Anyone install Hid replacement head lights

[manwhoride]

I've got a friend that just got the Hid for his Harley and says they are awesome. A bit pricey, but worth the money says he.... here is the website:https://www.motorcyclehidlights.com/

Interesting, the high beam is halogen and the low beam that lasts supposedly 5 time s longer is HID. If anyone has to change out their head lights, yhou might want to take a look at this product.

 

[SockMonkey]

It's been done here more than a few times (though not by me). OCfjr to the white courtesy phone, please!

 

[GunMD]

I have a brand new set for sale if you're interested. Make offer via PM please.

 

[johnny80s]

Search using google

HID site:fjrforum.com

You will get lots of hits.

 

[Toecutter]

A place with good prices and quality equipment is DDM Tuning. I put mine in back in the fledgling days of FJR HID and I'll never go back to halogen. I really believe the whiter color (4300K) helps me to be noticed in the daytime as well as night.

My next incarnation of HID will be to put one telescopic bi-xenon light in my left reflector (right side will be low-beam only), to enhance downrange visibility when I can't turn on the Solteks....

 

[manwhoride]

Thanks John there is lots of info this way. I need to always Google search for stuff like this. I did use the forum search engine and came up with nutin...

A place with good prices and quality equipment is DDM Tuning. I put mine in back in the fledgling days of FJR HID and I'll never go back to halogen. I really believe the whiter color (4300K) helps me to be noticed in the daytime as well as night.
My next incarnation of HID will be to put one telescopic bi-xenon light in my left reflector (right side will be low-beam only), to enhance downrange visibility when I can't turn on the Solteks....

Thanks for the info Bob...

 

[Bokerfork]

My next incarnation of HID will be to put one telescopic bi-xenon light in my left reflector (right side will be low-beam only), to enhance downrange visibility when I can't turn on the Solteks....

Toe,
JB says you're not allowed to put that many syllables in one sentence unless you're speaking English.

I don't know what you're saying but it sure makes me want to do the same for my bike.

 

[manwhoride]

I have a brand new set for sale if you're interested. Make offer via PM please.

Don't yet know if I want a set, just trying to learn all I can about others experiences. thanks for the offer though....

 

[buf2phx]

I haven't gotten them for the Feej yet,but I've had good luck with these guys Clicky for my old bike and the Chevy Silverado I used to own. I went with the bluer end of the spectrum. Both because I think they look cool, and to get noticed more.

Mike

 

[Skully]

yep. trying sharphid. ultra slim ballasts and 6000k. not just for night riding.

 

[user 213]

It's been done here more than a few times (though not by me). OCfjr to the white courtesy phone, please!

I have a telescopic Hi/Low system in both lights. Yes, HID capsules last far longer than Halogen. This is one of the reasons I chose to change. There is a clamshell Hi/Low system too. You want to stay far away from those, the pieces of the shutter system are more prone to jamming/failure.

Generally speaking, the low beam rocks your world, but the high beam is not 'optimal', (as Warchild would put it). What this means is two things. When the bulb moves to the high beam focal point it's often not exactly correct in the reflector and the Halogen reflector is not all that great for the HID bulb. You get some light splash, (light going places you don't want it), and it's not as well focused down the road. Still, IMHO, way better than stock halogen bulbs.

What most people see is that the low beam has an excellent cut off line and very good spread, but when moving to the high beam there is a less lighted mid range area with a spot like effect farther out. Some folks really don't care for this.

I find it to not be that bad, and as I said, better than the halogen, so I've stuck with my Hi/Low telescopic kit. I do still want more low beam flood and width to help when cornering. For that I'm going to add a low beam Aux. light and see how that does for me. My desire in that is for a light I can leave on with on coming cars and not blind them. Low beam Aux lights are limited to the Osram Xenarc X1010 which has been discontinued. There was a halogen Hella lamp too, but it's long since discontinued.

A side note on color temp. It's generally accepted in the LD crowd that you want a 4300K color bulb. 5000k is ok and above that is bling for the kids. Some vendors push the high K bulbs. The lower range allows you to actually see more detail, despite being referred to as "yellow-white" by many vendors. I have 4300K bulbs in my headlight conversions.

Oh, and I've looked at the HD style kits with the halogen high beam. We use H4 bulbs, they typically use H7/H9/H11 bulbs. The low beam is a projector style and DOT approved on those kits, but the high beam is often worse than the original. The difference is that on these kits the low stays on when the high beam comes on, so the halogen high beam simply adds a spot farther out with the low beam on as well.

For our two H4 blub design system, a standard two headlight conversion works well. Although there is some advantage to the low beam only kits with the Aux lights as high beams. Just remember that HIDs require some warm up before giving full light, so shutting down your low beams when the high beams are on is a no-no. A on coming car comes around the corner and you filp back to low beam after running the high beam for a while and all of a sudden you have no lights for a couple of seconds while your low beams warm back up. Scary ****! Most guys on FJRs running this set up wire them so the low beam stays on all the time and the Aux lights come on with the high beam switch, but the low beams stay on.

 

[FJR Flyer]

It's been done here more than a few times (though not by me). OCfjr to the white courtesy phone, please!

I have a telescopic Hi/Low system in both lights. Yes, HID capsules last far longer than Halogen. This is one of the reasons I chose to change. There is a clamshell Hi/Low system too. You want to stay far away from those, the pieces of the shutter system are more prone to jamming/failure.

OCfjr, who's kit are you running?

 

[user 213]

OCfjr, who's kit are you running?

I'm running a VHIDs kit. Not the cheapest kit, but has been pretty good so far. It uses the very thin ballasts and small igniters, so is relatively easy to stuff in the nose. V-HID.com They also sell a lot of LED stuff.

This is the kit I have in 5000k, (though my bulbs were actually marked 4300k) Link

If you go to the main web site and click on H4-9003 bulb choice it will show the various kits. The "motorcycle" kits are simply a single bulb kit, as opposed to a two bulb kit. Thus the reason for half the price. Ideal if you want to run just one HID and one halogen. Some folks like that option. Odds of both dying at the same time are low.

Recently one of my igniters is not firing the light at ambient temps over 80F. I need to contact the vendor and see if they will do something. Also need to check if I'm still in warranty.

 

[bramfrank]

I had 'em. I pulled them out.

One issue is that the vast majority of conversions do not put proper caps in front of the plasma and oncomnig traffic is blinded, pure and simple. It isn't a matter of focus - the plasma balls are simply out there in front of that traffic. So whatever you buy SHOULD have metal caps over the front of the bulb if you want to play nice.

That 'fringe' that OCFJR mentions is MORE light that is blinding oncoming traffic becauise it simply isn't where it is supposed to be. And that IS a focus issue.

If your jusrisdiction does inspections, note that conversions are not legal. Period. You could wind up failing inspection if the person is on the ball. You can also be given a ticket for a mechanical violation is a police officer has it in for you. Then again, th same applies to exhaust conversions.

And, while quality HIDs last longer than halogens, note that the garbage coming out of China these days tends to fail pretty quickly - especially the ballasts and the painted blue bulb of the capsules that use those halogen high beams.

I do run proper HID driving lights, but they are Hellas and use German ballasts - they NEVER fail to fire and mine come on with the key, unlike those plug and play conversions - that alone says something. Mine have been running for almost 40K miles without issue and thay are on almost all the whole time that my bike is running, unlike my headlights, which are on high beam during daylight hours and low beam starting as duck.

Since I have a friend that owns a car customisation shop, I was told (and experienced) that the cheap Chinese conversion I tied (which was an HID low and Halogen high) suffered from arcover across the pins, leaving a carbon trail, which would have done in the ballast in fairly short order.

If, after everything you decide to go the route, note that you should buy 4200 degree bulbs . . . those look somewhat whiter than the 3400 degrees that a normal halogen bulb does, but not the bluish light that frankly provides less datail for the human eye because we aren't as sensitive there.

Yes, a 6000 degree HID will light things up farther than a halogen headlight, but that's because you have double the lumens - but your most efficient color temps are the 4200.

Lastly, note that the startup inrush current for HIDs is VERY high - on the order of about 15 amps. The bike's electrical system really isn't designed to carry this - and while I've yet to hear of a wiring, socket or relay failure due to a conversion, note that it IS a distinct possibility.

If someone wants a set of very low mileage (as in perhaps a week's use) mid-line Chinese conversions, C$125 takes it from my garage in Montreal.

Edit: I see that Pierre is on the thread . . . perhaps you'd like to try 'em?

 

[meosborn]

Recently one of my igniters is not firing the light at ambient temps over 80F. I need to contact the vendor and see if they will do something. Also need to check if I'm still in warranty.

I'm definitely interested to hear how this turns out. Thanks.

 

[user 213]

One issue is that the vast majority of conversions do not put proper caps in front of the plasma and oncomnig traffic is blinded, pure and simple. It isn't a matter of focus - the plasma balls are simply out there in front of that traffic. So hatever you buy SHOULD have metal caps over the front of the bulb if you want to play nice.

Yes, it's true that you want a shielded kit. Only consider buying a "shielded" HID kit. Unshielded kits are only for off road use and have no purpose in street conditions. You will sometimes see comments that unshielded bulbs produce more light. If it's not in a HID designed reflector, it just goes all over. And still, you can't use them in the presence of any traffic at all. However, it's not true that "the vast majority of conversions do not put proper caps", (shields) on the HID capsule. Most do. And while it's true that some don't, they generally say so in bold print.

That 'finge' that OCFJR mentions is MORE light that is blinding oncoming traffic becauise it simply isn't where it is supposed to be. And that IS a focus issue.

Yes, and NO. If you use your high beams during the day, don't do a HID conversion. A shielded bulb in low beam mode on the FJR, properly aimed, does not throw blinding light at oncoming drivers. The splash I refered to is strictly about the high beam mode. It's extremely rare that I get flashed by oncoming vehicles when I have the low beam on. I think the ones that do generally are confused by the whiter light.

I do run proper HID driving lights, but they are Hellas and use German ballasts - they NEVER fail to fire and mine come on with the key, unlike those plug and play conversions - that alone says something. Mine have been running for almost 40K miles without issue and thay are on almost all the whole time that my bike is running, unlike my headlights, which are on high beam during daylight hours and low beam starting as duck.

Note to self, whack BramFrank on the side of the head if I meet him in person. Twice. Hard! Turn off your Aux lights brother, you're doing nothing but pissing off everyone else in the day time. Ditto for your high beams. Folks, if you think high beams during the day are a good idea, DON'T install HID. If you think Aux driving lights during the day are a good idea, you have them aimed wrong for night use, OR you're blinding drivers during the day and just pissing people off. Stop that! It's up to you to see them, not the other way around.

I'm not sure what the heck you're talking about when you say your lights come on with the key. So do mine and every other system that plugs into the headlights or is wired as stand alone, if you want it that way. If you mean comes on with the key before you fire the engine, OH, nice job, you wired your lights wrong.

My ballasts are fine fwiw, and the ballasts have nothing to do with my issue, it's the igniter, a smaller and less expensive part of the system. And FWIW, I have well over 40k on my lights.

I was told (and experienced) that the cheap Chinese conversion I tied (which was an HID low and Halogen high)

Ding, Ding, Ding! You tried a cheap Chinese conversion on WHAT BIKE? You're sharing your experience with a system inappropriate to the FJR. Never mind it's a cheapie, known to suffer all kinds of problems. This discussion is about HID systems, not HID/Halogen systems which are a waste of time on the watt challenged FJR.

Lastly, note that the startup inrush current for HIDs is VERY high - on the order of about 15 amps. The bike's electrical system really isn't designed to carry this

Yeah, the starter draw is just tiny I tell you. The sky is falling, the sky is ..... oh wait, it was just a nut off the tree.

 

[FJRGuy]

So why do some HID lights exteral ballasts and igniters and some are plug-n-play

I seem to be missing something.

 

[user 213]

So why do some HID lights exteral ballasts and igniters and some are plug-n-playI seem to be missing something.

It's a misnomer. All "plug-n-play" means is that the wiring harness for the HID kit plugs into the bike's bulb socket. All of them still use an external ballast and igniter for each bulb. The Hi/Low kits also have a switch unit to change the bulb positions when you flick to high beam or back to low.

What you want to look for is slim ballasts, H4/9003 bulb compatibility and two light systems, (unless you just want a single). You don't need slim ballasts, but it makes them easier to locate inside the fairing. Especially on the Gen II bikes where space is at a premium.

edit - The above references headlight conversion kits. If you are speaking of Aux. Lights, some of the newest generation lights have internal ballasts and igniters and are very compact, or not so compact in the case of the Solteks, which are an excellent light, but not particularly small or lightweight. Aux. lights in HID can be had with external ballasts or internal ones right now. Equal availability, but the big brands like Hella and PIAA seem to currently still be selling external ballast units. As things get smaller, those will probably go away.

Internal ballast Aux lights will just have two wires to go to power and ground. External ballast Aux. lights will have a harness with the ballasts, igniters and a ton of wiring.

 

[Ignacio]

So why do some HID lights exteral ballasts and igniters and some are plug-n-playI seem to be missing something.

I'm not aware of any HID lights that don't have ballasts and igniters or a combined ballast/igniter (e.g. Hella FF200 Xenon).

Never, have I seen a practical plug-n-play HID option for the FJR. But, I have seen extremely liberal and misleading use of the term "plug-n-play" though...especially in the lighting and computer industry. Those pushing those boundaries are often labeled "plug-n-pray".

That all said...crossing over into the valley of HID can be HUGELY rewarding and I'll never go back to halogen personally. In my case being able to channel 6,000 lumens down the road in the form of cheapy low-beam only H4 conversion and an additional 6,000+ lumens via auxilliary Hella FF200 flamethrowers is utter satisfaction that spans the need of urban civility to rural Bambi retina melting enjoyment. And running 12,000 lumens of light with electric clothing on full tilt while still maintaining 13.5v on my Gen 1 alternator is ideal.

Placing those ballasts and igniters are tougher for Gen 2 cowlings, but I think possible with the slim ballast design.