After riding for about 2 weeks I can honestly say that I really like my HID setup.

Its a DDM Tuning 35W 5000K H4 high/low setup. They are very visible, but since DDM puts the metal shield on them glare is minimal.. I have not ridden at night yet, but I running it in the garage after sunset you can see how bright and crisp the beam is.

One benefit (and the main reason I bought them) besides the increased light output for the rider is the fact that cagers seem to see me better.. the light beam is almost pure white and I have seen quite a few cars notice me a lot quicker.. I am very happy about that even though some stupid woman almost changed lanes into me on the parkway this morning. In her defense, she was to the left and not in front to see the beam, plus she was an idiot.

Another benefit. . the 'hot stumble' that seems to be present on quite a few 1999 and 2000 F4s seems to be now gone, or at least nearly gone.. While my bike was never really terrible with it as some others seem to be )never stalled itself out), at times idling with the fan on in the heat, the bike would stumble a bit.. sometimes on tip in or just at idle.. I had replaced the rectifier with the revised OEM finned Honda unit, but that didnt help much at all.. except for the peace of mind of knowing that I had the superior part in there.

I have reduced amp draw throughout the bike by:
replacing stock taillight with a Clear Alternatives LED light (not integrated - has factory rear signals)
replaced front signals with hotbodies LED flushmounts (with running light mod)
The aforementioned HID kit

The fan kicked on an doff a few times over the past few weeks with no stumble felt at all. I might be prematurely celebrating, but it feels great and I hope it will continue..

I'm not saying this is the cure, but I can say that this seems to have worked well for me.

Just passing info along...

 

thats great to hear, and it does possibly make sense. eliminating power draw leaves more power free for the spark plugs to spark hotter, allowing for an easier ignition in the cylenders when they are hot. its kinda like buying crappy low temp plugs vs better high temp plugs. my bike is also pretty much 100% led now, but i am still running a regular headlight bulb. actually im running a high temp silvania zxe bulb, which i suppose would draw a little more power... :/

 

Only bad thing with lowering power output everywhere on your bike is you will be making alot more work for your R/R to disipate the extra wattage the stator is making.

 

I doubt it is anything great or significant, but I will say that the little bit seems to have made the slight difference that was needed. As I said, the issue was never as big as others had.. It was very slight.. But now it's perfect.

 

Thanks for the report, turbulenz! I'm glad it's helping with idle stumbling, too.

 

All for naught, as you no longer have the F4. ;-) Excellent feedback info for the rest considering the option. I'm sure the new owner appreciates the new light set up. :-)

 

Yeah I figured I'd let people know about it.. and yes... (sigh) my F4 is with her new owner. A nice guy that promised he will take care of her. She was very good to me and I was good to her. She was in great shape.. This guy was the first guy to look at it and he bought it.. So at least she went to a good home. Now I have to get working on the F4i.