Cananyone tell me about "halo eye" lights?

[garyg199]

I think they look great. Definitely not gonna spend hundreds of dollars on them though. I've seen some pairs under 100$. Chinese I'm sure, but whatever. Has anyone used them? I hear they're a pain to install but I think it's worth it.

[InvisiBill]

They're simply circular lights that go around your headlights. They're usually installed with projectors (where all the light is coming from one specific place), as opposed to regular halogen bulbs in reflectors.

Installing them involves dissecting and reassembling your headlight, beyond the electrical stuff.

Personally, I think they usually look stupid, but it's not my money/bike. Keep in mind that your low beam is always on, which will affect the visibility of the halo too.

[ZeroGravity360]

I actually really like the halo lights, but it depends on the bike. bigger bikes it looks really nice because of the two headlights, but with the 250 having one, not sure it would have the effect you want it to have. They increase the viability (from my understanding) at night, but again not sure how it would work out on a ninja 250 since the head lights are so close together, i dont know if it would make the much of a difference in the brightness at night

[Ralgha]

Angel eyes wouldn't help visibility on the road, your main headlights overpower them, and they don't really add anything to lighting up the road either. To make them visible on the road, you'd have to modify your headlight wiring so the angel eyes become your running lights and your main headlights only turn on when you turn them on. On a car there's no real downside to that, but on a motorcycle it's a big reduction in visibility. Your main headlights are much brighter than angel eyes, and hence are much better for making your visible as running lights.

Most people that I've seen with angel eyes on their motorcycles only use them when they're parked. They're basically just a show off item with no practical value. Nothing wrong with that, just understand what they do and don't do.

[ZeroGravity360]

Maybe i am thinking of something else, but I am almost positive they help with visability because the main bulb is an led? No?

[RacinNinja]

Angel eyes are the ring around the headlight. Essentially, they are marker lights and no more.

You are confusing them with an LED retrofit, which is an entirely new headlight housing OR a new headlight bulb.

[InvisiBill]

Here's an example.



The red/orange ring is a halo at the front of the projector shroud. The white ring is a larger halo at the rear of the shroud. These are simply small light rings, like BMW cars have.

The red in the middle is an "eye", which is an LED installed inside the projector, behind the lens. It's much lower power than the headlight bulb, so it simply makes the lens glow, rather than actually projecting light for illumination.

They're purely cosmetic mods. You may get a tiny bit of light splashing out (you can see some light on the table), but they don't provide any real illumination.

I'm sure some dumb ricer somewhere has installed halos around his halogen bulb in a reflector housing, but I can't even find an image of that with Google. The only thing I'm finding are bulb housings with "halos" built in, like this:


With the NewGen 250, the side with the low beam is always on, and the other side is also on when you're using the high beam.


As already mentioned, the previous picture is of an LED headlight bulb retrofit, and has absolutely nothing to do with halo/eye mods. LED is simply a type of lighting, so a picture of your flip phone's keypad (which is also illuminated via LEDs) is just as relevant.

[Ralgha]

InvisiBill has the perfect example picture of the various "eyes". If you want to improve your own visibility of the road, you would want to upgrade your main headlights with either LED bulbs (might work as a drop in replacement), or an HID retrofit. While some people just drop in HID bulbs, I can't recommend that at all since the reflector just explodes the light everywhere and it will dazzle oncoming drivers, making it MORE dangerous for you, not less. Any time you're driving down the road and an oncoming car with the bright white/blueish lights makes you think anything along the lines of "OMG THOSE ARE BRIGHT," they probably did an improper HID retrofit.

Proper HID retrofit includes projector housings that are designed for HID bulbs. They control the light output and cast it in such a way that it doesn't glare into other drivers. The difference is massive.

A properly built LED replacement bulb doesn't have the same problem, and they can often be dropped into a halogen reflector housing with little problem. Just make sure they ARE the right type and you orient them correctly when you put them in.

Angel and demon eyes are style, not function, they do not improve your visibility to other drivers, and they do not improve your visibility of the road. Use them appropriately.

If you want to improve your visibility to other drivers, I would suggest adding LED running lights with a modulator, or putting a modulator on your headlight. Photon Blasters are pretty cool, and you get a discount if you show proof of having taken a safety course in the last two years.