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[snotrc]

Hi Guys,
Just a question I have read the posts about HID lights and on my 06 Ultra CVO I hate the dual headlight.  I want the brightest I can get is the HID the way to go and what make. Looks like there are a lot of them on Ebay but I don't like Junk.  Looking at Motorcycle Hid http://www.motorcyclehidlights.com/harley-davidson-ultra-classic-hid-lights-c-71_154/digital-hid-kit-slim-ballasts-p-209
and at Xtralights http://www.xtralights.com/xetronicdigitallightingsystem-h4typesingle.aspx.  Twice the money are they twice as good?
Emailed hd-dude, bought hog-wired from him, have not heard from him yet but would love some input.

Thanks

[Fired00d]

Hi Guys,
Just a question I have read the posts about HID lights and on my 06 Ultra CVO I hate the dual headlight.  I want the brightest I can get is the HID the way to go and what make. Looks like there are a lot of them on Ebay but I don't like Junk.  Looking at Motorcycle Hid http://www.motorcyclehidlights.com/harley-davidson-ultra-classic-hid-lights-c-71_154/digital-hid-kit-slim-ballasts-p-209
and at Xtralights http://www.xtralights.com/xetronicdigitallightingsystem-h4typesingle.aspx.  Twice the money are they twice as good?
Emailed hd-dude, bought hog-wired from him, have not heard from him yet but would love some input.

Thanks

I recommend you wait until you hear back from Jim

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[ultrafxr]

I got my xtralites HIDs from Jim (hd-dude) almost three years ago and they are great.  At the time they were very competitively priced - half the cost of H-D and with H-D you only got the high beam as HID and had to wire a ballast in line.  I don't know anything about the newer and much cheaper HIDs but I can tell you the xtralites are top notch imo.

[arcticdude]

I'll throw a negative out to xtralights.  While they have a pretty good product, their support after the fact doesn't cut it.  Had the high beam ignitor go out on her bike 2 months after the warranty expired.  Yes I realize the warranty has expired adn they need to cut things off someplace, but- this was the HIGH beam on her bike, which- since she rides behind me essentially all the time- hasn't been turned on more than 10 times in the 2 years we had it.  If I happened to put that on my bike it would have failed in the first month.  But since it was installed on her bike, it never really got used and therefore didn't fail until much later.  I contact them through their website and got NO response.  I then called them and was told that "because I didn't use it frequently, it failed"  WTF???  Sorry, digital electronics don't know if they were used 1 millisecond ago or 1 century ago.  Old relay style electronics, yes; but not the digital stuff.  While I don't like the fact that the warranty has JUST expired and the product takes a crap, I REALLY don't like getting smoke blown up my a$$.  All I would have liked was the offer of a discount for a replacement part, I didn't even have to have a free ignitor.  As it is, I'll be looking for somebody else's stuff.


Anybody using anything besides xtralights?

[JCZ]

Jim installed the HID in mine and Terrie's bike.  Don't think we could live without them.

He recently mentioned to me that he's had a couple complaints that they failed in short order.  However, based on my experience with my SEEG (Jim installed that one, also)......I couldn't live without them and had to take the risk.  So far, so good for both Terrie and I.

[mrmagloo]

I went with the Kuryakyn XE5R HID Headlight on my SE Deuce and I was overwhelmed. That thing is incredible. I've attached a PDF with the before and after pictures. when I ride with the group at night, them make me run point.

However, on my SEUC, the previous owner had installed the Harley HID, and to put it bluntly, it really sucks. If you turn off the passing lamps, and just run the low beam, which is HID, the beam is very narrow in height, not particularly wide either. Worse, it's not very bright for that matter. Imho, a total waste of money.

I went ahead and upgraded the passing lamps to 886's and the High beam to a H11 and this works OK for now, but the truth be told, the passing lamps drown out the HID. Shortly, I'm going to go with the Kuryakyn XE7R for the Ultras and get this solved.  I will say that there are some decent kits out there, sticking HID bulbs into the factory housing is just not optimal. You really need a reflector that is designed for the HID bulb to maximize the focus correctly. As you can see from the images in the PDF, Kuryakyn and X-Sighting really put together an outstanding product, and is the best of the best that I've seen so far.

[GregKhougaz]

       Had great experience with Xenonlink HID's.  Though we have dual headlights on the SERG, you might want to read this thread:  Installing HID Lights on a SE Road Glide.  Only difference is that you only have to install one. 

GK

[ultrafxr]

I'll throw a negative out to xtralights.  While they have a pretty good product, their support after the fact doesn't cut it.  Had the high beam ignitor go out on her bike 2 months after the warranty expired.  Yes I realize the warranty has expired adn they need to cut things off someplace, but- this was the HIGH beam on her bike, which- since she rides behind me essentially all the time- hasn't been turned on more than 10 times in the 2 years we had it.  If I happened to put that on my bike it would have failed in the first month.  But since it was installed on her bike, it never really got used and therefore didn't fail until much later.  I contact them through their website and got NO response.  I then called them and was told that "because I didn't use it frequently, it failed"  WTF???  Sorry, digital electronics don't know if they were used 1 millisecond ago or 1 century ago.  Old relay style electronics, yes; but not the digital stuff.  While I don't like the fact that the warranty has JUST expired and the product takes a crap, I REALLY don't like getting smoke blown up my a$$.  All I would have liked was the offer of a discount for a replacement part, I didn't even have to have a free ignitor.  As it is, I'll be looking for somebody else's stuff.


Anybody using anything besides xtralights?

Bought my xtralights from Jim and had an igniter go out after a few months.  He took care of it and since then they've been troublefree.

[arcticdude]

Good info, thanks guys.  On our 06/07's we have a dual bulb headlight, one for low and one for high.  So I've got 2 separate HID systems on each bike.  I like the way they work.  The pattern is good on both low and hi.  The brightness is not overly strong- you don't blind the guy in front of you with just the low beams, but they do have a real good penetration.  They light up the road a long ways in front of you.  Much better than the stockers.  We've got the 886's in the spots and it's a good setup.  I just don't like the fact that a little used system dies right as the warranty is expiring and the xtralights doesn't acknowledge a possible issue.

I'll look at the Kury's.


mrmagloo- in looking at your pictures, did you end up adjusting the headlight down slightly after the install?  It look like it might really blind anybody riding in front of you.  How long have you had the system?  Anybody have any problems with their KuryAkyn system?

[naitram]

i've had my xtralights for 3+ yrs now and they only time i have a problem is when there is a voltage drop. IE. starting the bike after it has been sitting for a months and it hasnt been on a battery tender low beam ignites when i turn the bike on but then shuts down when i hit the starter

[Twolanerider]

i've had my xtralights for 3+ yrs now and they only time i have a problem is when there is a voltage drop. IE. starting the bike after it has been sitting for a months and it hasnt been on a battery tender low beam ignites when i turn the bike on but then shuts down when i hit the starter

I get the same thing on rare start cycles.  A couple of others have reported it also.  Shut it down and restart and it's all good though.  Something we can easily live with for the great light.

[mrmagloo]

mrmagloo- in looking at your pictures, did you end up adjusting the headlight down slightly after the install?  It look like it might really blind anybody riding in front of you.  How long have you had the system?  Anybody have any problems with their KuryAkyn system?

The Kuryakyn's have a very distinct flat upper range cut-off on the LB's. I adjusted them so that they reach out to the edge of the road in the distant horizon on average. This way, this is below the line of sight for the oncoming traffic. As you can see from the HID Low Beam photo, the beam is cut-off is set so that you cannot see the rise in the road, that you can easily see the hill in the photo to the right with the HB's. The unit only uses a single bulb with a moving shade, so essentially it's the same brightness, and when you switch from LB to HB, the upper range of the reflector is unblocked to illuminate the area from the roadway on the horizon and above a few feet.

Now, to give you some perspective here, I have a 1 acre lot, and the frontage is 200ft.  I was just using a Sony pocket camera, but I'm sitting in the middle of the road in front of my neighbors drive way during these shots. My driveway is on the left with the retaining wall, which is around 200 foot. With the stock HB's you can't even see the brick, so everything else is irrelevant.  Looking at the HID pics, the top of that hill is 3-1/2 houses down, which roughly equates to 750ft. I suspect the light would go further, but the the hill dips down after that. On the road, this thing is great. With the stocker, I wouldn't even risk running over 45 mph at night as you could easily overrun the lights.

I've had the setup for one year, and haven't had a problem. Like I said, I'm going to do the same for the Ultra here after I get some other mods completed.

[arcticdude]

That's what I liked about the dual bulb xtralights in our Cuse's.  Even low beam really got out there.  Ours have a different pattern, though.  Low is actually a circle pattern without a center.  Sounds weird, but it worked.  The high beam filled in the center of the circle and REALLY got down the road.  It didn't add much to the overall brightness, but you could really see somehting way down the road.  With things as flat as they are here, I'm not sure I couldn't see reflectors 1/2 mile down the road with the high beam.  With the stock light, I was past it before I saw it.  So I want to get working HID's on the bikes, but I would like better service than what I've gotten so far.  How big is the ignitor on the Kury's?

[naitram]

as far as i know kury is a complete kit, and does not offer a dual bulb setup. they also include an adapter ring to push the bucket out from the faring to make room for everything

[Twolanerider]

Looking at the HID pics, the top of that hill is 3-1/2 houses down, which roughly equates to 750ft. I suspect the light would go further, but the the hill dips down after that. On the road, this thing is great. With the stocker, I wouldn't even risk running over 45 mph at night as you could easily overrun the lights.

I remember "way back when" however long ago it was I first stumbled in to the "xtralights" with their small digital ballasts.  We'd not yet stumbled in to small options that worked well.  Then I guinea pigged these things and my first thought was "these shine 25 miles an hour farther."

With the stock light the bike was simply dangerous at night on the small roads.  On the interstate I'd not pass the lead car in a chain of traffic because I was using their headlight rather than mine.  Then we found the good HIDs and night riding was fun again.