Well, first ride in the dark and I hold the main beam on my 2014 pp mts in the same stead as the back brake,,,,Shit. the low beam led is excellent, I cannot fathom why they fit led low beam then a crap main, its like the back brake issue,, some things just get overlooked it seems my question is has any one fitted a hid main beam up grade and if so any info please.
HID main beam is easy enough to fit but the problem with HID is it takes maybe up to 10 seconds to reach maximum brightness. So when you switch to main you will have a very dim light indeed for a few seconds until it warms up. If it is off for less than 10 seconds or so it will come back at full brightness but on the whole is not ideal. I don't know if the LED dip stays on with full beam on the 2013/14 models but it would be a big help if it did.
Yeah the leds stay on all the time, and there better than the high beam, so there shouldn't be a problem with the hid warm up time
You need a pair of H11 HIDs with slimline ballasts. Best lookup AndyW's online guide to fitting them. Motorcycle Info Pages - MTS1200 Electrical Stuff > MTS1200 HID Conversion
The article Derek links to above was written by @SPL of this manor, @John W (who makes the dual headlight mod cable for earlier MTS12s) is also very knowledgeable on HID installs ;-)
Barry, the High beams are usually pretty good, so I would suggest yours are probably way too high. Great if you want to do a bit of plane spotting, but no so handy to see where your going... Fitting HIDs is no big deal, the tricky part is finding somewhere sensible to mount the ignitors and ballasts.
I wouldn't fit HID for high beam for the reasons already given and if you flash# someone as a signal they may not see it. Instead I opted for a high quality white osram Xeon, about £15 on fleabag. # someone is bound to make a double entendre about this or some IAM type will give a lecture on incorrect use of a signal.
Yeah 2014 with led dipped/running lights which are so good they make the high beam terrible, I did consider bulb upgrades but don't think there cut with the LEDs, adjustment is fine, I've fitted his to cars just not bikes and read about canbus errors.
Barry, you dont get any canbus errors from doing this. Because of the way the lights are controlled via a relay, there is no issue at all. I forget now, but don't think there is any bulb failure warning either. Btw, you can get headlight lamps in different colour temperaqtures, so could probably find some to match the low beams. Surely the existing high beams match the low beams anyway ? try looking up the part number on the back of the lamp. Hope that helps.
Hi John, no the hight beam are yellow compared to the led low beam which are 6500K plus I would guess, hence I feel hid is the only way to go, the standard high beam are lost in the led's
Halogen lamps have a colour temperature of 3200K, daylight an average colour temp of 5600K, depending on the time of day, clear or overcast. OEM HID fitted to cars are generally 4300K. 6000K is getting on the blue side and higher than that is tending to violet. When I had the ST4s I initially fitted 6000K HIDs and although they were great for being seen they weren't so god for seeing with as the eye is more sensitive to yellow light than blue. I subsequently changed to 4300K and had better results. HIDs at a colour temperature of 5000K are a pretty good match for the blueish white from the LED running lights I have fitted to my 2010 so that might be the colour temp to try.
Thanks Derek, just had the MTS mapped by Chris @ CJS so its being ridden as much as poss at present, I don't do a great deal of night riding so will be done in the near future
Derek covered most of it. I agree 4k is the best colour temp for light penetration (range). I would suggest having a look at Philips vision plus lamps. I fitted these along with my HIDs Nd the colour match is pretty good, so they might be close to the LEDs too.
