K11 Owners Group

[Sugar]

Guys / Gals,



Saw these things on Ebay. They are from HK and are selling for a song, however the freight tends to kill the whole deal.

Has anyone ever installed one?

Plus's??

Minuses?

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110199906531&ih=001&category=32628&ssPageName=STORE:PROMOBOX:NEWLIST#LIST[url]
_________________
Regards,

John

KOG#57
Ulysses#36185
'96 K1100LT-SE

[Euripides]

My comments are: 1. I find it hard to believe it has no heat output? Why is the total amperage draw of the ballast not stated? 2. I don't like operaton of the bulb moving in and out of the socket to go from high to low beam. I suspect this could be a source of problems? I prefer a stationary bulb. 3. I would be suspect of the ballast causing electromagnetic interference (EMI), i.e. radio noise interference. This could interfere with the operation of other electronic or computer controlled devises such as the abs, fuel injection, ignition, gps, am/fm radio, tape/cd player and cell phone computers. 4. What happens when the bulb burns out? Are replacements readily available at low cost? 5. Why are these not readily available in the USA? I may be old fashioned but there are too many unknowns for me to be comfortable with this system. However, I reserve the right to change my mind at a later date. If you are considering upgrading your lighting, I suggest to look at what Eastern Beaver offers. His equipment is first class and uses low cost and easily obtainable parts and is fairly priced and his shipping charge is very low. - Euripides

[max]

OK - from experience (see end)...

Pluses:

- whiter light (more noticeable, easier for older eyes)
- only draws about 35w for about 180w of equivalent lumens output
- bi-xenon means only one bulb, so no feeble tag-along halogen bulb for full beam

Minuses:
- have to find a place to fit & wire the ballast, relay unit - within reach of their OEM leads (at least for the ballast-to-bulb ... that line will have kilovolts on it while the arc starts, so no extending!!)
- have to modify the OEM headlight dust/water rubber cap to fit
- on-the-road swaps back to a normal spare bulb are very difficult (depends on your wiring)
- HID capsules don't always allow the arc to fit into exactly the geometry of the filament placement of the halogen bulbs - thus the reflector & lens may actually work against the bulb - read more glare, less focus, less beam distance
- bulbs put out less heat (watts) but running temperature is higher and the light has a lot of UV content. On the K headlight, with a glass lens & metal reflector, it's probably survivable, but watch any plastic that could be exposed for deterioration. This design at least has a metal mount - mine were plastic, and failing.
- Relay unit requires you to cut your OEM headlight loom to fit the 3-wire connectors; also, K series Hi-Low swtches may "glitch" - eg go low-off-hi - depending on age, and you may end up with a headlight that GOES OUT depending on the switch as you undip your light (see below - this could be a fatal problem).
- if the bulb goes, you will need to remove the headlight to clean out the sulphur "film" from the gas leak - it does cloud the lens.

DANGERS
- non-projector headlight designs can throw off a LOT of glare (read dangerous dazzle/afterimages if adjusted aggressively, coming over a hill etc) to oncoming traffic if retrofitted with HIDs - thus why it's illegal in NZ (and a lot of other places). Most countries specify that HID headlights being fitted is only allowed with headlight levelling; this is even worse on a "high up" headlight like the Ks.
- Your HID only had one "bulb": no backup filament. Often the ballast units are designed to not restart a failed arc immediately, to protect the bulb. On a car with 2 lights - bad but survivable... On a bike? Not good at all.

So - from having had a PIAA of basically the same design, with the "light died" problem having happened (luckily in twilight only) I've gone back to standard halogen (the Philips 4200 55/60w Bluevision) and home-made headlight relays, with a yellow 55w foglight underneath for backup/visibility... The HID was nice. but in the end, pushing it too much for the headlight design, IMHO.

PS - no issues with electronic interference or loading on existing wiring; the HID was fused separately at 20A for the startup surge.

Maybe aim for some good running lights (maybe HID specific?, designed for them from the start) instead?

Cheers

Max

[Das Boot]

I would have been interested if they were made my this HK
http://www.hk-usa.com/
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Dom