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Ok fellow Light freaks. I read the "other" thread a few minutes ago and came searching for this one to squirt in my two lumen's worth. I've had HID head lamps on my '03 for the better part of two years. Mine are earlier iterations of the technology with the larger ballasts but they are bi-level, Hi and Lo beams and 4300 k deg capsules. My experience over those two years includes a great deal of night riding. I did all the research I could at the time and bought my set up from England. My lights are aimed very close to the legal requirements for CA, which are pretty much the same Nation wide, what with the standards being set by DOT/NHTSA. In a previous life I did break and lamp certification for a living so I dug out the old stuff and set up a screen and in a parking lot near my home and check my lights on occasion.

Regarding the legality of the installation, It isn't legal in any state. It's a modified system and includes components listed for "off road use only". As I understand it an HID system has to be installed as OE to be legal, or at least be available as an OE option. That may have changed or I may just be wrong. I have ridden into 7-11 and numerous fuel stops and had the State, County and Local LEOs ask about the odd color. I've told all of them the truth about the HID installation. Not one of them has made in issue of the modification. Every one asked if I get flashed more than I used to. I don't and they seem pleased that more light doesn't have to mean blinded motorists. Ok the cops aren't concerned as long as I'm not blinding the oncoming vehicles. Other issues? Oh yeah, a few.

In my experience, with my system there is significantly more light available on low beam. Recall my system is bi-level. Lots more low beam light on the road where I need it most. The first time I lit up the high beams I was seriously disappointed. Most of the lighting improvement is on Lo, Hi is only marginally better than the OE Halogens, it is a better but to my eyes not better enough to warrant the expense. Thats on HI, LO is great!

Pattern is different! In particular the scatter off to the right and left from the outboard edges of the lamp housing. At first it was very weird. after a couple nights riding I was fine with it and no longer distracted. There is some scatter higher, close to driver eye height. The drivers don't seem effected until they are about 20 to 50 ft. ahead of me. Doesn't last long and no one has shot at me (yet).

Then there is the bulk of my older ballasts. By the time I got them installed under the front and left fairings there was no room left for any of my other treasured goodies. Bummer! There was now easy way to install the beasts. My set up was designed to be installed in an Automocage so there was a lot of "adjustment" to the included wiring harness. I used the Yamaha controls and arranged both ballasts to operate from one supplemental relay rather than one for each ballast. Saved two cubic inches that way. There was a great deal of very small, tight, fussy work involved in making everything fit properly (that means neatly). But I tend to like that, up to a point. installation was not easy, Hopefully things have changed, particularly in the dimensions of the ballasts.

I removed the entire HID headlight installation about a month ago. Because........................... I was getting discoloration of the reflector coating! Yep, inside the headlamp assembly. On both sides, directly above the capsule is a column of grey/blue discoloration. I believe the degradation is caused by the increased heat. But I don't know. It isn't generalized, only the column above the capsule. It took about a year for the change to become significant. I just looked at the price for replacement and it's less than $200. Could be worse, would be better if it was someone else's $$ though. That is the principal reason I removed the set. It would take about four hours to pull the panels and reinstall.

For my uses the lighting improvement was significant. I will go back to HID headlights when I have more light on Hi than on Lo. I believe they should be installed in assemblies purpose designed for HID light source characteristics. All of the scatter would be better applied to the road in front rather than the sides of my front tire and the lanes to the immediate right and left. The coating needs to be capable of resisting the heat. I would greatly appreciate the ballasts being considerably smaller and/or a system which could drive both capsules from one ballast. Ahhhh..... no strike that. Redundancy is a good thing in this case (note: self, two ballasts, two relays: end note)

There it is. My experience and opinion in a somewhat oversize d nut shell. I'm always open to ideas, other opinions, constructive criticism and more light at night. If you've a passion for flaming, don't waste your energy or bandwidth on me, doesn't penetrate the thick skin of my illspent childhood.

Current project: Convert 910's to HID. Farkeling along like this is almost as much fun as..... well this is a family Forum.

Respectfully submitted.

Tinker

:haloween:

 
Isn't this what I was saying earlier. As long as the rebased bulb is designed to mimic the H4 properly, the reflector would act the same on either lightbulb?
HEY! That's what *I* was saying earlier also!!! :D The message got drowned out in the flamefest, I guess... but, no biggie!

Damn, guys.... are these results BEYOND AWESOME, or what?! B)

Where's the dotted line and do you want the left or right one?
You can't "split" up this hi-beam/lo-beam kit; it is one unified harness that you don't EVEN want to even try to modify, believe me. Further, there is only *one* servo Control Module that services both HID capsules (i.e.: moves then to the correct focal point depending on hi/lo setting), so this right there is the ball game.... can't split this kit.

Here's the harness:

harness.jpg


Er.... "dotted line"? :blink: Say what, now...?

 
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Where's the dotted line and do you want the left or right one?
You can't "split" up this hi-beam/lo-beam kit; it is one unified harness that you don't EVEN want to even try to modify, believe me. Further, there is only *one* servo Control Module that services both HID capsules (i.e.: moves then to the correct focal point depending on hi/lo setting), so this right there is the ball game.... can't split this kit
I think he was referring to a testicle.

 
Well, arm, but you get the idea.

Somehow I don't think Warchild would properly appriciate recieving my nut.

What about harness lengths? Are these car units with tons of extra cable length?

 
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WC,

I can see what looks like a color difference in the pics. Is that just brighter, color difference in the light or both.

You gonna leave us dangling on the high beams? Do they throw out a lot more light than stock? :hyper:

 
WC,
I can see what looks like a color difference in the pics. Is that just brighter, color difference in the light or both.

You gonna leave us dangling on the high beams? Do they throw out a lot more light than stock? :hyper:
Definitely a color difference. Traditional halogen bulbs make a yellowish light. I have yet to see any type of HID lighting that is yellowish. It is generally white, or towards blue/purple depending on the temperature rating of the bulbs.

 
Well, arm, but you get the idea.
How the hell are you going to ride an FJR with one arm, especially if you give the right one away?

Somehow I don't think Warchild would properly appriciate recieving my nut.
He could start a collection. They're a lot easier to store than arms, and would probably attract less attention from the law enforcement agencies.

 
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You gonna leave us dangling on the high beams? Do they throw out a lot more light than stock?
Tinker's observations are pretty much spot on.... I haven't really tested the high beam on the road yet (bike is still stripped down; I just wheeled it to the end of the driveway for the above photo). While the low-beam is a *massive* increase in usable lighting over stock, the hi-beam doesn't not appear to be on the same order of magnitude of increased lighting. Then again, I haven't really tested out the high beam on the road yet.

If I were to do it all over again, I would go with the low-beam only set-up, and save $100 over this hi-beam/lo-beam setup .

What about harness lengths? Are these car units with tons of extra cable length?
I wouldn't quite classify it as a "ton" more, but yeah, there is a goodly amount of harness that will need stuffing up under the fairing... looking forward to *that* treat...
crap.gif


Nov 10 edit: As it turns out, this capsule does NOT physically relocate to achieve the proper focal point high-beam application. The "Low-Beam Only" is awesome, but the Hi/Lo Kit is not recommended.

 
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Whoa... Sorry... I just woke up after hitting the floor when I first saw those photos.

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

What can I say? You have transcended all that is holy. The Gods themselves are currently bowed in admiration.

-BD

 
Well at lease thease units are combined ballast and starter. Mine are seperate chunks. The company which supplied mine also sold "motorcycle" kits. Those consisted of one ballast/starter and capsule with the wiring. They were about 3/4 the price of a complete two lamp auto set. Possibly WC's source has access to simular kits. Would also present the possability of running HID and Halogen combined. Why? I don't know but you could.

While no one is paying attention to my rambeling I could use a suggestion on my 910 conversion. The H3 kit I bought has High voltage, weather proof connectors. Never seen this configuration before and I can't get the bloody things apart. The condustors are on the lamp side of the ballast so they are moving high voltage, on the order of 26,000 volts. I'd very much like to maintain that buffer but I haven't found the connectors or a tool to dissasembel them. Some one mentioned that "Jim" had converted his 910's. Did he post his conversion or can y'all lay a contact on me?

tia

Tinker

 
Well  at lease thease units are combined ballast and starter. Mine are seperate chunks.
No, no... these are separate ignitors and ballasts, too. Though the ballasts are WAY smaller than the early generation HIDs. In fact, they are even smaller than the PHID ballasts, which is saying something!

The ignitors are also considerable smaller than earlier generation igniors, as well. All this is a Good Thing, as I have a metric buttload of wiring, barrier strips, relays, and sundry crap jammed in the nose of the FJR already ... :(

I could use a suggestion on my 910 conversion. The H3 kit I bought has High voltage, weather proof connectors.
The connectors used in this kit appear to be highly weather-resistant... (check out the seals on this connector below!) Are your connectors not like this? Are they molded directly into the ignitor, or some such?

weatherproofconnectorseal.jpg


Never seen this configuration before and I can't get the bloody things apart.
How 'bout a quick digital picture? That would help immensely...

Some one mentioned that "Jim" had converted his 910's. Did he post his conversion or can y'all lay a contact on me?

That's "Rick"... Rick Martin, from Pontiac, Illinois. He is "qkslver" on this forum.... you can send him email through this page: Rick Martin's profile

 
really crumby inage. I'll shoot it again in the AM. Then I'll learn how to post images. :blink: Sorry folks, time for sleep.

Tinker

 
Wow! I just saw the low beam image and got morning wood because of it.

Thank you Warchild for being on the bleeding edge of lighting technology. It seems the HID market is evolving and not only are there better designs, but price is coming down. I would imagine HID coming OEM in the next few years on motorcycles.

I'm seriously considering this option now.

One concern I have comes from experienc I had 15 years ago with some great Hella headlights I had my Rabbit. They had a supersharp cutoff like the FJR reflector and I could run 90 watt low beams in them and I think they were dimmer to oncoming traffic than stock headlights. But, then in the rain, the reflection off the water-soaked pavement got me flashed all the time.

I'm guessing all those HID lumen dutifully pointed below the cut-off would do the same here. Not that it's a problem very often in the parched shrub steppe I live, but the option of leaving one light halogen during the rain might be something I'd consider.

Great work WC when it was such a fabulous day for riding yesterday. The fog this morning is the first Fall I've seen. Is Summer over? :cry:

 
in the rain, the reflection off the water-soaked pavement got me flashed all the time.
I'm guessing all those HID lumen dutifully pointed below the cut-off would do the same here.
Good point. I hadn't thought of that.

I'm also a little concerned as the northern Kentucky Hill country that I ride to work every day has my low beams in the eyes of the oncomming cars about 1/4 of the time.

I'm actually more interested in the improvement of the brights. I may have to go with the "eyes of god" route. I'm concerned on the power draw though.

Oh what the hell, I'll go with both! :D

 
Images of Tinkers connector (HEY, up here you .........sicko!)

MVC-003F.jpg


MVC-002F.jpg


Thease connectors are both on the ballast side. Ideas and or suggestions sought.

Tinker

 
Damn Tink,

You have some wrinkled fingers!! :D

 
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Nov 10 edit: As it turns out, this capsule does NOT physically relocate to achieve the proper focal point high-beam application. The "Low-Beam Only" is awesome, but the Hi/Lo Kit is not recommended.

Well, folks, I'm having no more luck in the digital camera department - thought my stepson and I took some good comparison shots of the hi-beam earlier this evening, but there is something dorked with his camera, as none of them came out. This sucks, because the high-beam is seriously more powerful than stock. It reminds me of the beamcast of the PHIDs... you can see items high, far and wide, items you could not see with stock high beam. Like with the PHIDs, riders will be demoralized at the number of deer you can see well off the roadway now, that were not illuminated by stock lighting. :blink:

In any event, all my HID testing is now complete. Here is the deal....

I really, really, REALLY was expecting the kit to be two stand-alone hi-beam/lo-beam setups, not one unified harness/kit. This setup would be perfect for those individuals who aren't running the PHIDs, but I really want the ability to shut down one HID lamp to save that power for a Widder vest, and keep the other HID lamps and the PHIDs burning. Can't do that with this kit. However, after seeing the high beam in action tonight, I am REALLY torn over whether I should just keep these bad boyz, or sell them and get the lo-beam only!

So here we go.... I'll give one of you'all a chance to score this kit from me. I paid $295 for this kit (an awesome deal), I will GIVE it away at $270, and I'll pay shipping/insurance!

It should be noted that I am [SIZE=14pt]NOT[/SIZE] going to conduct a Group Buy on these HID systems. I am simply not going to listen to people bitch anymore. Too, these Group Buys are a SHITLOAD of work, lots of database maintenance and tracking of everything... screw it. T'ain't worth it. Further, I got too much other crap going on right now, particularly at work, to **** around with organizing a GB.

So this HID kit goes on sale right now. Those folks who were really interested in a true hi-beam/lo-beam setup, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE to save big bucks! I am only going to offer this HID for the next 48 hours only. If they don't sell by then, consider them off the market, and I'll just keep them. Why the time limit?

Because the kit is still "pristine" at the moment... I haven't scuffed up or marred the ballasts, ingitors, cabling, etc by stuffing them into the nooks/crannies of the nose of the FJR yet. Obviously, my FJR is still all torn apart, and I'm not going to keep it that way for long. If someone wants this kit, be prepared to PayPal me the money ASAP. Otherwise, come Tuesday evening, I'm re-assembling the FJR and the hi-beam/lo-beam kit will remain in my bike, which is just fine with me. :D

The FIRST person the sends me a Private Message to request my PayPal instructions (and of course, PayPal's me the bucks) will get this kit. After that, a waiting list will be formed, first come, first served.

Any takers? B)

 
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