Lighting upgrade

[Chrissb6]

here's the rules

General requirements

In the Department for Transport's (DfT) view it is not legal to sell or use after

market HID lighting kits, for converting conventional Halogen headlamps to HID

Xenon. If a customer wants to convert his vehicle to Xenon HID he must

purchase completely new Xenon HID headlamps. The reason for this is that

the existing lens and reflector are designed around a Halogen filament bulb,

working to very precise tolerances. If one places a HID "burner" (bulb) in the

headlamp, the beam pattern will not be correct, there will be glare in some

places and not enough light in other places within the beam pattern.

The following is the legal rationale:

The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 regulate the situation in the UK.

Under these Regulations, HID/Gas Discharge/Xenon headlamps are not

mentioned and therefore they are not permitted according to the strict letter of

the law.

However new vehicles have HID headlamps. This is because they comply with

European type approval regulations. The UK cannot refuse to register a vehicle

with a European type approval. These approvals relate to ECE Regulation 98

(for the HID headlamps which are tested on a rig in a laboratory) and ECE

Regulation 48 (lighting installation on the vehicle).

For the aftermarket, a used vehicle cannot obtain type approval because this

only applies to new vehicles. However DfT does not think it reasonable simply

to ban HID in the aftermarket. Instead the Department makes analogies with

new vehicles. It seems reasonable to require HID in the aftermarket to meet the

same safety standards as those for new vehicles. The same level of safety should apply no need to have washers or self levelling on the bike l think.

[Joeman]

here's the rules

General requirements

In the Department for Transport's (DfT) view it is not legal to sell or use after

market HID lighting kits, for converting conventional Halogen headlamps to HID

Xenon. If a customer wants to convert his vehicle to Xenon HID he must

purchase completely new Xenon HID headlamps. The reason for this is that

the existing lens and reflector are designed around a Halogen filament bulb,

working to very precise tolerances. If one places a HID "burner" (bulb) in the

headlamp, the beam pattern will not be correct, there will be glare in some

places and not enough light in other places within the beam pattern.

The following is the legal rationale:

The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 regulate the situation in the UK.

Under these Regulations, HID/Gas Discharge/Xenon headlamps are not

mentioned and therefore they are not permitted according to the strict letter of

the law.

However new vehicles have HID headlamps. This is because they comply with

European type approval regulations. The UK cannot refuse to register a vehicle

with a European type approval. These approvals relate to ECE Regulation 98

(for the HID headlamps which are tested on a rig in a laboratory) and ECE

Regulation 48 (lighting installation on the vehicle).

For the aftermarket, a used vehicle cannot obtain type approval because this

only applies to new vehicles. However DfT does not think it reasonable simply

to ban HID in the aftermarket. Instead the Department makes analogies with

new vehicles. It seems reasonable to require HID in the aftermarket to meet the

same safety standards as those for new vehicles. The same level of safety should apply no need to have washers or self levelling on the bike l think.

 

Some of the boys on the Gixxer forum are fitting a projector headlight from a BMW E46 (3 series). They are not installing the "Burner" into the factory fitted GSXR headlight, but replacing the whole unit with the BMW projector. Are they breaking the law?

[Stu]

No because it is fitted in to a proper unit made for hid

It's when you put hid bulb (without the projector) in to a reflector unit that's the problem

[Fozzie]

To simplify as people dont seem to quite get the point from the explanation Stu and Chrissb6

HID's:

Legal when fitted as standard

Legal when fitted to an existing headlight where the reflector has been removed

Illegal when fitted with a reflector still in the headlight

Illegal when it comes with an auto level that doesnt work

So in essence if you want to fit them follow this short summary:

Remove the reflector, either have a working auto leveller or none at all and make sure you fit it properly.

[Stu]

Also illegal if the headlight washers don't work! If fitted

To make life even easier they are only legal if fitted to a unit that is designed for hid and not halogen

[Joeman]

Also illegal if the headlight washers don't work! If fitted

To make life even easier they are only legal if fitted to a unit that is designed for hid and not halogen

 

So even though the GSXR has a projector headlight as standard, because the factory projector is designed for Halogen bulb, to install a HID Burner would be illegal.

This means the only legal way to upgrade a bike with factory fitted Halogen Projectors is to replace the factory projector with a HID projector.

[Stu]

Legally yeah that's right

But both projectors are the same and you get the same beam pattern they are just stamped differently!