[DucatiGuy]

With all the advancements in HID technology these days, I wonder why Ducati hasn't taken the leap from Halogen to HID? I know cost must be a factor for one, and maybe space (the need for additional components ie; ballast / igniter) but have you seen the prices on these kits lately, not to mention the compact sizes? True they have some crap systems out there, but even the “better” brand name units have dropped significantly in price, and I’ve personally seen HID power systems no bigger than a pack of cigarettes with ballast and igniter in one. They draw less power than Halogen bulbs, last longer and work much more efficiently. It’s sad to see a bike such as the 1098 with so many advancements and standard setting features, have such an archaic lighting system.

 

[VB 777]

I was under the impression HID produced alot of heat and was not very happy in a high vibration environment.

To combinations not ideal in the motorcycle world

 

[Germany]

I got HID lights on my 1000RR they seem to be working pretty good. I put them on just last year. But travel a lot on one wheel and ride the bike pretty hard. So far I had no problems, neither heat nor vibration. The only negativ thing which is actually funny is the battery power, If the battery gets low it starts to act like a strobe and everbody starts running away bc they think its a cop...

 

[FlyerLen]

Experience or opinion on BMWXENON.com

Does anyone have any experience or opinion on using xenon high and low bulbs in place of the stock halogens? " jimmy540i" AKA, http://bimmerxenon.com/ducati.html, has a pair on eBay and they look interesting--and easier than the installations that require ballasts, etc, to be installed.



I don't know that much about headlights, but I have heard how disappointed many owners have been with the stock ones on 1098's. Anybody know about xenons?



Cheers,

Lenny

 

[996turbo]

They melted the fuse on my 1098! I dont mean blew, i mean melted, the fuse was completly distorted and a hot sticky mess. I now only have my high beam on when i need to and not in hot traffic. so far so good. Also, how do you replace the bulbs? they are a sealed unit attached to the wiring loom, anyone know?

 

[996turbo]

http://www.ducati1098.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1565

 

[NewDuc]

Saw those too

and he was a very nice guy following up etc. However I say go with the real thing. I got an entire professional kit (both beams) installed for under $400 and it's perfect. There are other kits out there, some are discussed here for like $100...I just don't know the quality nor how invasive they are.

Go HID IMO!

Does anyone have any experience or opinion on using xenon high and low bulbs in place of the stock halogens? " jimmy540i" AKA, http://bimmerxenon.com/ducati.html, has a pair on eBay and they look interesting--and easier than the installations that require ballasts, etc, to be installed.



I don't know that much about headlights, but I have heard how disappointed many owners have been with the stock ones on 1098's. Anybody know about xenons?



Cheers,

Lenny

 

[FlyerLen]

Melted?!

They melted the fuse on my 1098! I dont mean blew, i mean melted, the fuse was completly distorted and a hot sticky mess. I now only have my high beam on when i need to and not in hot traffic. so far so good. Also, how do you replace the bulbs? they are a sealed unit attached to the wiring loom, anyone know?

The xenons from this jimmy540i melted your fuse? Yikes...:wtf:

 

[colorob]

Do a search in these forum for the HID write-ups. Many of us have purchased and installed the 100$ kit with MUCH success. I've had my high and low beam setup for 1500 miles now and absolutely love them - no melted fuses yet (fingers crossed).

 

[TRN]

I saw someone on here with the HID set up. It looked excellent!

 

[aviator]

the reason, i suspect, why Ducati and other motorcycle manufacturers have not adopted HIDs could be a liability issue. the xenons/HIDs need to be setup properly on cars. Porsche (others might as well) has self-leveling mechanism to adjust to the load so that the beam doesn't glare or projected as set. motorcycle lights being higher, the HIDs naturally tend to glare oncoming drivers. given the litigeous nature of the society (even in any country), i suspect, motorcycle manufacturers have stayed away, so far.

cheers.

 

[FlyerLen]

Do a search in these forum for the HID write-ups. Many of us have purchased and installed the 100$ kit with MUCH success. I've had my high and low beam setup for 1500 miles now and absolutely love them - no melted fuses yet (fingers crossed).

Yeah, I’ve been following the HID posts since I joined the forum and was going to go that route, then I saw the xenons on eBay. They just look a lot simpler to install and I like the idea of having the instant-on hi beams, if they are indeed instant-ons… What’s the advantage of HID over xenon?

 

[NewDuc]

Not a problem

so far for me...

I was under the impression HID produced alot of heat and was not very happy in a high vibration environment.

To combinations not ideal in the motorcycle world

 

[aviator]

HID vs xenon: same

FlyerLen:
>... What’s the advantage of HID over xenon?....

they are essentially used interchangeably, i think.

 

[colorob]

HID and Xenon are indeed one in the same. HID (High Intensity Discharge) is a bulb without a typical filament like a halogen bulb. Instead it uses an arc of high-wattage electricity between two points inside a tube of gas (Xenon) - which is why they are also called Xenons.

There is not an "instant on" ability with these lights as it takes a few seconds for the gas to get excited and come up to color temperature (this is why many cars only have Xenon low-beams - because those have time to warm up for a couple of seconds before you need them). When flipping on the high-beams on my dual HID set-up, there is about a 3 second delay before it really starts putting out major light. But after this initial engagement - the light stays warm for a while and if re-applied within like 5 minutes, it turns on right away.

Hope that helps

 

[FlyerLen]

Good explanation

Thanks for the explanation! Since these are “plug and play” replacement bulbs, it looks like the only difference between these xenon replacements and the full HIDs is that the xenons don’t require a transformer(?) to be installed? At $60 for the set, and an easier job to replace them, I’m seriously considering giving them a go…

Has anybody had any issues with the warm-up delay on the hi’s? I’ve been flipping my hi beams on when I (legally!) split heavier traffic lately—to increase my chances of being seen by the text-messaging soccer moms—and I’m concerned the delay could be an issue?

Thanks!

 

[NewDuc]

colorob

Is right, and I'm glad he chimed in with that explanation because I wasn't sure if my facts were 100%. They were but I wanted someone else to verify them. Please check out one of my prior posts on this that goes into more detail as well, but here are a few thoughts:
- If there is no ballast it is not xenon/HID. You're buying a "fake" xenon setup...the bulb might be brighter but it's both not the real deal and you will risk longevity issues with the bulbs.
- Yes the high is an issue because of the delay, it's not on all the time like the low. If you like to toggle your high beam, don't convert the high. (I wired my low into my high so that I'm not in the dark while waiting for the high to come on, this is the way to go if you're doing both) If you only want to use it during the day and on back roads (long-term) then convert the high. One other thing he was right about is after you have it burning for a bit, you can shut it down (for oncoming traffic here and there) and it will fire right back up and you can toggle it. You just cannot count on your high beam in an instant like before, you need to know that!

I considered the ones you are looking at and it wasn't worth it to me...for $300 shipped I got a serious, professional plug and play kit that was probably the best mod done to my bike. And you can cut that in half for just the low.

Thanks for the explanation! Since these are “plug and play” replacement bulbs, it looks like the only difference between these xenon replacements and the full HIDs is that the xenons don’t require a transformer(?) to be installed? At $60 for the set, and an easier job to replace them, I’m seriously considering giving them a go…

Has anybody had any issues with the warm-up delay on the hi’s? I’ve been flipping my hi beams on when I (legally!) split heavier traffic lately—to increase my chances of being seen by the text-messaging soccer moms—and I’m concerned the delay could be an issue?

Thanks!

 

[colorob]

+1 To what NewDuc said about the "Xenon" replacement bulbs. These are NOT true Xenon HID bulbs - and they often look pretty cheap and put out dangerously low lumens of output. The cheaper ones I've seen are simply Halogen H11 bulbs (the size that fits the 1098) with blue coloring over them! You may have seen what these look like on tricked-out import cars ..... usually accompanied by a 5 foot wing glued to the rear deck - along with neon lights. If you catch my drift..... it may cheapen the overall look of your awesome bike. NewDuc's system sounds top notch - and I paid only $100 for mine on Ebay with a very quality-looking end result. Although I've already posted these - here are a couple pics of my lights for your reference. Good luck!

 

[NewDuc]

Yeah

those are good pics, I don't have any good ones...not very adept at photographs. I didn't even take a pic of the ballasts for you guys! (which are shrinking according to the seller by the way)

Too bad someone can't get pics of highway and street signs in BEFORE and AFTER style photos...most on here would have HIDs if they saw the difference!

+1 To what NewDuc said about the "Xenon" replacement bulbs. These are NOT true Xenon HID bulbs - and they often look pretty cheap and put out dangerously low lumens of output. The cheaper ones I've seen are simply Halogen H11 bulbs (the size that fits the 1098) with blue coloring over them! You may have seen what these look like on tricked-out import cars ..... usually accompanied by a 5 foot wing glued to the rear deck - along with neon lights. If you catch my drift..... it may cheapen the overall look of your awesome bike. NewDuc's system sounds top notch - and I paid only $100 for mine on Ebay with a very quality-looking end result. Although I've already posted these - here are a couple pics of my lights for your reference. Good luck!

 

[speeder]

colorob - do you have pics on where you installed the two ballasts? I put one behind the nose cone, and couldn't find a "good" place for the other one.

p.s. anybody with HID have problems with the sharp cut off when riding through corners with a moderate lean angle? I can hardly see 20 feet in front of me it seems like. I haven't modded the high beam (couldn't find a good spot for the ballast) and the stock high beam is fairly useless when the HID low beam is lighting up the road.

which brings up another thought. If you're thinking of just doing the low beam, don't. The high beam is basically rendered useless by the brightness of the HID. People will not see you flash the high beam. They won't even notice it, and the stock high beam will only barely light up the trees above you, but because of the brightness of the road, you will hardly notice it because your eyes have adapted to the brighter road. It'll look like someone is using a AA battery penlight.