XENON HEADLIGHT BULBS vs HID HEADLIGHT KIT

[FZ6Ray]

I'm willing to bet there is some information on our Forum about this. But I was just curious. What is the difference between just putting in some xenon bulbs in and doing a full HID kit. What are the benefits/drawbacks of one way over the other? Does anyone know where I can find a chart explaining the different colors in the HID Kits? Are some colors Legal/Illegal in the USA? What are your recommendations? Here are the link on ebay I'm looking at.

HID HEADLIGHT KITS -
SLIM HID HEADLIGHT KITS YAMAHA FZ6 04-07 H4/H7 : eBay Motors (item 160405248158 end time Feb-23-10 13:00:03 PST)

XENON HEADLIGHT BULBS
YAMAHA FZ6 04 05 06 07 08 H7 H4 XENON HEADLIGHT BULBS : eBay Motors (item 260556940727 end time Feb-27-10 19:19:47 PST)

I've done the Dual Headlight Mod already.

 

[Boneman]

I've used XENON bulbs and they are much better than the stock bulbs: http://www.bonemanfz6.com/Mods/mod_xeon_bulbs.htm

Problem is XENON bulbs vs. HID is no comparison! Apples to Oranges. XENON bulbs come no where near the light output as HID...not even close. Even the price tells you that. Can't compare a $16 light bulb to a $100+ HID lighting system!

You will notice an imporvement with the XENON bulbs over stock bulbs that's for sure so I say go for that and give them a try. If you want to light the night up like it's daylight, go with HIDs!

A note of caution about just installing HID bulbs (no projectors). The one major issue and concern I've read about just installing HID bulbs into the existing (stock) housing is that the headlight reflectors are designed to reflect Hallogen light and do a very poor job and tend to 'scatter' the beam of a HID bulbs. It dosen't focus the beam very well and your light output is not a nice focused beam.

 

[nextfriday]

for what its worth, xenon bulbs are bright, even more so when you have the dual headlight mod. I cant chime in on hid's, though i cant see needing more light than what i have, especially when all i had to do is pop in new bulbs.

 

[Boneman]

for what its worth, xenon bulbs are bright, even more so when you have the dual headlight mod. I cant chime in on hid's, though i cant see needing more light than what i have, especially when all i had to do is pop in new bulbs.

Having HID's is like a whole new riding experience! Trust me on that one. The light output is simply amazing...it really is like daylight in front of your bike. As an example, I was riding 3 seconds behind a friend of mine heading back to his place on the Sunshine Coast here in BC. VERY dark and out in the boonies. He was motioning to me to keep my high beams on as my HID's were giving off enough light riding behind him that it was also lighting up the road in front of him and brighter than his stock lights!! :thumbup:

 

[RJ2112]

The Xenon bulbs are only slightly brighter than a Halogen filament bulb. HIDs are a flourescent light source, 3X brighter than a filament bulb can get. So bright, they are reported to be quite irritating to oncoming drivers if they are used without a lens system to focus the beam.

Xenon? Plus: Simple to install, and cheap. No extra wiring, just plugs right into what's already there. There's a selection of tints you can buy. The higher the Kelvin number the more blue to purple the tint. (Careful with how far you go in that direction; lots of LEOs will enforce the 'no blue light' regulations. I personally wouldn't really want to go past about 6,000 Kelvin. 4,300 is about the same 'white' as a regular halogen bulb.)

HID? Plus: Way brighter, and draw less power in normal operation than filament bulbs. Same deal as with household lighting, compact fluorescent uses a lot less power. Negatives? 1) You have to wait for them to heat all the way up for full output. Maybe 30 seconds after you hit the switch. 2) They require extra wiring, and have a high voltage supply involved. No more dangerous than your ignition.... just need to be aware of it. 3) because they are so bright, you need to be careful with how they are aimed. Requires more attention to get it right, compared to the OEM setup.

 

[FZ6Ray]

I've used XENON bulbs and they are much better than the stock bulbs: Boneman's FZ6 Site - Xenon Bulbs

Problem is XENON bulbs vs. HID is no comparison! Apples to Oranges. XENON bulbs come no where near the light output as HID...not even close. Even the price tells you that. Can't compare a $16 light bulb to a $100+ HID lighting system!

You will notice an imporvement with the XENON bulbs over stock bulbs that's for sure so I say go for that and give them a try. If you want to light the night up like it's daylight, go with HIDs!

A note of caution about just installing HID bulbs (no projectors). The one major issue and concern I've read about just installing HID bulbs into the existing (stock) housing is that the headlight reflectors are designed to reflect Hallogen light and do a very poor job and tend to 'scatter' the beam of a HID bulbs. It dosen't focus the beam very well and your light output is not a nice focused beam.

Ok, so what do I need to get the HID to aim (get rid of the 'scatter') properly if I don't go with the projectors?

 

[Boneman]

Ok, so what do I need to get the HID to aim (get rid of the 'scatter') properly if I don't go with the projectors?

You can't. You need the projectors to properly focus the HID bulb/light. Lots of H4/H7 HID projector kits available (eBay). I think there are a few members here who did just the HID bulb - hence where I read about the light scattering. Might need to search around a bit.

Massive thread here about HID Bi-Xenon Projectors and how to install them: http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-mods/14963-bi-xenon-projector-angel-eye-installed.html

 

[RJ2112]

Ok, so what do I need to get the HID to aim (get rid of the 'scatter') properly if I don't go with the projectors?

It's not so much that the reflector scatters the HID any more than the incandescent bulbs.... it's because they are so much brighter, that it's irritating.

Because they are 3X brighter than the high beam on an incandescent, the 'pattern' is much wider/taller. This is where the projectors are such a big improvement, as they focus the beam into a tighter pattern. Less 'leakage' from the direction you need them to go. Most of the Bi-Xenon HID systems also use a metal shutter to blank off part of the pattern, so the low beam has a sharply defined upper edge-- the 'cutoff'. The blast of light you produce is masked off from blinding the oncoming traffic. It just blasts the road.

 

[jbwaterman84]

I can't comment on the Xenon bulbs, but I just installed HID projectors a week ago and I can say that they are awesome! Super bright light, kind of a PITA to install and get all the wires tucked away so it looks good, but so worth it. It is a involved process though so if you are on the fence about it, I would go with the Xenons as they are much easier to install, and are cheaper. The HID thread has some beam spread pics so you can see what kind of light the projectors put out. As far as the color rating goes, 4300k is close to the same color that the stock bulbs put out, and as you move farther up the kelvin rating, the color changes to blue and then to purple. 4300k puts out the most light but I went with the 6000k to get more of a pure white output without being too blue.

 

[liquiddragon86]

Hey i was searching for projectors on Ebay, found this. Any thoughts? PROJECTOR HID CCFL HALO Eyes I'm not sure if this kit comes with everything set up for you or not but 200 bucks isn't a bad deal if this kit really is plug and play i think.

 

[08fz6]

HID's in head light buckets is very blinding to on coming traffic!!!!!!! If your gonna go the HID route put them in Projectors! Another thing with Xenon bulbs some run hotter than halogen. My step brother had some of the street glow xenon bulbs in his 01 Ford focus and they actually melted the back of the headlight housing........

 

[Boneman]

Hey i was searching for projectors on Ebay, found this. Any thoughts? PROJECTOR HID CCFL HALO Eyes I'm not sure if this kit comes with everything set up for you or not but 200 bucks isn't a bad deal if this kit really is plug and play i think.

I would first check with the seller if they come with the ballasats and to make sure it includes one H4 and one H7 projector!

 

[FZ6Ray]

Hey i was searching for projectors on Ebay, found this. Any thoughts? PROJECTOR HID CCFL HALO Eyes I'm not sure if this kit comes with everything set up for you or not but 200 bucks isn't a bad deal if this kit really is plug and play i think.

Thanks, Those look great. Might be exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[FZ6Ray]

Hey i was searching for projectors on Ebay, found this. Any thoughts? PROJECTOR HID CCFL HALO Eyes I'm not sure if this kit comes with everything set up for you or not but 200 bucks isn't a bad deal if this kit really is plug and play i think.

For info reasons here's the link for these, outside of ebay. Since the ebay links always expire.

SPORTBIKELITES MAKERS OF UNIQUE SPORTBIKE ACCESSORIES <meta name="google-site-verification" content="Ffe6weBF3N0QYmhYNU8UNGM9KALl_BkTiKwarFzAWE0" />

I might have to get their pod lights too.

 

[FZ6Ray]

I would first check with the seller if they come with the ballasats and to make sure it includes one H4 and one H7 projector!

Just heard back from them. The Kit comes with Ballasts and includes one H4 and one H7 projector.

 

[liquiddragon86]

Just heard back from them. The Kit comes with Ballasts and includes one H4 and one H7 projector.

If you end up ordering them let me know how it turns out. I'm going to wait for 2 more paychecks before i actually buy my lights but i'm getting the research done now.

 

[SANGER_A2]

Don't forget that most branded Xenon bulbs (Philips, Silverstar etc) are road-legal if they run at stock wattages. Retro-fitting HID kits to your bike is not road-legal in most countries/states. You have a better chance of getting away with it if they are projectors instead of bulbs as the light goes more where it's supposed to. Either way though, any inspection team could refuse to pass the bike for MOT etc if it isn't using the recommended bulbs.

I am slightly biased as I have Philips X-Treme power bulbs with the dual-headlight mod and they are great. Much brighter than stock, but not a patch on HIDs. But at least I know my bike will pass it's MOT in 2 years! :spank:

 

[bigdog9191999]

so did anybody figure out if these are plug and play??

 

[Boneman]

so did anybody figure out if these are plug and play??

What's to figure out?

HID Bulbs (not recommended) are basically plug and play with a little bit of wiring and mounting ballasts and controlers. They fit into the exisitng H4 & H7 sockets.

HID Projectors (recommended) require some evasive modding to get them inside the headlight housings + wiring and mounting ballasts and controlers.

 

[AutoXer]

My experience with the Xenonrider HID retrofit in my low beam:

1. I think there is something to the claims of light scatter when putting an HID retrofit into a stock reflector when the HID replaces a dual-filament bulb like an H4. Replacing that bulb with a single filament HID would probably result in the placement of the filament being wrong in the reflector, resulting in scatter. However, my experience has been that replacing the single filament H7 low-beam bulb in the FZ6 with the HID did not result in significant light scattering, probably because the filament of the HID bulb is pretty much where the single filament of the H7 bulb was.

2. AIMING IS CRITICAL - I measured the cut-off line of the light beam when it was aimed against my garage door and adjusted the bulb so that the cutoff was exactly at the height of the headlight. This results in the light beam's cutoff falling BELOW the height of the inside rear-view mirror in a Mazda Miata (likely the lowest car on the road one is likely to commonly encounter), so the light does not shine into the eyes of a driver ahead of me.

3. Beam pattern seems the same as stock, just brighter and with more reach and a little more spread (that is compared to Silverstar bulbs, which were already an improvement over stock bulbs). Better pattern and fill than with the dual headlight mod which I also have done (never was impressed with that mod). No need for using high beams anywhere so far, nor the dual headlight mod either - since I made my dual headlight mod switched I can turn the second beam off, and so far I haven't used it once since performing the HID install (other than to turn it on once and learning that its pretty worthless now that the HID is installed).

4. Not a single oncoming car has flashed its lights at me, no car ahead of me seemed to change lanes to get away from me when I was following them, and the guards at the entrance to the military base I work on have not said a word about it (other than once again starting to point out to me that I "have a headlight out" thanks to not utilizing the dual headlight mod anymore).

5. Finally, the 20 watt "savings" over the H7 bulb, plus not needing the dual headlight mod now, means I have extra power for heated grips (one of the greatest inventions ever for motorcycles, but that's another thread) and eventually a heated jacket liner.

Your own experience may vary ...

jZ