HID Lighting experiences?

[Rubbersidedown]

Has anyone found that intense foreground light has reduced their distance vision. I have occasionally notice in my car that my eyes adjust to the light level nearest to me and that it makes things farther out seem darker.

 

[2006FJR]

I may be a little late to the party here, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but on the DDM site you could get the Dual HID Kit for $70 and for $25 upgrade that kit to a H4 Hi/Lo. From there is suppose you could leave one solenoid disconnected to achieve the one fixed/one hi/lo pattern that has been recommended for $30 less than the kit that comes with the two different bulb types. Also, is anyone using the 55w version of this kit? If the draw on the charging system is not an issue is the increase in light output significant? Is it too hot for the headlight housing? I was considering the 55 watters in a single high/single hi/lo pattern and installing a relay to allow me to run a single bulb during the day to reduce the power consumption.

I have the 55w hi/lo DDM kit in mine with no problems. I haven't had the 35w kit, so cant tell you the difference. The kit I have works great once I installed a delayed relay. What I found was that on start up there doesn't seen to be enough power to crank the started and then immediately fire the lights. I was seeing that only one light would fire about half the time. Once I put the relay in, everything works perfectly now. I start the bike, and about 10 seconds later the lights come on. Worth every damn penny!

Clicky for relay

I am so glad I read this post. I am having the same issue even with the 35w lights. I have enough to turn the bike on but barely. I am making this mod this week!

 

[cbob]

Ooops, this is kind of a double post but the other post is in a different sub-forum so bear with me . . . .

I found some Chinese ebayers but not comfortable with their offerings. One was $40 for the kit + $52 shipping. lol They also look like older kits.

SharpHID.com has dual bulb hi/lo H4 kits for $140 but DDMTuning.com seems to have the same kit for $95 + reasonable shipping. I'm leaning their direction.

edit - just noticed DDMTuning order process is NOT on secure web server (https. Kinda funny about that.

You guys have done a lot of work on this. Thanks.

Best,

- c bob

 

[KnuckleHead]

Ooops, this is kind of a double post but the other post is in a different sub-forum so bear with me . . . .
I found some Chinese ebayers but not comfortable with their offerings. One was $40 for the kit + $52 shipping. lol They also look like older kits.

SharpHID.com has dual bulb hi/lo H4 kits for $140 but DDMTuning.com seems to have the same kit for $95 + reasonable shipping. I'm leaning their direction.

edit - just noticed DDMTuning order process is NOT on secure web server (https. Kinda funny about that.

You guys have done a lot of work on this. Thanks.

Best,

- c bob

SharpHid is just a resaler for DDMTuning kits. They are the same kit, just add some extra money.

 

[JLBFJR]

I don't have a a great deal of mechanical ability, but I can handle some basic repairs.

Do you think this is a system that a novice can or should try to install?

Thanks in advance,

 

[Rubbersidedown]

I don't have a a great deal of mechanical ability, but I can handle some basic repairs. Do you think this is a system that a novice can or should try to install?

Thanks in advance,

If you can get the front end of the bike apart, you can install them. I wish I had spent more time doing research on how to do just that before I took mine all apart. Look around for info on how to do it and the process will be a lot less painful. The kit itself is fairly easy to install. I just had some hiccoughs getting all the wires from the ballasts and the modules in so that they wouldn't hit the fork or the brake lines or any of that mess.

 

[Fred W]

If you can get the front end of the bike apart, you can install them. I wish I had spent more time doing research on how to do just that before I took mine all apart. Look around for info on how to do it and the process will be a lot less painful. The kit itself is fairly easy to install. I just had some hiccoughs getting all the wires from the ballasts and the modules in so that they wouldn't hit the fork or the brake lines or any of that mess.

I installed mine without removing the faring, just the 4 black A,B,C and D panels.

 

[Rubbersidedown]

If you can get the front end of the bike apart, you can install them. I wish I had spent more time doing research on how to do just that before I took mine all apart. Look around for info on how to do it and the process will be a lot less painful. The kit itself is fairly easy to install. I just had some hiccoughs getting all the wires from the ballasts and the modules in so that they wouldn't hit the fork or the brake lines or any of that mess.

I installed mine without removing the faring, just the 4 black A,B,C and D panels.

I already had the bike 3/4 of the way apart so I didn't attempt to do it that way. Where did you put the ballasts and modules when installing it with the front end in tact. I have the ballasts and ignitors between the reflectors and the module is on the top of the left headlight behind the nose cone. I don't think I would have been able to do it the way I did without the nose cone off.

 

[Fred W]

If you can get the front end of the bike apart, you can install them. I wish I had spent more time doing research on how to do just that before I took mine all apart. Look around for info on how to do it and the process will be a lot less painful. The kit itself is fairly easy to install. I just had some hiccoughs getting all the wires from the ballasts and the modules in so that they wouldn't hit the fork or the brake lines or any of that mess.

I installed mine without removing the faring, just the 4 black A,B,C and D panels.

I already had the bike 3/4 of the way apart so I didn't attempt to do it that way. Where did you put the ballasts and modules when installing it with the front end in tact. I have the ballasts and ignitors between the reflectors and the module is on the top of the left headlight behind the nose cone. I don't think I would have been able to do it the way I did without the nose cone off.

I did it this way: Link to my install report

OK, I just finished the install. I stacked the 2 super slim ballasts and stuck them together with doubles-sided stick foam tape, then stuck the pair on top of the left side headlight. I ran the HV wires down between the headlights which put the 2 ignitors captive between the headlights. I tie wrapped the bottom of the HV wires to the frame that runs across between the two headlights and then ran the wires up to the capsules. It worked out pretty neatly. I put the relay box and bundled up excess wire in front of the glove box. There's a pretty good sized cavity on 1st gens right there.
 
So in summary, it was a fairly easy install on a 1st gen. I would expect that a 2nd gen should be just as easy as long as you can find a spot for the relay box and excess wires.