[fernandos1]

... for me!

I hear a lot about the Hella and Cibie lights like this one


what I am trying to understand is why something with a clear lens like this one




or this one




wouldn't provide a brighter throw of light. It seems that in the Hella light, some of the glass is designed NOT to allow a lot of light through. I would imagine that's to prevent blinding oncoming traffic.

However, I would think that as long as you aim the light a little down and to the right (in the US) so as to not blind oncoming traffic, then the ones with a clear lens should give you more light?

Can someone please explain this to me?

Thanks

 

[Forchetto]

Older headlamp designs had a smooth parabolic reflector and relied on the lens ribs to shape the light beam. Newer types do the shaping at source, as it were, by having a multifaceted reflector to shape the beam and therefore a clear lens.

All modern vehicles have that now so I must assume it's more efficient or at least easier to manufacture.

 

[fernandos1]

Ah Forchetto! I know would come through!!

The master again giving a lesson.

So the ones that I posted should work well, then. I really like the projector beam one and think that it would work well with the HID Kits.

Thoughts?

 

[fliplid]

The clear lense unit that came fitted from the factory on my '10 model didn't seem to put the beam anywhere useful. That's why I swapped to a Hella unit instead. I did make several attempts at realligning the original before swapping, and a couple of different bulbs as well.

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Motorcycle.com App

 

[fernandos1]

That's what I'm finding. If I adjust the low beam so that the top of the beam is high enough to be useful, the Hi beam lights up the sky. If I adjust the high beam to be useful then the low beam is 20 feet in front of me.


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[fernandos1]

I think I'm going try the projector lamp setup with the HID lights.


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[captainwoot]

lighting

I just installed a hid bi xenon 6000k, in my 12 mag wheel bonnie and i love it. I have used hid's in my last three bikes and will never go back.

 

[fernandos1]

I just installed a hid bi xenon 6000k, in my 12 mag wheel bonnie and i love it. I have used hid's in my last three bikes and will never go back.

did you use the original lamp? where did you get the HIDs?

 

[ivar]

I'd say the Hella I got is a lot clearer than my stock reflector/light to the left:

 

[357Bob]

I have been been thinking about HID's too. But I still
like my Marcel housing with the 80-100 watt bulb.
Marcel's are expensive. Hard to find. I wired 2 relays
to the bulb for a full 12 volt at the connector. More light
than my car. I didn't like the Hella. I doubt it matters
if the facets are in the lens or the reflector if done right.

 

[fernandos1]

the front glass on mine is clear, but where the light is thrown is pretty useless.

 

[Cerberith]

My 2010 T100's standard headlight is pretty useless so this thread may be useful

 

[fernandos1]

that's exactly what I have. I got a PIAA Xtreme white bulb, but that just makes what I can't see whiter, not brighter!

 

[357Bob]

Setting here at work there is a new model Impala and a new
Equinox setting here in my stall. Both have faceted reflectors with a clear
lens. I am sure this is all just for the look. Cleans up the front
end. Sales point only. I am sure Chevrolet doesn't care if it us a few
percent brighter. It might not be.

 

[captainwoot]

i just used the factory lamp fitted with a hid bulb, sourced my set up from ebay, had it in my sv for three years and now swapped it to the bonnie.

 

[rbneil]

I've done some playing with an HID conversion on another bike, and was very dissatisfied with the results. While the light was brighter and had that "cool" HID look, its pattern was terrible--I don't think the light source was positioned the same as the original H4 bulb's, so the optics were wrong. Also, the switching from low-beam to high-beam was done by mechanically repositioning the light source--how accurate can that be and how long will it remain accurate? And finally, the insulation on the wiring between the ballast and the lamp was inadequate for the many thousands of volts it has to carry.

This is not to say that an HID conversion can't be done, but how do you tell a good design from a bad one based on an eBay listing? There's a lot of cheap Chinese crap out there.

 

[fernandos1]

I have bought from DDM running and have been very satisfied. I figured with the HID kit and the lens with the projector, it should be effective at concentrating the light in one spot and not have it wash out.

 

[jimbon]

I used to have a business selling HID kits with components (cables) I designed and had manufactured for Motorcycles. But I gave up as I couldn't sell enough of the costly, to me, good quality bike dedicated kits to make a living as mostly unknowledgeable punters usually chose to buy cheaper, crap kits to complain about. So:

If you get a good quality one they give a much brighter light over a much greater distance, use less power and if they work OK for a couple of months they will probably last the life of the bike...

But the down sides are that to my knowledge all available 'bike' kits are car kits bits that might fit a bike so they may be bulky, not have the right length cables and be hard to fit neatly to a bike; and if you have a failure (usually the ballast) on a H4 (Bonnie) version with one light source doing high and low beam, unlike with a conventional H4 bulb with two elements, you are in total darkness.

 

[fernandos1]

Digging around in my garage I found a bunch of unused HID parts that belonged to previous cars I've had and removed when I sold. I was able to put together a whole set (slim ballast, bulb, relay and connecting wires) and it works perfectly out of a spare 12v battery that I have. I stripped the end connector so I have a black and red wires that end in blade connectors. Naturally, I want to see if I can fit it in the Bonnie before I buy a new headlight and HID bulb. Trouble is, it is not an H4 bulb. I only have a positive and negative connection for a single bulb application.

I was wondering if I can test it by using the standard H4 socket. I can use the clamp on the headlight to hold the bulb together. I believe that there are 3 connectors on the factory socket, one of which (the middle one) controls the low beam, the one on the right (with the low beam on top) is the high beam. Is it possible to plug (even if it's temporary) the black and red wires coming out of the HID setup into the standard socket? If so, which one goes where? Should the black wire go to the black or ground and the red one to the top (low beam) connector?

Thanks

 

[fernandos1]

Option 2 is to buy one of these:

The question is, if I install the HID to the H4 socket's High Beam and the Ground without using the low beams. This way , I think, during the day I would have the halo lights and no headlights, but by hitting the high beams I would have the HIDs and halo for night driving. Does that make sense? Would that even work?