See the link in my first post. These are not halogen bulbs; they're XENON GAS bulbs. The light is created by xenon gas rather than a filament (like halogen). They draw less voltage than halogen, plus they last much longer because there's no filament to burn out. Lastly, the light from xenon bulbs is bright white (as opposed to the yellowish halogens) and give off more light.

One mistake I made was saying that Sylvania H4st's are xenon, they're not, they're halogens.

 

The description on H-D.com would imply that the upgrade consists of just a sealed bulb of some sort, as it states that the upgade just plugs into the existing housing without new wiring or ballast. Sounds like a new plug in bulb to me. Retail for the headlamp only is $525 and something like $300+ for the passing lamps but I don't know if that's each or for a pair. In any event, it would be somewhere around $900 for new plug in bulbs. I hope someone comes up with a cheaper aftermarket. The H-D website no longer even lists an HID kit, btw.

 

I bought the HID kit from Motorcycle Metal. I can finally see where I'm going at night! It wasn't cheap, but it installed easily and the improvement over regular halogen or xenon bulbs is amazing. Well worth the investment.

I said it wasn't cheap, but it was less than a quarter of the $900 mentioned in the post above.

 

How quickly does the light respond when you flip on the high beam? I've head some HID kits have more lag (time from flipping the switch till the light actually switches) than others.

 

It's quick. It's a hair slower than the stock unit, but not enough to be of any concern. Every time I ride at night now I congratulate myself for taking the plunge (seriously, it's that much better) - I was a little concerned/skeptical when investigating and thinking about buying the kit and almost didn't do it.

 

Any feedback on Kuryakyn's entry into the foray? They look to be a bit less.

http://www.kuryakyn.com/Products/396...-Passing-Lamps

 

I have bought 2 of their products and they were both junk. They didn't work as advertised and when I contacted Kuryakan they told me that since I had installed them on the bike they wouldn't refund my money even though the produts didn't work and I called them within 2 weeks of purchasing them. I won't buy a third.

 

I have only made one Kuryakan purchase, some footpegs for Dr.Linda's Sportster. They lasted about 2K miles before falling apart. I'm done with them.

 

That price of $299 doesn't look to be less to me. I forget what the Motorcycle Metal kit actually cost, but I'm reasonably certain it was less than that. And Howard from MM gladly gave both email and phone support when I needed it.

 

That's good news to hear. I've been meaning to start a thread like this. I put the Sylvania H4 bulb in my girlfriend's Sportster and that's a whole lot better than stock but I hate the front lights on my Heritage. Problem is I would rather spend the cost of HID on something else every time I go shopping.

I was looking at the LED lights since they were a lot cheaper and wondering if the improvement was worth the investment. I also wanted to upgrade the driving lights more for looks than anything else. I think a full size Harley looks kind of stupid with a super bright, white headlight and dim, yellow driving lights.

I'll definitely take a look at the Motorcycle Metal LED kits.

It's funny thinking back. Remember how bright and white standard halogen headlights were back when they were just coming out to replace incandescent headlights? How did we even see the road back then? I guess everything is relative.