HID Spotlights

[terrydj]

Been thinking?? of putting a couple of HID Spotlights where the driving lights are
Gong to have one Spotlight (Right side)
Flood on the left
Remember we are on the proper side of the road here in the land down under:yes:
Their going to be set up with a switch when on will work only when the High beam is on
So what are yah thoughts??:icon_cool:

[Hornblower]

Been thinking?? of putting a couple of HID Spotlights where the driving lights are
Gong to have one Spotlight (Right side)
Flood on the left
Remember we are on the proper side of the road here in the land down under:yes:
Their going to be set up with a switch when on will work only when the High beam is on
So what are yah thoughts??:icon_cool:

Might be OK but lights mounted higher would be better. Also, I'm not sure HID's are necessary. There are some pretty good LED driving lights available now. They're small, use less power, and are really bright. For example, have you considered these:

https://www.clearwaterlights.com//

[terrydj]

Might be OK but lights mounted higher would be better. Also, I'm not sure HID's are necessary. There are some pretty good LED driving lights available now. They're small, use less power, and are really bright. For example, have you considered these:

https://www.clearwaterlights.com//

Yeah at a $1000 american $1250 Australian for brightness
Nahhh stick with HID's
Their brighter
Their well proven
They use heaps less power than standard
And for $60 off Ebay, 4 inch I can do a hell of a lot more with the $950 saved
And I like my Spotlights mounted low
To me its lots more light on the road
Don't need to see anything 3 meters off the ground:icon_cool:

[srt8-in-largo]

You do understand that putting an HID bulb into a halogen reflector housing is not an HID lighting system, no?

An HID system (i.e. bulb, ballast, AND a proper HID reflector) is indeed brighter and more efficient than halogen... but fitting $60 eBay crap into your lights ain't.

The Clearwater lights linked above are top notch quality and performance, hence the price. Rigid Industries (http://www.rigidindustries.com/led-lighting/50231) are good too and a bit cheaper.

The Morimoto Mini (http://www.theretrofitsource.com/complete-retrofit-kits/bi-xenon-mini-stage-3-kit-d2s.html#.VPkTdOFmqza) from The RetrofitSource is a full retrofittable HID SYSTEM, not a hodge podge of mis-matched pieces kluged together.

[terrydj]

Sorry
Must be the way us Australians talk but I did say 4 inch???
And I did say I will be putting a couple of HID Spotlights where the driving lights are ??
And are they really a $1000 better
I mean what kind of light is a $1000 better????? :icon_cool:
Here's a Link to what they will be
Link: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/231359795101?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649

[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:icon_cool:

[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.