Final word on HIDs for the 919?

[Saki GT]

I searched and found some older posts on HID kits in the 919 stock housing, but I never saw any follow up from those that installed an HID kit. Since the 919 has a reflector housing, is there any HID bulb that will work in the housing without throwing light all over the place? Is an HID bulb in the stock housing bad or is it better than stock? Is there a better incandescent bulb that works as well?

[Pvster]

invest in either a better bulb or replace the entire thing, but dont go HID. the lense is just simply too big.

i went the route of swapping out 919 headlight for the 599 headlight. dual bulbs : ) now if all the parts would just get here... :grumble:

[hornet919]

well, if you want to be REALLY awesome. . . . get a projector from a tsx or s2000 or something similar and cut the back of your headlight bucket to accept the projector. install projector, seal projector to back of headlight housing. you will than be able to run HIDs properly. the problem with running them in the standard housing is the light scatter. it will blind people riding towards you and increase the chance of them running you over. in all honestly, its probably alot easier to get a nice PIAA or Osram night breaker in there. hids dont do so well on high beam anyways, thats why you see all the luxury cars run hid in the low beam and a standard bulb on high beam

[Saki GT]

Thanks for the info - has anyone actually cut a 919 headlight to fit a projector lamp? Wow.

I think I'll just get a brighter halogen bulb; I don't ride much at night, mainly dusk when i get caught out, and the stock light is pretty poor.

Also, fyi, most cars only run HIDs on low beams because Federal regs state high beams need to be instant on, and HIDs take a few secs to warm up. Unless you have a fancy German car with a motorized HID, you won't get HID brights legally...

Thanks for the feedback guys,

[hornet919]

Originally Posted by Saki GT

Thanks for the info - has anyone actually cut a 919 headlight to fit a projector lamp? Wow.

I think I'll just get a brighter halogen bulb; I don't ride much at night, mainly dusk when i get caught out, and the stock light is pretty poor.

Also, fyi, most cars only run HIDs on low beams because Federal regs state high beams need to be instant on, and HIDs take a few secs to warm up. Unless you have a fancy German car with a motorized HID, you won't get HID brights legally...

Thanks for the feedback guys,

ah good info. i always thought HIDs werent high beams cause they were more of a concentrated light than a broad, spread beam

[andrewebay1]

I've always wondered about this with the stock housing. But what about dominator headlights? The housing is about 1/4 of the size to stock. Anyone ever use dominators with HID?

I just got my dominators in the mail, and really like them with just Silverstar Ultra H4s. But would like the option to upgrade to HID if possible.

[velodesign]

uhh...why get s2000 or tsx when you could get this like i plan on and call it done?
7 Inch Round H.I.D. Headlight

[Sckill]

You'll need about 2" more depth than what the 919 stock housing will provide in order to retrofit a HID projector. I ended up buying a different headlight housing off ebay.

HIDs are actually great for both low and high beam. Bi-xenon projectors use a single HID bulb and function as high beam by simply lowering a movable metal shield to raise the light cutoff.

[Wes Mantooth]

i got to go with hornet919 on this one. a good piaa or osram makes a huge difference. i went with an osram rallye, which runs at 70/65 watts and if i remember stock bulbs are 60/55. it was a 10 watt jump, but the stock wiring harness can handle it. plus, its only a 25 dollar bulb as opposed to an over 300 set up hor hid's.

i think there just comes a time when you have to take a hard look at the 919. i love the bike, but nobody outside this forum really gives a shit about them. how many friends have you told you ride a 919 when they ask what kind of bike you have and (9 times out of 10) say they never heard of it? is a $3500 bike worth a $320 light set up that you will get a $0 return on when you sell it? thats a mod that is 10% of the bikes worth, when you can get almost the same performance out of a good halogen bulb. alot of people get caught up in the disease called modaholicism, it is just a shame that in the end, the 919 is a vehicle that is not worth it. and when your a modaholic (i am in recovery) you put the "blinders" on and go after the expensive stuff. give the good halogens a try, you wont regret it. if you dont like them, your only out 25 bucks.

my bad, didnt mean to soapbox it.

[The Shadow]

^^^ Blashphemer! good comment, though....

[Pvster]

+1 to shadow.

and fyi, i modded my headlight because i wanted more than just a simple bulb upgrade. i wanted a better light focus upgrade. the 919 housing is just too damn scattered. hellow 599 headlight : )

for me, the headlight upgrade will be well worth it as it serves several purposes.

[velodesign]

Originally Posted by Wes Mantooth

i got to go with hornet919 on this one. a good piaa or osram makes a huge difference. i went with an osram rallye, which runs at 70/65 watts and if i remember stock bulbs are 60/55. it was a 10 watt jump, but the stock wiring harness can handle it. plus, its only a 25 dollar bulb as opposed to an over 300 set up hor hid's.

i think there just comes a time when you have to take a hard look at the 919. i love the bike, but nobody outside this forum really gives a shit about them. how many friends have you told you ride a 919 when they ask what kind of bike you have and (9 times out of 10) say they never heard of it? is a $3500 bike worth a $320 light set up that you will get a $0 return on when you sell it? thats a mod that is 10% of the bikes worth, when you can get almost the same performance out of a good halogen bulb. alot of people get caught up in the disease called modaholicism, it is just a shame that in the end, the 919 is a vehicle that is not worth it. and when your a modaholic (i am in recovery) you put the "blinders" on and go after the expensive stuff. give the good halogens a try, you wont regret it. if you dont like them, your only out 25 bucks.

my bad, didnt mean to soapbox it.

I agree, go ahead and try them - but I was simply answering the question regarding HID's to the poster, and instead of letting him TRY to retrofit a housing, why not pick up something that practically plops right in?

in MY eyes...
When light spread, consistency, brightness and distance is taken into consideration - maybe $310 isnt a performance mod, but a safety mod as i consider it. Seem like I could be fine with $1 a day to run them for a year. I spend more on coffee in 6 months. Afterall, i've seen worse things spent on for the 919. Return value or not.

[The Shadow]

Rather than doing an HID conversion, maybe it would be more cost effective to mount a couple of really narrow focus spots on the lower triple somehow. THAT'S a safety mod I would like to do. I've never had an issue with the peripheral spread on the stock reflector, I think it lights up the foreground and the sides really well...it just seems not to throw enough light far enough downrange. I also wonder how difficult it would be to modify the stock reflector...there's something I haven't looked into yet.

Carry on.




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[Pvster]

ur right about that shadow. the light doesnt go very far, but it sure is wide and clear. thats my problem, i need it far. plus u know its bad when the streetlight overlights your light lol.

[The Shadow]

^^ Hahahaha +1

[Wes Mantooth]

I agree, go ahead and try them - but I was simply answering the question regarding HID's to the poster, and instead of letting him TRY to retrofit a housing, why not pick up something that practically plops right in?

in MY eyes...
When light spread, consistency, brightness and distance is taken into consideration - maybe $310 isnt a performance mod, but a safety mod as i consider it. Seem like I could be fine with $1 a day to run them for a year. I spend more on coffee in 6 months. Afterall, i've seen worse things spent on for the 919. Return value or not.

i may have worded the value part wrong. i think the time and effort that would be spent would not be worth it in the long run. i am all about saftey mods as well, but even the plop in hid projector kits dont fit the headlight housing and minor surgery is required. it just seems unnecessary when the good halogen will bump up saftey levels by a factor of 10, as the 919 headlight is notoriously anemic. what would make it worse is if you had to pay labor at a shop to do it (not everybody has the skill, tools, or time to do it themselves).