Hi there

Hello all, I'm Sam and I live near Bridgend in South Wales.

Having recently completed my DAS, I'm in the market for a first "big bike", and a few people have pointed me in the direction of the Thundercat. I don't have a car, so bike is my primary method of transport - I'll be using it to commute, have a bit of fun on the weekends, go touring and maybe even throw in a trackday here or there.

I clocked up over 10,000 miles on a Chinese 125, before passing my full test on a Honda CB500 so I have a fair bit of road experience. Despite the general consensus on Chinese copies, I did have a lot of fun on mine and took it on a few long trips (well, 100-120 miles) without any hassle but it's gone now and so it's time for me to get a proper bike.

Going from a 125 to a 500, was nice - but I got bored of the Honda very quickly, so would be much happier spending a little bit more and getting a faster/sportier 600cc as a first big bike.



Any helpful tips and advice will be much appreciated, hopefully it won't be too long until I can join your ranks as another happy Thundercat owner.

I usually do a bit of riding at night, is the headlight really that bad?

Is it down to poor wiring/electrical connections - or is it just bad design/position of the bulb?

I had electrical issues with my 125 which caused problems with the headlights - sometimes it would cut-out as soon as I turned them on, and the bulbs wouldn't be at full brightness. My mate managed to sort it out by replacing some of the wires, and checking the connections.

Either way, I'd have thought there are extra-bright bulbs that might help.

Yes the headlights really are as bad as everyone says, some peeps have fitted HID conversions but I just choose not to ride at night

Hi and welcome Sam

The Thundercat is a great first bike, last bike and anywhere in between bike imho.
It is quite happy to pootle about the streets, cruise in comfort for miles (just ask Stevecat's rear) or play (and embarrass) some of the big boys at the track (not all of them....still good fun trying though) or on the private road (just ask RobertCains[Nick]...it was fun trying to keep up) It was your private road wasn't it Nick.

Congrats on passing the DAS and fingers crossed for a good deal on a Thundercat for you.

Standard headlight is pants - problem is with the reflector rather than the bulb.

I've taken the mushroom out (bit that stops the bulb being seen directly from the front), fitted a (not really for road use) rally bulb which lasted a few years and was an improvement but finally bit the bullet and paid very nearly £40 for a HID that I'm very happy with. It does light up the road a lot better and traffic in front tends to notice and get out the way more which is nice. TBH I'm not out in the dark much on my bike but I was suitably impressed when I did.

Cheers
Rosco

£40 for a HID, that's pretty good - would be well worth the investment for me I think. I'm usually out on the road at night a couple times a month, and it's always dark in the winter and my job sees me working late every now and then.

Did you buy yours online Rosco?

I did buy mine online on ebay from HK.
In fact I actually ended up buying two.
I managed to break cables going to the bulb after testing it and before installing it properly.

I've since bought a 6000k and a 8000k bulb and they are on their way.

So I'll hopefully have a complete set for sale in the near future.

This one ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorcycle-Motorbike-H4-6000k-HID-Conversion-Xenon-Kit-/350401573217?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item51958fb161 ) looks identical to the 35W, 6000k I bought.
You might consider 8000k if you want a blue-ish tinge but 6000k is pure white.
It is relatively easy to fit and this one is from a UK source.

Remove the existing bulb. The HID connects and takes it's control from the existing socket. From this it works out whether it is ON, OFF or HIGH Beam.
I THINK THIS MEANS IT IS A HI/LOW HID bulb.

It takes it's full power directly from the battery though.

The one I got only had one part to the bulb which moved up and down with MAIN / FULL. It stays straight when on Main Beam and actually tilts down for High Beam (to use the reflector)

I've seen others on ebay that have a separate halogen bulb component and I've seem ones that have a built in black out (or reflector) bit at the front.

The bulb for mine looks exactly like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HID-XENON-Motorcycle-H6-Hi-Lo-Bulb-Harness-6000K-C154-/220817813190?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3369c46ec6

I think Stevecat had one of the latter types and found it so/so.

This one looks fairly similar to the one I have (at half the price) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/35W-HID-Xenon-Motorcycle-Headlight-Spare-Kit-H6-6000K-/170676659543?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item27bd1f2557

A quick search on google and you'll find details of issues with cheap ballasts and story about MOT clamping down on HID's that don't have a projection system and are self levelling.

Since the old wiring is still there you can fairly quickly and easily unplug the HID and put a standard bulb back in.

Up to you though.

I'll have my very very nearly new one for sale once I get the new bulbs (waiting for delivery from HK)

I paid £38 (after checking my paypal account) at the start of the year so once I receive the replacement bulb you can have it for £35 delivered if you fancy. If you can't wait or fancy one of the others on ebay etc feel free. I'm sure there's a Thundercat screaming "Let there be light" somewhere.

Cheers
Rosco

Hi there, welcome . The Thundercat is a fantastic first bike , and is a great bike for travelling to work and back . I used mine all year round , even below sub zero temperatures . The Light is a bit shite on roads at night that are unlit , if you are riding on a motorway with lots of cars at night , it's just passable , but f you are doing dark country lanes , then the light is really crap. But a fantastic bike .

I tried heading out one night and realised the light output was really quite bad. The hightlight of the ride was when I switched to high beam and found out that the highbeam had gone due to a faulty connection. Was a scary ride home.

Hi there & welcome. Ride safe & enjoy.

Paul.

Excellent, cheers for the info Rosco!
I may take that HID off your hands in the near future, though I'm having an absolute nightmare with my insurance company at the moment which is delaying my bike purchase.

Still, I do hope to be back on two wheels before the end of the month - so unless it goes on eBay or someone else takes it off your hands I'll probably get in touch!




You see this is the problem, I live in a rural area - lots of country lanes that I do use at night occasionally. Given the state of the roads, it's best to have a decent headlight. A pot hole cost me 2 tyres and broke my fairing the other year, and that was in daylight!



That sounds like a nightmare Reciprosity!
I've had a similar experience myself, electrical fault on my bike caused me to lose my lights on the way to my mates house one night.

It was very fortunate that I was on my way to him, rather than heading home from him - as was well lit main roads for 90% of the remainder of the journey to his. Still scary though, not so much that I couldn't see - but that people could easily miss me!

Hi Super Furry

My replacement bulbs turned up ( a while ago) and I managed to get round to testing it last night. I've got the choice of 8000K or 6000K for mine now.

My heart sunk when I realised that one of the connectors was female when it needed to be male but this is one of the 12V connectors so I cut the correct one from my duff bulb and have connected it to the new one and it works just fine.

£35 delivered if you still want it. It is effectively new (used less than 5 mins before I broke my bulb and bought a whole new unit ) complete with a new 6000K 'pure white' bulb.

Cheers
Rosco

If not then I'll see if anyone else wants it. Keener for it to go here rather than ebay.

Cheers
Rosco

Hi Rosco, if super furry doesn't have the hid kit of you I will definitely have off you,

Cheers,
Simon.

Welcome, as people have already said, HID is the only way with the cat, I've got a HK special on mine satill going stong. Also consider heated grips, I've got a set on mine and they really help in the cold winters.

I've got a set of these:
heated grips

Big sy wrote:Hi Rosco, if super furry doesn't have the hid kit of you I will definitely have off you,

Cheers,
Simon.

Hi Sy

I've PM'd him and to the best I my knowledge there was no one else on the waiting list......unless I've missed a post somewhere.

If he PM's me or posts to say he doesn't want it or I haven't heard back from him by close of play this Sunday it's up for grabs again.

Cheers
Rosco

Thank you Rosco :-)

Oh and welcome to the forum super furry!

Simon.

Hi superfurry, and welcome

Hi SFS,

Welcome and enjoy.

The site and cat.

Hello SuperFurrySam and Welcome to the fold.

Got a PM from Superfurry today and he didn't manage to get a Thundercat in the end so went to the dark side.

He's been on holiday and only managed to get back to me earlier today.

So - Big Sy. I'll PM you shortly.

Cheers
Rosco

Ok thanks Rosco.

Simon.

PM'd you Rosco,

Cheers,
Simon.