HID Lighting

[jbj]

Hi all, like many of you i have had reservations of the standard lighting of the 1200gs, not wanting to add additional lights i was intrigued by the replacement HID bulbs available for other models.
I contacted Ian from www.hids4u.co.uk who advised me that a specific kit for the 1200gs was not available due to the canbus wiring .After several emails between us, Ian agreed to produce a "bolt on kit" for the 1200gs (im no electrician!) that didnt require any major resoldering or hacking in to the wiring loom. The following pictures and text show how i managed it!

Getting ready to fit

Two fuse holders ( main and dipped)

The loom was routed down the left hand side of the bike, with the wires routed under the side panels exiting near the top of the tank.

The two relays were attatched either side of the front stay.

I made a mounting bracket to hang the two ballasts beneath the oil cooler (the only safe place to mount them)

Ballasts in position

Remove clocks to gain a bit of space for the next bit.

Remove the two covers from the rear of the lights and bore a 22mm dia hole in the rear to accept the blanking grommet.

Side view of ballasts.

To stop the canbus system throwing a strop (bulb warning icon) Ian included a resistor, this apparantly fools the system that your happy with your lights and you havent been tempted to fcuk around with owt . This is bolted to a convenient lug behind the side panel.
Plug the wiring loom into the existing connectors for the bulbs and replace the covers. Connect all wires as per instructions given, place fuses in holder and start her up.
The difference in lighting is astounding, the wishy washy standard light has been replaced by an intense blue/white light

Im not to sure if ian is producing any more kits for the 120gs, apparantly it was a bit of a barsteward producing a one off loom for a bike,i think i must have pestered him to death! but maybe if enough people shouted and screamed you could twist his arm. I can vouch for the quality of the kit and the fitting instructions supplied, Ian is a true gent and answered all of my (sometimes stupid) questions in a proffesional mannor!
Of t pub

 

[TheJoker]

I'm absolutely gobsmacked - that really is a very nice job, indeed! Well done! I'm one of those who think the GS-lights could be a lot better, but I don't know if I would like to spend this amount of money on it (even if I don't know what money you've paid, I reckon it'll be more than I'm willing to part with).

Truly amazing work. I' a bit jealous of you "just whipping up" that ballast bracket, very nice!

I've also looked at the £119 kit that hids4u have got before... maybe...

 

[ballistic]

jbj,

When you've sobered up, go for a long night ride and report back... I'd be interested in a kit, it's got to be worth his while producing them if we can get enough interest.
How much was it?
Out of interest, where are HID's 4 U anyway? There's no indication whatsoever on their Web site.

 

[Gonzo]

Excellent write-up.

Can I ask:

- How much did you pay for the kit?
- If Ian did produce some more, would you make me a bracket, for the appropriate consideration of course!?

I really don't want auxilliary lights, but I do want better lights (yeah, I know, cake and eat it).

Subject to the answer to Q1, I'm interested.

 

[Cullen]

One downside to HID lights, which I've hardly seen mentioned, is the cost of replacement bulbs.

I've got an HID light on my mountain bike. It puffs daylight into woodland singletrack trails meaning you an ride them as fast at night as you can in the day. It's astounding.

Then I slid into a tree the other night with no more force than dropping the GS from stationary and shattered the bulb. Net result is a £75 bill for a bl*ody bulb!

Only time will tell if the ones used on motorbikes are any more durable...

 

[Mike L]

Well done

Nice one JBJ. What spec is the resistor? This has to be one of the more useful mods on a 1200. I will be calling HIDs4U very soon. Well done!

 

[jbj]

Hi all,
Went for the after fit ride and was very impressed ! The main beam is substantually improved with far more brightness and a very nice blue/white colour!! Full beam, although far better does not give the "night in to day" effect, im sure this is down to the design of the reflector/lens arangement on the bike, Reflective road signs stand out far sooner than the original lights (yes the beam is level). Did 200 miles on sunday (day time) and the bike certainly gets noticed, car drivers register quicker and move over ,Much safer.
The stainless steel mounting bracket for the ballasts are not a problem, if theres enough intrest i can turn these around in a couple of days, depending on quantity, how does £10 per bracket plus p/p sound ???
The costs of the kit is Ians department, i know he did a lot of work on my behalf producing a a "bolt on" kit with fitting instructions (sorry for all the emails ian!) but like anything else in life the more intrest he gets, he stands a better chance to pass on any savings.
If i remember anything else i`ll post later
John.

 

[Mike L]

Could you put my name against one of your brackets please John. I sent a mail to hids4u today asking for details. hopefully I'll get an answer soon. how does £10+p&p+ a pint sound?

 

[jbj]

Sorted !
Your boozer or mine lol

 

[Mike L]

It'll have to be yours...... then I have an excuse for a ride out.

 

[bustupbiker]

nice setup much better than mine, i too would like one of the mounting brackets please. Lyn.
BTW. i did not need to fit relays or resitors to my setup, May be the none ABS bike does not need it. Hids4us bulbs are £30 i think and only pull 35watts.

 

[Mouse]

The control unit that powers the headlmap bulb us expecting to drive a 55W load, but there will be some tolerance built in to it. So it's entirely possible that it's happy only driving 35W.

You could work out what resistor you need to draw an extra 20W.

Using power = V I, this gives 20 = 12 * I so I = 20/12.

Then using V = IR, thus R = V / I ... which is 12 / (20 / 12) or 12 * 12 / 20 = 144 / 20

So the resistor needed is 144/20 ohms or 7.2 ohms.

Remember such a resistor woud have to dissipate 20 watts, and would probably benefit from a heatsink.

But if the bike's happy, I wouldn't bother.

 

[Markblox]

Correct me if I'm wrong, ( and I may well be) but shouldn't the resistor be connected in paralell. If connected in series the current draw would be 1.22 Amps and the power would be 1.22 * 12 =15 Watts. Sorry if this was obvious or if I have made a ricket. Mark.

The control unit that powers the headlmap bulb us expecting to drive a 55W load, but there will be some tolerance built in to it. So it's entirely possible that it's happy only driving 35W.

You could work out what resistor you need to draw an extra 20W.

Using power = V I, this gives 20 = 12 * I so I = 20/12.

Then using V = IR, thus R = V / I ... which is 12 / (20 / 12) or 12 * 12 / 20 = 144 / 20

So the resistor needed is 144/20 ohms or 7.2 ohms.

Remember such a resistor woud have to dissipate 20 watts, and would probably benefit from a heatsink.

But if the bike's happy, I wouldn't bother.

 

[jbj]

Boys, boys,
Not sure of the calculations (o level physics was a long while ago!) but the resistor used was a 25watt 22 ohm. RS part number 157-566 and it works !!

 

[GSPeP]

Is the resistor realy necessary ?

I know of at least two R1200GS riders who have done the conversion of the dipped beam light to a xenon kit. The canbus system doen't seem to have a problem with the 35W power consumption of the xenon bulb.

And I just read on Advrider the same.

 

[jbj]

Hi Yep mine definatly threw up a bulb warning light, spoke to others who didnt have a problem and there bikes didnt have abs ? not sure if its a coincidence or just peculiar to each bike ?

 

[GSPeP]

ABS is heavy on the electrical system and could make the canbus warning system more sensitive, or bring the power levels closer to the limit.

I will check if the guys I know have ABS or not.

 

[MATKAT]

ABS

According to my dealer (Clarks) there is no problem adding DID lightss to a bike with ABS. The ABS bikes have a more powerful alternator. I have just had fitted the TT ones, which are superb. But beware if you have auxilliary power socket, the transformer fouls it, so it has to be mobved to the right hand side of bike.

 

[GSPeP]

I will check if the guys I know have ABS or not.

Both of them don't have ABS. So it could be possible that this is having an influence on the reaction of the canbus system.

According to my dealer (Clarks) there is no problem adding HID lights to a bike with ABS. The ABS bikes have a more powerful alternator. I have just had fitted the TT ones, which are superb...

"Adding" HID lights shouldn't be a problem for the alternator, but this was about replacing the existing 55W bulb by a 35W HID kit. The canbus system might detect a fault because of the difference in power consumption.

 

[Mouse]

Correct me if I'm wrong, ( and I may well be) but shouldn't the resistor be connected in paralell. If connected in series the current draw would be 1.22 Amps and the power would be 1.22 * 12 =15 Watts. Sorry if this was obvious or if I have made a ricket. Mark.

Did I say series? I meant to say parallel, in fact going back and reading I think I didn't say either - sorry for any confusion

Given that the exact resistor used was in fact 22 ohms, I think that demonstrates that the cut off point is not precisely set and may well vary from bike to bike (I doubt this is anything to do with other factors like the servo brakes, probably just that tthe control units have been configured to a pretty broad tolerance).