Retrofitting Xenon headlights in Europe (rules)

[Cloggy]

I was surprised last year to hear of a friend who got fined in Germany for having Xenon headlights fitted to his motorbike
Anyway I saw a short article on a Dutch website this morning that reminded me of this. Here is a translation of the article:

TheRAI and Motorcyclists Action Group remind riders that running Xenon lighting in some European countries is an offense and that they run the risk of getting a fine.

More and more motorcyclists are installing xenon headlights on their motorbikes . In the Netherlands there are no special requirements. The only condition is that they must work and not blind other motorists.

In other European countries, however this is not everywhere the same . There are indeed additional requirements, especially in Germany and Austria - especially in the requirement of automatic headlight height setting and you are in violation if you fail to fit this.

In France, retrofitting Xenon headlights is outright banned if this is not part of the type approval. At present, only a few types of BMW (with xenon fitted as an option) retrofitted with Xenon headlights normally supplied with the new bikes are covered, as this conforms to the type approval

As stated in the article in the Netherlands they are quite lenient as long as you don't blind other riders.

I was wondering what are the rules in your country?

 

[Lucif-R]

In Hungary after market Xenon bulbs are forbidden to be used in the original head light socket ( and they are more annoying :spank: as well, and look stupid ). So if there is only a Xenon bulb ( and accessories ) are built into the car than you will get a fine. If its built in than it has to have a headlight washer, and automatic height changer ( and has to be a focused lensed lamp like retrofit, if you retrofit by your self it than its 99% they will not see the difference if it is not set to light up the sky ).

For bikes if the police stops you, than that's 99% for the too loud pipes, and not because of the Xenon in front ( if it is angled correctly, and retrofitted ). They will also no send you do re do your bikes road license ( MOT ), but its really rare that police stops bikers.

However there is NKH ( National Transport Agency ) forbids the use of Xenons if they are not built in by factory but they usually go for trucks, and such vehicles and not for bikes. To be honest I've never heard that NKH stopped a biker.

And the law says:

"§ 3
(1) Any person who is involved in road transport, is required to
c) travel so as not to compromise the safety of persons and property, others
transportation not to be obstructed unduly, and not to disturb in it. "

The after market xenon bulb used in the halogen headlamp during transport is compromising the safety of persons and property, and obstruct others unduly and also is disturbing.

 

[nivag]

I think the UK is the same as Hungary's law.
I've got HIDs fitted and never had issues getting my bike MOT'd , I think as long as they aren't blinding people you should be ok.

 

[Senior]

So what about fitting an H7R HID which is supposed to have some shielding to prevent the glare from a normal H7 HID ?
Has anyone fitted the H7R ?

Sent from my HTC One on Vodafone 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[Beerdrinker]

In Portugal
Any adaptations or transformations has to be individually aproved by the manufacturer of the vehicle and then approved by the IMTT (agency that take care of the terrestrial transportation) and, if approved, added in the document of the vehicle what transformation had been made.
The xenon headlight has to have auto-leveling heigh and lens washer. Than it has to respect all the other rules of the lights in the front of the vehicles, color, range etc.

 

[nivag]

So what about fitting an H7R HID which is supposed to have some shielding to prevent the glare from a normal H7 HID ?
Has anyone fitted the H7R ?

Sent from my HTC One on Vodafone 4G using Tapatalk 2

I think the issue is it's meant to be self-levelling and have a cleaner/washer.

 

[Motogiro]

There are basically 2 types of HID conversions I see on bikes. One is the direct replacement HID lamp and one is the projector type that has it's own lens. The reflector for a stock halogen lamp is specifically designed for the halogen H4 or H7 type lamp and will not work correctly if using the HID type conversion lamps. A projector type HID is a different story and can be aimed and also has a cutoff (lo-beam) that can be used as not to blind oncoming traffic. The projector relies on it own reflector/lens assembly and does not use the OEM reflector.
Because the first type HID is so offensive in a lens designed for halogen type lamps, lawmakers write laws that flat out ban headlamp modification that is other than factory OEM. I haven't looked it up but have heard the law here in CA bans modifying OEM headlamps on vehicles. I've seen HID projector modified headlamps on bikes and they are the best! Nice cutoff for lo-beam and awesome light output for great visibility.



Headlamp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Retrofitment
When a halogen headlamp is retrofitted with an HID bulb, light distribution and output are altered.[34] In the United States, vehicle lighting that do not conform to FMVSS 108 are not street legal.[34] Glare will be produced and the headlamp's type approval or certification becomes invalid with the altered light distribution, so the headlamp is no longer street-legal in some locales.[35] In the US, suppliers, importers and vendors that offer non-compliant kits are subject to civil fines. By October 2004, the NHTSA had investigated 24 suppliers and all resulted in termination of sale or recalls.[36]

In Europe and the many non-European countries applying ECE Regulations, even HID headlamps designed as such must be equipped with lens cleaning and automatic self-leveling systems, except on motorcycles.[35] These systems are usually absent on vehicles not originally equipped with HID lamps.

When the time comes the SV will have correctly aimed, efficient, projector type HIDs. :rockon:

 

[Cloggy]

When my friend got fined in Germany he was pulled over as someone else in the group had "glaring" headlights, but the Police then went over all the other bikes with a fine toothcomb, resulting in his fine. I do think that generally you would be OK as long as you don't blind other motorists, but if you get stopped by the police they could fine you. BTW as a side note I've also heard that the police in Germany are pretty strict on noise levels (from your exhaust), so put those DB killers back in if you're going to ride there:thumbup:.

 

[nivag]

Interesting to see they are picking up on noise now in Germany, my mate got done for €500 last year in Switzerland, he even had the DB killers on him, doh!

I've got a new bike for this years trip, it's got a Arrow low boy exhaust, nice and fruity but has the baffle in it but still louder than 'normal' - could be a expensive trip *gulp*
Might just have to have the sat nav set for the nearest border lol