Tightwad HID kit

BOUGHT AND CAN'T WAIT FOR THEM TO GET HERE! This will be the last mod quite some time. Will make sure to post pics of the LED switchbacks and HID lights at night once I get them installed.

I was tired of cheap bulbs and didn't want high end bulbs to only blow after a few months. That and the strain on the weak electrical system. Going HID should be a good investment.

Photos should be taken with manual settings, and with the same exact settings, for a true comparison between the two. Most cameras take some tweaking to the settings to get a view as close to what our eyes would naturally see in the dark, so adjust for the halogen light, and keep those settings once you have the HIDs in.

[image: View Post]DownAndOutNYC, on 04 May 2012 - 10:05 PM, said:

Photos should be taken with manual settings, and with the same exact settings, for a true comparison between the two. Most cameras take some tweaking to the settings to get a view as close to what our eyes would naturally see in the dark, so adjust for the halogen light, and keep those settings once you have the HIDs in.

Eeeeh the front end is already torn apart in preparation for the install. No before and after shots. I do photography on the side so I'm confident I can get some good night shots.

The problem isn't good night shots. The problem is getting comparative before and after shots that truly show the light pattern so one can see just how much light is showing above what is supposed to be the cutoff line in a halogen reflector because of a HID drop in kit that will cause glare for oncoming traffic, even with as good as a reflector design the 6th gen has. You will have glare for oncoming traffic, and its very easy to adjust the settings on a camera to show otherwise.

I've been hearing a lot about this guaranteed glare for oncoming traffic, as well as the term "plug n blind" being used for the HID kits which utilize stock reflectors.. And I know that the stock reflector design can send unnecessary light above the cutoff if the bulb is 1 or 2mm out of position.
However after installing HIDs I find there's a lot less glare and I can kneel in front of the bike looking straight at the lights without any kind of problem. Looking at a normal car headlight even from above the cutoff leaves a blind spot in my eyes for a second or two, especially those with very yellow halogens.

I've had them installed for about 15 months now (approx 16,000km) running permanently day or night without any complaints or people flashing their lights at me.


I wouldn't mind seeing a direct comparison with manual camera settings though as I'm still curious how much difference there is.

[image: View Post]DragonCypher, on 05 May 2012 - 11:52 PM, said:

I've been hearing a lot about this guaranteed glare for oncoming traffic, as well as the term "plug n blind" being used for the HID kits which utilize stock reflectors.. And I know that the stock reflector design can send unnecessary light above the cutoff if the bulb is 1 or 2mm out of position.
However after installing HIDs I find there's a lot less glare and I can kneel in front of the bike looking straight at the lights without any kind of problem. Looking at a normal car headlight even from above the cutoff leaves a blind spot in my eyes for a second or two, especially those with very yellow halogens.

I've had them installed for about 15 months now (approx 16,000km) running permanently day or night without any complaints or people flashing their lights at me.


I wouldn't mind seeing a direct comparison with manual camera settings though as I'm still curious how much difference there is.

It would appear that your installation doesn't show much, if any glare but I think the issue is that with a "plug n blind" setup, there's too much luck involved in whether or not you'll get a good setup.

Unless this issue can be positively overcome, I shall be remining with my Nightbreakers, whicj I hjave to admit, provide a pretty stunning headlamp on both my VFRs and I've only had 2 blow in 10 years+.

[image: View Post]Skids, on 06 May 2012 - 02:01 AM, said:

[image: View Post]DragonCypher, on 05 May 2012 - 11:52 PM, said:

I've been hearing a lot about this guaranteed glare for oncoming traffic, as well as the term "plug n blind" being used for the HID kits which utilize stock reflectors.. And I know that the stock reflector design can send unnecessary light above the cutoff if the bulb is 1 or 2mm out of position.
However after installing HIDs I find there's a lot less glare and I can kneel in front of the bike looking straight at the lights without any kind of problem. Looking at a normal car headlight even from above the cutoff leaves a blind spot in my eyes for a second or two, especially those with very yellow halogens.

I've had them installed for about 15 months now (approx 16,000km) running permanently day or night without any complaints or people flashing their lights at me.


I wouldn't mind seeing a direct comparison with manual camera settings though as I'm still curious how much difference there is.

It would appear that your installation doesn't show much, if any glare but I think the issue is that with a "plug n blind" setup, there's too much luck involved in whether or not you'll get a good setup.

Unless this issue can be positively overcome, I shall be remining with my Nightbreakers, whicj I hjave to admit, provide a pretty stunning headlamp on both my VFRs and I've only had 2 blow in 10 years+.

I know that with tightwads kit the results are better than expected. If for some reason it does produce a lot of glare, whatever, I say. There are plenty of new cars on the road that come with HID lights stock and still blind the shit out of you.

One thing about reflector based light housings, it that by design they will have some light above the cutoff line, unlike (most) HID projector based lights, which have a very sharp cutoff. Some reflectors fair better then others (less light above the cutoff), but all will still have light above what should be the normal cutoff for the low beam, which may not be very apparent with a stock halogen bulb (which it was designed around). But put a HID bulb in a reflector housing made for a halogen light source, and that light bleed will become very apparent.

One good example of this difference between reflector and projector design that I can think of (done at night of course); Drive a vehicle on a dark unlit road with unlit overhead signs (the type normally on major highways that are 20 or so feet above). You'll note that with reflector based lights, the overhead signs will be reflecting light back to you, even with just the lowbeams, enough for you to read it. Try it with a projector based light, and you'll need to turn on your highbeams because there just isn't enough light above the cutoff to read it at all.

If there is that much light above the cutoff with just a halogen bulb in that reflector housing, just imagine how much more light there will be if you drop a HID in that reflector housing.