I am using a YBR250 at present and wanted to upgrade the headlight. Too many near misses at night with speed bumps. The dealer told me to watch out as the bike has plastic lens and there might be too much heat with a high output lamp. The lens might yellow and crack.
Anyway, I upgraded to a high output bulb without any problems. I did buy a low profile HID kit for my Guzzi but the the bulb unit extends too far into the headlamp unit. I might invest in an after market headlight unit as I value my life more than bodywork aesthetics!
Uprated halogen bulbs do (i.e. more than a 55W bulb) but as the HID kits generally run at only 35W the heat output is roughly the same.
What's the bulb in the Guzzi jonnyf? It's possible to get shorter bulb in some fitments, for example for replacing a H7 bulb to an HID kit you can get a standard sized H7 bulb or a shorter one called a H7R.
The H7R is generally intended for those applications into a standard reflector lamp and not a projector style one to help reduce glare and beam scatter.
It's still got a H7 plug on the bottom of it but the glass part of the bulb is physically shorter. Being shorter means the light is focussed better into a reflector headlamp and there's much less chance of blinding other drivers and riders with the 'naked' light from a regular length bulb protruding too far out into the lamp.
I though the part of the hid lamp that glows HAS to been in the same place as the standard halogen. I know some folks have fitted spacers to make this happen.
Oh and HID verses halogen.......night and day, thats the difference!
I reckon that upwards of a mile is now lit up on main beam
The dip on my beema is already HID, which makes the mains seem dim, so popping into the shop tomorrow to see actual kit. Getting into my fairing area around bulb access is a pain but once set up will need no further maintenance, when switching twin mains on the dip stays on so should be able to go aircraft spotting on hump back bridges at night.
The only other thing to consider with a HID install is the way the kit actually works.
Ideally the ballasts like to charge up slowly, you'll actually see this as the bulb brightening slowly up to it's full luminance when you first turn the lights on.
However! As most bikes now have always-on headlights (since circa 2002 if memory serves) this can be a little problematic for HID kits.
You see, you turn the ignition on and the lights will try to 'warm up' then just as they start building the charge in the ballasts the current drops away immediately... as you're now starting your bike! Once the bike has started the lights then, of course, start to 'charge' again and you're away.
But it's that initial on-charging...-off-on-charging... that can knacker the ballasts out quite quickly.
Some people I've seen have retrofitted a light switch in their bikes to get around this potential issue. Having always-on lights isn't actually the law and more of a Gentlemen's agreement between manufacturers and safety groups.
well after a little adventure to the local sorting office i have the unit and will be of to the garage this morning to have a play, if the box is anything to go by the unit is very small.
I'm a bit ignorant where it comes to electrics.
Could I fit one of these bulbs to my 94' naked Trident?
The bulb in at present is a joke but it does have an off switch on the lights so starting with the lights on would not be a problem.
Think they do a kit for pretty much any bike with 12 volt sparks but i'm NOT an expert got mine of ebay just fitted it very very simple job some nice tidy robust looking plugs n sockets live to battery could be as bit longer. From my limited experience gotta be better if you have H4 (TWIN FILAMENT) lighting because of the delay in warming up. The H4 has a gizmo for dip to main the bulb does not go of. Will give this a whirl on the GT 550 and if it works out would seriously consider one for my PAN ST 1100.
If you dont want your lights on before your engine is running, follow this procedure......
Sit on bike, side stand up.
Press and HOLD the starter button.
Turn the key to on.....the bike should not start. The lights will remain off. At this point you might want to check its in neutral, but on my bike its not necessary.
Your starter button still held on, now pull in the clutch. Bike starts, let go of starter, lights come on
Fitted HID mains to match HID dip, what a palaver, stripped most of front of bike down plus handlebars and top mount and side panels to make a bit of working room, just about found some room to put in the canbus ballasts [slightly bigger than plain ones] plenty of silicon and pushed into top fairing, not much room due to servos for screen and suspension. The units have a thing in them to stop sensor on bike telling me I have a blown bulb when using a lower wattage, it appears to work. Not been out yet to see if its been worth a days work.
I bought a HID kit for my Guzzi two years ago after an incident with speed bumps one night. Both are still in the garage. There was not enough room in the headlight housing so I went for an extra high output bulb instead. Did the trick.
On a side note. I bought a Yamaha YBR250. This came with a puny 35w bulb. The reason? Built down to a price. The headlamp lens is plastic and is supposed to yellow and crack with higher wattage bulbs. Anyway, I considered that being able to see where I was going at night was more important than replacing the headlight. Uprated this bulb as well. Two years down the line; no problems. Could be our colder climate
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