HID projector headlight install

[jwolffie]

Night shots, hard to capture the difference with the camera. They shine easily twice the distance of the stock lights.

[maxtog]

Night shots, hard to capture the difference with the camera. They shine easily twice the distance of the stock lights.

I think they are not adjusted correctly- the two lights are overlapping too much.  In fact, they seem to be overlapping exactly.  This results in a very bright spot in the middle and dimmer than expected on the sides.  I would spread them apart a bit.

Harder to tell about elevation... but they seem like they might be just about perfect.  They have a very nice pattern, although less light directly in front, close to the bike than I would want/expect.  Far better pattern than the HID H4 conversion I have.

[jwolffie]

I think they are not adjusted correctly- the two lights are overlapping too much.  In fact, they seem to be overlapping exactly.  This results in a very bright spot in the middle and dimmer than expected on the sides.  I would spread them apart a bit.

Harder to tell about elevation... but they seem like they might be just about perfect.  They have a very nice pattern, although less light directly in front, close to the bike than I would want/expect.  Far better pattern than the HID H4 conversion I have.

I don't remember the exact distance between the lights, it is only something like 9 or 10 inches, they are adjusted parallel to each other but far away it starts to look like one light with the camera, not so much in person. The angel eyes actually light up in front of the bike quite nicely.

[Flienlow]

So.... what does installing new projectors buy you vs doing something like this?

http://www.socalmotogear.com/GL1500-PROFESSIONAL-HID-KIT-p/gl15.htm
My New 2011 Kawasaki Concours 14 - HID Headlights and LED Running Lights Installed.


I imagine installing new projectors are better?

[Stephen.G.Fiddes]

Look at the pictures he posted above of the low-beam cutoff line against the wall, then at his high beam cutoff against the wall.  See how his is nice and clean, super efficiant, and the cutoff keeps the light from blinding other drivers?

Now pull your bike up to a wall.  See how yours is sparatic, wastes light energy (by throwing light where you don't need it), and blinds other drivers?  That's the difference.

Brighter isn't always better.  It's about light control. Once you have it controlled, then go brighter so you don't blind people

[RBX QB]

...

Brighter isn't always better.  It's about light control. Once you have it controlled, then go brighter so you don't blind people

That.

[Flienlow]

Look at the pictures he posted above of the low-beam cutoff line against the wall, then at his high beam cutoff against the wall.  See how his is nice and clean, super efficiant, and the cutoff keeps the light from blinding other drivers?

Now pull your bike up to a wall.  See how yours is sparatic, wastes light energy (by throwing light where you don't need it), and blinds other drivers?  That's the difference.

Brighter isn't always better.  It's about light control. Once you have it controlled, then go brighter so you don't blind people

That is not my bike in the Vid, just a video I stumbled upon. My thoughts are that while it may not be a perfect solution, it would be much better than stock, no? There is also the factor of not having to completely remove the front off of your bike, **** off the wife with bike parts in the oven, and also potentially F'ing up said parts. What about resealing the housing and not having it leak/fog up?

Don't get me wrong, I think this is an awesome mod, I was just wondering if it is worth the extra hassle and risk?

[maxtog]

That.

+1

[maxtog]

That is not my bike in the Vid, just a video I stumbled upon. My thoughts are that while it may not be a perfect solution, it would be much better than stock, no?

Not necessarily.  There is more light [with a non-projector H4 HID kit], but I am not impressed with what I ended up with as far as the pattern.  It is much worse than the stock H4 pattern.  So it is far less "better" than I thought it would be.  Was it worth it?  Not sure at this point.  I don't know how much the H4 HID kits [non projector] vary from vendor to vendor, but it is my understanding that probably all of them suffer from similar issues.

There is also the factor of not having to completely remove the front off of your bike, **** off the wife with bike parts in the oven, and also potentially F'ing up said parts. What about resealing the housing and not having it leak/fog up?

All true.

Don't get me wrong, I think this is an awesome mod, I was just wondering if it is worth the extra hassle and risk?

Perfectly valid question.

[Stephen.G.Fiddes]

That is not my bike in the Vid, just a video I stumbled upon. My thoughts are that while it may not be a perfect solution, it would be much better than stock, no?

It's not a perfect solution.  Is it better than stock?  Sure, you'll be able to see a bit more, but you'll also be quite litterally blinding oncoming drivers (as to them it's like you have your high-beams on ALL the time, but way brighter) so they're more likely to hit you. So if that's an improvement to you, go for it.

There is also the factor of not having to completely remove the front off of your bike, **** off the wife with bike parts in the oven, and also potentially F'ing up said parts. What about resealing the housing and not having it leak/fog up?

Easier to get forgiveness than permission.  Bake them while she's not at home. 

There's so many how-to's out there on doing this, that it's kindof hard to F*k up parts unless you start really doing crazy stuff like I tend to do.  (Like what happened with my 650...)
If you get the right kit, it's almost impossible to screw it up on the Connie because of how deep the buckets are. I bought a spare housing to do the 650 because it was a 3 week project initially, and 5 days when I re-did it.  but I would confidently do the Connie headlights in 1 day using my only housing based on all the info I've read and received here.

Don't get me wrong, I think this is an awesome mod, I was just wondering if it is worth the extra hassle and risk?

Yes. Period. Dot. End of story. (Unless you never ride at night, then keep it stock)

Not necessarily.  There is more light [with a non-projector H4 HID kit], but I am not impressed with what I ended up with as far as the pattern.  It is much worse than the stock H4 pattern.  So it is far less "better" than I thought it would be.  Was it worth it?  Not sure at this point.  I don't know how much the H4 HID kits [non projector] vary from vendor to vendor, but it is my understanding that probably all of them suffer from similar issues.

Really, the only good lighting setups are stock, and with projectors.  Just by nature HID bulbs don't at all work well in a reflector housing. They were designed for Projectors, and should only be used in such.  The cheap modding community in the late 90's early 2000's got a hold of straight bulbs and started making their headlights purple for the "Look at me I'm a H**o" factor, and that's where the phenomenon took off.

[jwolffie]

That is not my bike in the Vid, just a video I stumbled upon. My thoughts are that while it may not be a perfect solution, it would be much better than stock, no? There is also the factor of not having to completely remove the front off of your bike, **** off the wife with bike parts in the oven, and also potentially F'ing up said parts. What about resealing the housing and not having it leak/fog up?

Don't get me wrong, I think this is an awesome mod, I was just wondering if it is worth the extra hassle and risk?

I bought a roll of sealant with the projectors, I just added a little more sealer, heated it up and squished it together with pliers.
I think a good heat gun would work just as well as the oven, you just have to get the glue warm.

And yes, it is MUCH better than stock.