| Author | Message | ||
     Youk |
Anyone running HID lights on an XB12R? I'm looking for recommendations on kits. Did you convert both High and Low beam? Why did you choose the kit you installed? Did you use a time delay relay? | ||
| Reepicheep |
Yes, put one of the expensive early sets in an XB9SX with a proper "relay to the battery" and custom built time delay. Worked great. Sold that and bought a Uly, and just slapped in a cheapo DDM kit direct to the headlight lead with no relay or time delay. Also worked great, though the battery looses a little starting margin. I just run the HID as the low beam, wired as is. That lets me disable the HID by switching to the high beam if something has gone wrong (or if the police are giving me the stink eye). If I need both bulbs on briefly, the flash to pass button will keep both on. I don't recommend running both HIDS or both on all the time. It is a LOT of heat for the enclosure, and a LOT of light dazzling oncoming traffic. And no way to go "no HID" if you are about to get sucked into some kind of DMV regulation headache. In 50k miles of HID buelling, I never have. The closest I came was on a road trip where I happened to be passing through Deals Gap. We went through early, and heard later the TN highway patrol blocked the road and set up a mandatory motorcycle only checkpoint where they stopped and checked you for motorcycle endorsements and insurance. I don't know if they were looking for HID retrofits also, but that would have been another nice bogus "pull over criteria" they could have used to single out people on bikes. (I think non probable cause checkpoints are bogus, and motorcycle only versions of them are even more bogus, but I also recognize Deals Gap is full of selfish idiot @*(*$&*#$*( on motorcycles, so it's a case stupidity driving more stupidity and everyone is being stupid). | ||
| Youk |
Thanks for the reply. Do police commonly give grief for running HID? I have seen some posts on here about the DDM kits, perhaps I'll give them a look. By all means, others please chime in with your experience. My primary reason for wanting HID is to reduce current draw on the battery. I have had issues with not having enough juice for my heated gear, though that was likely due to the grounding issue I had. My low beam bulb is currently burnt out (I assume) I haven't looked at it yet, so it seems like a good time to consider upgrading. I live in PA... I ride in all weather (Down to 32 degrees) and at night, so I wouldn't mind the benefit of better light. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Like I said, in 50,000 miles of running a Buell with a HID, I have never been hassled even once over it. I have the white HID, not a blue one, and I keep it politely pointed down. Common courtesy goes a long way. If an officer was looking for a reason to pull me over or give me a ticket, they could do it for this. Of course if that was their goal, they could just claim I ran a stop sign or something else subjective as well, so in the whole scope of things, it just isn't a big deal either way. At the end of the day, I think the reason to switch to a HID is cost and reliability. For the price of two bulbs (which a Buell can eat easily in a year) you can get a HID kit that may very well last the life of the bike. | ||
| Shawns |
I work for a Toyota dealer, we install HID's all the time. I have never had a customer come in and say the police pulled them over for there lights. I checked to see if there was a law on the books for them and have found nothing. We are currently testing LED headlights that we got in from our supplier and they seem to be just about as bright as the HID's, and they run a bit cooler. Cars come with both of these setups. I would think that improper aiming would be the cause of someone being pulled over, not the light itself. |
