HID light kit, can anyone recommend?

Looking at this kit on fleabay for my 2008:

http://www.ebay.com/...984.m1438.l2649 This kit has one slim ballast and igniter, so it should be more compact than most other kits.

Has anybody bought this one, if so good/bad/ advice?  any other kits preferred?  ones to stay away from?  you know the drill.......

From everything I have read so far, looks like most stick with the 8000k illumination.   I kind of like the 10000k was thinking of ordering that - has anybody experimented with the different intensity's?  kind of hard to do "real world" i know not very realistic.

thanks!

http://www.wiremybike.com/

Just looked at the site, thanks Veefer - question - why nothing over 6000k intensity offered there?

Do you guys prefer each have its own ballast?  do they tend to fail quickly or burn out bulbs?

As the light gets into the higher 'K levels, blue transitioning to purple, it gets useless for lighting the road.

The ricers and BMW/merc fanbois love them because they look kewl, but you really can't see a damn thing once you leave the city limits at night.

I have the Nova HID lights.  They are nice and bright but to be quite honest with you, I would never buy them again. Between the four I have on my bike, and the four I have on my truck, I have replaced the ballasts at least 4 or 5 times in two years.  They are lifetime warranty but the dealer who sells them in the lower mainland of BC moves his business more often that I wash my bike.  Usually when I show up for a new ballast, he is not there and has passed the problem off to one of his partners or staff.

If I were to do it all over again, I would go for the Pias.

[image: View Post]Veefer800Canuck, on 16 October 2012 - 09:03 PM, said:

As the light gets into the higher 'K levels, blue transitioning to purple, it gets useless for lighting the road.

The ricers and BMW/merc fanbois love them because they look kewl, but you really can't see a damn thing once you leave the city limits at night.

And you definitely don't want to try to drive/ride in the rain at night with HIDs of higher temperature than 6000k.

As Randy said, cheaper kits don't last very long, you need to spend a bit to get reliable hardware.

A better option than just slinging HID lamps into reflectors not designed for them is to fit HID projectors. If you are happy to take the housing apart - it's easy - then these things are just about plug and play... the projector is designed to fit into a H4 housing and is secured by threaded lockrings, and then you get sensational low/high beam but without blinding oncoming drivers, because the projector has a very good cut-off pattern.

http://www.theretrof...products_id=927

[image: Posted Image]

Putting HID bulbs in your stock housing is bad for oncoming traffic and illegal.  Don't be part of that crowd.  If you want to do it right look here:
http://www.theretrof...e.com/index.php

Retro fit is the only way to go.  Also cheap ballasts = crappy flickering and lower bulb output and life.  Each bulb should have its own ballast.  That's how they are designed.  Stay away from eBay for your components because you get what you pay for.  I replaced my cheap Xentec ballasts with the Morimoto ballasts at the site above and the difference was huge using the same bulbs.  The cost was significantly more but the quality was worth it to me.  I don't want to keep swapping ballasts or bulbs every couple of years.

Everytime I see someone running cheesy HID bulbs in their stock housings I just turn on my MR2 lights and when the projectors drown out their crappy spread it makes me grin.

[image: View Post]Veefer800Canuck, on 16 October 2012 - 08:04 PM, said:

http://www.wiremybike.com/

+1 on this kit for quality. This is from a VFRD member. http://www.vfrdiscus...conversion-kit/
With that said, just want to also point out that simply swapping in the HID bulb is not legal. Neither is going over the speed limit...

If you simply install a regular 8000K halogen bulb and do a side by side comparison with a regular halogen bulb, both of same wattage, and aim it at a garage door from 20 feet away, you'll observe the regular halogen bulb puts out a well defined cut-off pattern. The 8000K bulb on the other hand would not have that same well defined cut-off pattern. You'll find light bleeding into the area above the cut-off pattern. This is due to light scatter at the higher color temperatures. Now if you switch those bulbs to HIDs of same color temps, the same effect is amplified due to the higher lumens (brightness) output. This means you will not only be throwing glare into oncoming traffic, but also with greater intensity.

More info on cause and effect of glare: http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC1771460/

Conclusion, if you have the $$ and want to do it right, do a "retrofit". In fact, put together a kit and a step by step You Tube vid, and share/sell it here.

Have had good service from the kit from Cycle-Gear tm. - got two sets last year at Christmas time for half price,about $55 for a set.
  Must be bright because a bud got a ticket from LEO who was following his bike and the LEO saw the brightness from behind him when  the  the traffic cleared and he switched them on.
  Have put kits in 2 different bikes in the stock nacells and have not had a problem.
    Do not ride much at night however, because of where I live. Will not put a kit in the 6 gen because the stock lights are MUCH better than the 5 gen.