Better Headlights The headlights on your Ducati are the result of a number of design compromises and legal restrictions. So, before you go changing them let me list a few points to consider first.
The light patterns of high and low beams are legally restricted, because otherwise the light from oncoming vehicles can blind you and you can blind them. So reflectors and bulbs are designed in combination such that there is a sharp cut-off to the light pattern to prevent this glare.
The color of the our headlight beam affects our ability to see. The more yellow and less blue the beam, the better we can SEE WITH IT at night. The more blue and less yellow the beam, the better it can be SEEN during the day. This is a function of the way our eyes work.
The brightness of the headlight increases as the electrical current through the bulb is increased. Bulbs with a higher wattage rating are brighter. But, given that the heat and electrical demands on the charging system and wiring increase with higher wattage bulbs, 55 watt bulbs have become standard on most vehicles.
You can't get something for nothing. Some headlight bulb manufacturers advertise getting the equivalent of 85 watts of light while consuming only the standard 55 watts of electrical power. They do this trick by concentrating the light beam more at the center and less at the edges so you can't see objects to the side as well.
True high intensity discharge (HID) lighting systems are more efficient than halogen gas-filled bulbs so for the same wattage used they produce a brighter light. But, they're also bluer in color. These expensive systems first appeared on high-end luxury cars that use a government-mandated self-leveling system to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. It's illegal to fit these lights to your car without the leveling devices for a good reason.
The blue-colored light from true HID's has created some confusion in the marketplace that is being exploited by headlight bulb manufacturers. True HID's use an entirely different arc-discharge (like a movie projector) technology to produce their brighter light, but because the resultant light is bluer (higher degrees Kelvin) buyers naturally think that blue light is brighter so they switch to blue bulbs in an attempt to get brighter lights.
To add to the confusion, the term HID is often seen on packaging of standard halogen bulbs that have simply been given a blue dye coating. The coating absorbs light so they may be bluer but they're NOT AS BRIGHT as the same bulb without the coating.
Short of a true HID system there IS a better bulb available (if it's not blue) that increases the usable light output by pressurizing the bulb with a higher percentage of the gas Xenon. The BmwXenon 30% Xenon bulbs for example, use this technology.
http://www.bmwxenon.com/ducati.html Ducati Superbike HID Lighting I installed a HID lighting system in place of the high beam halogen bulb in my Ducati 916.
The system I used was from Baja Designs but I don't see it on their current website (
http://www.bajadesigns.com/).
Actually, any manufacturer that uses a separate igniter modile like the one shown will here probably work.
Some recent designs use an integrated bulb/igniter that could have clearance problems with the headlight casting opening.
Here's a picture of my installation:
The stock Ducati high beam bulb mounting plate needed to be modified with a Dremel to accept the larger diameter HID arc capsule. All HID systems are single (arc) bulbs so they not dual function high/low beams. However, they are three times brighter than a regular high beam (1290 vs. 3200 lumens) so all you really need is the HID alone. My beam pattern is very good with no hot spots or scatter.
Here's a picture comparison of the 55W low beam and the 35W HID high beam using the same exposure.
The principal reason I installed it is to be more visible to traffic and to reduce electrical load on my system (35 W vs. 55 W). Night vision is vastly improved but I really don't ride at night much. The light color is bluer but not like the blue lights you buy in auto stores. They're the same as the Mercedes, BMWs and Lexus HID lights that come from the factory and shouldn't present any legal difficulties.
The basic limitation on a HID conversion is that there are no HID arc capsules that have a transverse (side-to-side) arc path. They're all front-to-back.
This picture shows a H1 bulb on the left with the ruler's top edge passing through the center of the wound filament. On the right is the HID arc capsule with the ruler's top edge passing through its center. Note that in order to place the HID arc center correctly at the focal plane of the headlight reflector, the distance from the base (near the lower edge of the ruler) is the same distance as for the H1.
So you can only convert an H1 bulb (or an H4 high/low bulb.) Otherwise the light pattern is all screwed-up because the arc isn't placed at the focal point. The superbike low beam is a H3 projector-type unit so it can't be converted.
The problem is that a H3 bulb has a transverse (left-to-right) filament that sits at the focal plane of the optics. If you move the filament out of the lens focal plane it screws-up the light pattern creating hot spots and glare to oncoming traffic. So, if you put a HID front-to-back arc in the low beam fixture, the major part of the arc that runs forward and behind the focal plane cannot be focused and the light pattern is nonsensical for good night vision and preventing glare to oncoming traffic.