Topic: DDM HID

[daytonaboogie]

how much power do these kits draw, compared to stock?

would it tax our already weak charging systems?

HIDs use less power than the stock light.

oh really? significantly less?

[Laminar]

how much power do these kits draw, compared to stock?

would it tax our already weak charging systems?

HIDs use less power than the stock light.

oh really? significantly less?

The stock headlight is 55/60W (4.5 to 5 amps at 12V). My HID is constant 35W (2.9 amps at 12V).

[Old75_ratafe]

hmmmm

...and my friends '03 porsche C4S has HID and no projector lens either.

i will agree they are bright, and many are installed improperly.
we could probably debate the 'projector' point for days, but it comes down to others perception.
even with a projector headlamp, if they are focused upward, you're gonna get stopped and asked to fix it.

BISHONEN, good on ya for testing your light on others....

If you look at the picture of the Prius the right side has a projector lens.
 
http://www.m3addict.com/whats-good/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/porsche-c4s-front.jpg that is a '03 Porsche C4S which if you look close you'll once again see the projector lens.  I think your confusing the xenon "look" halogens which look almost the same but don't need the projectors.

And just so everyone knows I've not followed someone in road rage for 5 miles I was exaggerating a bit.  I have however with the dorks with misaligned and unfocused bulbs let them pass and then flashed my brights for a min. 

My point of this was theirs a reason the professional aftermarket kits cost upwards of $400 and the knock offs are $35.  If done properly HID kits are freakin awesome and majorly improved visibility.  If done wrong they blind the crap out of oncoming traffic and will get you more tickets than a pink Cadillac with a leopard print top and a smoke cloud rolling out its cracked windows.   

OK and on that note I'm gonna stop arguing I got my opinion others have theirs make up your own mind 

[Laminar]

hmmmm

...and my friends '03 porsche C4S has HID and no projector lens either.

i will agree they are bright, and many are installed improperly.
we could probably debate the 'projector' point for days, but it comes down to others perception.
even with a projector headlamp, if they are focused upward, you're gonna get stopped and asked to fix it.

BISHONEN, good on ya for testing your light on others....

If you look at the picture of the Prius the right side has a projector lens.

The picture you attached to your post is of the third generation Prius. The picture posted earlier in this thread was a second generation Prius, which didn't have projector headlights.

My point of this was theirs a reason the professional aftermarket kits cost upwards of $400 and the knock offs are $35.  If done properly HID kits are freakin awesome and majorly improved visibility.

The housing that the HID bulb is in makes the most difference as far as light pattern and glare are concerned. A $400 HID kit installed into a stock CB headlight housing would be terrible, with glare going everywhere. A $35 HID kit installed in a nice projector housing would look fantastic. Heck, you (should) have seen my pictures of the $35 kit installed in a $25 H4 housing, the cutoff line is fantastic.

[bistromath]

Okay guys, I'm a convert. My experience with the kit leads me to tell you -- don't judge the kit until you've seen one installed.

Look further up in the thread for my opinion on HID kits, informed by having seen many of them on the road, usually awful purple kits badly installed in some kid's riced-out Civic. But at $35, I couldn't resist. So I bought a kit (4000K) and installed it. The install took about five minutes -- I cheated and used the existing headlight wires to power it. The bulb comes with a shadow mask that restricts the light to the top half of the reflector. This has the effect of imposing a pretty good cutoff line in the resulting light pattern when used with an H4 reflector, although it must reduce the total brightness some. The resulting pattern looks very good; although technically not legal for on-road use (since the pattern does not include the required left side cutoff), it does a very good job of minimizing glare to oncoming drivers. I was pretty worried about that, since my biggest pet peeve with HID is the glare problem. So far, no flashed headlamps at me, and the sharp cutoff line gives me a great deal of confidence in knowing where I'm throwing light around.

So, while not as optimal (and probably not as bright) as a proper projector housing, it throws a good pattern with a minimal amount of glare. And holy lord is it ever bright on the ground. I will never go back to a standard headlight bulb.

One more thing -- I bought the 4500K kit, and even that warm color temperature is a little blue for me. I wouldn't advocate the 5000K and up kits unless you really want a modern, bluish look for your old bike. I just wanted a much brighter headlamp with less power consumption.

[flybox1]

sets see a pic of your beam pattern on something, and what housing did you use?

[Old75_ratafe]

hmmmm

...and my friends '03 porsche C4S has HID and no projector lens either.

i will agree they are bright, and many are installed improperly.
we could probably debate the 'projector' point for days, but it comes down to others perception.
even with a projector headlamp, if they are focused upward, you're gonna get stopped and asked to fix it.

BISHONEN, good on ya for testing your light on others....

If you look at the picture of the Prius the right side has a projector lens.

The picture you attached to your post is of the third generation Prius. The picture posted earlier in this thread was a second generation Prius, which didn't have projector headlights.

My point of this was theirs a reason the professional aftermarket kits cost upwards of $400 and the knock offs are $35.  If done properly HID kits are freakin awesome and majorly improved visibility.

The housing that the HID bulb is in makes the most difference as far as light pattern and glare are concerned. A $400 HID kit installed into a stock CB headlight housing would be terrible, with glare going everywhere. A $35 HID kit installed in a nice projector housing would look fantastic. Heck, you (should) have seen my pictures of the $35 kit installed in a $25 H4 housing, the cutoff line is fantastic.

Okay guys, I'm a convert. My experience with the kit leads me to tell you -- don't judge the kit until you've seen one installed.

Look further up in the thread for my opinion on HID kits, informed by having seen many of them on the road, usually awful purple kits badly installed in some kid's riced-out Civic. But at $35, I couldn't resist. So I bought a kit (4000K) and installed it. The install took about five minutes -- I cheated and used the existing headlight wires to power it. The bulb comes with a shadow mask that restricts the light to the top half of the reflector. This has the effect of imposing a pretty good cutoff line in the resulting light pattern when used with an H4 reflector, although it must reduce the total brightness some. The resulting pattern looks very good; although technically not legal for on-road use (since the pattern does not include the required left side cutoff), it does a very good job of minimizing glare to oncoming drivers. I was pretty worried about that, since my biggest pet peeve with HID is the glare problem. So far, no flashed headlamps at me, and the sharp cutoff line gives me a great deal of confidence in knowing where I'm throwing light around.

So, while not as optimal (and probably not as bright) as a proper projector housing, it throws a good pattern with a minimal amount of glare. And holy lord is it ever bright on the ground. I will never go back to a standard headlight bulb.

One more thing -- I bought the 4500K kit, and even that warm color temperature is a little blue for me. I wouldn't advocate the 5000K and up kits unless you really want a modern, bluish look for your old bike. I just wanted a much brighter headlamp with less power consumption.

I'll agree with all that it really is more the housing design when it comes to aftermarket.  Although I still haven't come across a factory setup personally without a focusing lense.  I would imagine some housing designes work better than others just by their shape.  And I was more directing my comments at the "usually awful purple kits badly installed in some kid's riced-out Civic".  Those guys just annoy the crap out of me. The whole "look at me I got a 10ft wing on a completely stock engine and I got rims that cost twice as much as their car and I'm blinding the crap outta you to boot" 

[Laminar]

I'll agree with all that it really is more the housing design when it comes to aftermarket.  Although I still haven't come across a factory setup personally without a focusing lense.

Which is funny, because you actually quoted a picture of a car with HID bulbs in a non-projector housing.

[Old75_ratafe]

I did?  Just went back through the posts the 2 yebay and 2 others all had projector lenses in them.     Which one?

[Laminar]

The big giant picture of the red car that you just quoted. Prius. Has HIDs, but no projectors.

[Old75_ratafe]

Looks like a regular bulb to me but I'll take your word for it man.

[Laminar]

Looks like a regular bulb to me but I'll take your word for it man.

You can't even see the bulb in that picture, and there's no need to take my word for it, 20 seconds of Google research would confirm it.

[J.Webster Designs]

2002-2006 Cadillac Escalades had optional HIDs without projectors.

[Old75_ratafe]

Looks like a regular bulb to me but I'll take your word for it man.

You can't even see the bulb in that picture, and there's no need to take my word for it, 20 seconds of Google research would confirm it.

I did actually thats where I got my pic with the projector.... that and lots of lawsuits about the prius hid design being horibble and rediculiusly expensive to replace.

[Laminar]

Looks like a regular bulb to me but I'll take your word for it man.

You can't even see the bulb in that picture, and there's no need to take my word for it, 20 seconds of Google research would confirm it.

I did actually thats where I got my pic with the projector.... that and lots of lawsuits about the prius hid design being horibble and rediculiusly expensive to replace.

Facepalm.

You posted a picture of a THIRD generation Prius, which has HIDs and projectors.

I posted a picture of a SECOND generation Prius, which has HIDs and NO projectors.

[Old75_ratafe]

Looks like a regular bulb to me but I'll take your word for it man.

You can't even see the bulb in that picture, and there's no need to take my word for it, 20 seconds of Google research would confirm it.

I did actually that's where I got my pic with the projector.... that and lots of lawsuits about the prius hid design being horrible and ridiculously expensive to replace.

Facepalm.

You posted a picture of a THIRD generation Prius, which has HIDs and projectors.

I posted a picture of a SECOND generation Prius, which has HIDs and NO projectors.

I wasn't looking at the year man I just typed in prius hid and its what popped up, I posted it.  I realize the one you posted was the 2nd gen and I was saying the only thing I saw about the 2nd gen hid was lawsuits and complaints... and for some reason they added a projector to the next gen... Although theirs still complaints about the #$%*ty design of having to remove the whole front clip to change them.  Dude why are we arguing over a prius... You can give it HIDs, side graphics, a spoiler, chrome rims..... and its still a prius.  I'm not arguing the fact that the factory has installed hid's on some of their vehicles without projectors, but just as with the prius usually they add it in later models.

[Laminar]

Dude why are we arguing over a prius... You can give it HIDs, side graphics, a spoiler, chrome rims..... and its still a prius.

Where did this come from? Who's talking about modifying a Prius?

I'm not arguing the fact that the factory has installed hid's on some of their vehicles without projectors,

But you were.

[cb750k77]

I love my MC HID kit! it works great and i've NEVER had a problem with the cops i even asked them if they saw a potential problem  and they all agreed that it looks stock ish and that it looks really clean.

[wannabridin]

hey, why don't we stop this whole debate on what CAR came with what lens???  some people think HID's can't work with projectors and some can!  who cares?!?!?!

it's their bike to do with what they want to do, and if their city/state is strict on headlights, then let them get the ticket!  this thread is supposed to be about installing a DDM or equivalent HID kit on these old girls, even a newer bike for all that matters!  so why don't we just sit down, shut up, and get the candlepower up for the old bikes!!!   

to all those that have posted their results and opinions on MOTORCYCLE HID's, thanks!! 

[J.Webster Designs]

Garrett,

I will be going with the DDM kit.... For the price, It is worth it to try it out and see how it goes... I was never able to find any conclusive problems with the kit being posted by the general public.... just thought I would give you a heads up on the kits.

[wannabridin]

sounds good justin!  i'll probably be ordering one of these kits soon as well, just have to see how the finances hold up

[Laminar]

hey, why don't we stop this whole debate on what CAR came with what lens???  some people think HID's can't work with projectors and some can!  who cares?!?!?!

[wannabridin]

oh man, that is so true, sorry to have screwed up the order of things!!!  but at least we've all been there before!!!

[Old75_ratafe]

hey, why don't we stop this whole debate on what CAR came with what lens???  some people think HID's can't work with projectors and some can!  who cares?!?!?!

He he he my gf said the same thing to me.  Actually it was more along the line of auguing on the internet is like winning the special olymipics.... You get the idea

Anyway I'll conceed that the factory made some HID's without projectors but I still think they are a  lot more effective with them.  That our headlight housing manages to keep the non projector HID's with a good enough cutoff line not to blind the living crap out of everyone else is great but I think I personally I still want to see it in person.

[reshippie]

My bike currently has a sealed beam.  Is the lens just a front piece, or is it the whole reflector unit?