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[SEULTRA]

I thought my '06 came stock with the $500 HD lighting???, wtf did I miss here.
My headlight looks like the one in the link.

You'd think it would have for the price they charged us for the bikes. I guess you could look at it as another opportunity to enrich the dealers and the stockholders!

[Twolanerider]

I thought my '06 came stock with the $500 HD lighting???, wtf did I miss here.
My headlight looks like the one in the link.

Nope Mike.  It's the dual halogen that externally looks very much like the HID.  All that can be said for it is that it's a little better illuminating than was the stock light on the 05s.  But it's still nothing special.  I put it in the red bike and added better bulbs too.  At night I still like a road with plenty of traffic so I can use their lights; cause mine just ain't all that whoopee.

[05Ultra]

I thought my '06 came stock with the $500 HD lighting???, wtf did I miss here.
My headlight looks like the one in the link.

 After swapping out my stocker to the dual bulb (and hateing it) I looked into an HID retro kit. Works much better (brighter) and cheaper if you already have the dual bulb in you scooter.
 Got mine here; http://www.xenondepot.com/product.php?product_id=33

[Twolanerider]

 After swapping out my stocker to the dual bulb (and hateing it) I looked into an HID retro kit. Works much better (brighter) and cheaper if you already have the dual bulb in you scooter.
 Got mine here; http://www.xenondepot.com/product.php?product_id=33

That's the most intriguing alternative solution I've seen so far.  Entire dual HID kit for $200.00.  So any details worth sharing on the installation, reliability so far or effectiveness?  Very much interested.  Thanks.

[UK Dave]

Daniel http://www.danielsternlighting.com/ has some Stern words about HID replacement headlamps and lighting in general

Now I don't know what to do

[05Ultra]

No its not a dual HID kit. You just replace the low beam bulb in the dual bulb. The high beam stays. I did the install in a few hours. Hardest part was getting the power wire under the tank back to the battery. Other then that its plug-n-play.
 I don't know for sure but I'd bet the bulb housing is the same one that HD uses for their HID. My beam patteren is very pronounced. Much like all the HIDs I've seen. The high beam, well if you have one of these lights you pretty much know it doesn't do much. I did swap the old low beam H11 bulb for the H9 low beam. Makes a difference.

That's the most intriguing alternative solution I've seen so far.

[Twolanerider]

No its not a dual HID kit. You just replace the low beam bulb in the dual bulb. The high beam stays. I did the install in a few hours. Hardest part was getting the power wire under the tank back to the battery. Other then that its plug-n-play.
 I don't know for sure but I'd bet the bulb housing is the same one that HD uses for their HID. My beam patteren is very pronounced. Much like all the HIDs I've seen. The high beam, well if you have one of these lights you pretty much know it doesn't do much. I did swap the old low beam H11 bulb for the H9 low beam. Makes a difference.

Thanks.  I'd misread part of the mftr's website.  Even with with the H9 bulb I'm still very unimpressed with the high beam on these lights.  It's really a coin toss over whether the high beam or the low beam and spots actually helps you more.  It kinda sucks.

When you're in low beam mode and have only the HID light shining is it good enough to use in that mode by itself?  In high beam mode what's the comparison between the effect of the two bulbs down the road?

[05Ultra]

The H11 is very easy to modify to fit in the H9 socket. Not that much better (55 watts verses 35) but what are ya gonna do? Actualy I only use the high beam now to activate the garage door opener. The low beam is alot brighter (IMO) I also put Silverstar 55 watters in the passing lights. They look yellow compaired to the HID low beam. When I put on the high beam it throws out a little further down the road but hardly worth it. I live in deer country and side to side lighting is more important to me then straight ahead.

Thanks.

[Twolanerider]

The H11 is very easy to modify to fit in the H9 socket. Not that much better (55 watts verses 35) but what are ya gonna do? Actualy I only use the high beam now to activate the garage door opener. The low beam is alot brighter (IMO) I also put Silverstar 55 watters in the passing lights. They look yellow compaired to the HID low beam. When I put on the high beam it throws out a little further down the road but hardly worth it. I live in deer country and side to side lighting is more important to me then straight ahead.

Thanks for pointing this kit out.  For the price difference between it and the HD HID it seems well worth giving a shot.  I'm going to have the tank off anyway sometime relatively soon so that'd be the ideal time for this task too.

[UK Dave]

I ordered one of these http://www.hids4u.co.uk/product_details.asp?id=213 today - with discount, inc taxes and shipping it cost me

[UK Dave]

Well the kit arrived today - and I fitted it in about 30 minutes

Seems to work just fine although the spots (when selected) are now on - albeit dimly - on both Dip and Main Beam

This has got to be because of the solenoid, which moves the focus of light back and forth to give main beam and dip functionality, being wired into the main beam circuit

I'm gonna look into that tomorrow and may just run the spots off a separate feed through a relay

The HID light is very bright and seems to emit a nice tight pattern - I will ride later when the rain stops to see what oncoming traffic thinks of the aim.

The main beam/dip operation is fine and there is a cool sounding whine when the unit is starting up - this goes away when the lamp is up to operating temperature

The lamp fitted right into the original H4 holder with no problem - in fact it's a better fit than the original H4 lamp and the control module is sitting on top of the radio - I will secure it with cable ties tomorrow

And yes - I know -  [smiley=worthless.gif]

Maybe tomorrow - OK?

Cheers

Dave

[bisounours]

Well the kit arrived today - and I fitted it in about 30 minutes

Seems to work just fine although the spots (when selected) are now on - albeit dimly - on both Dip and Main Beam

This has got to be because of the solenoid, which moves the focus of light back and forth to give main beam and dip functionality, being wired into the main beam circuit

I'm gonna look into that tomorrow and may just run the spots off a separate feed through a relay

The HID light is very bright and seems to emit a nice tight pattern - I will ride later when the rain stops to see what oncoming traffic thinks of the aim.

The main beam/dip operation is fine and there is a cool sounding whine when the unit is starting up - this goes away when the lamp is up to operating temperature

The lamp fitted right into the original H4 holder with no problem - in fact it's a better fit than the original H4 lamp and the control module is sitting on top of the radio - I will secure it with cable ties tomorrow

And yes - I know -

[UK Dave]

OK so I wasn't able to keep the magic post number for too long

The kit fitted very well and the lamp is very bright for sure but the beam, whilst broad, seems to lack distance (on Hi beam) and the illuminated area of the headlamp lens looks dark(er) at the bottom than a conventional lamp. Kinda difficult to photograph that of course.

I've got 3 pics and here's the first which shows what you get and how it hooks up

[UK Dave]

Here's the second which shows one view of the actual light generating "bulb"

The cutaway section in the chrome shroud is on the underside when in use and this is supposed to change the amount of light that comes out for Hi/Low beam

There's a solenoid in the lamp housing which actually moves the glass envelope back and forth to alter the focal point and thus the beam pattern when reflected out the front of the headlamp

The cutout doesn't seem to be aligbned with the arc though so I'm not sure how much difference it actually makes

The guys who sell this kit profess to be very interested in feedback so I may well speak to them about this and I may try some mods if I can get hold of a spare shroud

[UK Dave]

and this is the third one showing the lamp from a different angle

It's been too darned wintry recently to do any serious night-time testing but the few rides I have done I have not been "flashed" by oncoming traffic - I guess that means I can adjust the beam up slightly...

Cheers

Dave