HID Conversion on a 12GS (pictorial)

[GB]

Originally Posted by MikeyD

So are you getting a High Beam and a Low Beam - or do you now have two of the same?

Both are H7 bulb kits, no high or low specific. The reflector in the housing does the high and low reflecting.

High beam HID is not recommended if you like to use the flash to pass feature of the control switch.. which something Europeans use, but here.. people don't understand it.. They think you're flipping them the bird.

[rideLD]

Originally Posted by NBeener

Presumably, that's their reduction in draw vs. the halogens, but ... that dimming at idle on the halogens, in theory, was also shortening their lifespan (I wonder if there was a connection between voltage drop at idle and the H7 bulbs you folks have gone through).

The filament has to burn at a certain heat before the halogen gas forces the suspended particulate matter back ON to the filament, increasing its lifespan. If that cycle breaks (voltage drops), the lifespan shortens.

Very interesting theroy. I think you are on to something there. My 05 R1200GS would burn out a bulb about every 7 thousand miles. If your theroy is correct the 07's would be more resistant to this because the light will not dim as much at idle without the power brakes. I switched my 07 to HID at about 2000 miles so I'm not one to ask. I would say to do a poll but they never work out to be very accurate because some from Orange Crush always come over and vote for failures.

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by Gadget Boy

Both are H7 bulb kits, no high or low specific. The reflector in the housing does the high and low reflecting.

High beam HID is not recommended if you like to use the flash to pass feature of the control switch.. which something Europeans use, but here.. people don't understand it.. They think you're flipping them the bird.

Rick has it right, in theory.

I used the H7 in both high and low beam, no extra wiring, just plug into the stock light circuit wires that go to the halogen lights, and run your wires back and forth to the remotely installed ballasts.

They work fine, no fault codes, on the stock circuits.

Though many have said that the H7 in the high beam position wont work for flash to pass, they work fine on mine. The high beam doesn't get up to full power in the .5 second on time, but it gets easily as bright as stock, and works fine for flash to pass.

There is one possible concern with the high beam HID. IF you start the bike with the high beam on, it will go out when starting the bike, and come on with the low beam after starting. The initial surge of boost power can reset your clock and trip meters. I tried it on mine twice without that happening, but a low battery, might cause it. I have a local friend who has had it happen a couple times.

The load relief relay causes the high beam to go off, the low beam wont come on until after the bike starts, and they both come on at the same time if the high beam is on.

The large ballasts are a snug fit, so if you have a Stebel horn and ABS, you will have to either fit them like I did, or make a bracket that fits under the oil cooler to mount them. Since I didn't have the materials for the bracket, I mounted them as you see. It precludes the use of my accessory socket. I will, however, be building a mount under the oil cooler, and if you have a GS Adv, or a light bar already there, you have an alternate mounting location.

Did I miss anything?

Jim

[Rick Lee]

Recently I have been using my high beam a lot during daytime riding and also have it on when I start the bike. I get no resets or faults, but just that real high pitched whine like when you're charging up a camera flash and then it goes away after a few seconds.

Make sure your high beam works, even if you rarely ride at night. I had my low beam go out on an onramp to the Garden State Pkwy. at about 11:30pm with 250 miles to get home. No way could I pull over there, so I just switched to high beam and was fine until I could stop at a gas station. Low came back on after I restarted the bike.

[Duster929]

Jim, thanks for the great info!

I've been doing some research on lighting, and as it turns out what I've decided on is going to be pretty much exactly what you have. Maybe I should have short-circuited all that research and just copied you straight away.

I have a small favour to ask... Since those look like Hella FF50s, could you post a photo from the front of your bike at what it looks like when you've got the FF50s lit as well? Also, do you have those on a separate switch that you can have on whether you are in low beam or high beam? How do you have that set up?

Last question... you make reference to the fat ballasts vs the thin ones. Is there a VVME kit with thin ballasts, or are you referring to one from a different manufacturer?

Thanks in advance.

--- D

[sweptwingnut]

Originally Posted by Duster929

Jim, thanks for the great info!
Last question... you make reference to the fat ballasts vs the thin ones. Is there a VVME kit with thin ballasts, or are you referring to one from a different manufacturer?

+1 Was about to post the same question re: slim ballasts before making my purchase.

[GB]

I got an HID kit from: www.xenonrider.com and he offers you the slim line ballast, which would be ideal in a tight fit like this.

Jim, I don't see any wires on your kit that have a relay and hook up to the battery, is that how your kit was? I guess the ones I used are older ones and have a relay and an inline fuse and hook up to the battery. I just ordered a slimline kit from the above source and will be one of my winter projects.

[supaparty]

Originally Posted by Gadget Boy

I got an HID kit from: www.xenonrider.com and he offers you the slim line ballast, which would be ideal in a tight fit like this.

Wow...this place is more than twice the price - $90 delivered for a dual HID kit vs. $199+delivery for the kit from Xenonrider. What's the difference other than the option to upgrade to a slim ballast?

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by Gadget Boy

I got an HID kit from: www.xenonrider.com and he offers you the slim line ballast, which would be ideal in a tight fit like this.

Jim, I don't see any wires on your kit that have a relay and hook up to the battery, is that how your kit was? I guess the ones I used are older ones and have a relay and an inline fuse and hook up to the battery. I just ordered a slimline kit from the above source and will be one of my winter projects.

Yeah, I installed a kit with the slim ballasts on a friend's bike, and it is the way to go, if you don't mind the cost.

The new kits like mine and my friend's kits, do not need any additional wiring. You simply unplug the stock bulb, plug the HID kit to the stock plug, and you have light! No need for any more wiring, tank removal, or relays. In fact, though my pics show it, you don't even need to remove the beak or instrument pannel. I just did it because I filmed it for my upcomming Accessories DVD!

Here is the slim one:


Next to my fat one.


Mount


Mounted


Igniter

Jim

[GB]

I like it, I guess my old kits have the complete wiring harness and when I removed the relay and wired it off the bike's harness, it worked briefly then went out. When I get the new kit, I hope it like this one, plug and play. I went for the slim ballast.

[Grad]

Are there any 2 bulb, slim ballast kits available that are pretty cheap?

[sweptwingnut]

Originally Posted by Grad

Are there any 2 bulb, slim ballast kits available that are pretty cheap?

This is the cheapest of the slim ballasts that I have found so far. http://www.cqlight.ca/product_info.php?products_id=68

Price includes shipping. That makes it about 65-70 bucks more than JVB's latest install but you will still need to find a place to mount the igniters.

[sweptwingnut]

Originally Posted by Grad

Are there any 2 bulb, slim ballast kits available that are pretty cheap?

This one will cost you 230.00 plus shipping... But a lot of people here are happy with this vendor and that goes a long way.
http://www.xenonrider.com/products/h...hid_kits.shtml

[sweptwingnut]

Here is a question for those that have dealt with the VVM, Xenon, and CQ kits. I am guessing no one makes what I am thinking about but with all the knowledge here my interest is why is it not possible to plug an extension into the cable from the ballast? Maybe someone like http://www.easternbeaver.com can build an extension that will ultimately allow you more mounting options for the ballasts and/or igniters.

Just a thought.

[Peka]

Originally Posted by sweptwingnut

I am guessing no one makes what I am thinking about but with all the knowledge here my interest is why is it not possible to plug an extension into the cable from the ballast?

Could be a problem with voltage drop over a longer cable