Travelling at 70 kph, along the highway at night, you immediately become aware of what seems to be a long chain of lights approaching at the next turn. It is pretty late when you realize that facing you is a convoy of trucks moving at about 35 kph with their high beam on.

Your frantic flashing doesn't do you any good. You can no longer see the road or anything else for that matter apart from the lights. You hit the brakes and drop speed to 15 kph all the while trying desperately to see the road. As you drop the speed, your 35 watts lights dim further (AC electrical is the standard for Indian Bikes with a few exceptions). Switching on the high beam again is of little help.

Such an experience is common among night riders and drivers alike. Barring Pulsar 220 and Karizmas, this is something you will have to grin and bear with riding on other bikes. Because we all know that piffling 35 watts headlamps, so thoughtfully provided by the manufacturer, will not illuminate much.

Some of us, a little knowledgeable of course, go ahead, to put up 50/65 watts bulbs. These bulbs provide some relief, but are heavy on bike electrical and may damage the bike's reflector. This make you feel so low even after investing 80k on a brand new bike until you learn that HID lamps consume only 35 watts, the same as your stock bulb but award you with lightning power of more than 150 plus watts of halogen bulb.

So what are HIDs and how would you go about fitting one to your bike?

HID stands for High-Intensity Discharge, the technical term for the electric arc that produces the light. HIDs actually Resemble more a tube light than a halogen bulb. Automotive HID lamps are commonly called 'Xenon Headlamps', because of the xenon gas used in the lamps. The xenon gas allows the lamps to produce minimally adequate mounts of light immediately upon start-up and speed the warm-up time.

In India, HIDs are quiet common in cars but not on bikes. In Bangalore alone there are no more than eight motorcycle brands making use of HIDs. There are many varieties of HIDs available. Some of them have two separate tubes for hi-low beam, some have single tube, which are moved physically to change the pattern and some even come with one beam as HID tube and other as normal halogen glued to side!

HIDs demand a huge premium and installing on Indian bikes is quiet cumbersome. A set of single HID will set you back by about 7k odd rupees. But the results are astonishing. Illumination is exceptionally well, and it is the ultimate in automotive lighting today.

It's your responsibility to be safe on the roads; HIDs give you the option to do just that. But word of caution- use it sensibly. And in case of any assistance, you can reach me at 'rahuldevnath@gmail.com'.

Happy lighting in the New Year

2008

Rahul Devnath

BA (Journo, Psy & Eng)