HID Conversion?

[Accidental]

Hello all,
I very picky about automotive lighting for some odd reason. Of course it is important to make sure your bike has all of the lights working and very bright at nighttime. I was wondering if anyone in here (has or has heard of) a HID conversion made to a Katana. Most HID conversion kits (ex: Phillips) are available for cars (I have one installed on mine at it works and looks exceptional). Can this same system be adapted to a bike? For example, I was looking at this conversion kit on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=36476&item=7962108644&rd=1

It acually draws less wattage than factory bulbs (35 as compared to 55) but outputs much more lighting.. so I dont think heat or power load would be an issue. It would seem moreso a fitting issue. But the kit does claim H4 fitting.

Thanks ahead

[ThAzKat]

what temps are we talking, I am concerned that it gets too hot.

[Accidental]

I am unsure about the temperature, the COLOR temperature increases dramatically from 2300K to 8000K but the WATTAGE is decreased. I do have a HID setup on my car and have had no issues. Are you hinting the Katana's heatlight housing is sensitive to heat build-up?

[The CyberPoet]

(A) Go read this:
CyberPoet's Understanding Motorcycle Lighting and Upgrades at MotorcycleAnchor.com

(B) I did come across a compliance investigation for McCulloch Motors HID conversion set-up on NHTSA (national highway traffic safety admin) site which said their conversion kit wasn't S7.7 compliant (whatever the hell that means). You may want to contact McCulloch directly at 626-454-1368 or fax 626-454-1398; their website has since been redirected to someone else and they may be out of business due to the non-compliance issue.
The other issues that I've seen are ballasts failing (McCulloch just past the warrantee date) and cutting out of the lighting due to the thermal-protection circuit on it (something you never want on a bike -- headlights must burn bright at all times, even it means mixing brands or types of lighting to ensure at least one side burns always).

(C) If you just want more light, find true increased wattage lights and upgrade everything leading up to them, or add more lights. My webpage I pointed you at details what you'll want to know.

Good Luck!
=-= The CyberPoet

[Accidental]

CyberPoet, Very informative document. Thanks so much. I will have to do some experimenting after I read it thoroughly.

[KatDan]

heat is an issue, i just installed one on an SUV and the instructions said "DO NOT TOUCH LENS FOR 15 MINUTES AFTER TURNING LIGHTS OFF" but i would think if you had a glass housing instead of plastic you might be OK.

[ThAzKat]

I made the mistake of putting my cover on once right after a 50 mile ride and there it is a hole from the headlight with stock bulb

[SweetLou]

I am not sure about the heat issue, but I imagine if you got one for a h4 bulb set up, it may work. I had thought about it in the past, and was thinking of putting one in the third eye on the kat, but finally figured that the heat would be to much of a issue in such a small space. The actual headlight housing may be big enough though that heat would not be a issue.

[Accidental]

Thanks. Ill keep you all updated with the progress if I continue the project

[WildKat]

I made the mistake of putting my cover on once right after a 50 mile ride and there it is a hole from the headlight with stock bulb

Lesson well learned

[Mojoe]

I am unsure about the temperature, the COLOR temperature increases dramatically from 2300K to 8000K but the WATTAGE is decreased. I do have a HID setup on my car and have had no issues. Are you hinting the Katana's heatlight housing is sensitive to heat build-up?

I do not know squat about the HID systems, but I can tell you from experience that even with a glass headlamp, heat can be an issue. All I did was move up to a brighter bulb and it melted my socket that the bulb plugs into....twice! The first time it happened was about 30 miles or so from home...at night. I made the ride home with my flasher on so it would at least let me see where the ditch was. The 2nd time was at daytime. Good thing I make it a habit to check my lights often or I never would have noticed. But I like the brighter light, so I went to a scrapyard and cut off all the plugs I could find on the older fords. They are the same sockets. So I have about 20 now and I keep one tie-wrapped to my frame for emergencies. It seems to last about 2 months before it lets go. I had to chage it twice last summer. I know I am playing with fire (pun intended), but the stock bulb just sux.

[BlackB12]

I know some who have done this successfully with Bandits like mine that have the big 7" round headlight. However, the guy that tried it with the Bandit S model's small headlights turned them into a melted mess. The temp of those bulbs got too hot and ruined his lights. Hard to say if this will happen with a Kat until it's tried. There's H4 adapters that allow you to mount an HID bulb, so it's possible to do.

Mike

[Articus]

My friend is looking to buy a bike and we just looked at a Ninja ZX-6R with HIDs installed. While the light was brighter, the tradeoff was he had to be very careful when starting/stopping the bike. If the bike didn't start on the 1st or 2nd try or if he left the ignition on for more than 30secs the battery would die. Not sure if this is the case with ones on ebay since the HIDs on the Ninja were actually out of a 2004 350Z. Just something to watch out for.

[The CyberPoet]

My friend is looking to buy a bike and we just looked at a Ninja ZX-6R with HIDs installed. While the light was brighter, the tradeoff was he had to be very careful when starting/stopping the bike. If the bike didn't start on the 1st or 2nd try or if he left the ignition on for more than 30secs the battery would die. Not sure if this is the case with ones on ebay since the HIDs on the Ninja were actually out of a 2004 350Z. Just something to watch out for.

I would recommend that a suitable delay relay be placed inline with that HID headlight, so that the owner can start the bike and then have the lights trigger about 60 seconds later, after the engine is already chugging along well... The relay can be wired to reset each time the bike is shut off, so if it doesn't catch right away, he can switch it off 30 seconds later and try again...

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[xbubbax]

heat is an issue, i just installed one on an SUV and the instructions said "DO NOT TOUCH LENS FOR 15 MINUTES AFTER TURNING LIGHTS OFF" but i would think if you had a glass housing instead of plastic you might be OK.

just to make u aware, i would nt do that with a any light bulb after using/ turning it on for more than 10 min.