HID Spotlights

[srt8-in-largo]

Oops, did I read something in your post that you didn't write? Sorry man.

Strike most of my post above; I'd be willing to give these a shot.

If they do crap out, well, you didn't lose a lot, but if they hold up, you saved yourself a ton of cash. The price of the units above are really only justified in pro or critical applications where a proven design is absolutely mandatory... or if you just have the money to blow. For auxiliary lighting... why not give these a shot?

I've never heard of using a spotlight on one side (the side of oncoming traffic) and a flood on the other. Brilliant actually! I may have to borrow that idea.

[terrydj]

Oops, did I read something in your post that you didn't write? Sorry man.

Strike most of my post above; I'd be willing to give these a shot.

If they do crap out, well, you didn't lose a lot, but if they hold up, you saved yourself a ton of cash. The price of the units above are really only justified in pro or critical applications where a proven design is absolutely mandatory... or if you just have the money to blow. For auxiliary lighting... why not give these a shot?

I've never heard of using a spotlight on one side (the side of oncoming traffic) and a flood on the other. Brilliant actually! I may have to borrow that idea.

Mate its the "Roos"
After it rains their are zillions on the roads out West eating the new grass that's just had the dust washed off it so you need a flood light???
The spots just so it gives yah a heads up for the distance

[srt8-in-largo]

I like the idea; maybe somebody with an adventure riding background and good experience with aux lighting can chime in. Deer present the same problem in most areas of the states.

One main difference between automotive lights and aux lighting is that auto lights are designed with vertical "cutoffs"; that is, the beam is meant to spread horizontally and the vertical spread is limited. I don't *believe* such cutoffs are built into most aux lighting, so dimming these lights for oncoming traffic might be a good idea.

A common halogen headlight may put out 1,000 to 1,500 lumens. An HID system may put out in the ballpark of 3,000 lumens. The Clearview and Rigid Industry lights will spec light output in addition to providing information about beam pattern. This would justify the price for some people, the fact that you KNOW what you're getting. IIRC the top tier Clearview set of lights will throw 12,000 lumens down the road! (which is an incredible amount of light)

Lights like on eBay that just say "3 times brighter than the same powered halogen bulb" are a bit of a crap shoot... but as a leisure rider with room for trial and error, it's feasible to do a little testing. There are some cheap gems out there but not always.