PIAA have supplied addtional lighting for the Iron Horse, there is a centre-mounted ion crystal 1500XT fog light and a brighter-than-nuclear HID lamp. This cyclops eye is incredibly powerful and yet draws only 35W, this is definitely the way of the future. HID is streets ahead of conventional halogens because of its low draw and high light output, important on a bike like the KLR which has a weak charging system and very average main headlight. All regular single headlight designs are compromised by the fact that they must incorporate a cut-off low beam and high beam in the same unit, where additional lighting is built for one purpose only - to throw light out there.
Some would suggest that world rider should not be riding at night, and they'd be right. However in practice I've found myself in exactly that situation, due to circumstances beyond my control, and having good light to help you keep your speed up and get to your destination as soon as possible is a godsend.
Thanks must go to Ian Mackenzie, the PIAA representative in Vancouver, who managed to source the PIAA HID for me. It will be an interesting test of the system to see how it handles the vibrations of poor quality roads. HID has no filament, so if the ballast can take it in theory it should be more robust than a conventional halogen.
You can see PIAA's full range at www.piaa.com |
