Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

[gautam_k]

hey guys,
one more stupid question..

i want to know what do we mean by projectors in terms of HID's...
i am going to convert my bike's electricals to full DC... will HID's with projectors provide better lighting during night..? will this be white light (like xenon)
also does angel eyes provide good lighting?

thanks
grishm

projectors are optical devices that just manipulate light WITHOUT producing it. When someone says HID-projector setup, it means they are using HID lamps as a light source and projectors to throw the light in a uniformed and even manner. Most bikes have halogens as light source and reflectors to throw and spread the light. HID's are most effective with projectors only. If HIDs are fitted into stock reflectors then it produces huge amounts of glare for oncoming traffic. The color of the light depends on the temperature. 4300K is the optimum color temperature for riding in all conditions. Going lower(eg 3000k) means the light will turn yellower and going higher (eg 6000k) wll turn the light bluish.
angel eyes are nothing but LED rings that border the round projector lenses. It is just to enhance the looks of the bike and doesnt help in better lighting.
Some links: HID, projectors basics, Technical knowhow of projectors and HIDs

Thanks for the detailed response! How does one know if its an AC/DC system? I am assuming that if you can run the headlight without starting the engine its a DC system. Do correct me if I am wrong. The bike's charging system is pretty weak and can't handle higher wattage bulbs.

Are there any good 35W HIDs you recommend?

Yes if you can switch on the headlight without starting your engine, then its a bike with DC electricals. I haven't used HIDs yet. So can'e recommend you any. If anyone asks me about HID recommendations, i automatically refer them to navnish

Thanks very much for pointing these posts.

anytime

But AFAIK 35W = 35/12 = ~3Amps, which is not a big deal as my battery is of 7Ah.Moreover i m not gonna use it for whole day. Max 3-4 Hours.Correct me if i'm wrong.


What if i save 35W from my parking Light and 5W from No. Plate light. I have already done some LED work to my ride.so i guess i can save few more Watts if required.

regards

Most AC bikes' stators have 7(or 8) poles, on these the copper wire is winded, however out of these 7(or 8) poles only 3(or 4) of them charge the battery, the remaining 4 poles give current to the AC headlight. So if your stator is producing 100W then only 50W is going to the battery and the other 50W is powering up headlights, parking and licence plate lights. The battery is in turn providing power to other things like indicators, brake lights, console lights, ignition system etc which all adds up to atleast 45W if not more.

So the battery is pretty much loaded up as it is. So if you add 35W HID to the battery then the battery will drain up pretty quick. Even 3-4 hours is good enough. Even if the battery holds up for more than 3-4 hours, it will drain sooner or later and you may have to ride on some lonely highway stretch with no dividers and lots of potholes with no light Plus you will always have to always balance day and night riding. Meaning, you won't be able to ride 2 nights in a row. So, this setup is a very risky thing to run on. Not recommended at all.

And i don't think the parking lights have 35W worth bulbs. Because then it will be as bright as the headlight itself. parking lights are mostly 5-10W each. Same with license plate bulbs. And saving wattage on the AC front wouldn't help because HID will be connected to the battery.
Go through the 2 links posted above in this post. You will understand the basics better.

[Adityaask]

hey guys

I am currently using a 55w 4300K hid on my ZMR . Now i am planning to buy a 55w 6000k bulb for night driving . Will there be much difference in visibility at night . And one more questions ... are projectors much better than hids in terms of visibility ??

[anindyameister]

Hi,

LM317 used here as a series resistor to regulate the current to the LEDs, it is necessary for all types of bikes, this setup will not work for long on AC.
Interms of illumination it is hopeless..but can be used as DRLs.

So is there no way of getting road illumination out of LEDs ? How about an SMD LED array of 50-60 elements ? I guess it can be fitted inside a medium size fog lamp housing.

[pankajshirke]

Hello All,
Did one more thing to my bike regarding lighting
Instead of fitting Ambassador headlight in Pulsar dome,here is a straight fit solution

Go for Old Bajaj Discover 125(the first version of Discover) round headlight assembly which is close to 8 inch in diameter(Normally you get 7 inch diameter round headlights) and which is bigger than the ambassador headlight.
Secondly I put a Philips Xtreme power bulb of 60/55 watts
Amazing illumination I get due to this bigger headlight
Due to this 8 inch headlight,the beam spread is excellent.I mean to say you can view wider and also longer.
On a two lane highway you can view both sides of the road as well as around 500 meters longer.
What more illumination you want.
Finally I found a headlight dome whose beam spread was matching with TVS Victor GLX headlight.
This discover round headlight costs around 650 rupees from Auth Bajaj Spares shop(Atleast in Pune I got this)

[discoverVinu]

So is there no way of getting road illumination out of LEDs ? How about an SMD LED array of 50-60 elements ? I guess it can be fitted inside a medium size fog lamp housing.

Well there is a solution, instead of 1W leds you can go for 3W LEDs they are much better in terms of illumination.I doubt whether the Mudule with so many SMD LEDs come cheap for automotive use!!!

[NANOtechnology]

Hello All,

I recently got a China HIT kit costing Rs. 1850 installed in my Bajaj Discover 125CC DTSi (2005 Model) bike which has an Amron Battery of 9amphere from Asian Enterprises based in Mumbai at Kandivali (w).








Regards,
Apoorva.

First things first.

The projector that your using is china made.
The pink semicircle ring your talking about should the the angel eye directly connected to the pilot lamps i assume.
Its also clear that your using a 9 amp battery, so you do have a healthy backup.

Now coming to your problem.

The indications of everything working perfectly for the 1st day conclude that the connections of everything are perfect.
As you also mention that you used a separate switch to operate the HID, it simply proves that it differs with the existing headlight line which is on AC and not on DC so the mech has wired that switch directly from the battery.

now your saying that the hid did work, but later stopped working and maybe you tried to switch it on/off a few times and all that happened was you could hear a noise from the ballast and nothing happened.

Well, this is a very clear sign of DRAINED BATTERY.

Whenever we hear a (crizzr) sound from the ballast and the bulb not switching ON, it means that the battery cannot handle the load of the bulb.

Also you mentioned that the speedo light stopped working, again a very very clear indication of battery drain.

Now i ask you 1 important question.

DID YOU CONVERT YOUR BIKE TO FULL DC AFTER COIL REWINDING AND APE RR INSTALLATION ???

I did ask you to do that before, maybe you might have skipped that step and then gone for a hid kit directly.

You will need to get your coil re-winded with a single wire, once you do that, you'll actually cut of the existing AC line (which should be useless in HID's case) and use that power to charge the battery instead, so we get double the charge.

In stock setup what actually happens is that there are (for example) 8 poles in the coil, 4 of them charge the battery and the remaining 4 give power to the AC headlight.
So as i keep on repeating a zillion of times, still say that you need all these 8 poles together to ONLY and ONLY charge the battery, so that the battery can remain healthy and still provide enough current the the headlight (hid) and run the rest of the electricals together.

What you might have probably done is, just install the new headlamp from a new 9 amp battery keeping everything else as it is.
your current coil is giving only upto 2 amps to the battery to get charged, but the hid needs minimum 3~3.5 amps to keep itself glow, so the puts a load of -1.5 amps (-ve) on the battery. Your draining it to the core.
So, just rewind, use all the 8 poles instead of 4, and you'll get 4 amps steady, to keep everything run happily day and night.

I hope this helps.

BTW, i don't think that the kit would be faulty, the angel eye must have stopped working because of the voltage drop, your battery might have been so well drained that it would have been difficult for it to even provide 12 volts, that might be the reason of nothing working perfectly.

[apoorvasheth]

HID Kit issues......

Hi Nano,


Thanks a lot for your reply! I am happy to know that you still remember my queries and that you have always come forward to assist me without charging anything which is much appreciable! From all the interactions that we had long ago in the month of Jan, this year and looking at your detail posting below, it seems like you are an expert in biking when it comes to tweaks, modifications, technical jargons of bike parts, HID's especially which I am truly amazed with!
But, something terrible has happened with me which has made my mood upset from this morning itself.




a)


b)




This Asian Enterprises are extremely shameless, dirty people, they believe in no after sales service and sell defective products.

I have no idea what's going on? At this time, the only focus I have is on that crook from Asian Enterprises, Kandivali.



Regards,
Apoorva.

[Prakritij]

[QUOTE=apoorvasheth;706635]
[FONT=Book Antiqua][SIZE=3]I have no idea what's going on? At this time, the only focus I have is on that crook from Asian Enterprises, Kandivali.
[QUOTE]

OT: yours is just an example among millions others wherein customers are cheated and there is no obligations to after sales once the payment is made.
it happens only in India. as there are no strict laws(not followed even if there are) and sluggish action of the authorities, the crooks know very well that you cannot do anything in such cases no matter how much you shout.

the ministers are busy with their own petty issues and are least bothered to pass any bill for the benefit and right to better service for the end consumers.

call Asian Enterprises and tell them that you're going to Consumer Court unless they rectify the prob.
I know without any warranty there's not much use in going to consumer court but still make a try by threatening them and they may fall for it.



RIDE SAFE

[anindyameister]

Well there is a solution, instead of 1W leds you can go for 3W LEDs they are much better in terms of illumination.I doubt whether the Mudule with so many SMD LEDs come cheap for automotive use!!!

So what is the optimal solution to get optimal illumination out of LEDs within our optimal budget ? I thought smd leds are compact and they would take up less space than ordinary leds when arranged in an array. If each LED consumes 3W, then 10 would be enough. Is this setup cost effective ?

[k_tornado_sj]

how much a branded HID kit for a Bike costs ? ..
like Phillips or Bosch ? ... and how many brands are available in india .
35W 4300k will do fine .

[NANOtechnology]

Hi Nano,


Thanks a lot for your reply! I am happy to know that you still remember my queries and that you have always come forward to assist me without charging anything which is much appreciable! From all the interactions that we had long ago in the month of Jan, this year and looking at your detail posting below, it seems like you are an expert in biking when it comes to tweaks, modifications, technical jargons of bike parts, HID's especially which I am truly amazed with!
But, something terrible has happened with me which has made my mood upset from this morning itself.




a)


b)




This Asian Enterprises are extremely shameless, dirty people, they believe in no after sales service and sell defective products.

I have no idea what's going on? At this time, the only focus I have is on that crook from Asian Enterprises, Kandivali.



Regards,
Apoorva.

As far as my knowledge regarding HID stuff goes, there's VERY VERY slim chances of the bulb (hid tube) getting damaged.
Its a common thing if the ballast goes kaput.
There's absolutely nothing inside the bulb, its just a tube with gas in the middle, and 2 wires (electrode) going in the gas chamber to create an electric arc.

have a look at this image, this is how the bulb actually looks like.
Until and unless it has developed a crack, there's possibly nothing inside it to go wrong.





Either ways, i am really sorry to hear that you've faced such a stupid response from the seller.
Even i had to fight a lot of times when i wanted to get my battery replaced under warranty.

Now, as you still have the kit with you, why don't you go to a different mech, ask him to check weather your bulb is alright or not.

I STRONGLY think that the problem is not the faulty kit, but a faulty charging.

You still didn't answer my question of weather YOU CONVERTED your bike to full Dc using Ape RR and coil rewinding or NOT ?????

[apoorvasheth]

China HID Kit's bulb failed.

Hi Nano!









Well Nano, coming back to your questions:

1. You still didn't answer my question of whether YOU CONVERTED your bike to full Dc using Ape RR and coil rewinding or NOT ?????



But I am surprised to your other answers provided like the one below:





So, when you mentioned:






So, if you could kindly clarify this as well?

And would you be able to assist me (if you know of an expert mechanic in Mumbai who can do this complete complex modification job of converting my bike from AC + DC to DC) than it would absolutely be of great help to me. Where in Mumbai can you meet me? How about Andheri McDonalds? Kindly let me know.

In the meantime, could you kindly let me know what all I need to purchase which can help me convert my bike into DC and from where can I get them?

Again, Thanks for providing assistance free of cost & for your valuable time!

Regards,
Apoorva.

[NANOtechnology]

Hello Apoorva.

Well, let me tell you.
I am extremely happy to know that your ballast is still in working condition.
The hid tube can be bought in 600~700 bucks.
That's not a big problem at all.

As far as replacement of products are concerned.
Well, let me admit.
I have bought hid kits from china (directly from china) online.
I know how the channel actually works.

The manufacture does give a warranty of 1 year on everything (no matter how bad the quality of product is).
But the thing is, that the replacement of the product needs 2 things to be done.
First of them is that you need to send the product back to the seller (china).
Second is that you will get a replacement ONLY on the new bulk order from the same seller.

Which literally means that you will have to order say a set of 100 hid bulbs, and they'll send you the replacement of existing faulty bulbs in the same package FREE OF COST.

So it doesn't make sense or order from the same seller (if you are the one who has imported the kit) as he has provided you a faulty kit.

So all the shopkeeper does is say, order 20 kits at a time.
If people complain of non functionality (as in your case today), all they learn is that the manufacture isn't providing good quality products, hence they simply not order anything else from the same seller, and hunt for a new seller for their next order.

Hence they don't get into the scenario of replacement (which is still offered) from these companies.
He (Asian Enterprise) might be a cheat, no doubts about it, but even he doesn't want to negotiate with the same seller as he'll end up buying even more faulty kits from them.
Hence he isn't doing anything for you.

I do have a solution to your problem, and its simply to convert your bike to Full DC (most important step).
I'll help you to do that.
As your ballast is already working, in very little expense you can again get the HID into working condition.
So don't loose heart.
I myself have some bulbs lying around unused, i can even give it to you for free.

Well.
Again, i would myself want to check the kit personally (lets keep UN-knowledgeable mechs out of this) and lets meet up at andheri tomorrow (saturday) and we'll see what can be done.
I'll PM you my number, we'll try to sort out the problem.

All the best.

[chris_terror]

Wiring Kit

hi biker bros,

Can you help in locating the Part number of the wiring kit of the Pulsar 150cc Classic......urgent.....

[apoorvasheth]

HID Kit Box Pictures.

Hi Nano,

I have attached pictures of the HID Kit box in which that kit was sold to me by this cheater Asian Enterprises. After ending up buying such defective products and the after sales bad & insulting manners shown by that owner Mr. Anil Desai, I strongly doubt if this HID Box belongs to the kit within. Anyway'z, I would be greatful to you from the bottom of my heart if my issue gets resolved in merely 600-700 bucks.

I still feel that I should have actioned upon your valuable advice given long back in the month of January, this year to rewind the coil and fit an RR unit of that Auto Rickshaw. The product has anyway'z turned out to be defective and the mechanic to whom this HID kit was handed over by Asian Enterprises I feel is also somewhat involved into all of this.

Let's see if luck is in my favour this time...Thanks to you!

By the way, what is your actual name b'coz I always call you by Nano...

I will be at work and would come back home at 11:00pm in the night so won't be able to answer your phone call. Tomorrow morning, at 10:00 am, you could please call me. I have already text you my cell number which ends with +91XXXXXXX123.

But as you stay in Bhandup, I just hope I won't be troubling you of all the way coming down at Andheri. You could kindly SMS me the address and time so that I can be there! My weekend will turn out to be magnificient if my HID Kit starts working tomorrow itself!!!

Let's get this sorted out once and for all!!!

Regards,
Apoorva.