Hella headlights for firebolt

[Shawns]

With Hid's you run the risk of melting the housings. It may be rare but I have seen it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-in-Box-...ts=Model:Firebolt&hash=item3ceab88c00&vxp=mtr

 

[Bullettooth023]

I had HID's in my 12 when I bought it. They were nice when they worked. Any little bump(wheelies included) would kick them off. Got so fed up with them I yanked them out a put an ultra bright set of PIAA bulbs in instead. Much better than stock but I would really like to do an LED conversion.

 

[pantstain]

Just wanted to post...don't go the theretrofitsource.com....I contacted them and apparently ALL of their kits have to be installed inside a seperate sealed housing according to them as they can't handle weather or road hazards such as rocks. So those are out (without lots of extra work I suppose)

 

[Sirius815]

That is correct. I contacted them years ago as they used to have a a projector that was completely sealed, although I believe it was a fog pattern.

Hella's may be the best alternative to stockers.

 

[thrstrmech]

snrusnak...they are halogens and look exactly like OEM...still looking for the info

 

[thrstrmech]

didn't find the info, however found a spare stock bulb you can have

 

[thrstrmech]

ebay has several OEM lights listed from 80 - 225 bucks, typed in "buell headlight"

 

[pantstain]

Not tryin to hijack but anyone seen the "dynamic ringz" turn signal/driving light combos that custom dynamics makes? The led clusters are cheap as hell...just gotta find a turn signal housing to fit our bikes to put it into that would look decent.

http://www.customdynamics.com/motorcycle_led_bulbs.htm#Genesis_LED_Clusters_

 

[snrusnak]

I still haven't done anything, but am planning on buying hella lights after the new year. I am just trying to decide if I should get one low beam and one high beam or two dual low/high beams. I think I'm going to go with the dual low/high beams. More light output, and will only cost about $50 more total.

 

[thrstrmech]

there's a thread on the forum of someone using the Hella's and made a new bracket for the lights. he did a great job with them. let me search for the thread...

 

[thrstrmech]

couldn't find the one on this forum, but found this one on Badweb here

 

[jetlee]

I used 60mm modules (from here) on my 9R. I swapped the HB3 bulbs for 9011's; thought it was stupid bright before, it's crazy now.

Didn't require an adapter plate, just some minor clearancing/shaving on the stock brackets.

Low Beam:

Low/High Beam:

1st Installed look:

They look a little crooked in the photo, but after some better bracket clearancing and proper alignment, they look perfect.

 

[thrstrmech]

found where I bought the lights from...here they have updated the lights

 

[Sirius815]

@ jetlee - Those are really nice!

 

[snrusnak]

thx. that bracket template will be helpful.

 

[thrstrmech]

[up]...the Hella's are really nice

 

[snrusnak]

Decided after riding my bike at 530 am this morning and not being able to see a damn thing that I'm ordering lights tonight. Buying these:

http://www.amazon.com/HELLA-0099980...bs_auto_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=182DJ9Y5J5DTJEG8KZVN

Should be very nice! Will probably take a little while to make a nice bracket and get working, but will be worth it.

 

[gbalias]

im curious about real world data with using LEDs.


the output of an LED is so directional that you probably lose more than you gain. this was a problem in the past with early HIDs because it was hard to get the arc to be in the exact same location as the filament in an incandescent lamp. some of this is overcome by the light output of the arc lamp and better still HID vs LED because the HID is 'omnidirectional'.

I went through a couple manufacturers of HID lamps before i settled on one that matched the filament location of the stock bulb. it was a pain in the butt to try and figure out a system with a caliper to accurately measure them. but it makes a difference.

as of now, i think any LED 'conversion' is just a gimmick. for sure any LED conversion that would be less than a few hundred dollars which would also include a reflector/projector housing designed around the output of the particular lamp.

your best bet is still to find a high quality HID or a hella incandescent.

 

[snrusnak]

Thats why I bought incandescent, to avoid all the BS with hid or led swaps. I looked at led lights but they were like $700 each lmao.

 

[gbalias]

thats because they were probably actually engineered. lol

hid's have gotten much better. you just gotta really measure them.