I have been having a bit of trouble with the HIDs I fitted earlier this year (an old kit I was given). They seemed fine until it started getting dark early and I noticed that dip was flickering and main beam took an age to warm up. I cleaned the connectors and earths as per advice found on here and elsewhere but the flickering persisted. Today I decided to check what burners I actually had with a view to upgrading to the latest ceramic burners and a fast ignitor/ballast thingy.
After checking and upon reassembly the main beam didn't work with a buzz coming from either the bulb or the ballast. I took it all off and apart again to check all was ok but on reassembly after pressing the flasher a couple of times...... BOOM something blew and the headlight lens exploded across the garage floor with bigger bits of galss going about 4-5 feet and smaller shrapnel is still being found 8-10feet away. Fortunately I was stood behind the bike and I was alone in the garage. I shudder to think what sort of mess I would have been in if I had been stood in front.
The engine wasn't running and I hadn't hooked up the dip light as I wanted to check the main beam worked otherwise all was as it should be. Any ideas on what might have caused this? Both bulbs look the same now as before and also look just fine so I don't think its the bulbs that have gone pop. All I can think of is a short somehow shoved 70,000 volts across the glass, but apart from the dip not being connected everything else was as normal - its pretty damned tricky to connect these up wrongly.
Also and I think I know the answer, has anyone successfully replaced just the lens? A headlamp unit is around £185 from Motorworks, but just the lens is available from a few places for a lot less. The ins does seem to be bonded into the casing so I suspect not an easy job to get either the remains out and more particularly the new one properly seated and sealed.
The engine still starts
but I haven't hooked up the instruments to see if they still work OK. 
After checking and upon reassembly the main beam didn't work with a buzz coming from either the bulb or the ballast. I took it all off and apart again to check all was ok but on reassembly after pressing the flasher a couple of times...... BOOM something blew and the headlight lens exploded across the garage floor with bigger bits of galss going about 4-5 feet and smaller shrapnel is still being found 8-10feet away. Fortunately I was stood behind the bike and I was alone in the garage. I shudder to think what sort of mess I would have been in if I had been stood in front.
The engine wasn't running and I hadn't hooked up the dip light as I wanted to check the main beam worked otherwise all was as it should be. Any ideas on what might have caused this? Both bulbs look the same now as before and also look just fine so I don't think its the bulbs that have gone pop. All I can think of is a short somehow shoved 70,000 volts across the glass, but apart from the dip not being connected everything else was as normal - its pretty damned tricky to connect these up wrongly.
Also and I think I know the answer, has anyone successfully replaced just the lens? A headlamp unit is around £185 from Motorworks, but just the lens is available from a few places for a lot less. The ins does seem to be bonded into the casing so I suspect not an easy job to get either the remains out and more particularly the new one properly seated and sealed.
The engine still starts
but I haven't hooked up the instruments to see if they still work OK. 
. I had given the connectors another clean with some electrical contact cleaner, I gave it 5 minutes to evaporate but it was cold and damp so evaporation would have been slow. There must have been some vapour inside the lens. Very well done 
