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Ok, well its getting dark earlier and I'm finding myself riding in the dark a lot more often. I've never been happy with the headlight on the roadster and now that I've moved my commute has a few darker roads making the need for better lighting more apparent. I've searched all the HID upgrade threads I could find, without luck. I haven't found anyone who successfully installed an HID kit in the unaltered, stock R1150R headlight housing.
So, I got to thinking... the R1200R guys seem happy with their stock headlights. Is the R1200R headlight enclosure the same size as the 1150?


FWIW, I do have a set of PIAA 910's installed. They are great for rural nighttime riding, not so good in the city.

In an effort to moderately upgrade night lighting, and to improve headlight system reliability,
I installed the popular headlight relay and went with an inexpensive Hella Zenon bulb.
Several places to get them lots cheaper than the local auto parts store - Amazon being one,
Crutchfield being another. And it isn't so "blue" which I don't personally care for and dislike
when meeting them. And I no longer worry about the load going thru the switch - it now
only triggers the relay - or about the marginally light gauge wiring carrying the full load
of the headlight.

What an improvement! Well worth the modest investment and the couple hours total install time.

Both in light intensity - probly from both the greater electrical power available to the bulb
via the relay setup and from the bulb itself.

I didn't go with the higher watt bulb that isn't legal in many if not most states, but it's
still a very noticeable improvement. With my luck (actually lack thereof) I didn't want
to push the issue with any oncoming law enforcement I'm bound to meet sooner or later
at night.

And I like the pattern of the bulb.

On low beam, the left side of th pattern where it illuminates the oncoming lane ends
distinctly closer to the bike while the right side that illuminates the lane ahead and
the right shoulder extends a significant distance farther ahead. That I'm sure makes
it more friendly to oncoming drivers on 2 lanes while still giving good illumination
of the lane ahead of the bike and the important right shoulder.

On high beam, it sends a brighter beam out quite a ways further than the stock light and is also
wider. I can only imagine how that higher wattage bulb would light up the night.

macx wrote:I didn't go with the higher watt bulb

macx wrote:What an improvement! Well worth the modest investment and the couple hours total install time.

Both in light intensity - probly from both the greater electrical power available to the bulb
via the relay setup and from the bulb itself.

If you didn't switch to a higher wattage bulb, then your bulb is not using any more power. I suspect you got a bulb with a different color temperature causing the changes you noticed.

I've tried various different bulbs, some are better than others. I don't recall what type I have currently, but its the best I've found. Even at best, our headlight leaves a lot to be desired.




Has anyone successfully installed a HID kit in their roadster headlamp enclosure?

I think he probably does get better lighting. The improvement he sees is probably less about the bulb and more about the relay. A number of guys have reported this benefit. Apparently, you can get better lighting with the same bulb and just adding the relay system.

The improvement comes from getting some additional current to the bulb, by using the relay powered directly from the battery and the heavier gauge wiring. The stock wiring is apparently somewhat restrictive of current flow.

Here is a link to a usefull product, I intend to make up a relay kit like this for my own bike.

http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Produ ... _kits.html

Dont know how easy it would be to fit, but someone suggested fitting a Honda Hornet headlight unit as it uses seperate bulbs for high and low beams.

Has anyone successfully installed a HID kit in their roadster headlamp enclosure?

Did you see these topic threads?

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5104&hilit=hid

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8512&hilit=hid

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20444&hilit=HID

One instance of successful install noted, using "slider" module rebased as H4. A different guy stated that HID capsule would not fit.

I use one of these. http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-Osr ... -pair.html

NO extra load on the circuit and a big improvement.

sweatmark wrote:

Has anyone successfully installed a HID kit in their roadster headlamp enclosure?

Did you see these topic threads?

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5104&hilit=hid

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8512&hilit=hid

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20444&hilit=HID

One instance of successful install noted, using "slider" module rebased as H4. A different guy stated that HID capsule would not fit.

I hadn't seen the first or second one. Unfortunately, we don't know what brand/model kit was used in the first thread. The second thread has some data that proves that the Eastern Beaver "relay kit" doesn't improve the low beam performance. It does improve the high beam but thats not what I'm interested in.

I guess I'll keep on hunting for an HID solution. Thanks for all the info guys!

Having had everything from ancient sealed beam headlights to factory HID systems, I've learned what is considered to be common wisdom: Ultra-White light (or "blue" light for that matter) is not necessarily the best choice. The human eye actually perceives objects better at night when using a light that is at a lower temperature; i.e., a bit of a yellow never hurt anyone!

I've found the Sylvania Silverstar bulb to be about the best color temperature for my purposes. I have a PIAA bulb in one bike, but it's actually better for getting cagers to get out of my way during the daytime than it is for night vision!

I am currently using a Philips XP-Moto H4 bulb

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=170

with relays installed, wired directly to the battery with heavy wire. It is noticeably better than the stock combination.

I have successfully used 90/100 watt bulbs, but you have to be careful. In stop and go traffic a lot of heat builds up in that headlight bucket. You can encounter problems:



Because I have lots of auxiliary lighting, I decided to drop back to a 55 watt bulb. The alternative would have been to install a ceramic socket.

Check out this thread from last year:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16506&p=146560&hili ... us#p146560

The Philips Vison Plus (80%) headlight I installed a year and a half ago is still burning bright!

Cool! How many miles have you done with it?

Sunbeemer wrote:Check out this thread from last year:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16506&p=146560&hili ... us#p146560

The Philips Vison Plus (80%) headlight I installed a year and a half ago is still burning bright!

++1
So is the one I installed over 34000miles ago....much better than stock, and I still have the second bulb from the pair I bought in 2006...

rdsmith3,

This Pic tells me the female connectors may not have had a tight enough grip on the bulb's male blade terminals. If it was just the higher current, the wire insulation would be melted too. The melted plastic plug says that either the bulb got too hot and/or the higher current strained the marginal electrical connection. After the too loose terminals get hot enough from the sputtering/arcing poor connection to melt the plastic, they very likely have been annealed. That turns the once "springy" metal to a copper like softness. They may need to be replaced with heavy duty soldered on to the wire female terminals. Even if that means not using the plastic connector.

Another factor is the tightness of the bulb's mechanical mount to the headlight shell's base mounting. The spring clip in particular must not have a wimpy retention force or the bulb's heat, whether it's 55 or 95 Watts, will not be dissipated into the thermal mass and heat removal surface area of the metal shell. This is more important than you realize! Even a 35W bulb can melt the plastic plug if there isn't a secure bulb mount. Nearly doubling the stock 55W current draw with a more powerful bulb really taxes the integrity of the 2 areas I just mentioned, so be very sure they are at their best (as described) before you put that brighter 95W bulb in.

Going the extra mile, we need to look at what the aftermarket has done in response to marginal factory designs for CPU and memory chip cooling like these simple notebook memory Heat Spreader Cooling Heatsinks . Getting any ideas on how to incorporate them in the headlight shell?

If you need better lighting, I'd go the relay + driving lights solution, like This or This.
Just source the relay coil's 12V power from the blue high beam wire near the bulb and they go on with the high beam. That doesn't solve the inadequate low beam lighting, but it sure solves the other one.

.

I use a "brighter" type Phillips - I got a pair on ebay cheaper than from USA,including shipping from UK! Normal draw and has been in bike for couple years. These are bright!

I installed HIDs on my RR. That was 180$ shipping included.
The ballast being the smallest available these days and with better and more accurate performance too.

I used to use Silvania Silverstar Ultra, they were good, but the HID are MUCH better.
I see more and I'm seen more too. I notice that because of the way other vehicles react now in comparison.

I've ridden bikes for almost 40 years. These being my first HIDs. And I can tell there is a big difference. Quantifying what I mean I put the standard bulb that comes with the bike as reference with value one, The Silverstar Ultra I would say can be rated almost with a value of two, the HIDs have a value of 4 or 5.

Now.., regarding wattage, they are great two. I mean HIDs do not require more watts as an halogen would.

The only problem was that I had to cut the beam assembly in the back to make space for the bulb that had its back too long, reason being it's an H4 bulb that requires an electromagnet to act so as to change the position of the one only filament the bulb has. No two filaments here, one only. That extra length forced me to cut a round hole in the beam. Then after I waterproofed the installation using "clear RTV silicone adhesive & sealant" from ProSeal.
I have ridden the bike for hundreds of miles of rain...., no problem.

So..., HIDs are the real best light you can get.
I've never ever tried anything similar in all my years as a motorcyclist.
The brand I have installed is Xetronic. Did a lot of research to choose it, there are many others made in China, this one is Japanese. I've been using it for a year now.
And one last thing..., I didn't care to have to spend money on changing bulbs frequently because the light is better, but it is true that the Silvania Silverstar Ultras last probably half or less that what a normal bulb would.

Greetings for you all.

Eduardo