Chrissb6 Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 here's the rulesGeneral 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joeman Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 here's the rulesGeneral 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 No because it is fitted in to a proper unit made for hidIt's when you put hid bulb (without the projector) in to a reflector unit that's the problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozzie Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 To simplify as people dont seem to quite get the point from the explanation Stu and Chrissb6 HID's: Legal when fitted as standardLegal when fitted to an existing headlight where the reflector has been removedIllegal when fitted with a reflector still in the headlightIllegal when it comes with an auto level that doesnt workSo 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joeman Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Legally yeah that's right But both projectors are the same and you get the same beam pattern they are just stamped differently! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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