Author Topic: Hella Driving Lights- FF50 or FF200?  (Read 4341 times)

Offline Feo

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Hella Driving Lights- FF50 or FF200?
« on: June 15, 2011, 05:58:58 PM »
Who is using (or has used) which, and what are your likes and dislikes?

My vision ain't what it used to be.

 8)
« Last Edit: June 15, 2011, 08:15:36 PM by Feo »

Offline George R. Young

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Re: Hella Driving Lights- FF550 or FF200?
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2011, 06:41:57 PM »
I think the best bang for the buck is converting the existing halogen H4 headlight to HID bi-xenon. Plug'n'play, no extra power required, bright!.

35W, ~$42
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270724059280&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMESINDXX%3AIT

55W, ~$60
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320702936893

Write-up
http://web.ncf.ca/ag136/HID55W%20%20Bi-Xenon%20Headlight.html
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Offline KenE

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Re: Hella Driving Lights- FF50 or FF200?
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2011, 01:27:13 AM »
I have ff300s right now, liked the ff50s better- less light, but less jiggle underweigh. The 50's have a mounting bolt on each side, the 300s have a cheesy one point ball clamp that allows it to move a lot more. More light, yes, but  jiggly.
Both are converted to hid- NICE- more like driving in the day!-Once again the ff50 was way easier to modify. Remove most of the flat area where the wires exit (till the hid bulb will fit through), and the gasket on the hid bulb fills the new oblong hole nicely.
Anybody need ff50 lenses? Ive got a set...
KenE

Offline throb

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Re: Hella Driving Lights- FF50 or FF200?
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2011, 04:02:36 AM »
Quote
I think the best bang for the buck is converting the existing halogen H4 headlight to HID bi-xenon. Plug'n'play, no extra power required, bright!.

+1 - I replaced the stock halogen with a HID assembly as well and the amount of light it throws is pretty incredible.
'05 Concours, SISF's 2 min jet mod and exhaust cam sprocket, snarf's block off plates, risers, SS lines, fork brace, T-Cro's stick coils & shift linkage, ZZR1200 rear shock, MS rear wheel.

Offline SteveJ.

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Re: Hella Driving Lights- FF50 or FF200?
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2011, 10:19:50 AM »
I've been running the FF200 lights for about eight years. Just put a replacement set on a year ago, the reflectors had degraded. We did a little experiment at a get together near Barber last year. I had a 55w HID light at the time. We fired up the Hellas while covering the HID, then uncovered the HID, there was no improvement over the Hellas, not brighter at all. The HID later failed, I went back to a standard H4. I don't like losing all lighting in a failure.

As my morning commute is in the dark, on back roads, I do want my lights to be functional, the FF200s are. They also utilize the single ball mount. I have them mounted on my tipover bars, with no issues with jiggling or bulb life.

To answer your question on FF50 vs FF200, the 200 put out immensely more light. Hard to measure. I run these on high beam only, kicked in by a relay, and a switch to kill them if I want. The same relay feeds a set of fog lights on low beam.

Another option, go with a high output H4 bulb, say maybe 80/100 watt. Bypassing the standard harness, and installation of a Bakelite headlight connector will be mandatory if you do. The extra current will kill the Jbox, and the extra heat will melt the headlight connector. Murphs' has a plug and play bypass that also has a provision for driving lights.

Just about anything you do will help the anemic stock headlight situation.

Have fun.
Perfection Is A Fantasy, Improvement Is Possible(Margie J)
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Offline timsatx

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Re: Hella Driving Lights- FF50 or FF200?
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2011, 10:26:42 AM »
I changed my H4 to HID before I went on my Saddle Sore 1000. I was driving out in the desert and let me tell you, it threw out a whole bunch of light. If you do that you probably won't want to add anything else.


Offline gtr1000

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Re: Hella Driving Lights- FF50 or FF200?
« Reply #7 on: June 17, 2011, 12:12:02 PM »
Or the FF200 with a HID bulb  ;D
Paul OTP (near Windsor, GB).

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Offline Uglydog56

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Re: Hella Driving Lights- FF50 or FF200?
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2011, 11:25:08 AM »
I have the 200's coupled 50w HID headlight and I can see very well at night.  The left one is set to shine down the center of the road just past the hid bright spot on low, the right one on the road signs and deer eyes.  I have no issues at night now, whatsoever.
Rick A. Cone
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