DR650SE Index Topic # 9 ELECTRICAL/LIGHTING

[Olas]

Originally Posted by Adv Grifter

I assume you've checked out my posts on this on page 3, post 35?

Do you mean the bulb is loose in the plastic housing that it came in?
Or do you mean the plastic slotted housing is loose in the DR650 headlight
housing? I found the stock spring clip held everything pretty snug. (see my pics on this on the post) If the bulb is loose ... then maybe send it back.
I never touched mine so did not notice any looseness of the bulb in the housing.

Riding down the road, my bulb does not giggle ... like you see with some funky car headlights as they go down the road .... very distracting.
Mine are steady. Good luck with this. DDM guys were good to deal with when you call. I was lucky, got one of the actual techs on the phone.

I'm buying a spare bulb before the prices go up too high. Around $12 or $15 last I checked.

Yep, I mean the bulb is loose in the plastic housing that it came in..

First order I put in DDM sent me the wrong bulb, it was a 3000k instead of the 5000k I ordered and I've noticed that both were this way... the bulb is definitely not seated well enough to prevent movement in its housing. The unit itself fits perfect in the head light...that is not an issue.

I need to look into this, with all the vibrations from riding offroad I just don't see the bulb lasting if it's rattling all the time.

[sagedrifter]

My recently installed DDM bulb is secure, its rigid, no flex in the bulb itself.

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[M1Jeep]

Originally Posted by Olas

So, for you guys who have installed the DDM HID bulbs on their DRs:

Did you notice the bulb was loose in its socket? It wiggles more than I'd like...anyone else notice this? Should I be concerned?

Originally Posted by sagedrifter

That brand is well known as crap. QC is very poor. A simple Google search for xentech will give a few thousand "its garbage threads". On cars, the suckers last a year some times, many don't last 6 months. Most of the kids around here buy them and you see them often with one eyed go fast honda civics and such.

I have the 35 watt kit from DDM and it is well made. Nice white 4500K bulb.

The kits are not DOT legal, so keep that in mind. The 35 watt is brighter than a H4 high beam. So, its like running around with a high beam X 4 or more.

Originally Posted by Porrick

Well, after a three week wait, I finally got my DDM single bulb high/low HID kit. I was a little nervous when I saw on the tracking info that t was drop-shipped from China, but the price was great and it seems that Adv Grifter and others were able to make this work. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'm so lucky.....

The box arrived looking like it had been stomped, but when I opened it, all the parts seemed to be in tact. In fact, there seemed to be too many parts, as it has a harness that is clearly made for a car (with a long extension holding a second bulb/switching connection) and a massive relay that everything feeds into. I am guessing that this is needed to control the high/low function? But it doesn't appear in Adv Grifter's writeup of the high/low install, so maybe it is for something else?? Also, the bulb I received has a metal shield around it that is removable, but the three mounting tabs come off with the shield, so not sure what to do about this. Of course, there were no directions/part list/warranty in the box, and the .pdf help files on the DDM site only show an H4 car installation.. I tried calling DDM, but got on hold and then a guy got on and told me they'd call me in three hours (they didn't).....

So, since it was only $40, I am gonna try to chop this harness up and reassemble to make it work, but I need to identify the parts to determine what needs to stay.

Here's what I need to know (at this point):

1) I can easily get into the relay connection and remove the extra harness length by pulling the connectors. Will this cause problems?

2) There is a wire with small plug that comes from the relay that I can't identify and is not mentioned in any of the write-ups -- could this be power/ground for the relay??

3a) Why does this harness need it's own rely? Can I cut it out and use the stock headlight relayed and connected high/low switch?

3b) I know that there is a magnet that moves the single bulb in/out base on high/low setting and I assume this needs power, will the stock switch provide this, or can I tap into the bike's harness to get it?

It sure would be nice to pare this HID harness down to what is necessary and reduce the amount of crap I have to mount behind my dash...

Any/all information (or even edu-macated guesses) would be appreciated.

TIA,

Porrick

Loose bulb in its self-contained housing? And this has happened to you more than once? Really? And I was told DDM was the superior brand whose shit didn't stink. As far as I'm concerned, all of these inexpensive, Chinese made HID kits are ALL cheap and ALL have the potential of bad quality control. Some people just tend to have shittier luck than others. DDM is not the only brand out there folks. Besides, why in hell would anyone want to wait 3-weeks for their purchase to come all the way from China? I had mine in two days from a local vendor.

I am happy with my xentech kit. It's a car kit so it comes with two of everything for back-up parts. Cut the 2nd headlight harness extension with a pair of dikes and run the +/- wires along the frame to your battery, or to the spare wire under the cowl.

BTW, did any of you read that thread where DDM was falsely advertising all ranges of the color temp spectrum when in reality they only offered four? So your 4500k bulb (didn't know 4500k existed) may not be "4500k".

DDM Tuning Lawsuit:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showt...l-be-surprised

DDM Tuning not making HID lights anymore:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...41&postcount=1

[sagedrifter]

Lots of bs out there. I like my DDM kit. Much better than the usual ebay crap.

I received a nice bulb with zero blue tint. I wanted a white light and the 4500k is exactly what they advertise.

I'm sure China screws up on occasion, who doesn't. I bet DDM will fix the mistakes if they even occurred.

DDM does not make the kits, they drop ship them from China. They just know which ones to get. China produces lots of stuff that's useful, you have to get through the junk products and find the oem spec stuff.

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[Olas]

Originally Posted by Adv Grifter

If the bulb is loose ... then maybe send it back.
I never touched mine so did not notice any looseness of the bulb in the housing.

Riding down the road, my bulb does not giggle ... like you see with some funky car headlights as they go down the road .... very distracting.
Mine are steady. Good luck with this. DDM guys were good to deal with when you call. I was lucky, got one of the actual techs on the phone.

I'm buying a spare bulb before the prices go up too high. Around $12 or $15 last I checked.

Not gonna send it back...it takes too long to get anything from China and I already had to send my first one back due to getting the wrong temperature bulb.

Anyway, I didn't touch the bulb either, it was visibly loose...sounds like I'm not the only one that has found this according to google.. Also, during my test ride It seemed very steady, the light output at these temps might be soft enough to cover up any shaking while riding... I'll give ddm a call and see what they say. Plus, you only have the low beam, correct? This might only be an issue with the hi/lo bulbs..

Edit: Ok, spoke to a DDM tech and he said that this is how the hi/lo bulbs are designed. When you switch to high beam the bulb retracts (or viceversa, not sure) but due to this there will be some side by side play. I asked him about vibration over long term use and he said it should not be an issue...I am ok with this, the beam does jump or flicker so as long as it lasts I can live with this.

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by M1Jeep

As far as I'm concerned, all of these inexpensive, Chinese made HID kits are ALL cheap and ALL have the potential of bad quality control.

How much experience do you have with HID kits? Have you tried a half dozen brands to know what you're even talking about?

The fact is, if you look at most kits, it's obvious they ALL come from the same factory in China. ... and by the way ... what did you pay for your kit?
I paid about $27 for mine.

It's the middle men crooks who are making the money here. They do a bit of cosmetic manipulation and quadruple the price. I've seen many kits for up over $150.

BTW ... DDM have been making HID kits for cars for years. Bikes came later.

Originally Posted by M1Jeep

I am happy with my xentech kit. It's a car kit so it comes with two of everything for back-up parts. Cut the 2nd headlight harness extension with a pair of dikes and run the +/- wires along the frame to your battery, or to the spare wire under the cowl.

I did not have to cut anything on my install, nor run extra wires back to battery or to ground. On an adventure bike simple things are best. If my HID should ever fail I can replace stock bulb and have it all working in minutes, not hours.

Originally Posted by Olas

Edit: Ok, spoke to a DDM tech and he said that this is how the hi/lo bulbs are designed. When you switch to high beam the bulb retracts (or viceversa, not sure) but due to this there will be some side by side play. I asked him about vibration over long term use and he said it should not be an issue...I am ok with this, the beam does jump or flicker so as long as it lasts I can live with this.

Excellent news! Glad you got an explanation.
You are correct ... my bulb is the single, 35W version.

My DDM has been flawless ... on both my DR and my 1050 Triumph.
On the DR I can now run my Gerbing at 100% with grips on HI and battery does not go dead ... like it did with stock H4/55W bulb. So that 20 watts seems to help! Granted, the Gerbing will still not get it's warmest when everything is on, works better in day time scenario. At night I try not to exceed about 75% on the Gerbing and keep grips on Low, just to be in safe side.

[M1Jeep]

Yes, they are all made in China and like you said - maybe from the same factory.

Firstly, I bought the ProCycle bi-xenon HID kit for $79.95 + shipping and it stopped working after the first day. The lo beam went out after 10-minutes, and the high beam after 2-hours.

I paid $31.99 (+ free shipping) for my single 35w version and it was delivered in two days. It is plug and play with no cutting and comes with two of everything. Then I decided I wanted hi/lo and paid an addtl $25 for two xenon hi/lo bulbs. So now I have a total of four bulbs - two single 35w, and two bi-xenon bulbs. Once you opt for hi/lo bi-xenon bulbs, regardless of the name brand, there are more wires required to run them - two leads that go to the battery and a relay. There is a set of plugs in this addtl wiring for the 2nd HID light (cars only), which I removed. The wiring setup is identical to that of the ProCycle unit but now I have two of everything. 500 miles later and it still works fine (knock on wood...it's made in China!). Switching back to the OEM bulb simply involves swapping out bulbs and plugging the OEM connector back into it. Minutes not hours here. Removal of all the HID wiring is not required to return to stock form.

To each his own. I'm just laying out more options here for fellow DR650 owners. My intentions here are not to insult anyone but to raise awareness that the DDM kits are not the holy grail of Chinese HID kits. They all have the potential to be a POS. There are a lot of HID kits out there that can be had for cheap and with some luck the kit may work long enough to justify the costs.

If your DDM kit is working for you as expected, then more power to you. If it is not, you now have information for other options at a comparable price.

Originally Posted by Adv Grifter

How much experience do you have with HID kits? Have you tried a half dozen brands to know what you're even talking about?

The fact is, if you look at most kits, it's obvious they ALL come from the same factory in China. ... and by the way ... what did you pay for your kit?
I paid about $27 for mine.

It's the middle men crooks who are making the money here. They do a bit of cosmetic manipulation and quadruple the price. I've seen many kits for up over $150.

BTW ... DDM have been making HID kits for cars for years. Bikes came later.


I did not have to cut anything on my install, nor run extra wires back to battery or to ground. On an adventure bike simple things are best. If my HID should ever fail I can replace stock bulb and have it all working in minutes, not hours.


Excellent news! Glad you got an explanation.
You are correct ... my bulb is the single, 35W version.

My DDM has been flawless ... on both my DR and my 1050 Triumph.
On the DR I can now run my Gerbing at 100% with grips on HI and battery does not go dead ... like it did with stock H4/55W bulb. So that 20 watts seems to help! Granted, the Gerbing will still not get it's warmest when everything is on, works better in day time scenario. At night I try not to exceed about 75% on the Gerbing and keep grips on Low, just to be in safe side.

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by M1Jeep

I paid $31.99 (+ free shipping) for my single 35w version and it was delivered in two days. It is plug and play with no cutting and comes with two of everything. Then I decided I wanted hi/lo and paid an addtl $25 for two xenon hi/lo bulbs. So now I have a total of four bulbs - two single 35w, and two bi-xenon bulbs.

Sounds great.
What company did you buy your kit from and where are they located? I really like the "2 Days" part! Post their link so we can shop and compare with DDM Tuning.

[M1Jeep]

Originally Posted by Adv Grifter

Sounds great.
What company did you buy your kit from and where are they located? I really like the "2 Days" part! Post their link so we can shop and compare with DDM Tuning.

35w single HID:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/260657271399...ht_3645wt_1139

After ordering the 35w single (comes with two 35w single bulbs), I contacted the seller for the bi-xenon bulbs. $25 via PayPal and another two days later and I am good to go.

Or, you can just order the bi-xenon kit below right out the gate but you'll only get the two bi-xenon bulbs. Same dude, just has two different seller ID's.

35w bi-xenon HID:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/160474332716...#ht_6638wt_920

[sagedrifter]

Its just xentech, plastic ballast, short lived etc.

There are some better looking kits on ebay for more than the DDM stuff. I didn't feel like risking over $100... :eek:

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[Olas]

Here's some pics of the DDM Tuning 35W High/Low Kit...Install is easy, just cut off the excess wires and extend the battery leads. One thing about it annoys me though, and its how loose the bulb is. It is "bouncy" in low beam mode, but much less in high beam mode. This is due to the design of the high/low bulb and I'm not sure if there's much that can be done to fix this, if there is - I'm all ears.

The improvement over stock is vast, and I like having the high beam option. Only complaints are the shaky low beam and all the crap you have to mount to make this work...Eventually I see myself going the LED route, the Baja Designs squadron headlight is nice but a bit pricey for me at the moment.

Low beam:



High:



It's kind of hard to see in the pictures but in high mode the beam extends out and to the sides about 2X more than the low beam. Low beam is barely as wide as the road, where as the high beam is almost twice the width of the road.

[eakins]

Originally Posted by sagedrifter

My recently installed DDM bulb is secure, its rigid, no flex in the bulb itself.

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which color temp & wattage did you go with?
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DD...rcycle-HID-Kit

[sagedrifter]

Originally Posted by eakins

which color temp & wattage did you go with?
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DD...rcycle-HID-Kit

35 watt 4500k, its a pure white bulb.

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[Pr0xy]

I just installed the ProCycle kit. Install was SUPER easy and I'm very satisfied with the result so far. The only brief issue I had was finding a good ground and the cable only gives you about 1 ft to play with. Turns out there's a cable "holder" mounted just under the speedo with 1 bolt that works perfect.

I may adjust my headlight up slightly as I think both the high and low beams are both a touch low without any adjustment.

Hopefully this kit will last.

[Ride-til-sore!]

I am trying to have more lights on for safety on my DR. My old XT225 had the front turn signal lights on all the time along with the head light. How would i go about making that happen on my DR? Would I have to put on new turn signal light sockets?