of the same on ebay for my xb9sx. I got the PIAA 7500k Color(the higher the number the whiter and brighter they are, H.I.D. starts at like 12000k). They seem a bit brighter, and they are for sure bright at night, even though they say H.I.D. like they are not.. you all know what H.I.D. is like bright as the sun, and should be stock on all vehicles if you ask me personally. But I do like them, they light up the night for me, and I am pleased. (Message edited by dmextreme on February 17, 2006) | ||
| Lonexb |
Anyone know what the small bulb socket bettween the headlights is for? Mine currently doesn't have a bulb in it? euro spec lights. if you do a search you should be able to find what size bulb it is. brian | ||
| Jcbikes |
Jeff, If you put a bulb in there, then when you go to the parking position with the ignition key, (that lights up the rear taillight), it lights up the small bulb in the front which lights up the front of the bike, NICE. I did it on my xb12s. Do not remember the bulb size or watts. } | ||
| Cygnus_x1 |
Its a 194 marker light, so when you turn the key past the lock, it goes to park, and brings on the rear at a dimmer amount, and the front one.   | ||
| Dmextreme |
So this is a 194 marker.. LED? interesting? would it work u think?   | ||
| Cygnus_x1 |
Thats kinda cool, it probably uses less juice too. At least the amber light goes with my wheels. | ||
| Fullpower |
dmextreme: you have been misinformed the color temperature you refer to "12000kelvin" is well into the ultraviolet spectrum, and will not be visible to the naked eye. HID stands for High Intensity Discharge, and refer to an arc lamp, with no filament. this type of lamp is used with a hi voltage ballast, and sometimes the crcuitry includes a seperate ignitor unit to strike the arc. generally the automotive versions are 35 watt lamps. contrary what you may have heard, the LOWER the color temperature, the greater the light output in lumens will be for a given electrical draw. to repeat: LOWER color temperature equals MORE LIGHT. 4150 kelvin HID lamp throws substantially MORE lumens than the stupid looking purplish hue 7500 kelvin bulbs. | ||
| Samiam |
Has anyone added an actual HID kit to their Buell? I was thinking of adding this one to mine (shouldn't be too hard to find a spot for the ballasts): http://www.xenondepot.com/product.php?product_id=2 Sam | ||
| Dmextreme |
I was getting this information off of another website. it was talking about different levels.. and with previous use of the bulbs, I noticed when I bought the 4500k compared to the 7500 I have now, they are brighter and rather whiter, but illuminates a lot better.. again, I am probably wrong. but I think a HID conversion would be cool samiam. they need to be stock on everything.. you can see so much more and more clearer. | ||
| Jeffs03xb9s |
These bulbs off of ebay claim to be 4500k. I know they aren't real HID... if it was that simple to upgrade to HID every car would have it. The guy on ebay is selling a ton of these and getting lots of + feedback. I'm going to run them for a while and see what they are like. thanks for the info on the marker bulb, I'll definelty be adding that. -Jeff | ||
| Buellshyter |
Fullpower, enlighten me. The color of light of various light sources can be characterized by their Kelvin temperature. Note that this temperature has nothing to do with how "hot" a light source is - just with the color of its light. A light source with a low Kelvin temperature is very red. One with a high Kelvin temperature is very blue. A candle flame has a Kelvin of 1900. A 40 watt Tungsten bulb is 200, 100 watt - 2850, Halogen - 3200, Carbon Arc - 5200, Direct sun - 6000. If anything, it appears to be opposite considering the sun is much brighter than a candle. | ||
| Fullpower |
refers back to Plancks theoretical "black-body" radiation. your numbers are right, and your concept of color temperature is about right. the color temperature of the light is directly correlative to the exact temperature of the radiating part of the lamp, either the metallic filament or the glowing plasma in the arc of an HID lamp. when the color temperature gets higher than that of the sun, the eye's relative sensitivity to that light declines somewhat, and also for a give amount of electical energy expended in heating the filament or plasma, the higher the color temperature the fewer photons are released, thus less light. let me restate that: for a given wattage of bulb, the HIGHER the kelvin temperature, the FEWER PHOTONS are emitted. purple bulbs put less light on the road than white bulbs of the same wattage. a LOT less light. HID does work very well for the low beam on the XB lightning, and throws a great deal more light than the halogen hibeam and PIAA auxilliaries combined. HID is expensive, a bit bulky, but worth the installation time if you ride at night. |
