HID Blinding

Zibby · May 13th, 2014, 10:56 PM

So this may be completely silly and stupid but its a well known fact that putting in HID's without the projector housing blinds oncoming traffic right? I was wondering if the blinding effect would be less profound if I were to black out the inner reflectors on the oem housing. Wouldn't making the most inner reflective surface of the housing non-reflective reduce the blinding problem? Or perhaps the most outer surface? Heres a pic of what im talking about. L being the inner reflective surface blacked out and R being the outer reflective surface blacked out.

InvisiBill · May 14th, 2014, 01:52 PM

Maybe somewhat. The root of the issue is that the reflector is designed for a specific light source in a precise location. With a different bulb (especially a completely different type of bulb), the light source will be in a slightly different location, and thus the reflector will reflect the light into a different location from what was intended with the reflector's design.

Theoretically it could work, but the trick is figuring out exactly which parts of the reflector to black out to prevent the glare, without removing too much of the usable light. Generally speaking, the top of the reflector reflects light down and the bottom reflects up, so you'd probably want to start on the bottom vs. a ring.

By the time you finish figuring out how to modify your reflector to half-work and not blind others, I bet you'll wish you had just done it the right way (using a housing designed for the light source) in the beginning and gotten better results.

At least with the dual bulbs, you can leave your low beam alone and throw a HID bulb in the high beam that you only use when other vehicles aren't around. However, depending on how different the HID bulb is from the standard H7, you might still not get very good results (since the reflector is made for the H7).

Klondike1020 · May 14th, 2014, 01:55 PM

Dont do it. Making the inside of a head light non reflective means it won't shine the light forward.

Up grade bulb, down grade reflector
Very self defeating.

Cut a hole in the back of the had light bezel and put a projector kit in the darn thing, nice lenz to direct your new insanely powerful photon producing illumination machine

Panda · May 14th, 2014, 02:26 PM

This is exactly why I replaced my halogen bulbs with lasers.

**** yeah. Lasers.

May 14th, 2014, 01:55 PM	#3
Klondike1020 Intrepid Adventurer Name: Josh Location: Rochester/Buffalo NY Join Date: Jan 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2004 GSXR 750 , 71 cb350streettracker, 07 Polaris Predator 500 Posts: A lot.	Dont do it. Making the inside of a head light non reflective means it won't shine the light forward. Up grade bulb, down grade reflector Very self defeating. Cut a hole in the back of the had light bezel and put a projector kit in the darn thing, nice lenz to direct your new insanely powerful photon producing illumination machine __________________________________________________ LIFE IS NOT FOR REGRETS OR EXCUSES. Breath deep, seek peace. Embrace the Madness. Life is good, let it be

May 14th, 2014, 01:52 PM	#2
InvisiBill EX500 full of EX250 parts Name: Bill Location: Grand Rapids-ish, MI Join Date: Jul 2012 Motorcycle(s): '18 Ninja 400 • '09 Ninja 500R (selling) • '98 VFR800 (project) • '85 Vulcan VN700 (sold) Posts: A lot. Blog Entries: 1 MOTM - Aug '15	Maybe somewhat. The root of the issue is that the reflector is designed for a specific light source in a precise location. With a different bulb (especially a completely different type of bulb), the light source will be in a slightly different location, and thus the reflector will reflect the light into a different location from what was intended with the reflector's design. Theoretically it could work, but the trick is figuring out exactly which parts of the reflector to black out to prevent the glare, without removing too much of the usable light. Generally speaking, the top of the reflector reflects light down and the bottom reflects up, so you'd probably want to start on the bottom vs. a ring. By the time you finish figuring out how to modify your reflector to half-work and not blind others, I bet you'll wish you had just done it the right way (using a housing designed for the light source) in the beginning and gotten better results. At least with the dual bulbs, you can leave your low beam alone and throw a HID bulb in the high beam that you only use when other vehicles aren't around. However, depending on how different the HID bulb is from the standard H7, you might still not get very good results (since the reflector is made for the H7).

May 14th, 2014, 02:26 PM	#4
Panda not an actual panda Name: dan Location: philadelphia Join Date: Aug 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja 250, 2009 CBR600RR (Sold) Posts: A lot.	This is exactly why I replaced my halogen bulbs with lasers. **** yeah. Lasers.