The new guy
Road Master
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 800
Likes: 27
From: In the Pacific Northwest, a few hours east of Seattle.
Hi Mike, and welcome to the forum.
Can't help you on the high intensity discharge lighting question as I am not running the H-D HID lamp. FWIW, suggest you find someone who is running the HID lamp and compare it with your set up at night before you invest. I talked to a guy who had gone the H-D HID route, and he was not real satisfied. The install itself was not the problem - said it emitted a whiter light, but the light penetration forward of the bike wasn't substantially farther down the road than that achieved by a dual bulb halogen lamp with a decent bulb. (But of course HID costs twice as much.) So if you were basically concerned about over-driving your headlight at night, the H-D HID lamp really didn't resolve that issue. It didn't throw the light further out in front of your bike.
(I"m passing along second hand perceptions of one guy's experience - as noted I decided not to invest in the H-D HID lamp myself - so take it for what its worth.)
[One thing I saw recently at a convention was a pretty slick solution to the problem, and it was installed on a H-D touring bike that the owner had ridden to Alaska -- but I suspect you wouldn't want to install it on a Sporty. Basically it was a tiny thermal imaging camera under the fairing, with a small screen inside the fairing. FLIR = "forward looking infrared radar". Basically it saw critters in the road FAR out ahead of where the headlights ended, and was much more effective than the headlights due to giving the rider an earlier warning. This is not the same manufacturer, but its the same idea to give you some sort of images: ]
http://www.gizmag.com/flir-pathfindi...picture/62680/
There is a lighting and electrical forum on this board, and I recommend you spend some time searching through archives of previous threads on this topic and talk to some of the other guys...you aren't the first guy to ask these questions.
Ride safe,
Doc
Can't help you on the high intensity discharge lighting question as I am not running the H-D HID lamp. FWIW, suggest you find someone who is running the HID lamp and compare it with your set up at night before you invest. I talked to a guy who had gone the H-D HID route, and he was not real satisfied. The install itself was not the problem - said it emitted a whiter light, but the light penetration forward of the bike wasn't substantially farther down the road than that achieved by a dual bulb halogen lamp with a decent bulb. (But of course HID costs twice as much.) So if you were basically concerned about over-driving your headlight at night, the H-D HID lamp really didn't resolve that issue. It didn't throw the light further out in front of your bike.
(I"m passing along second hand perceptions of one guy's experience - as noted I decided not to invest in the H-D HID lamp myself - so take it for what its worth.)
[One thing I saw recently at a convention was a pretty slick solution to the problem, and it was installed on a H-D touring bike that the owner had ridden to Alaska -- but I suspect you wouldn't want to install it on a Sporty. Basically it was a tiny thermal imaging camera under the fairing, with a small screen inside the fairing. FLIR = "forward looking infrared radar". Basically it saw critters in the road FAR out ahead of where the headlights ended, and was much more effective than the headlights due to giving the rider an earlier warning. This is not the same manufacturer, but its the same idea to give you some sort of images: ]
http://www.gizmag.com/flir-pathfindi...picture/62680/
There is a lighting and electrical forum on this board, and I recommend you spend some time searching through archives of previous threads on this topic and talk to some of the other guys...you aren't the first guy to ask these questions.
Ride safe,
Doc
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 9,689
Likes: 7,251
From: Syracuse,NY
Welcome from NY.
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Road Captain
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 709
Likes: 0
From: Levittown, PA
Welcome from Levittown, PA.
Like Iceman24 said, get the replacement LED and call it a day... the added brightness should be enough. IMHO: Get an armored high visibility jacket if you already have a helmet, boots (over the ankle is high enough), and gloves.
Like Iceman24 said, get the replacement LED and call it a day... the added brightness should be enough. IMHO: Get an armored high visibility jacket if you already have a helmet, boots (over the ankle is high enough), and gloves.