I can see for miles & miles & miles.. HID50 Conversion

[Agothaclypse]

Recieved 6000K H1 HID50 kit from Les Wassall, Thank you Les.
Got around to fitting it last weekend & to say I am stunned with the results is an understatement. For anyone considering this modification, I cannot recommend it enough. Makes a huge difference, is cheap & a doddle to fit.

1. First I removed screen, headlight cowl, headlight unit & beak.

2. Headlight unit ready for conversion.

3. Location of ballasts. I had originally intended to fit the ballasts on either side of the steering well, thus leaving the under beak area free for HID auxillary lighting ballasts, should I choose to fit them in future. However I could not find a position I was entirely happy with, but whilst furtling around I spied an airspace within the beak. I taped the ballasts to the beak with the mated dual lock between ballast & beak but with dual lock adhesive backing still in place.

4. Replaced beak to ensure nothing was fouling & that beak fixing holes aligned.

5. Marked tested position of ballasts.

6. Removed one adhesive backing and stuck mated dual lock to ballasts.

7. Stuck ballasts to beak, aligning with markings made earlier, clamped & left overnight to allow adhesive to cure.

8. Marked wire colours on caps & removed pins & caps.

9. 25mm dia holes drilled in caps using a holesaw.

10. I will carry one of these 25mm dia closed grommets + a std H1 bulb, which will allow me to convert back to std in the event of ballast/burner failure whilst out on the road.

11. Slipped burner thru cap, replaced burner in protective housing & reattached wiring. Brown wire spade connector required slight pinch with pliers to make connection secure.

12. Completed headlight unit, ready to refit to bike.

13. Headlight unit refitted to bike.

14. Routed wiring inside steering well & cable tied to front subframe. This is the only part I am not happy with, as it will make subsequent beak/ front subframe removal difficult. Solution ! I have bought some more dual lock & will attatch the small black boxes which run from the thick black wire of the ballasts to the inside of the steering well fairing & will tidy the wires using reusable cable ties.

15. Connected HID wiring up & nearly blinded myself with the results. Yes ! they are that bright.

I have just completed a week of nightshift, so have been able to assess the results of the conversion under varying light & weather conditions. I have been amazed. relective signs, vehicle strips & Hi-Viz apparall is incredibly bright, also I can tell that I am more visible to other road users & on unlit roads, its like having your own personal star sat on the front of your bike.

Regards
Paul

 

[Mikey]

I'm a lazy git. I fitted mine without taking anything off the bike. Took 20 mins per light, the longest job was making the hole in the black plastic bit.

Got to agree about the light output

 

[Ollie GBR]

Great that you can easlily remove the light cluster, nice job

 

[the-other-bradders]

looks pretty complicated tho

 

[Roger Chatterton]

Hi Paul,
looks good to me, and in the last photo, might I ask which LEDs you fitted to the speedo please ? Looks like a blue/white LED, but also, very bright. I have a pair of green LEDs, on the speedo, but they are not really terribly bright ( !!!) -bit difficult to read speedo at night.

 

[Budweiser]

Hi Paul,
looks good to me, and in the last photo, might I ask which LEDs you fitted to the speedo please ? Looks like a blue/white LED, but also, very bright. I have a pair of green LEDs, on the speedo, but they are not really terribly bright ( !!!) -bit difficult to read speedo at night.

Will be interested in the reply as I also have trouble reading the speedo at noight

 

[Keith Chapman]

How do on coming drivers react to these HIDs when their retinas get burnt?

Is it a case of

Sorry mate I did not see you, I could see feck-all cos I was blinded.

Or do you get no trouble.

 

[Les Wassall]

How do on coming drivers react to these HIDs when their retinas get burnt?

Is it a case of

Sorry mate I did not see you, I could see feck-all cos I was blinded.

Or do you get no trouble.

Turn the light down

 

[Les Wassall]

Good write up and pictures, nice neat job

 

[Slowdown]

Turn the light down

I found that I needed to turn the beam down a little more than when I had normal lights. In 2 days I've only been flashed once, and that was when I came over the brow of a hill.

 

[Les Wassall]

With HiD you can turn them down a lot more than a Halogen, you still get the light in front as they are so much brighter

 

[Budweiser]

Never been flashed

 

[Les Wassall]

Never been flashed

Bet you have

 

[Shrimpo]

Recieved 6000K H1 HID50 kit from Les Wassall, Thank you Les.
Got around to fitting it last weekend & to say I am stunned with the results is an understatement. For anyone considering this modification, I cannot recommend it enough. Makes a huge difference, is cheap & a doddle to fit.

.........

Regards
Paul

Thanks for the write up mate, every time I do something to the bike it's a learning experience (a.k.a. "fear of paying more to fix my stuff up") so these concise and clear instructions are much appreciated.

A set of these will see me being able to avoid the motorway for my journeys home each night, sweet!

 

[Agothaclypse]

Hi Paul,
looks good to me, and in the last photo, might I ask which LEDs you fitted to the speedo please ? Looks like a blue/white LED, but also, very bright. I have a pair of green LEDs, on the speedo, but they are not really terribly bright ( !!!) -bit difficult to read speedo at night.

Soz for the delay in replying. Re the LED's I will check supplier & re-post tonight.

 

[Agothaclypse]

How do on coming drivers react to these HIDs when their retinas get burnt?

Is it a case of

Sorry mate I did not see you, I could see feck-all cos I was blinded.

Or do you get no trouble.

Don't get any hassle from oncoming traffic, but am certain that car drivers notice I am there because of the way that they no longer pull out from side roads in front of me or oncomming traffic no longer turns right, accross my path. The only time I percieve any complaint is when I come close up behind stationery (at traffic lights etc) hatchbacks & because the HID completely lights up their interior, ive noticed a few drivers turn around to see if an alien spacecraft has come to beam them away.

 

[Agothaclypse]

Hi Paul,
looks good to me, and in the last photo, might I ask which LEDs you fitted to the speedo please ? Looks like a blue/white LED, but also, very bright. I have a pair of green LEDs, on the speedo, but they are not really terribly bright ( !!!) -bit difficult to read speedo at night.

The red LED's in the rev counter were supplied by UKGSer Nick Marshall at very reasonable price. The blue LED's in the speedo came from http://www.ultraleds.com/
This part number U286BB3
they are about 70p each but delivery is a couple of quid, so worth getting a few at a time. The first two blue ones I had, blew after a couple of weeks (BTW I ride every day and always have my lights on), however I am not sure if the LED's were faulty or if they blew as a result of a small tumble I had. have another set in now & they have been goin strong for 3+ weeks. Mind you even if they do blow, they are so cheap & are easy to fit that I dont mind.

Hope this helps.
Regards
Paul

 

[Roger Chatterton]

Thanks Paul -that's the info I needed !!
cheers
Roger

 

[Hong Kong Nick]

Paul - thanks for your posting. I have just returned from 'downstairs' after finishing the same job - both beam HID replacement plus replacing the 4 small speedo / rev thingy bulbs with blue LEDs. Everything looks great and your posting really helped, although I managed to do it without removing the entire headlight housing, simply removing the caps from the back of each light and drilling the hole at home (VERY bad job, but it worked)!

Did you replace the little side light / running light? Mine is a 'blued' Phillips bulb that looked 'whitish' with my original Halogen VisonPlus bulbs but the 6000K HIDs make it look yellow in comparison!! It looks silly enough to need a desperate replacement! Did you do anything yourself?

Many cheers

Nick

 

[Agothaclypse]

Paul - thanks for your posting. I have just returned from 'downstairs' after finishing the same job - both beam HID replacement plus replacing the 4 small speedo / rev thingy bulbs with blue LEDs. Everything looks great and your posting really helped, although I managed to do it without removing the entire headlight housing, simply removing the caps from the back of each light and drilling the hole at home (VERY bad job, but it worked)!

Did you replace the little side light / running light? Mine is a 'blued' Phillips bulb that looked 'whitish' with my original Halogen VisonPlus bulbs but the 6000K HIDs make it look yellow in comparison!! It looks silly enough to need a desperate replacement! Did you do anything yourself?

Many cheers

Nick

Hi Nick, Glad you liked my posting. In answer to your question about the side/position light bulb, Yes I have replaced it with an LED unit that I got from http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/
It is the "233 LED Quad Bulb" Part number 233ABDLEDWP. £8.50 for a pair & £1.50 shipping. The bulb is brighter than the OEM incandessant bulb it replaced + as with most LED's uses a lot less power (1 Watt) I think. It does have a blue tinge that perfectly matches the Hid colour. When fitting these, I had to swap the power wires around on the back of the side/position light bulb holder (easy job).

You might also be interested in these http://www.phoenixautobulbs.co.uk/i...233-led-sidelight-bulbs-pure-white-p-243.html
£12.99 a pair, although I have no personal experience of them, so cannot comment on the colour temprature, although, from the image on the website they do appear brighter.