Motorcycle HID retrofit - illegal in UK?

Soldato
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Cheers wazza, I'll watch out for that.

Ummed and ahhed about 4300k vs. 6000k for a while, but wanted max light and max oem, so 4300k it was. 5000k would have worked I think, but the kit I wanted didn't have that as an option.



Not much mention of projectors on that site and the kits don't seem to come with them. I take it you're ordering them separately?

No, not going with projectors. It's a common mod on ukgser and everyone says it transforms the lights without needing to change the reflectors or lenses
 

VoG

VoG

Soldato
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I've just ordered a set from here: http://hid50.com

Bit more expensive, but the guy is a member on UKGSER and they have excellent reviews for quality and longevity, and very easy to fit as it's all plug and play canbus.

Nice one, ive been on the look out for a HID kit for the Bandit 12S, the stock twin headlights, despite the dip being a projector, are notoriously bad, I swear a candle would be better, sent the guys at HID50 a webbie, hopefully I won't be the first B12 owner they've dealt with so they can recommend the right kit with zero trial & error involved.
 
Caporegime
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No, not going with projectors. It's a common mod on ukgser and everyone says it transforms the lights without needing to change the reflectors or lenses

Common or not, surely HID bulbs in reflector lenses is just inconsiderate to other road users? Or have you figured out a way to make projector lenses and cut-offs redundant for HID bulbs?

You've certainly figured out how to pay more for an inferior outcome.
 
Soldato
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This is a typical thread / review

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/377868-HID-HEADLAMP-CONVERSION-KIT

They use the H7R bulbs which give off less glare apparently. I get constantly dazzled on my bike at the moment by others - and I get people flashing me in my RR thinking I'm on full beam when they are factory xenons. It's basically just a light arms race!

The components in this kit are good though, especially the fast firing main beam ballast. I'm paying a premium for canbus plug and play though.

Looking at that kit you posted it doesn't mention if it's a fast start ballast. From what I've read that can make the 'pass' switch redundant on cheaper kits
 
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Soldato
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The thing is many users of HID kits claim that they don't dazzle in their reflector headlamps, yet I see dozens of cars and bikes every day that are uncomfortably bright. They stand out hugely from the rest of the traffic on a DCW or motorway.
 
Caporegime
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Looking at that kit you posted it doesn't mention if it's a fast start ballast. From what I've read that can make the 'pass' switch redundant on cheaper kits

Not sure, but the pass switch will just flip the high / low solenoid in the projector the way I'm going to wire it. Not sure what that has to do with quick start ballasts, because by the time I need my pass switch the ballasts will have warmed up whether quick start or not.

In any case my pass switch is about to double as my garage door switch, so if pass no longer works, I'll just flash using the high beam switch if necessary.
 
Soldato
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The thing is many users of HID kits claim that they don't dazzle in their reflector headlamps, yet I see dozens of cars and bikes every day that are uncomfortably bright. They stand out hugely from the rest of the traffic on a DCW or motorway.

Judging by the number of times I get flashed, they may well be oem!

At the end of the day, if I think they are taking the **** I can take them out and revert to stock in about 30 mins. Projectors aren't an option on the GS as you can't get into the (£300) headlamp!
 
Caporegime
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The kit was delivered today, ordered 18th Dec. Pretty good really.

One very heavily taped box arrived containing the following:

ldwnjgS.jpg

Close up of front of box:

BIfeoJI.jpg

Note the hilarious Chingrish: 'The endurable quality has to suffer to respect Let our light open a new road the ... ... for you' :D.

Projectors with bulbs already inserted, and box contents:

F0clk4W.jpg

6000K, I ordered 4300K :(:

OrRLVLK.jpg

Wiring, ballast, and inverter for one side:

favGjvh.jpg

No idea what I'm doing, but I'm planning to start it tomorrow.
 
Caporegime
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Here's all the wiring laid out, as well as accessories for the ballast mounting brackets, rubber washers to secure the projectors, screws, etc.:

HeYWxRM.jpg

Although there are no instructions, it's much more obvious what to do once you've got everything organised and provisionally plugged in. Each component has a different style of plug, so it's impossible to accidentally plug the wrong things together.

The only things confusing me now are 1. how to wire the CCFL inverters, as there's one inverter per side, each controls both the red demon eyes and the white angel eyes, and each has two bare input wires sticking out and 2. what that spare connector with the trunked wires sticking out of it is for.
 
Caporegime
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I... I wouldn't install these...

This coming from someone who repaired their car with velcro and gaffer tape yesterday. :p

They're getting installed, one way or another!

no instructions?

anything on youtube on how to wire them up?

No instructions, there are several YouTube videos, none of which mention much about the wiring.

I think I've figured it out anyway. I'll wire the angel eyes directly to the parking lights / side lights, either directly into the sidelight plugs or by splicing into the wire and soldering / heatshrinking. This way the angel eyes are always on, which is fine as they're good in the summer.

Then I'll splice a switch into the demon eye output wire past the converter and use this to control when I put my demon eyes on (just for a bit of fun).
 
Caporegime
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red wires are +,black ones are -

that's all I can see on the pics,cant see any earth wires,positive wire is fused

(EDIT) yes your right,you just need to find the +/- for your parking lights and main lights and splice into them,after the ignition switch though,not before it
 
Caporegime
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Update...managed to find some time to do some more yesterday.

Front end dismantled:

bpqZ0GVl.jpg

I baked the headlights at 100C for 8 minutes, mounted on some wood, after which the lens separated from the plastic housing with relative ease, using a gasket scraper to split them.

Back of projector lens showing rubber mounting washer and wiring:

KupzTjxl.jpg

The SV650 has a convenient little hole in the back of the reflector that I used to pass the wiring through to the rear:

hwpSOU5l.jpg

I had to take the little metal connectors out of the moulded plastic plugs and snapped a couple of the retaining lugs in the process, but I'm now planning to replace them with crimped heatshrink connectors. Soldered would be ideal, but they need to be easily removable.

Projectors mounted in the reflector unit:

ihwWsupl.jpg

Next job is to clean all the greasy marks off everything and put the lot back in the oven to re-liquify the adhesive. Then I can get it back on the bike and start making the electrical connections.
 
Caporegime
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Headlight unit and reflector unit glued back together after 5 minutes at ~100C.

6dstlMol.jpg

Other things done tonight:

- Removed seat to access battery.
- Lifted fuel tank to route wiring down the side of bike, all heat shrinked and soldered connections with cables zip-tied to existing wiring.
- Spent a while wondering why I only had one H4 connector with my wiring loom yet I've got two headlights, before coming to the conclusion that only one factory plug is used to trigger both high / low beam solenoids, since the ballast power is going battery --> relay rather than down the factory loom.
- Trial mounted the ballasts, controller, and halo inverters.
- Wasted half an hour looking for a washer that I dropped somewhere in the bike but that never hit the floor. Can't leave those kinds of things un-found on a bike!

Hoping to finish it tomorrow.
 
Caporegime
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Test fit and all looks good.

HyrKv6x.jpg

The 6000k are definitely on the blue side for my tastes, but not at rice as I thought they'd be. The light output is ridiculous, with a very sharp cutoff. Not sure how that will work in corners, but the only time I ride at night is when commuting, and leaning a long way over isn't a regular occurrence.

I have a wiring issue though: the lights are as expected at low beam, but when I switch to high beam, both lights switch off. The one thing I didn't do was check the configuration of the kit's connection to the wiring loom, stupidly assuming that it was standard and would be the same layout on all kits. So hopefully I just need to move the pins on the H4 plug.
 
Associate
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Good work, looks like you have done a good job.

Not overly keen on the result if i'm honest though. But if your goal was to get noticed then i think you have achieved that. :D

6000k is deffo to blue though IMO.

When is the first trip to McD's car park with your bro's ? :D
 
Caporegime
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;)

My primary goal is to be able to see the road more clearly at night. Coming across a pothole at 60mph on a dark country lane isn't much fun.

My secondary goal is to be seen more clearly by SMIDSYs.
 
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