HID: to buy or not to buy

[pug]

I found a HID kit but with Hella ballasts in Uk (WWW.HIDS4U.CO.UK).

This is the e-mail I received from the guy (Ian):

'Thankyou for your email.

It will be cheaper to buy a car kit for sure. I have hella ballasts that i can supply you with. could you tell me how long the leads would need to be? would the ballast be located at the back of the fairing.

See my answers below too:

Thanks

Ian

I am interested to buy an HID kit for my bike ('03 Honda Blackbird), but i have few questions.

1) Since my bike uses H7 for both dipped and main beam, isn't more cost effective to buy

a car H7 kit than 2 motorcycle kits? [WWW.HIDS4U.CO.UK] yes

2) Is it really a reliability issue for the ballast when you 'flash' your main HID beam? (I am aware of the delay) [WWW.HIDS4U.CO.UK] no. flash is instant, but the brightness is not 100% for 1-2seconds, but its still bright at the start. i have HIDs in my main beam. i am sure the bulb life will be shorter than the dip beam, but we are still talking years not weeks

3) The kit I would like most would be Hella ballast (at least for the dipped beam which stays always on) and rebased 4300K bulbs.

Is not clear in your site If I can get this. What do you suggest and what is the price?[WWW.HIDS4U.CO.UK] I would be able to offer you this kit for 250 pounds

4) Do you ship in Greece and if so, what is the adittional cost?[WWW.HIDS4U.CO.UK] shipping would be 26pounds to greece.

'

So this price is about 500$ for both beams.

Is the price right, considering that I might have to pay 20% tax if I buy from US.

Questions:

Is it really worth it to HID the high beam or dipped is enough?

From what I remember from previous posts the best place to put the ballasts is inside the fairing behind the headlight. How long the leads need to be?

Is it worth to pay more for the Hella ballasts ?

[XXBIRD]

Is it really worth it to HID the high beam or dipped is enough?

I personally like it with the HID on highs but you cannot flash it. It takes more than couple of seconds to ignite the gas to full charge. On the other hand, it is so bright even during the daytime, it will make you visible for sure.

From what I remember from previous posts the best place to put the ballasts is inside the fairing behind the headlight. How long the leads need to be?

I have posteed some pictures a while back with install locations. Installed the larger piece behind the intrument cluster with heavy-duty velcros and the other bits to inner side of the air rams with velcro again.

Request for at least 30cm for the cables so you can tie the extra bit up once you install the nose fairing.

Is it worth to pay more for the Hella ballasts ?

Expect to pay $160 for a single unit and $300 for the pair. Anything more than that you are paying for the "brand" not the light.

[2equis]

Buy 1 bulb/ballast for the low beam. Hella, Bosch, Phillips - they're all good. Spend the extra money now on quality components and you won't be riding home in the dark someday :shock: HID high beam is overkill on the bird and you can't flash-to-pass with it. I used 3M VHB tape and mounted the ballast inside my fairing. Close enough for the pigtail, never had a heat issue with the ballast.

[HERBXX]

I find the initiall flash/pop of firing up the the hid high beam gets attention, I dont use it like that to often , but it works for me . BTW i think i have about a 14 inch lead oon my hella/bosch ballast , mounted behind the the cluster, for the high beam . Im sure 12 inches would be enough.

If you use nissan/infinity ballast you can extend the wires between the

the ballast and igniter( i have my ballst on the subframe near the handle to help put the bird on the center stand . The igniter to the bulb is mabe 8 inches , but the igniter is small enough to do almost any where.

Herb