Lights for a 1200, I need help.

[boxerjack]

Order from Snappy Lights

I'm about to order a set of PIAA 002-X lights from Snappy Lights in the US but the carriage is almost as much for 1 set as it is for 2. If somebody wants to come in with me and split the postage it will cost you 80 US Dollars (60 for the lights and 20 for postage) which is around £43, plus whatever it costs me to post them to you within the UK.

I'm not sure if those nice people from HM VAT will hit the parcel for import duty but if they do we'll have to split that as well.

Even if the worst comes to the worst it seems to be quite a saving on the UK price.

 

[Thunder]

I'm about to order a set of PIAA 002-X lights from Snappy Lights in the US but the carriage is almost as much for 1 set as it is for 2. If somebody wants to come in with me and split the postage it will cost you 80 US Dollars (60 for the lights and 20 for postage) which is around £43, plus whatever it costs me to post them to you within the UK.

I'm not sure if those nice people from HM VAT will hit the parcel for import duty but if they do we'll have to split that as well.

Even if the worst comes to the worst it seems to be quite a saving on the UK price.

The 002's are £115 in the UK so even buying 2 sets from Snappy saves you money.

The guy who runs the company is very helpful, when I had mine shipped he marked the value down to less than £35 and no problems with HM Customs.

 

[Greybeard]

I installed some additional lights for my GS a few weeks ago - but not PIAA (cost!).

Based on some helpful guidance from BTBR, Dellis and Littleredrooster amongst others I decided on - Hella FF50s + Hella Micro DE fogs + Migsel bar.

I built a wiring loom myself using stuff from http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.co.uk/ (OK - that bit tooks ages). I piggybacked the relays to the main (FF50s) / dip beam (Micro DE) power feed so there are no switches. Simple.

Very pleased with the result (more respect from car drivers, and can see where I'm going at night) - cost overall was about 220 pounds. Only niggle is that on full beam there is a bit of light leakage into the screen area, but not enough to be a problem so far.

I also have PIAA Powesport bulbs in the original headlights.

 

[carsqhere]

Disclaimer: I am a convert to HID ... but I still went thru the whole process of working our whether I am better off upgrading bulbs and perhaps getting driving lights, or whether I would upgrade existing lights to HID. So the following are all the stuff I ended up bearing in mind when I changed over to HID.

Do you mind my asking where you bought your HID's? Would you recommend them/use them again? And was the kit difficult to fit?

I'd a near miss last night on the way home (hit a flood) & I've ordered a set of Phillips high output H7's as a stopgap, but I'm going the HID route. I may even add a light bar & a few driving lights.

Thanks in advance,
Declan

 

[Cole]

Do you mind my asking where you bought your HID's? Would you recommend them/use them again? And was the kit difficult to fit?

I'd a near miss last night on the way home (hit a flood) & I've ordered a set of Phillips high output H7's as a stopgap, but I'm going the HID route. I may even add a light bar & a few driving lights.

Thanks in advance,
Declan

I bought them from HIDs4u . I would use them again. Good value product and I have done 9000 klms on them, on and off road, with no problems. The ballasts they supply are waterproof.

As for installation there are two parts to it. Mounting the ballasts is the main part of the job. You need to find a place to mount them. I am not sure what bike you have. I have the 12 Adventure which has a protection bar that runs underneath the beak. I mounted two ballasts to that bar, and two behind the screen.

see http://www.ukgser.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=51059, and http://www.ukgser.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=51060

Finding space for the ballasts was the hard part. The easy part was the electrics. I know nothing about electrics and avoid that side of things whenever possible, and I was having some electrical modifications done to the bike anyway so got the bike electrician to connect it up while the bike was in his shed. Dont know how long it took but the guy said it was very straightforward. He also said he had never seen that amount of light coming from anything short of an aircraft coming into land.

Also have a think how many lights you want to convert to HID. I pushed the boat out and did 4 lights (2 kits). If you have a regular 1200, then you may want to do just 1 light (half a kit) ... the dipped beam. Or 2 lights ... the dipped and the main beam. Up to you.

The kits are usually in pairs (cause they are mainly distributed to car owners), and a kit for a pair of HIDs from HIDs4U costs normally £210. There is a link I have that will get them for you cheaper ... £190. Its supposedly for bulk buys, but I guess UKGSers as a whole are bulkish buyers.

http://www.hids4u.co.uk/product_details.asp?id=155

You might have to search around their site to find a half kit (single HID) if thats what u want, I know they have them on there somewhere.

The kits are not bike specific (or vehicle specific for that matter) but they are bulb specific (i.e. a H7 kit will work on any 12v bike or car that uses H7 bulbs). You get a mounting bracket, but you need to sort out where to mount it. For the mounts under the beak, I have since added a couple of cable ties for good measure.

 

[carsqhere]

Colebatch, that's just the information I'm looking for. I've a standard R1200GS, so will probably HID both bulbs. All I need to do is figure out how to mount the ballast things, but I can fabricate something for that.

Thanks a million

 

[Cole]

Colebatch, that's just the information I'm looking for. I've a standard R1200GS, so will probably HID both bulbs. All I need to do is figure out how to mount the ballast things, but I can fabricate something for that.

Thanks a million

OK ... for your guide, I have seen two ballasts mounted right under the oil cooler on standard 1200s

 

[Shep]

OK ... for your guide, I have seen two ballasts mounted right under the oil cooler on standard 1200s

Sorry for butting in but how big are the ballasts?

Shep

 

[carsqhere]

OK ... for your guide, I have seen two ballasts mounted right under the oil cooler on standard 1200s

Cheers! Full H7 kit now ordered. Let there be light

Thanks again.

 

[carsqhere]

Sorry for butting in but how big are the ballasts?

Shep

Roughly the size of a packet of fags... bit bigger.

105 x 80 x 30 mm

 

[Shep]

Roughly the size of a packet of fags... bit bigger.

105 x 80 x 30 mm

Thanks

 

['Nuffsaid]

Butting in .... excuse me gentlemen ....

I have the identical (Main / Dip) as Mr Colebatch on my GS12, I have mounted the ballasts on the Left hand side of the tank covers. You will need to make up a bracket to hold them in, but they do fit very snugly and are tucked out of the way. Make sure you get the ones with the revised buffered wired ballast, as the original ones (apparently) sent the CANBUS into orbit as it draws down a large amount of power on start up, it then uses significantly less than the standard bulb during normal running.

Also , it is worth noting that flashing your lights does not work as well on HIDs as it takes time for them to ignite - the goodnews is, that you rarely have to flash your lights in anger, as every bugger on the road will now notice you.

Worth every penny in my book!

 

[Cole]

[QUOTE='Nuffsaid]Make sure you get the ones with the revised buffered wired ballast, as the original ones (apparently) sent the CANBUS into orbit as it draws down a large amount of power on start up, it then uses significantly less than the standard bulb during normal running.

Also , it is worth noting that flashing your lights does not work as well on HIDs as it takes time for them to ignite - the goodnews is, that you rarely have to flash your lights in anger, as every bugger on the road will now notice you.

Worth every penny in my book![/QUOTE]


I just got normal kits, and have not had any canbus problems

Totally agree that you cant really flash with them, but I have not once had to flash. The road just opens up. The difference is even apparent filtering. The cars virtually jump out of the way.

 

[Harleyquin]

Greybeard ...

I installed some additional lights for my GS a few weeks ago - but not PIAA (cost!).

Based on some helpful guidance from BTBR, Dellis and Littleredrooster amongst others I decided on - Hella FF50s + Hella Micro DE fogs + Migsel bar.

Where did you buy your Hellas from?

Ta

P

 

['Nuffsaid]

And this is where you hide those 'lil babies

I thought I would show you how I have hidden the ballsts on the GS12 - they tuck away rather nicely I reckon .....

Also show the final effect - I thought I would take this at full height, as this is probably the view White Van Man gets!

 

['Nuffsaid]

Damn & Double damn .... photos didnt come out -

PM me if you want me to send photos!

 

[Greybeard]

Where did you buy your Hellas from?

Ta

P

Got them from Demon Tweeks - (http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductList.asp?cls=MSPORT&grp=MC041&pgrp=M022&tlgrp=M022) but you may be able to get a better deal from elsewhere... (try asking BTBR)

 

[carsqhere]

[QUOTE='Nuffsaid]PM me if you want me to send photos![/QUOTE]

With thanks to 'Nuffsaid for his permission... Photos of the HID ballast mounting locations he used.

 

[carsqhere]

I just got normal kits, and have not had any canbus problems

I got stuck in to HID-ing my 12 today. Started by plugging the kits in to the feeds to low & high beam & testing them per the instructions. Everything worked, No Canbus warnings. Fired the bike up a couple of times to make sure everything's happy.

First problem is to mount the ballasts. After much searching I realise I've got no suitable material to fabricate a bracket from, so I go for the bodge option & use Velcro tape to attach the ballast to the underside of the oil cooler taking care to make sure they don't foul the forks. Cable tie bodge for backup & that'll do for starters.

Beginning with the dip beam, I whip off the rear cover, mark the center & drill a 25mm hole & fit the grommet. Out with the H7, in with the HID & at this point I realise the 12 volt +/- feed to the ballast is too short. The instructions say you can extend this but not the high voltage leads. The high voltage leads are plenty long enough, so I splice in about 75mm of extra wire into the 12 volt side & now it reaches the ballast no problem. Stop for dinner.

Back out to the bike, tape up the wiring, cable tie everything in place, fit the back cover & fire up. No light, & a lamp warning error on the display. Sod it. Snip cable ties, swap out HID bulb. Same error. Swap ballast's same error. Try High beam. Error.

Refit H7. It lights, error clears. Refit HID. HID works. Tidy it up again. Fire up, Lamp error. F**k. Have I blown the bulbs? 30 seconds under the bonnet of the car & the engine bay is lit up like something out of a Stephen King film. I've not blown the bulbs then.

Back to the bike. I'm out of time & I've butchered the rear cover of the low beam. Nothing for it but to swap the HID bulb into the high beam & restore functional H7 to low beam. Now I'll be able to get home from work tomorrow, albeit I've no high-beam until I sort the error problem, or get a new rear cover & refit the H7. Bloody Canbus.

The HID appears to intermittently not work because the canbus goblin thinks there is a bulb fault. The only way to clear it is to refit a H7 & then try the HID again. Sometimes it'll work & sometimes it wont. I thought my spliced 12 volt feed might have tripped it, but the unspliced one has the same problem, so it's not that.

At this point I think I need a resistor to feed the canbus goblin the required number of ohms & then hopefully it'll work. If not, then plan B is lightbar & aux lights. Pity, cos I didn't really want to go that route.

CQH

 

[harry]

HID fit

Carsqhere, how's it going with the HID fit? I'm about to start fitting mine but read your post with dismay.