Was Alex's Aux light brackets......

[SkooterG]

My mounts showed up in today's mail. These things are almost too pretty to put on my dirty bike but oh well. I was previously using the Top Gun mounts but wanted to try these as they put the lights a lot higher:

Dude! Nice looking set-up! I was about to ask you what kind of aux lights those are, but see you answered that question in a follow-up post.

So what do you think of the Philips 4G-HID?

I ain't that far from you and REALLY want to see how those babys work. Compare them against my PHIDs, and vectervp1's Solteks. So what do you say about an HID aux light shoot-out?

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

p.s. lights

The bike bike on the FutureVisionHID page looks familiar. It sure is sparkley and clean!

So what do you think of the Philips 4G-HID?
I ain't that far from you and REALLY want to see how those babys work. Compare them against my PHIDs, and vectervp1's Solteks. So what do you say about an HID aux light shoot-out?

I'd like to see 'em up against the PHIDs. My suspision is that the 4G-HIDs are superior. After all, someone sold their "Eyes of God" and offered up their shiny, clean FJR for FutureVisionHID to showcase the 4G-HIDs.

I wonder why we didn't get to read about the details...

 

[SkooterG]

My suspision is that the 4G-HIDs are superior.

Mine too. However, the proof is in the pudding!

And then there are the Solteks...........

 

[Good2Go]

Dude! Nice looking set-up! I was about to ask you what kind of aux lights those are, but see you answered that question in a follow-up post.
So what do you think of the Philips 4G-HID?

I ain't that far from you and REALLY want to see how those babys work. Compare them against my PHIDs, and vectervp1's Solteks. So what do you say about an HID aux light shoot-out?

Hey Greg,

I mounted these 2 weeks ago and first impression when I hit the switch was "damn that light is yellow". They're 4300K, compared to my 5000K headlights, didn't think the difference would be that noticeable, but it is. I have some 4300K headlight bulbs I need to mount. I had to make U-shaped mounting brackets to mount these upright on Alex's mounts, since the brackets that came with them want you to mount them hanging down.

As expected they light light up stuff down the road that my headlight HIDs don't. Also they seem to suck up half a volt on my Datel (almost a full volt while they're warming up)...I didn't think it'd be that much. But since I've never had aux lights before, I don't have any other basis for comparison.

I'd be interested to see how they compare to the others...when's the next moon-less night?

 

[Fairlaner]

ummm they do look kinda nice....

R

 

[madmike2]

ummm they do look kinda nice....
R

Those would look mighty fine on your "Black Beauty", Richard.

[SIZE=8pt]Just trying to enable help.[/SIZE]

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

I am full of questions about this:

• What were the PHIDs if these are the "4th Generation HID driving Lights"?

• Is Catfish still selling the PHIDs through Farkle Masters? <Link> and Quote: "As of 6/16/08 we are fully stocked."

If he is, the PHIDs are a $100 less. Although, the XeVision™ (Farkle Master) ballasts look a little thicker than the Philips Xendrive XLD 988 (FutureVision)

• We still need to mount the ballasts somewhere. Good2Go, got any photos of your install?

• I was planning a mirror extending/auxiliary light bracket/ballast mount for the XeVision (Catfish/Farkle Masters) PHIDs. What would happen to the ballast if it was mounted on the light bracket? There isn't much room in the Gen II fairing. Is mounting the ballast on the light bracket, exposed to the elements going to work. I don't see why it wouldn't :dntknw:

I would love to scratch "auxiliary lights" off the list of things I need/want for the bike, and I do have a birthday coming up.

Thanks for making this it's own thread! I am really looking forward to the shoot-out!

(if we could find me a Forestry Service truck to buy in the Southwest, I'd make the trip!)

 

[Good2Go]

• We still need to mount the ballasts somewhere. Good2Go, got any photos of your install?
(if we could find me a Forestry Service truck to buy in the Southwest, I'd make the trip!)

I found room for 4 (slim, 2 for 4GHID + 2 for Apexcone headlamps) ballasts + 2 Apexcone igniters + an Apexcone control box in the nose between and below the headlight buckets. This is the configuration I ended up with:



It helps that the 4GHID have the igniters built into the lamp, but there's still room for them if this were not the case.

(if we could find me a Forestry Service truck to buy in the Southwest, I'd make the trip!)

Will this work? Clicky it's already the right puke green color, which is half the battle, I'm told. No thanks needed, just bring me one of those tag along tanks when you come down.

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

I found room for 4 (slim, 2 for 4GHID + 2 for Apexcone headlamps) ballasts + 2 Apexcone igniters + an Apexcone control box in the nose between and below the headlight buckets. This is the configuration I ended up with:

Impressive. What holds everything in?

(if we could find me a Forestry Service truck to buy in the Southwest, I'd make the trip!)

Will this work? Clicky it's already the right puke green color, which is half the battle, I'm told.

Thanks! 3/4 ton, 4X4, full length box, pale/puke/death green, decent shape, decent price. Perfect! email sent. I'll see what happens, but craigslist trains its users to believe that all inquiries from outside the area are scams.

I'm also watching this: <Link>

No thanks needed, just bring me one of those tag along tanks when you come down.

One of the first two prototypes will definitely be making the trip with me!

 

[Good2Go]

Impressive. What holds everything in?

Dual-lock and tie wraps. B)

 

[Catfish]

We still have about a half dozen sets of PHID's in stock.

 

[SkooterG]

Well, I have been busy and meaning to post some info for a while. Sorry. We were hoping to have an aux light shoot-out soon, but the other two parties got their priorities all screwed up - doing silly shit like getting married. Vectervp1 got married a couple weeks back, and Good2Go is about to take the plunge post haste! What's with these guys? Haven't they figured out it's all about the bikes?

Anywho, Good2Go (Greg) showed up at my house a couple weeks back for some quick and dirty comparisons. Below are some photo comparisons. I want to strongly stress that the photos are not excellent representations of color, no doubt partly due to the fact that the garage door is tan.

First off, we compared Greg and I's HID headlight kits from different vendors. Both are 5000k. Remember that I think mine are too purple. I thought both our kits were real close in color, Greg thought mine were a bit more 'blue' than his.

Mine on the left, his on the right:

Mine near, his far:

Not much of a difference in the photos, but as I said they are not necessarily 100% accurate.

Now for the main show - Aux HID lights, my PHIDs and his 4GHID.

My PHIDS:

Greg's 4GHID:

Of minor note, look at the normal HID headlight pattern from Greg's kit. Weird lines. I didn't think his high beams worked very well at all, and I think he agreed. HUGE differences in the HEADLIGHT beam patterns when going from low to high between our two kits. With mine there was a significant change in pattern. Not so much with his.

Now aren't the beam patterns a huge difference between PHIDs and 4GHID? Check out that starburst pattern of the 4GHIDs. Along with a really bright center spot for downrange punch. Also, the aux light colors in the photo look really yellow. That is not accurate. Both are 4200K-4300K and very 'white' with one HUGE exception that you can't really see in the photo: Greg's 4GHID lights make a big 'yellow' spot in the lower half of the beam. It was obvious in person, not so obvious in the photos. Greg said it's kind of driving him nuts, especially with the 5000K HID headlight kit. I could see it being an issue for many, but real world testing is in order to draw better conclusions.

Here's a photo of both together. My PHIDs look puny! And they are still a great light.

Real world testing will have to wait for those silly married boys to get their priorities straight. From the above, I would say the 4GHID are superior to the PHIDs, but I want to see them go up against the Solteks. We may also try and test the cheap chinese Soltek knock-offs too.

 

[RenoJohn]

We may also try and test the cheap chinese Soltek knock-offs too.

interesting post Greg. To me, fascinating to see the various options available in the HID arena.
I got confirmation that the China lights are supposedly 6000 K via an H3bulb. I'm not familiar with HID technology enough to know if changing color is as simple as changing bulbs, but it is one thing that I'm exploring .....and yep, I for one will be VERY interested to see how they compare. While the top end of the aux HID lights seems to stay pretty consistent at about 800bucks a pair -the technology does seem to be improving ....BUT, there are maybe some (almost as?) good alternatives for considerably less -or at least that is what I hope to find out.

And very sorry to hear about Art and Greg. I had assumed they married each other, but your post makes it sound as if that is not the case

 

[slapnpop]

RJ: Changing colors with HID is as simple as changing the bulb. This problem with many of the Chinese kits is that the bulbs/ballasts perform well as a combination, but if you switch to another brand ballast or lamp, they may not perform as well.

I went through this on my headlight retrofit. I started off with a Chinese ballast and an osram lamp, and the output was low and the color was off. I switched to a Hella ballast, and the same lamp nearly doubled in output and the color shifted right where it should be.

There's a lot of R&D "black magic" in getting the ballast/lamp pair to work properly together. Also, the manufacturing of arc tubes requires measuring precious metals in ultra-small doses. I've seen first hand and in large quantities how much variation there is lamp-to-lamp from the Chinese, and even Korean sources.

 

[RenoJohn]

RJ: Changing colors with HID is as simple as changing the bulb. This problem with many of the Chinese kits is that the bulbs/ballasts perform well as a combination, but if you switch to another brand ballast or lamp, they may not perform as well.
I went through this on my headlight retrofit. I started off with a Chinese ballast and an osram lamp, and the output was low and the color was off. I switched to a Hella ballast, and the same lamp nearly doubled in output and the color shifted right where it should be.

There's a lot of R&D "black magic" in getting the ballast/lamp pair to work properly together. Also, the manufacturing of arc tubes requires measuring precious metals in ultra-small doses. I've seen first hand and in large quantities how much variation there is lamp-to-lamp from the Chinese, and even Korean sources.

Interesting,

I think we'll be in for some good and bad surprises as we mess with these.

Most disconcerting is your comment about the variance. But it makes sense, there has been a person or two who bought these china lightsat their local auto store or mail order who have commented that just their two lights aren't the same.

What my end-game will be: How much does one have to spend to get decent lights?, do ya gotta go full boat? and are ya throwing money away doing chinese knock-off's? I hope we can find out. The price differences are wide, I don't know if the performance matches that?

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

Here's a photo of both together. My PHIDs look puny! And they are still a great light.

Real world testing will have to wait for those silly married boys to get their priorities straight. From the above, I would say the 4GHID are superior to the PHIDs, but I want to see them go up against the Solteks. We may also try and test the cheap chinese Soltek knock-offs too.

Those things are incredible.

Did you take any photos of the lights illuminating distant objects?

 

[SkooterG]

Did you take any photos of the lights illuminating distant objects?

Unfortunately not. No time. If we are lucky, maybe in the next week or so.

 

[SkooterG]

While the top end of the aux HID lights seems to stay pretty consistent at about 800bucks a pair -the technology does seem to be improving ....BUT, there are maybe some (almost as?) good alternatives for considerably less -or at least that is what I hope to find out.

$800?!?!

Where you shopping boy?

PHIDs - $600

Hella FF200 - $585

4GHID - Sale just ended $625 and free shipping (ADVrider coupon). Maybe could still get it?

Solteks - I have no idea. They might be pricey.

 

[slapnpop]

What my end-game will be: How much does one have to spend to get decent lights?, do ya gotta go full boat? and are ya throwing money away doing chinese knock-off's? I hope we can find out. The price differences are wide, I don't know if the performance matches that?

I don't think that the Chinese knock-off's are throwing your money away, but they are a definite gamble. You're a Reno man, so you know all about the odds, right? You've got two games going on, initial quality, and long term reliability.

What I can tell you is that the extra time and quality spent in R&D on a good ballast design will make it nearly bullet-proof. Bulbs die with age, and that's to be expected. The big-name OEMs will have fewer premature failures for sure. I think if you can find a Chinese supplier with a good ballast, and willing to support/replace/sell at low cost replacement lamp, you'll be happy.