HIDs flicker but don't fire up... advice sought...

[Brock]

Sure thing Diesel, I have the day off, so I will just pop over. How long could it take???

 
 


 

[Gavo]

youll get there quicker on a blue beaST 

[Tackleberry]

   Sorry about hijacking your thread Diesel but I'll answer a few questions. 

You need to lift them slightly Tack,

You will only see the wabbits, not the Woos

The picture of the lights working was taken when they were mounted on my Blackbird, and it was sitting on centre stand, so they were a little low compared to normal alignment.  When riding I did see the skippies, mostly shielding their eyes.     The picture also doesn't do them justice

Tackleberry, what brackets did you use to mount the HID lights?

Look like the police brackets you can get for the ST11 (they are still white)

The picture of the lights mounted on my current baby are indeed correctly identified as being on Police mounts, (Saaz cheated cause he's seen em up close lol) and before anybody else asks, I have tried to obtain the new 1300 brackets and been told not yet.

Highjack over now Diesel. 

[Flip]

Spitting chips !   |||
I've got a pair of police mounts - both for the left hand side.    and a similar pair of 4 inch 35W. HID driving lights also from Shoreline Import just waiting to be mounted onto the ST.   
Got the all black bodied ones - just couldn't bring myself to pay the extra $79 just for the orange parts.
YES - I know - - Cheapskate ! 
They happened to be on special when I picked them up - $210 for a pair as against $289 for the pair for the ones with the orange body parts. 
See they are back up to $280 a pair on fleabay tonight.  :(
The HID headlights of the ST. have their own dedicated wires running directly from the battery to the ballast these extra HID driving lights come off the same feed with a relay between each light and the switch. ( Ex-Police ST's have heaps of spare switches  :) )
Can't mount the driving lights until I can get my hands on a R/H mounting bracket. 
Still looking  . . . . . . .  :(

[OzRider]

Dave,

I had a similar problem with mine at the start, check and re check your connections (initial problem) also the bike start switch, found mine had dirty contacts on the light circuit part of the switch cleaned it up and no problems (touch wood) since, this is the switch where you can cut the circuit and install a headlight interup switch.

If you need it I have a curcuit layour to install the switch, Ive drilled the hole and gone no further as everthing is working (touch a tree) now all ive got to do is get rid of the F1 light....bloody MAP sensor  ||| |||

[saaz]

ST13s are wonderful bikes otherwise, huh....

[Flip]

WOO HOO !  Twin 35W HID driving lights coming up. 

Found a R/H light bracket of fleabay - UK fleabay. Being sold right here in Perth.   
Contacted the seller and arranging a meeting for a pick up on Thursday or Friday this week. 
All the replacements for the bent and broken parts have arrived at Causeway Honda now,
so just waiting for Panel and Paint of Osborne Park to finish up the welding and re-painting.   

Just checked the HID driving lights, was supposted to get a mixed pair from Shoreline Imports, one pencil beam
and one wide beam - but was given two pencil beams instead, the young guy working there did not know what
he was doing.
First off he tried to charge me the full price for a pair of lights for just the one - had to get him to look at their fleabay
site to see the price was foe a pair of HID light.    No biggy and easerly sorted out.  :)

That's the trouble with being too technically switched on - sometimes the little details escape your notice. 

 Life is just SO much better on a -   

[saaz]

I found on the weekend that one of the Narva driving lights has a cracked lense (bloody Queensland!), so down to one halogen powered driving light with a Vision plus bulb in it.  Question is now whether to replace the one light, get another pair (probabaly cheaper) or go LED or HID (each have pros and cons) or get a HID to run with the halogen (one on instantly, one a little bit behind).  Or not bother an look like a Road Warrior.  I will just go on the Snowyride and think about it.   

[Tackleberry]

Just checked the HID driving lights, was supposted to get a mixed pair from Shoreline Imports, one pencil beam and one wide beam - but was given two pencil beams instead,

Flip just check the beams mate because the HID's that Shoreline sell with the red rim are referred to as a Eurobeam.  They have a spot centre and taper out into the tabledrains for an all round effect.  They may be this combo. 

[Gavo]

My cannons cleared customs on the 28th at 2.40 pm so im now wacthing  the po box for their iminent arrival

[Flip]

G'day Tackleberry,   :)

yes, I noticed that at their storeroom / shop with the boxes of 4" HID lights in their boxes on the shelves.
Some of the boxes where marked as ' Eurobeam ' on the outside of the boxes.
Both the units I was given are in black boxs marked with the brand name - ' Valkyrie ' and above that 'black spot.'
The three little marking boxes labled 'Pencilbeam'   'Eurobeam'  and 'Widebeam'  are unmarked.

Just checked them both out of the boxes - only opened the one of them at the storeroom / shop.
One reflector has a completely smooth surface on it's parabolic refective surface - the other one has about 10 vertical ribs on it's reflector. ( DAMN IT !  >:( )

Oh well, - can't win them all I guess. 

Life is just SO much better on a -   

[saaz]

 

Well, back on track a bit!  We should be concerned for Diesels's problems and not that the rest of us are having a great time

[Gavo]

Cannons they are!   
Have arived and they are huge. 
Soon to be fitted up   

[saaz]

Any updates on Diesel's HID issues?  Just wondering if a solution has been found that may help others.  I am feeling uneasy that I have perfectly working hi/lo and HID converted driving lights   

And here is a link to some HIDs on special at the moment.  No connection just came across it.  make sure you get the AC versions, not the cheaper and less reliable DC ones.  Parts are pretty cheap too!

http://stores.ebay.com.au/factorykissau?_trksid=p4340.l2563


35W ones may be better as I have seen report of ST13 reflectors going offcolour with 55w.

[Malcolm6112]

Beware, these are Xenon high and halogen low.

 

[saaz]

Not all are, but there are quite a few of those HID/halogen bulbs that are basically useless - why they sell them I don't know (apart from being cheap but useless!).  Amongst the kits there are some hi-low beam kits that are HID, but only seem to be in 55W.  Also quite a few useless colour ones for looks only and single beam H4 (H4-3 are the dual HID beam ones, preferrably 4300K but I run 6000K and they are fine).

[terrydj]

Yeah I know its a late post but after doing a couple of days in the storm last week my left HID left spotlight started doing what diesals were doing?? So I strips it down and finds the connections from the ballast had come loose. While I was at it I ditched the HID Hi/Lo setup as the low beam was great but the high beam was?????????

[tj189]

 
Terry, what was wrong with the high beam on the HID?

[Flip]

OK - now officially not happy with HID headlight sets   >:(

After finally getting my ST back together and booking it in tomorrow morning at The Honda Shop in Midland to have the backfiring seen to -
wheeled it out onto the street tonight to set up the new HID driving lights - turned on the key and before I could even start the engine, noticed a flickering coming from the HID headlights.
That lasted about two seconds then no headlights at all      
Turned the key off again - waited a few minutes then turned it back on straight to engine start-up - - - still no headlights at all   :(
Tried high and low beams - nothing except the 'clicking' of the original Honda relay deep inside the front cowling.
Kept the engine running while setting up the driving lights - they work great -  but still no headlights.
Looks like the front cowling will be coming apart ( AGAIN  ) as soon as the bike gets back from having the engine fixed.
Since the HID headlights have their own feed directly from the battery and the new driving lights share that feed -  have a spare pair of globes and a spare harness but no spare ballasts - want to bet it will be the ballasts that are stuffed ? 
Still hoping it is just the fuse in the HID headlights harness that has popped   

[terrydj]

Terry, what was wrong with the high beam on the HID?

Mate tried a lot of different ways to get it sorted but was never quite right. For some reason the difference between Low Beam and High Beam wasn't really their at all except for the width??? maybe
The spotlights are just the best so I have now a pair of F4's 60/55w X-tream Vision +100%. Used to run before the HID's 100/90's without a problem, so I'll see how these go.
And mate I know your setup rocks, as I didn't even have to have my lights on that night when I followed you

[tj189]

Thanks for the follow up Terry,  I was starting to think i needed to check mine out I am a big believer in "what suits you" for most things riding, in this case age, eyes, amount of Km travelling and time,  all add into the equation of what is best for each of us.  You may also consider dropping back to the 4300K to see if that suits Will chat Sunday. cheers

Hijack over

[saaz]

The HIDs in the ST1100 don't look dramatic on high beam, as the beam spreads a lot with not that much penetration. The light is still better than normal H4s though.  I am using 6000K but some say that 4300K works better for them vision wise.  I might try 55W hi/los but the ST11 light has a bit too much scatter for my liking, so don't want to cause other road users too much trouble on low beam.

BTW I have modified my headligh housing to take normal H4 bulbs without modification. Perhaps this might make a difference? Locating the bulbs properly is crucial.

[tj189]

Even though this link below  is a couple of years old, it is still good for info on the HID install.  From memory and I am not sure if it talks about it in the link below but it is critical to have these mounted correctly.  By ensuring this, then the cut off should be the same as the old lights.  When I did my install and before I started  I marked my cutoff with the OEM light then, after the install of the HID, checked to make sure they were the same.

I am not sure what people are looking for in penetration but mine definitely penetrate further than the OEM or any of the other normal bulbs that I tried prior to going with HID.  I have the 35w 6000k HID's mounted
 
http://www.my-mc.com/messages/1/120477.html?1256619323

[saaz]

I am comparing high beam pebetration with some marschall 7" headlights I have used on my older 78 GS1000.  The marschall have a great beam pattern, with spread and penetration. The ST11 pattern is more of a blob of light by comparison, but if you introduce enough light it is better!  HID is the best.  Even normal 55w driving lights make a difference to penetration - HIDs alot better.