HID H4 kit-terrible!

[mr blackstock]

G'day,

I recently bought an HID conversion kit, fits straight into an H4 socket.  It cost me around $65 from the U.K.  I installed it and was very disappointed.  I reinstalled my austar 100/80W and prefered my own bulb!

maybe I bought one too cheaply, I am new to HID technology, but I was amazed at how little better it was over an expensive H4 Phillips bulb.  Also, the way the light was spread over the road was terrible, as though the bulb was skewed to one side. 

If someone knows of a way to get great HID results please let me know...

Cheers, Gareth

[IceFJ]

Hi Gareth,

The skew might be be because they drive on the wrong side of the road over in the UK and the kit you have might not be suitable for driving on the right side....
-just a thought, as I have no experience with HID

Regards,
Magnus

[IceFJ]

Ouch...   
I see it now that you are from down under and actually DO drive on the left so please ignore my previous comment

Regards,
Magnus

[JMR]

 I thought the reflective surface in the headlight housing had to be the correct shape to take advantage of HID?

[mr blackstock]

It seems that the bulb has to be oriented correctly in the headlight housing to take the most advantage of the HID.  I was very disappointed, perhaps I bought a con.  I tested a few headlight bulbs I had with a light meter, photography one, and the austar 100/80 was far better than the HID bulb I bought.

I thought IceFj was taking the piss outa me with that wrong side deal....

Cheers, Gareth

[airheadPete]

Got an HID in my KLR650. It's a bit of an improvement, but mine has a forward shield that translates fore and aft for high and low beam. I understand that there's some important engineering to be done to match the light source to the reflector.
Looking at yours, I'm afraid that yes, you may have gone too cheap. I don't think I've seen any that are just a bare bulb.
At this point, LEDs are coming on so quickly that I don't think I'd do another HID. GE already has (pricey) retrofit kits for older, standard sealed beams. I'm going to go in that direction.

[Antonn3]

Hi Gareth,  are the pics you have posted of your HID kit?
If so, is the bulb a single  element bulb?
On the kit I have, there is a motor at the bulb base that moves the filament within the  shield for beam orientation between high and low beam.
Is the kit you have Bi xenon? If yours  is a single element kit , it might simply increase brightness and not change the light beam.
Some kits would have the low and high filaments side by side, but those usually only have the High beam as the Xenon filament, stay away from those as the low beam is useless.
What you want is a Bi Xenon bulb, (for low and high)  I think they usual go by H4-3 type bulbs .  I went with the 55 watt version.

Good luck
Tony

[mr blackstock]

Hello,

The light was bi filiament, no motor for a high and low beam, just switching between the two.  The picture posted is the same product I bought.
Here is the actual ad.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/290931340110?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_4085wt_713

I might try HID again, but only if another member here verifies the brightness.

cheers, Gareth

[ccsct203]

I installed a HID kit 2 years ago and the added light is great...when it works
Some days I have to restart the bike to fire the bulb.
Mine uses the solenoid over the bulb for the high and low beam from DDM tuning