Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

[sajjt]

guys need some help!!!
I and my friend had bought a HID kit(Chinese make) 4 months back.. my bike(Apache 180) and my friend's bike (karizma ZMA).. it came with an year warranty..
I'm aware that my bike is not full DC.. but I'm facing a weird problem... My HID bulb flickers a lot..
but the same bulb if connected to his HID ballast does not flicker.. and if i connect his bulb to my ballast no flickering!!!
why is this??

my bulb : H3 whereas my friend's is halogen+HID

Blame it on your battery It seems ur battery is nearing its retirement, hence the HID is working fine with ur friend's bike. Once the battery voltage drops below 10v, the HID starts flickering and the charging rates in the stock condition are very low which makes it more worse.

If you change the battery too, things will not be much different, change the charging system if u want to continue with the HID.

BTW, Since u mentioned it as H3, Is it an aux lamp?

Sajjt
Tata Ace hl assy costs 350 rs in Pune whereas Amby HL assy is somewhat cheaper than ..............

Thats a good news to hear that Ace HL assy is just 350/, but one of my friend is having an Ace recently changed the HL with a OE costing around 1.3K as the whole thing coming along with the leveling mech. Can u cross check the price? I dont think its a OE replacement.

Can one thing be done to Fazer
instead of 2 lights of 35 watts can it have only one bulb of 60 watts with a Yamaha FZ-16 h/l assembly

Very much practical and many of the Fazer guys have tried and tested this idea, only thing is, be judicious in using both the lamps in low rpms to avoid flat battery.

Regarding glamor
I am just going according to the theory
More windings means more current even at low rpms hence almost full intensity even at idling rpm
But the drawback is that if due to coil rewinding,the weight of stator increases by atleast 20% hence max rpm will surely drop.
And regarding putting 60 watts bulb directly to glamor you will have to race the accelerator so that the alternator will produce enough current

Yes, theoritically you are right, but in real terms, the power loss is negligible for a 150CC mill. I don't have any hands on experience with a 100CC but still, like I said earlier, it will not load the engine like a pillion rider does so it has to be very negligible.

Another bottleneck is the magnet power, if the magnet is too weak to support a rewinded coil, the result will be worse than the stock condition and waste of time and money. I cant say it will give guaranteed results.

Regarding tech specs of magneto
You need to check which company manufactures the magneto assy for that bike.
In my case for TVS GLX 125 it was Master Ignition LTD and I checked the tech specs of the magneto coil from their website www.masterignition.com

Good to know the specs, But it surely become handy at times, they dont've all the coils though.

[pavanchirmade]

if the hid is of good quality . it will work.

I recently installed a 55w h4 bixenon 4300k hid on a cbr . Its doing good. And the output is awesome. Will post some pics when i get a chance.

p220 guys . A friend of mine has a p220 FI. He is facing issues with his HID.

he says " when I press clutch to change gear, HL fluctuates from low beam to upper and my digital console also blacks out. Also, while pressing cluth, starter initiates and it gives load on battery " any ideas or suggestions ?

I am not sure whats wrong .but have done close to a dozen p220 fi installs and no issues what so ever.The oldest one done is Ankits ( diehard ) 220 . The hid on ankits 220 fi is been up and running since almost 2 years now. Has anyone faced such kind of issue on the p220 ?

Failing BCU. Check with a BCU from some other 220FI.

[pankajshirke]

Need help regarding better lights for my RTR. Not looking for HID's, will nightbreakers (or something similar) work.
And where in Bangalore are they available?

Nathan,
Osram Nightbreakers/Philips Xtreme power is of no use at all.They are marketing gimmicks
Trust me.
I have tried several bulbs in 60/55 watts category
Osram NB gives white light hence it is not useful in fog and rain conditions
Also NB costs 900 rupees
Philips Xtreme power costs 950 rupees a pair but gives light little bit more than a normal 60/55 watts halogen.

Hence my request
Go to a Maruti Service station and ask for a bulb for Zen/Alto.
You will get it for 90 rupees.
The bulb will be Philips Premium or Osram Bilux
Also Bosch 60/55 is good and you can get it from any Bosch dealer.Ask him for bulb for Zen/Alto
Also you can get Genuine Halonix 60/55 bulbs from Royal Enfield spares shop for 80 rupees.Ask for bulb of Bullet 350/500 Classic new one.

I really dont recommend bulbs like NB because they are overpriced and they give just a marginal performance over the normal halogen bulbs
Also bulbs which give more performance are short lived hence these bulbs have shorter life than the normal Halogen bulbs

I mean to say Osram NB costs 900 rupees almost 10 times to that of a normal Halogen bulb but it gives just 5 to 10% performance more than normal halogen and also shorter life
Thus these bulbs are not value for money

[pankajshirke]

Thats a good news to hear that Ace HL assy is just 350/, but one of my friend is having an Ace recently changed the HL with a OE costing around 1.3K as the whole thing coming along with the leveling mech. Can u cross check the price? I dont think its a OE replacement.


Sajjt
I purchased the Tata Ace headlight assembly from a very Tata Motors authorized servicing and spare shop for trucks and commercial vehicles(ASC of Tata Motors, Bafna motors ) for 350 around 1 year back
This headlight assembly is manufactured by Neolite and it is a non MFR one ie hard glass lens
And so far it is giving me very good performance

I have not checked its price recently but I am sure that its price is not that much.I will check once again from that same showroom and let you know.

[nathanvighnesh]

Nathan,
Osram Nightbreakers/Philips Xtreme power is of no use at all.They are marketing gimmicks
Trust me.
I have tried several bulbs in 60/55 watts category
Osram NB gives white light hence it is not useful in fog and rain conditions
Also NB costs 900 rupees
Philips Xtreme power costs 950 rupees a pair but gives light little bit more than a normal 60/55 watts halogen.

Hence my request
Go to a Maruti Service station and ask for a bulb for Zen/Alto.
You will get it for 90 rupees.
The bulb will be Philips Premium or Osram Bilux
Also Bosch 60/55 is good and you can get it from any Bosch dealer.Ask him for bulb for Zen/Alto
Also you can get Genuine Halonix 60/55 bulbs from Royal Enfield spares shop for 80 rupees.Ask for bulb of Bullet 350/500 Classic new one.

I really dont recommend bulbs like NB because they are overpriced and they give just a marginal performance over the normal halogen bulbs
Also bulbs which give more performance are short lived hence these bulbs have shorter life than the normal Halogen bulbs

I mean to say Osram NB costs 900 rupees almost 10 times to that of a normal Halogen bulb but it gives just 5 to 10% performance more than normal halogen and also shorter life
Thus these bulbs are not value for money

Thanks a lot for the reply. Are these direct fit or have to get the coil rewinding done?
But for that amount im definitely interested.

[Kirankj1724]

Blame it on your battery It seems ur battery is nearing its retirement, hence the HID is working fine with ur friend's bike. Once the battery voltage drops below 10v, the HID starts flickering and the charging rates in the stock condition are very low which makes it more worse.

If you change the battery too, things will not be much different, change the charging system if u want to continue with the HID.

BTW, Since u mentioned it as H3, Is it an aux lamp?

No its not aux.. its a projector setup.. but why it doesn't flicker wen i connect his bulb to my ballast??
did i forget to mention i checked with his bulb connected to my ballast and my bike

BTW finally going for DC conversion tomorrow

1more question : is it fine if i get the DC conversion done and then change battery or is it compulsory for me to change battery first??

[sajjt]

No its not aux.. its a projector setup.. but why it doesn't flicker wen i connect his bulb to my ballast??
did i forget to mention i checked with his bulb connected to my ballast and my bike

BTW finally going for DC conversion tomorrow

1more question : is it fine if i get the DC conversion done and then change battery or is it compulsory for me to change battery first??

Yes, u missed that part

Here's my observation:

1 How old is ur battery? : If its more than 2 yr old then it may not have enough juice to give 6-9A at start up.

2. Is ur H3 flickers from the start?

If yes, check ur kit with a good car battery to test it. If its still flickers, go to the vendor and ask for a replacement.

or after 5-10 mins?

Its time for replacing the battery ur HID kit is good.

3. Lastly, have u tried the H4 more than 5 mins on ur bike for testing?

If you know how to do DC conversion, there's nothing wrong in going for a new battery, if you are not confident and need assistance, don't go for it before DC conversion, as there are chances you may fry it by mistake

I would say a weaker battery will show the charging rate once u switch off the bike. Its more safe to play with wires as it will take bit more time to smoke the wires for a weak battery. So in effect, you get more time to react once u observe any wire heating issues

[abhijeet080808]

I would say a weaker battery will show the charging rate once u switch off the bike. Its more safe to play with wires as it will take bit more time to smoke the wires for a weak battery. So in effect, you get more time to react once u observe any wire heating issues

Actually, its the other way round. The RR unit will try to pump more current to the weak battery in a bid to charge it up.

But, with the engine OFF, a weak battery may do less damage.

[Aneesh@4GHz]

Guy can we use a 55/60W bulb in Hunk or any similar bike with a relay? Will it work @ its full brightness?

[pankajshirke]

Guy can we use a 55/60W bulb in Hunk or any similar bike with a relay? Will it work @ its full brightness?

With Relay?
Once in my splendor+ 7 years back, I tried to put 60/55 watts bulb by putting a relay.The local mechanics call it as "cutout"
In 2 days itself the bulb was fused,its rr unit and the cutout was burnt(I was able to smell the burnt wires connected to the rr unit).It was a very costly affair to again switch to stock electricals
So a relay on Hero Honda bikes is not of any use

In Hero Honda models,Only Karizma and Ambition are bikes which have AC+DC setup hence you can put 60/55 watts bulb and a battery of slight high amp rating in case of 100/90 watts bulb

In Hunk,if you put a 60/55 watts bulb,you have to rev your bike till 3500 rpm but it is not possible.Also lot of fuel wastage plus too much load on alternator and the rr unit.
Its RR unit of hunk is definately of high capacity hence no problem of changing rr unit
Also you can do one thing
Just check whether Avenger 180 stator coil is identical with Hunk or not.
If both are identical,then you can surely put avenger coil in Hunk or similar bike.

Currently Avenger 180 coil can be put in Pulsar 150,P-180 directly
I dont know other than these two bikes where does the avenger coil fits properly.You have to try and find out.
My suggestion is to remove the stator coil from magneto of Hunk and check it with Avenger 180 coil.

If it doesnt match then only one option is to convert your bike in DC.Coil rewinding doesnt work properly hence not recommended

[pulsarized]

HID related problem

Hi Guys.
I ve got P180 UG4.
I had actually fitted the H4 HID, which had an halogen.
I had connected the halogen to low beam and HID to high beam.
The base of the H4 is broken.The three extensions at the base are removed.Hence it s not resting properly in my pulsar s headlight.
The beam is going to the top and s focussing on the trees

The real problem now is, my indicators wont work anymore.Also electric start is not working.being a Ug4 180, i m void of even the kick starter.
Any idea wat the problem could be.

Did it with the help of a Professional mech. He s very far off my place.Anything which i can do myself?

Update: Indicators have started working.Only that the electric start is not working.
Thanks in Advance!

[Aneesh@4GHz]

With Relay?
Once in my splendor+ 7 years back, I tried to put 60/55 watts bulb by putting a relay.The local mechanics call it as "cutout"
In 2 days itself the bulb was fused,its rr unit and the cutout was burnt(I was able to smell the burnt wires connected to the rr unit).It was a very costly affair to again switch to stock electricals
So a relay on Hero Honda bikes is not of any use

If it doesnt match then only one option is to convert your bike in DC.Coil rewinding doesnt work properly hence not recommended

Then i wont be trying it. Thanks for the great info,Any other ways like connecting directly to battery or something? What have to be done to convert from AC to FULL DC??

[Divya Sharan]

Angel eyes for HH Karizma ZMR

Hello guys, where can I get the HID/Projector lamps for the ZMR in Chennai??
Before that I wanna know a few things too.
1. How's the battery life affected?
2. What is the cost?
3. Does it require any special modifications?
4. Do the HH showroom people do it??? (That way, it may have some warranty)
Pls help.

[dhairya]

Improving Lights of R15

I have a friend in Bangalore who has recently bought a R15. He wants to improve the headlights. I am talking about better lights and not better looking.

Which HIS are best compatible for R15 and how much would they cost?

Are there any other options?

[Kirankj1724]

Yes, u missed that part

Here's my observation:

1 How old is ur battery? : If its more than 2 yr old then it may not have enough juice to give 6-9A at start up.

1 and a half yrs

2. Is ur H3 flickers from the start?

If yes, check ur kit with a good car battery to test it. If its still flickers, go to the vendor and ask for a replacement.
or after 5-10 mins?

Its time for replacing the battery ur HID kit is good.

It starts flickering after 10-15 seconds..

3. Lastly, have u tried the H4 more than 5 mins on ur bike for testing?

tried with a H4.. no flickering but did not try for 5 minutes

If you know how to do DC conversion, there's nothing wrong in going for a new battery, if you are not confident and need assistance, don't go for it before DC conversion, as there are chances you may fry it by mistake

I would say a weaker battery will show the charging rate once u switch off the bike. Its more safe to play with wires as it will take bit more time to smoke the wires for a weak battery. So in effect, you get more time to react once u observe any wire heating issues

got the DC conversion done from Ruby electricals yesterday.. and also got bulb replaced.. but my bad luck couldn't get the H3 bulb.. the shop guy gave me an H7.. he actually chipped of the extra plastic part so that it can be placed in H3 holder..
But i don find it to be as bright as before!!! is it due to the bulb or due to my battery... [haven't replaced the battery still]
i don think the bulb is placed inside the projector completely..