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Advice needed on HID kits on NC21

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 12:24 am
by Vfr400/tbird
Im looking into buying a HID kit to replace my vfr's rather poor quality front light, i have looked at normal type high wattage bulbs but they are about half the price of a full hi/lo HID kit and have only a small increase in light distrubution!
The main worry i have with these kits and more specificaly installing them on my nc21 are, would it cause a premature expiration to the charging system?

Does anyone have any experience with kits and how easy or not they are to fit?
Heres the link;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H4-3-Hi-Lo-Mo ... 4150c6e93b

Re: Advice needed on HID kits on NC21

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 3:55 am
by Cammo
Don't do it.

That's my advice.

Re: Advice needed on HID kits on NC21

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:59 am
by magg
The HID kit you have identified requires 35 watts to run each lamp. What wattage headlamp bulbs are standard in your NC21, if your original bulbs are 35 watts or greater then the HID system will not be a bigger load on your charging system than you have now.

Re: Advice needed on HID kits on NC21

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 12:46 pm
by Neosophist
Vfr400/tbird wrote:Im looking into buying a HID kit to replace my vfr's rather poor quality front light, i have looked at normal type high wattage bulbs but they are about half the price of a full hi/lo HID kit and have only a small increase in light distrubution!
The main worry i have with these kits and more specificaly installing them on my nc21 are, would it cause a premature expiration to the charging system?

Does anyone have any experience with kits and how easy or not they are to fit?
Heres the link;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H4-3-Hi-Lo-Mo ... 4150c6e93b
Agree with Cammo.

Also will be MOT fail and illegal in the UK from January 2012

Re: Advice needed on HID kits on NC21

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 2:45 pm
by Vfr400/tbird
Thanks for you responses :),
So it will work but i will not get through the next mot unless i refit the old bulb and its illegal as of next year, right!
Im going to talk to a mate whos a cop'a and see what he says, as i wonder if that only applies to the blue kits?
Any way im still un-decided!
Although at that price even for 4 months it would be worth while as i do a lot of riding at night!

Re: Advice needed on HID kits on NC21

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 3:13 pm
by Neosophist
Vfr400/tbird wrote:Thanks for you responses :),
So it will work but i will not get through the next mot unless i refit the old bulb and its illegal as of next year, right!
Im going to talk to a mate whos a cop'a and see what he says, as i wonder if that only applies to the blue kits?
Any way im still un-decided!
Although at that price even for 4 months it would be worth while as i do a lot of riding at night!
No it applies to all retro-fitted HID kits to cars that didn't come with HID lamps.

And it's not worth it, they dont work properly.

The improvement is false.. it lights up more of the foreground instead of the distance, your eyes become accustomed to this so you actually see less of the distance which is where it matters most.

It's like shining a bright light in your eyes.. shortly afterwards you cant see very good as your pupils close.

Combine this effect of thinking you have 'better' light with overconfidence and poorer vision and the result isnt good.

I posted a big reply to a similar thread recently.

The only way to get a good retro-fit is to cut your headlights up and take the mirror out and fit a projector unit.

You can get good light then but this will also be fail from 2012.

Get a good standard H4 and make-sure your headlight is Clean and not corroded.

Plus if you have an accident your bike is modified and you won't be covered with the non-standard lighting, at night they can incite this helped caused the accident also.

A Philips Xtreme H4 60w/55 is a good choice.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Philips-H4-Xt ... 2eb5f000b9

Re: Advice needed on HID kits on NC21

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 6:13 pm
by Vfr400/tbird
Right i understand more clearly now, so there brighter but because they dont project properly as a oem hid system would like on modern cars, they just appear better but a good quality standerd fitment bulb would be the better option as it wil actualy increase the visability at night and will not be illegal ones the new regulations appear next year!
Now the only worry i have is will the upgraded bulb cause any problems to my charging system?
Will it need more wattage than my system can efficently handle?

Re: Advice needed on HID kits on NC21

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 6:15 pm
by CMSMJ1
You can fit a higher rated lamp to the bike and if you also fit a relay to take the extra load you should be fine.

Charging system would probably like the extra wattage being taken with the lamp rather than sticking it into the reg rec to be wasted!

HID kits are crap - as Neo and Cammo have said.

Re: Advice needed on HID kits on NC21

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 10:05 pm
by Vfr400/tbird
All is good now. just been out and bought a 55/100 watt and noticed the improvment straight away!
Its a good thing to as my original bulb had just blown main beam so it was a needed buy and also a upgrade!
That adds to my vastly enhanced (over original bought condition( nc21!, its had a HEL line kit and new seals and oil in the nc24 air adjustable forks, next is the service new oil filter and castrol!
Oh and not to mention a new paint job, heres before and after the new paint one hasnt got the HEL kit fitted yet but it is fitted now!
Image
Image

Re: Advice needed on HID kits on NC21

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:01 pm
by CMSMJ1
That is a good looking moto. Sack that tax disc holder though!

I never display one, I carry them in my wallet and if I don't have that on me, then I know it is taxed!