HID+LED Headlight Conversion Kit vs Bulb Upgrade

[mikeb2411]

I'm not getting very much info on this so I'll try it another way. I have been considering adding the HID+LED Conversion kit to my bike but have heard some negatives on the HID part of things. So, I started looking and reading and discovered that a lot of you are upgrading your bulbs to a brighter bulb...Sylvania and Phillips seem to be the front runners.

I like the idea of upgrading the bulbs to a brighter bulb over the HID conversion so maybe I can get some input on this...what is the best way to upgrade the bulbs (is there anything "special" that has to be done before upgrading)? What bulb do you guys recommend for the main lights?

Also, can the 2 smaller lights (are the smaller lights referred to as "City Lights"?) in the headlamp be upgraded to LED...if so, what LED are you guys using there?

One more thing, does anyone know what size bulb is in the headlamp? Anyone know what size bulb is in the 2 smaller lights in the headlamp?

Thanks guys!

[datsaxman@hotmail.com]

HIDs themselves do fail sometimes, butt it is the wiring kits with the tiny wires that usually seem to go bad.  Warranty is good.  You can get a similar kit for a lot less than the SoCal guys want though.

Disclaimer: HID lights are great, butt you need to match them up with a real HID reflector.  Which you DO NOT have on the C14.  So these things will put out a lot of light, not all of it going to the right places, and may pizz off oncoming motorists something fierce.  And not help you see a whole lot better in the process. 

I went back to regular high intensity bulbs for that reason. 


saxman

[maxtog]

I'm not getting very much info on this so I'll try it another way. I have been considering adding the HID+LED Conversion kit to my bike but have heard some negatives on the HID part of things. So, I started looking and reading and discovered that a lot of you are upgrading your bulbs to a brighter bulb...Sylvania and Phillips seem to be the front runners.

There are a lot of long and valuable threads on this topic already (as you have indicated).  HID is not a panacea- the beam they produce in the housing designed for H4 is sloppy and poorly defined and DOES increase glare on oncoming traffic.  They also have a warmup time, have lots of components to fail, etc.  But they do put out more light.

The "higher output" H4 (halogen) bulbs are a little brighter, but nowhere near what the claims make.  They are *NOT* "100% brighter" or such rubbish.  10% certainly.  15% maybe.  To me, it is still worth it.

I like the idea of upgrading the bulbs to a brighter bulb over the HID conversion so maybe I can get some input on this...what is the best way to upgrade the bulbs (is there anything "special" that has to be done before upgrading)? What bulb do you guys recommend for the main lights?

Nothing special, just pop in the new bulbs, like the Philips extreme series.

Also, can the 2 smaller lights (are the smaller lights referred to as "City Lights"?) in the headlamp be upgraded to LED...if so, what LED are you guys using there?

Yes they can, but I don't recommend it simply because every LED conversion I have seen for them has been DIMMER than the stock... so why bother?  I wanted to change them to yellow and much brighter to stand out more and used incandescent because the LED ones were probably 25% dimmer, which was a HUGE bummer.  I wish someone would make much much brighter ones (it is certainly possible... just nobody does in that form factor... yet... that I know of).  The only legal colors are white and yellow.

One more thing, does anyone know what size bulb is in the headlamp? Anyone know what size bulb is in the 2 smaller lights in the headlamp?

12V 5watt  wedge base.  It is in none of my manuals but I am fairly certain it is a 2827.

[rocknrod]

... So, I started looking and reading and discovered that a lot of you are upgrading your bulbs to a brighter bulb...Sylvania and Phillips seem to be the front runners.

One more thing, does anyone know what size bulb is in the headlamp? Anyone know what size bulb is in the 2 smaller lights in the headlamp?

Thanks guys!

I have used the Sylvania Silverstar HB2/H4 bulbs:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sylvania-Silverstar-Ultra-9003-HB2-SU-2-H4-Bulb-SEALED-/291215184900?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43cdc71404&vxp=mtr
And did in fact notice a brighter headlight.

The size are H4's. If you look into the headlight it says it on the rim of the bulb base.

[ZG]

I first did those Philips + bulbs that are sold by Murph's, they were a little better than the oem but IMO a waste of $. I then did the HID kit from A&R, which I love and have never had any issues. Gumby did the same A&R kit though and has had problems at least once if not twice. 


FWIW I don't think A&R even offers this kit anymore for the C14, so I hear, I could be wrong on that. 

[EpicBadass]

I'm not getting very much info on this so I'll try it another way. I have been considering adding the HID+LED Conversion kit to my bike but have heard some negatives on the HID part of things. So, I started looking and reading and discovered that a lot of you are upgrading your bulbs to a brighter bulb...Sylvania and Phillips seem to be the front runners.

I like the idea of upgrading the bulbs to a brighter bulb over the HID conversion so maybe I can get some input on this...what is the best way to upgrade the bulbs (is there anything "special" that has to be done before upgrading)? What bulb do you guys recommend for the main lights?

Also, can the 2 smaller lights (are the smaller lights referred to as "City Lights"?) in the headlamp be upgraded to LED...if so, what LED are you guys using there?

One more thing, does anyone know what size bulb is in the headlamp? Anyone know what size bulb is in the 2 smaller lights in the headlamp?

Thanks guys!

The city lights are a 194/168 etc etc.

I replaced mine with these LED's that I had lying around from a previous project:
http://www.amazon.com/Zone-Tech-20-smd-Light-Replacement/dp/B009YKQR2C

My main concern in upgrading the city lights was color, seeing as the HID can overpower them.

From what I'm hearing you would be best off upgrading the bulbs to a brighter H4.  I retrofitted Bixenon projectors into my headlight housings which is a long project and also can be a fairly pricey one.  For what it's worth I would probably run a higher output bulb before I went HID's without retrofitting projectors.  As said before here, the headlight shrouds just are not meant for HID bulbs and will not do a great job of directing the light to where it's most useful.  Will they work? Yes, But not to 100%

[RBX QB]

Just came across this review of a Cyclops LED headlight bulb... http://www.advpulse.com/adv-products/led-headlight-bulbs-make-aux-lights-redundant/

It's for an H11 (ours are H4, which they do offer), but I thought it was a decent comparison to stock halogen. I haven't decided to buy these yet... I rarely ride after dark..

[VirginiaJim]

For what riding I do after dark, the stockers work ok for me but thanks for bringing this up.. 

[Conrad]

I like these bulbs myself.


$31.49/pair

http://smile.amazon.com/Philips-X-treme-Vision-Headlight-Bulbs/dp/B00QJWUPC6/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1443697458&sr=1-1&keywords=philips+x-treme+vision+130+h4

VERY bright and very white. They make my city lights look yellow.

Plus they're 130% brighter!     (yeah, right)

[dolomoto]

I converted my headlights to Cyclops LED modules. Despite the lack of low beam cutoff, I am very happy with them. I have not gotten "flashed" by oncoming traffic any more with these than my previous halogen bulbs.

I found City Light replacement bulbs at the local NAPA store.

The LED headlight modules put out much more usable light than the halogen bulbs.