HID conversion for transalp

[btbloke]

Right you techie people out there (kymmy especially) Ive been toying with the idea of converting the Alp to Hid for a while now and been watching some kits on ebay for ages. What struck me was why was it £70 + for a bike conversion kit and only 40-100 quid for a car conversion kit. The bike kit contains half the amount of equipment yet sometimes is 50% more than a kit for a car. I emailed a seller and asked would it be possible to buy a car kit and convert two bikes,he says he can't see any reason why.
Now the techie bit:-

1. what candle strength to go for,would 8000 be too much for the alp plastic headlight lens? Should I go for 6000k?
2. Is he bull****ting me just for a sale,is there a difference to the kits that is not obvious to me, ie the ballasts or bulbs?
3 has anyone done this themselves and can recommend someone,I have found a kit for £59, that will do mine and alpslapper for the EtoE that works out 30 quid each bargain!,from an english seller not china which seems to be the norm on ebay now.


Need answers as soon as on this ladies and gents as there's only 3 weeks
to go!!!!

[Sohoeasy]

BT,I remember you having some pretty impressive lighting on your bike one night down Dorking way ! If that wasn't HID what was it ? ( certainly as bright as I would ever want ! )

[btbloke]

just got one of those xenon filled bulbs at the moment,plus two 55w hella de spots. the bulbs about 30% brighter but the HID's I want are about 300% brighter!

[StumpyFingers]

I am looking at going down the same route.
I did read on another post I think it was in the Africa Twin section about a problem with the light staying on high beam and got to thinking:
1. Could the bike kit vary in the switching to take into account the smaller electrical variance, smaller battery and generator/alternator.
2. would it be a better choice to go for a bike specific set at the extra cost or risk the cheaper car option and it not working.
As I have not seen any definitive proof for or against this at the moment, I think it is a case of pay your money take your chance.

[Raven]

I purchased one identical to this off of eBay. It will be fitted Wednesday, so I can report that night on how effective it is and how it all goes together...

[tonyk]

Hi folks,
meself and kc34 have bought from this seller http://stores.ebay.co.uk/hidlightingkit
as recomended by members of this forum,they are 4300k strenght and are f&$k off bright ,great mod to our twins,the seller was very helpful,"simon"if you use him mention this site,
see this thread Anyone done a proper HID conversion on their bike

Richardg was very helpful as we went through this process,might be worth contacting him if your not sure,
his set's come with 2 complete set up's wich suited the twin, you could share a set with other alp owners keep it cheap.
Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Tony K

[Lumiya]

The 8000/6000/4300 figure has nothing to do with strength but actually color of the product. The higher the number the more blue tinged it'll be, 4300 tends to be white, 6000 blue tinged, 8000 might be too blue for UK roads with you probably getting puled over ever few days.

The difference between the car and bike kits is normally the size of the ballast, bikes have less space so the ballast has to be a lot smaller.

Also be carefull on the kits that have two bulbs and two ballasts, with a good percentage of them you can't do two bikes with them as they tend to only have one control lead.

Also one more thing to look out for is the method of dipping the beam. The jury is stil out which is best as one actually tilts the arc envelope where as the other moves a shield. The shield version has been quoted as being better for a bike but I thinks it's personal choice.

Kymmy

[btbloke]

right thanks for that kymmy,what would you recommend,I've seen the thread from the guy who has his stuck on high beam he has the shield type. the pictures i've seen on ebay don't seem to have a shield on them, should I ask if they have shields or what is the other type called?

would you suggest going for a 600k or try and get 4300 like the twin boys have used(though they do have two and I only have one ,would one larger be better?)

I'll check with the seller if it only has the one lead,glad you mentioned that bit.

[Lumiya]

right thanks for that kymmy,what would you recommend,I've seen the thread from the guy who has his stuck on high beam he has the shield type. the pictures i've seen on ebay don't seem to have a shield on them, should I ask if they have shields or what is the other type called?

Theres the shield or tilt methods, the failed one in the other thread is probably nothing to do with the method but the control box which is common to both methods. Most sellers will have an animated picture detailing the HI/LO method.

would you suggest going for a 600k or try and get 4300 like the twin boys have used(though they do have two and I only have one ,would one larger be better?)

all of them are probably exactly the same size and the same lumens output, the color temp is simply what you prefer and what you can also get away with. too blue and you will probably get stopped by the police. I'd say that 6000k is the highest blue to use. So if you want a blue tinge then 6000K. If you;re using a computer CRT that has a menu control try going into that and you'll probably have a color adjustment of 6000 and 9000, you'll see what I mean about it going blue.

I'll check with the seller if it only has the one lead,glad you mentioned that bit.

Most dual bulb options either plugs into only one of the light plugs (for the on/off hi/lo) controls and also tends to only have one power lead hence you can;t seperate them into two complete units.

Kymmy

[btbloke]

brilliant,cheers kymmy,know exactly what to ask now.