HID Conversion on a 12GS (pictorial)

[rboett]

Originally Posted by dsy

[SIZE=2. Am pleased enough that I ordered the H11 kit today to soup up my GSA stock fog lamps. [/SIZE]http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?cPath=32&products_id=3955

Doug

These look nice,, for your stock gsa fogs, what ballasts, color, and bulb config did you order exactly?

[dsy]

Originally Posted by rboett

These look nice,, for your stock gsa fogs, what ballasts, color, and bulb config did you order exactly?

Went with the 35w ballasts and the 4300K bulbs to match the headlights. Will have to drill out the end cap on the rear of the fog lamp coverings to use the straight H11 bulb since the Source does not carry them with the 90 deg base. Should not be a problem. Will know this weekend

Doug

[rboett]

Originally Posted by dsy

Went with the 35w ballasts and the 4300K bulbs to match the headlights. Will have to drill out the end cap on the rear of the fog lamp coverings to use the straight H11 bulb since the Source does not carry them with the 90 deg base. Should not be a problem. Will know this weekend

Doug

great, take some pics of the build process, and let us know the result, pleeeeeeeeze

[TuefelHunden]

Well it's cold enough to test the lights. Now running a CanBus ready 35watt ballast on low beam and a 55watt DDM ballast on high. All is right with the world.

I had a 55w DDM unit and added the CanBus error cable, but when it got down into the 40's it would fail. Usually would light after a few minutes. When down in the 30's it would not just fail, but would not recover until the ambient temp got well into the 50's. The 55w DDM would work every time in high beam at any temp, AND you did not need the error cable. (Yes, I switched the two 55w ballasts and bulbs)

[dsy]

Originally Posted by rboett

great, take some pics of the build process, and let us know the result, pleeeeeeeeze

Installed the H11 hids from the Retrofit Source today ( http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...oducts_id=3955 ) into the GSA fog lamps. Very easy install and huge increase in light output onto the road.
I thought I would have to drill the end caps out since they did not have a right angled bulb base like the stock H11 but the caps went back on with just a little pressure on the wires. The new hid H11 comes just like the H7 setup for the hid headlight replacement with the wires that feed the bulb and the trigger wires coming thru a rubber grommet.



You dont need the grommet or to have the trigger wires go thru it so just cut it off.





You will use the trigger wires with the plug that you separated from that grommet, to splice into the stock power wire that was feeding the fogs. Cut the stock fog plug off about 3" from the plug and keep it in case you ever want to go back to stock. I went to West Marine and got some nice heat shrink type butt connectors. (the red ones. I think they are for 22 gauge wire) and some 3/8" heat shrink tubing to go over the butt splices to give it a more finished look. On the stock fog lamp power wire the solid brown wire is the neutral on both sides. The other one is the 12v+. You dont need the can bus harness or even the heavy duty relay harness on the fogs. So if you buy from the Retrofit Source you might want to see how much they can knock off the price, for not including either of those.





I'm not going to go into much about where to install the ballast as thats been covered pretty good above with all the options but what I did for mine when I did the head lamps was just split some vinyl hose and put that on the cross bar under the beak to act as a little bit of cushion and zip tied the ballasts across the two tubes. Its very solid.


Head lamp ballast install here. For the fog lamp ballast I'm reusing the slim ballast I got from 1Off. Those are still on the sides behind the plastic panels.

The light from the fog lamps have a nice sharp cut off so its easy to adjust them to not blind the on coming drivers. I did about 10 miles around town tonight and did not get flashed once.

[QUOTE=dsy] I was running the 1off hids, and dont want to offend anyone who thinks those were great but I was never happy with the output of mine from day one. I contacted 1off a few times about the piss poor performance of them, but they kind of just blew me off. (It was close to the time they were folding up).Doug]/QUOTE]

Looks like the problem with the 1Offs I had was because of the bulb I got from them that I used for the low beam. It never got as bright as it should have and since 1Off was folding up they had no reason to want to help make it right. I'm pretty sure that was the problem because I re-used the 1Off slim Ballasts with the new H11 bulbs from the Source for the fog lamps and they get as bright as what I was expecting when I originally did my Hi and lo headlamps. I tried re-using the 1Off slim ballasts due to space. The slim ballast fit better in behind the plastic side panels. Will be using the new ballasts I just got to convert the fogs in my Jeep to HID.

[rboett]

Originally Posted by dsy

Installed the H11 hids from the Retrofit Source today.

Thanks for the write up

hope the conversion goes well for your jeep.

I may be doing this for MY GS ADV and MY Jeep (great minds....)

[Steiney]

So, after going through 1000+ posts (and quite a few adult beverages ) I think I learned what I needed to know...

I have a 2012 GSA, do about 90% of my riding at night (raining or not), ride into the low 20's, don't want to give up my "instant on" rarely used high beam, and absolutely don't want any fault codes or issues with the cold temps.

I'm leaning toward: Retrofit H7 4300 35K w/canbus for low beam, keep the stock high beam (for flash and as a readily available back-up), and Retrofit H11 4300 35K for stock fogs.

It sounds like these ballasts are the bigger ones - most everything I read had to do with mounting them in older bikes - any updates or are they still a pain in the ass?

The only wiring mods required are the fog light plugs, is this correct?

Any thoughts or comments on this set-up for my particular situation? I don't mind paying a little more for a quality product and the service that comes with it.

As always, you guys rock...!

[mikegc]

Originally Posted by Steiney

So, after going through 1000+ posts (and quite a few adult beverages ) I think I learned what I needed to know...

I have a 2012 GSA, do about 90% of my riding at night (raining or not), ride into the low 20's, don't want to give up my "instant on" rarely used high beam, and absolutely don't want any fault codes or issues with the cold temps.

I'm leaning toward: Retrofit H7 4300 35K w/canbus for low beam, keep the stock high beam (for flash and as a readily available back-up), and Retrofit H11 4300 35K for stock fogs.

It sounds like these ballasts are the bigger ones - most everything I read had to do with mounting them in older bikes - any updates or are they still a pain in the ass?

The only wiring mods required are the fog light plugs, is this correct?

Any thoughts or comments on this set-up for my particular situation? I don't mind paying a little more for a quality product and the service that comes with it.

As always, you guys rock...!

Steiney, I switched out my low beam on the '09 GSA over a year ago (4300K, 35W) and haven't changed a bulb since. I did the auxiliary lamps, too, but didn't care for them because of the "clutter." I switched them out for some PIAA HIDs with self contained ballasts and they were better. Finally, though, I've wired up some LED auxiliary lamps and wired them to flash full power in conjunction with the high beam.

If you decide to use the OEM lamps, the plugs are easy to swap. I had no CANbus issues at all as long as I stayed with 35W.

Mike

[Steiney]

Thanks Mike. Yeah, the clutter will be an issue unless I just get a set of Kristas (man they're sweet). Then I only have to deal with the low beam balast which shouldn't be too bad.

[onesaintsfan]

I changed out both the high and low beam to 35w HID on my 08GSA. The High beam throws a totally different pattern than the lows. It appears that the lows make a big U shaped beam ahead of you. The High beam fills this in and projects ahead. But I tell you, if you change out and go to HID, you will rarely use the High beam because the low by itself gives plenty of light. So much so most people think you have high beams on. If you ever get on some dark two lane road late at night you will be glad you went HID in both.

[mikegc]

Originally Posted by Steiney

Thanks Mike. Yeah, the clutter will be an issue unless I just get a set of Kristas (man they're sweet). Then I only have to deal with the low beam balast which shouldn't be too bad.

Steiney, I made a bracket for the ballasts that fit onto the engine/tank guard using an existing mounting point:


I hope this helps.

Mike

[TuefelHunden]

Originally Posted by onesaintsfan

I changed out both the high and low beam to 35w HID on my 08GSA. The High beam throws a totally different pattern than the lows. It appears that the lows make a big U shaped beam ahead of you. The High beam fills this in and projects ahead. But I tell you, if you change out and go to HID, you will rarely use the High beam because the low by itself gives plenty of light. So much so most people think you have high beams on. If you ever get on some dark two lane road late at night you will be glad you went HID in both.

What he said. If you are running a road where you are switching the high on an off, you don't get the delay every time you switch on. Got a 35 low and 55 high. That 55 is great running dark back roads.

[mercury01]

Five years ago I installed HID's in my Ducati Multistrada - 55W, both Hi and Lo. Never had a problem and loved those lights!

Recently I installed HID in my '07 R1200GS. Bought DDM's 55W; 4500K units; one each for Hi and Lo. Installed as per instructions here. Worked like a charm.

[RFlagg42]

Pardon me if this is a stupid question, but after installing one of these upgrade kits, the HID bulb will eventually fail. At that point, do you have to puchase a new kit? It doesn't look like you can just buy a replacement bulb the way the wires are connected to it.

Eric

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by RFlagg42

Pardon me if this is a stupid question, but after installing one of these upgrade kits, the HID bulb will eventually fail. At that point, do you have to puchase a new kit? It doesn't look like you can just buy a replacement bulb the way the wires are connected to it.

Eric

You can buy bulbs on e-bay any time. That said, the ballast is more likely to fail than the bulb.

Jim