[kismetcapitan]

as nights come earlier and I've been riding my ST4 more frequently these days, I've gotten very tired of cars cutting me off, due to the low visibility of the lighting system.

cars actually tend to move out of the way and I rarely get cut off on my BMW, which runs dual 55W HIDs.

so I went and installed H1/H3 HIDs on the ST4. Despite what older threads have said about just adding HIDs, it is blindingly bright and there is a dramatic improvement on how much road is illuminated. Also, I am no longer "invisible" to cars - a very important safety feature.

the installation was straightforward, but took longer as this is an old bike. the hi-beam was done without removing the instrument cluster, but the normal light has the speedo cable in the way. some previous owner had hacked up the wiring on the normal light, so that required some splicing. The hi-beam bulb required a bit of filing on the base to fit, and the spring came flying off, leading to a fun 10 minute search of the garage floor and even more time, as it was not secured to the housing anymore.

I'm concerned about cooking the wiring harness, but the current draw of HIDs once warmed up is less than halogens, and I tried starting the bike with the hi-beam on and the 15 amp fuse did not blow, nor did the bike have problems starting. But as with my other bikes, I'll stagger turning on the lights - give the main beam 30 seconds, then switch on the hi beam (I ride with both on, day or night).

I can't comment on "beam pattern" being incorrect or whatever other anti-HID arguments I've read here; all I know is that I can actually identify a beam pattern now. So far as I'm concerned, I've finally rectified the main weakness of the ST4. I can SEE.

 

[kismetcapitan]

which kit did you get mate ?

i put the low beam one in last week. like you cant comment on pattern & blah blah, but bloody hell its made a HUGE change. finally i can see at night!

Ducati ST4 ST4s Xenon HID H7 Headlamp Conversion | eBay

that's the kit, although you need one H1 and one H3 kit for an ST4; I've bought many from Iain and top notch service each time, even if shipping from England is a bit long/pricey. There are a lot of cheap kits that fail so it's worth it to me. I've been running one kit from this seller since 2010 and no problems.

The improvement on the main beam is good; the hi beam turns into a floodlight that you literally cannot look straight into. 55W HIDs can blind drivers; 35W is sufficient. Call me impolite, but 55W gets drivers to avoid you, and I truly enjoy how cars are repelled, versus having to dodge cars moving into your lane as if you weren't there.

The "ECU" is actually a ballast. The bulbs run at something like 23,000 volts, so the unit basically converts 12 volts into 23,000 volts, which is why HID bulbs need a few seconds to "warm up" - the ballast is ramping up voltage during that time. However, total current draw is about 1 amp less than a regular bulb in practice - theoretically, a 12 volt bulb putting out 55 watts should draw about 4.6 amps, while a 23,000 volt bulb putting out 55 watts would only draw 0.002 amps. In reality, an HID bulb and ballast pulls about 2-3 amps.

In any event, I've got headlights that will turn night into day, all for about $190, and hopefully should be easier on the stock wiring harness (an HID can pull up to 15 amps at startup but within about 10 seconds goes down to 2-3 amps). But these kits aren't exceeding 15 amps, as I've started the bike with both lamps on and the 15 amp fuse did not blow. I did blow the fuse fumbling with wires, which killed the juice to both headlamps, so I know that circuit works!

btw, the relatively long warmup for HIDs makes flashing the hi beam difficult. It will work, but it only has the output of an LED bulb (visible but not illuminating) if the ballast isn't charged. If you don't run with hi beams on normally, and like to use it to flash cars, then converting only the main beam is generally what people do. The HID on my 800SS is a combined H4 hi/lo bulb, which is nice; one ballast, and I can flash the hi beam or keep it on.

 

[kismetcapitan]

several states and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation recommend in their endorsement study guides to run hi beams during the day, at a minimum (Hurt, 1981)

Hurt, H.H. Jr., Ouellet, J.V. & Thom D.R. (1981b). Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures. (DOT HS 805 862). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

National Agenda for Motorcycle Safety

If I'm on a country highway at night, I run main beam only. But nighttime in an urban setting with streetlights, I run hi beams as well. The overall lighting environment is higher, so it's less blinding to drivers, and it helps to make you brighter than everyone else, which is THE POINT, because cagers need help in seeing objects that move faster and are smaller than other cars.

But as stated previously, on a lonely interstate or empty two-lane road at night, if you pass me, I'm either on my main only, or I've just switched my hi beam off (because I saw you coming and don't want to blind you). But in a multiple car setting at night, such as a major highway or boulevard going through a downtown area of a large city, you want both beams on; you're not blinding people in that situation.

 

[kismetcapitan]

Now I've finally found the source that thinks hi-beams are an accessory, just like running front and rear fog lamps in clear weather. Why not stick a modulator on there and a couple more running lights?

FYI: Yes, running in a urban area with high beams on is stinking stupid and only causes folks to be pissed off and distracted from other possible, real issues. Not to mention target fixation.

Psst: I hear you get more wattage with a fast idle lever.

keep riding with your stock lights. they're good. with luck, an 18-wheeler won't be offended by your polite riding, so much so that he won't even notice the thump.

 

[kismetcapitan]

1) look up the motorcycle guides for licensure in Michigan, Tennessee, South Dakota, the list goes on. High beams during the day is strongly recommended. North Carolina goes a little more emphatic - "Use Your High Beam — Get all
the light you can. Use your high beam whenever you are not following or meeting a car. Be visible."

2) I just went to Nashville's Italian Cars and Bikes meetup this morning, and with both my HIDs blazing, asked numerous people whether they felt it was too bright. In the morning sun, it was honestly impossible to see that the low beam was even on, and the high beam was not particularly noticeable. So for those who doubt, get out in the sunlight and look at your headlights. Your eyes, adjusted to sunlight, will NOT be "blinded" by feeble ST4 headlights, let alone HIDs.

At night, use of high beam should be judicious, and it just occurred to me why I need to use them more than others - simply put, I ride faster.

When riding WITH traffic, HID high beams (not the candlelit stock lamp) WILL blind people. When riding faster than the traffic flow, what happens is that you end up passing through driver's blind spots constantly as you're passing cars. In this case, a bright HID makes you more visible in blind spots where a driver would be very likely to otherwise not see you, and a driver's exposure is limited to a couple seconds as you approach and then pass. This is, AS I SAID BEFORE, on brightly lit highways with traffic, so the eyes are not completely adjusted to dark night conditions.

Am I an idiot? Yes I am, if you selectively read my posts and ignore through your biases what you don't want to hear. AS I SAID BEFORE, if I'm riding behind a car on a two-lane road in the dead of night, you won't be seeing my high beam. If you're approaching from the opposite direction, I'll shut mine off until you pass.

It depends on the conditions. READ before you reply. If I rode like ToNERD, I'd be an asshat if I kept my high beam on at night...to the one grandma I was following. But I don't, so MY LIGHTING REQUIREMENTS DIFFER.

Give me a concrete example of someone who crashed a car and died because they were temporarily "blinded" by high beams. Everyone here has dealt with glare when driving a car. You can whine and bitch, or you can let the rearview mirror do its job by autodimming the glare. Or if your car doesn't have that feature, reach up and flick that lever at the bottom of the mirror. 18 wheelers are often the source of glare. So shall we discuss how truckers are assholes too?

Or let's talk about examples of bikers killed by cars because they weren't seen. I can cite three in the past month in Middle Tennessee. The rider community here is veyr tight-knit, and every death is felt by all. There are a lot of discussions about how to avoid fatalities; we lose far too many people every year. So forgive me if I'm sensitive on the subject of cars plowing into bikes, killing the rider, and then saying to the cops sheepishly "I didn't see him". We do memorial rides and frankly, especially with the way people seem to drive lately, I've gone on far too many memorial rides this autumn.

High beam glare in daylight that is hazardous? Ridiculous. I asked at least ten people to stare into my lights this morning. Not one even squinted, and one even asked "what am I looking at again?"

 

[kismetcapitan]

In Canada, the headlamps are hard wired by law on all new bikes and cars since I can't remember when. Early 70's maybe. Start the engine and the head lights come on. So running with headlamps on all the time is a normal and regulated safety practice. But as we know, that hasn't eliminated the "sorry, I didn't see you" scenarios, and if motorcyclists who are still at greater risk choose to increase their visibility by modifying their lights, it's understandable and usually supported even up to installing a module that rapidly flashes headlights on and off during the day in the name of safety. If that's not rude, I don't know what is, to have to suddenly stop your train of thought, slow down, and think of what the hell is going on so some dude on his motorcycle can ride safely while others around him are distracted and confused. Works for him, but not the others. Very rude IMO as it could cause accidents. Others use less distracting high beams during the day. I've seen this numerous times. Many cruisers have light bars that add a couple of brighter-than-the-headlamp out board lights to increase visibility through bright lights too. Though it's still not enough to guaranty safety and can be rude, I'd rather see a rider use his high beams during the day than at night, when the blinding effect is much greater. I do use my high beams on occasion if riding at night on twisty roads but I do of course dip them when oncoming traffic approaches, and I have the vastly improved head lights on my oh-fiver so I'm not dealing with the same issues. I do see an issue with using blinding low beams at night. I've run across that a few times and it does piss me off that my safety has been put at risk for the safety of others, and that includes legal HID systems as they can be blinding as hell too.

I have found that wearing a white helmet has worked extremely well for day time visibility, probably made more difference that any added headlamp brightness would have as they are visible only from certain angles and a white helmet from all angles. Add a bright RED!!! bike to that white helmet, and you are about as visible as you can get during daylight hours. What colours are fire trucks? Red and white? I can honestly say I've been cut off once in 8 seasons...no high beams, stock head lamp.

I can sympathize with this well-written perspective. I've heard the above argument about factory HIDs on cars; both my cars as well as my wife's have them. I'm undecided regarding whether these lights dazzle the eyes during the night enough to be a hazard. But it is difficult to stare into the wife's car's headlamps when she pulls in at night. I don't think I'll be trying a retrofit of halogens and binning the factory HIDs however.