[Discussion] Recommendation for HID on Phantom 200

[danteakc]

I recently just bought a 9 year old bike to travel up north.

 

Very lame lights are dim as a old man vision. Does anyone can recommend me a workshop that do headlights for Phantom 200? I need white lights that shine very far away as the current orange light only shine my front wheel fenders. Very dangerous.

 

Many Thanks for quick response.

Dante

david_akc@yahoo.com

[kmax]

just change the bulb.. no need to get HID..

[naim]

white lights in fact has lesser distance coverage than normal yellowish light.. suggest u try n change the bulb 1st.. i had similar thoughts as you, so the mech tried chging the GOD-KNOWS-HOW-OLD bulb for a new one and it was a hell of a difference! bulbs get dimmer as they age i suppose... best $5 i spent...

[CSV]

yeah, your white lights ain't gonna do jack sh1t when it comes to illuminating roads. cause of the bulb type. try riding in the rain with those lights, you might as well turn off the lights.

 

anyway, just get new bulbs, you will see the difference. same thing with me as well.

[weian]

new bulbs as in normal new bulbs?

[CSV]

yes, normal new bulbs. will be back to bright again as bulbs degrade overtime and over use.

[weian]

ok i see. thanks!

[tankee1981]

If you are planning to go Malaysia then i will recommend getting the yellowish bulb as it can be used in mist or fog conditions.

 

From personal experience with my touring in Malaysia and Thailand in my TA200, there is no need to change the headlight or HID, some HID may be too hot for your headlight or too strong for your battery.

 

Hope this helps

[fairSquare]

HID is not possible for phantom's stock headlight as it becomes too hot. Do ask dr koon for his options if you are serious about it.

 

HID typically comes with two switches,

1. HID Light

2. Normal high-beam

 

Both are theoretically draining to the battery.

[naim]

From wat i read ard, i believe HID is supposed to be cooler than halogen of the same wattage. So considering a 35W for both, our stock halogen bulb is hotter.

 

On another hand, HID is only effective in projector headlights (eg. R1) n not in normal reflectors in most bikes. It scatters the light too much, becoming more glaring to other road users a well as nt projecting much light forward whr u nd it most.

[pufferfis]

HID is not possible for phantom's stock headlight as it becomes too hot. Do ask dr koon for his options if you are serious about it.

 

HID typically comes with two switches,

1. HID Light

2. Normal high-beam

 

Both are theoretically draining to the battery.

 

..wat ur referring is the low beam h4 hid bulb n the high beam using halogen bulb which comes in the 35w ballast. this is not that common but i ever used for a couple of years before in a s4 n u can come pass inspection when you use the halogen function during inspection. Usually HID comes high n low beam HID

 

I ever looked for a hid for phantom which is using the hs 6m bulb socket and I had encountered limbat who advised me that our phantom can only use the 15w ballast and the bike dont have enough power to use the 35w ballast

 

To have an idea how bright a bulb is..they use a term lumens

 

normal halogen h4 55w bulb:800 to 1200lumens

HID h4 bulb using 35 w ballast :3200lumens

HID hs6m using 15 W ballast : 2100 tlumens(around there..i cant remember)

 

so you can see the difference in brightness between a hid n a normal halogen bulb.

you can also see that a normal h4 bulb is using 55W which a normal bike can handle under normal conditions thus u can also see that the bike will use less voltage with a HID since its using just 35 w thus less strain on ur bike's electrical system

 

on the other hand...when using HID ...u need to off your headlight n when u switch on ur bike...u need to let the bike running for at least 10 seconds for the bike system to let the voltage stabilize back...this is because when you on ur bike with your battery....the voltage will drop...

 

HID needs a certain amt of high start up voltage of around 70w b4 it will stabilize back to 35w.

Thus the stories some people may share with you that hid is draining is true because when they start the bike without switching of the headlight..the voltage or energy needed to start the bike plus the high start up voltage of the HID may tax the battery higher than usual and as time goes by may shortens the battery life....

 

To be honest I never had problems with my battery since i use the first method which was adviced by the installer who installed for me.

 

also the reason why I didnt buy the 15w HID hs6m because the price difference compared is a h4 HID is a slightly higher but for me is not value for money since the lumens is lower.

But one advantage is the HID will make ur headlight stable...no need to rev since the voltage is stable throughout after u have warm it up...

 

hope this helps...

Edited April 21, 2012 by pufferfis

[wdwflash]

Check your reflector that holds the bulb. The Phantom plastic reflectors have a bad habit of melting and discoloring. I had to replace mine and it made a world of difference.