NiteRider HellFire Dirt Bike HID Lights - Hard Parts Review

NiteRider
HellFire HID Lights

Adding powerful riding lights to most dirt bikes is expensive, and the price of the light itself may be only part of the problem. Many bikes need rewound or even replacement stators to power those lights. In addition, those lights can add weight to the bike, affecting handling. But now NiteRider has handlebar-mount HellFire HID lights. The lights are so tiny and weigh so little, you barely notice them. The diminutive lights mount one on each side of any type of handlebar, and they come complete with all the necessary mounting hardware, an on/off switch and a complete wiring harness. Each HID light produces 80 watts of bright, blue-white light, but the total draw on the battery is only 20 watts. On almost any bike with electric start, there should be no need to modify the ignition to provide power for the lights. We mounted the lights on a KTM 525 MXC fitted with a modified 2005 KTM EXC headlight. That was a bonus for evaluating the HellFires; since we had an on/off switch for the stock headlight, we could run any combination of lights at any time. Although the stock headlight was fitted with a better bulb and a higher-quality reflector, the HellFire battery lights made a huge difference in lighting. How huge? A sand wash that felt safe in second gear with the stock light was easily handled in fourth gear! Riding with just the HellFire lights was better than with the stock light, but the combination of the semi-wide-beam stock light and the narrower-beam HellFires was the best option. The KTM battery is not large, but we rode for several hours with no apparent reduction in available battery power. The lights stayed bright, and the starter remained willing. The lights are not cheap at $349.99, but they went on in minutes with no modifications to the wiring or ignition required. Any step above the performance of these lights would require a rewound ignition and a very expensive (and usually heavy) aftermarket light. If your night trail forays are low to medium in speed and not a weekly habit, I'd say grab some HellFires and have fun.-Karel Kramer