H11 Headlamp bulbs?

[Andy R]

'Scuse me if this has been asked before....

What's the best way to get brighter lights? HID's? "Xenon" bulbs? 55W or 100W?
There's a lot of smoke & mirror talk about bulbs/ ballast/ colours/ temps etc, and not having fitted anything except bulbs in the past; what's easiest/ best?

Who's done what and is pleased with the results?

Answers in simple English please!

Thanks in advance

Andy R

[twisty]

hid tends to work best on projector style lamps (the round ones without the prism).ducati 749 , mz1000 etc .
I believe you can still fit them to a normal reflector but it may be hit or miss how much light refraction and spillage you get from the existing reflector.

Upside is they use less wattage , but if for instance going from dip to high i don't think its instantaneous as it relies on the ballast box to boost the power for that split instance between flipping the switch to high.

If you go for hid, the slimmer ballast boxes although dearer are easier to hide away. one problem i found was although you may have for instance a bulb with a right angle connector on it, sometimes when the hid bulb arrives, whilst it is the same type, very often is straight. This is fine on a car but on a bike can lead to nowhere to put the extra length that the new bulb creates and then the problem arrises of the existing grommets on the headlight not fitting.
Not an expert but i'm sure someone on the forum will put their tuppence worth in to help you. You don't need to buy a bike kit for an hid , its normally cheaper to buy a car kit from china and get two bulbs ,fittings and relays.

[Gedge]

I bought a cheap HB3 HID kit form china for my GP..best bit is you get two of everything..I only fitted it on the dip beam whjich means main is instantaneous and together they are more than powerful enough...
2 years on and its still working fine..not bad for under £40 delivered..
I also wired it into the auxiliary wiring which allows me to have the lights off when it suits me ( most of the time in the Uk) ..probably not an option on the Corsaro though

[toggy]

Just bought an upgraded HB3 9005SB 12v60w bulb and it doesn't fit ? . I bought a HB3 for my last GP and it fit no prob .are there any sub category's for this bulb?. The metal base looks longer than the one currently fitted . I picked up x4 in halfords clearance bin ,thought I'd struck gold as they were priced at £3 each ,but at checkout I was told they were £1 each ,when I grabbed another they checked out at buy one get one free ! .so eventually Up with 4 for £2 ! .still not much of a bargain if they don't fit ,arse!

[MonstroMorini]

I use hid's for over three years now. Last year replaced the "el-cheapo" 6000k bulb with 5300k, also cheap
The corsaro lens is an excellent match, nice lighting with sharp horizon, so no blinding other traffic. Use the 5300 to avoid problems in Germany where I travelled on several different occasions last year. In germany xenon is not allowed as a retrofit.
I only use it for "dip", as hiding two ballasts on a naked is cumbersome. Also used a shi-yo 2x H4 headset (use the MoMo for everyday commuting, drive home through unlit farm roads) with duplex xenon H4. Lots of light, but also lots of blinding other traffic, so went back to original.
So only real problem is hiding the ballast behind the windscreen.

[MisterMorini]

I installed a pair of these.

http://www.piaa.com/store/p/47-H11-XTre ... Bulbs.aspx

It's a simple swap for the original bulbs giving almost twice the light. A bright white light too which gives a modern touch.
No ballasts to hide.

[DaveH]

I have now removed all aftermarket HID's from my bikes and run Philips Crystal Vision bulbs - colour temperature is spot on and there's no scatter as per HID's
Well worth it and much cheaper than PIAA (PITA ) if you shop around.