| Author | Message | ||
     Hangetsu |
Hey All - In my own quest to find the ultimate and optimum lighting upgrade, I am settling on the idea of the stock Halogen to HID bulb upgrade as the way to go. However, as many of you know, H7 30 or 50 Watt kits can be had anywhere from $40 to over $200. I know many of you out there have done this upgrade, so is there any consensus as to which product is the highest quality for the price and just as important, which has the most reliable vendor behind it? Cheers. A- | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I have been using the Texon HID kits without incident for 22,000 miles. The are warrantied for one year and you can buy ALL the pieces as replacement parts. If the ballast or capsule go, you just but another. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Thanks. I'll look into that one. A- | ||
| Hangetsu |
Hey Jeremy, I was just looking at the Texon website. The kits look good, but I found no information stating the wattage of their kits. Do you happen to know if each bulb is a 30 or 50 watt? Thanks. A- | ||
| Hangetsu |
Another question for you HID experts. I've dug through many HID specific sites now and there seems to be a lot of competitive pricing going on. Most of the kits seem pretty decent, but I did notice that a couple of companies out there offer a motorcycle specific kit. These kits only come with one bulb and seem to be about double the price of the car or generic conversion kits. Those of you who have done the conversion; did you use the generic 2 bulb kits or did you purchase 2 M/C specific kits? Additionally, do the generic kits out there plug directly into the Uly's loom with no connector modifications? Sorry for all the stupid questions, but electronics is the one thing in a bike I know little to nothing about. Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks. A- | ||
| Paul56 |
About two and a half years ago I paid $190 for a motorcycle specific kit from Xenon Pros. It lasted about a year and a half- both the box and lamp failed (tested each with my new kit). I replaced it with a non specific car kit from someplace on ebay for around $60. It's still working and if it fails I still have another box and lamp to use. It is a 35 watt kit. Don't know if 50 would be too bright or not. 35 is pretty bright especially when it's in a housing thats not designed for it. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The benefit of the motorcycle specific kits is that they include extra long wiring harnesses and fully sealed connections. There is sufficient wiring to be able to mount the capsules and igniters in the front of the bike and mount the ballast in the tail. The auto specific variety have shorter/smaller harnesses. If you feel an auto system would work and is a better price, go with the auto version. The Texon systems are 35W. They put out about 100W of light. They have upgraded their motorcycle kits since I did my conversion. The old kits had separate igniter and ballast. The new kit includes the upgraded power unit that contains both in one unit. It's also A LOT more compact. The Texon kits are $99 each. I'd go with the 6000K kit. Like I said, I have had really good results with this company. I had a capsule break off of it's base (installer error). The owner of the company replaced my capsule no questions asked. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Interesting note about the longer wiring in the M/C specific kits, but it seems that there's plenty of space behind the flyscreen of the Uly for igniters and ballasts. The M/C specific kits are also a LOT more expensive than the generic/car kits and they only come with one bulb. Do you know about the connectors in the standard kits. Is it a straight plug-in or should I expect to do some cutting, soldering, and crimping? | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The prices are the same (at least on the TEXON site I am seeing) for the motorcycle kit and the car kit. Car $199 Motorcycle $99 It doesn't matter which one you chose price wise. The TEXON kits are COMPLETELY plug and play (most are). The TEXON kits have spade terminals for the relay that plug right into the stock headlight bulb plugs. You run the hot leads from the battery for the system and run the relay off the headlight power. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Yeah, I didn't see a M/C kit on the Texton site. I'll look further. The bike specific kit I found out there offered by two other vendors is mare by Philips and the car kits by VisionPro. The relay yo speak of, is that something already in the stock lighting system, or does it come with the kit? Thanks for all the info by the way. As I said, I know my way around an engine pretty well, but electrics are a complete mystery to me. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
It comes in the kit. You use the relay in order to turn the power on to the HIDs. They have their own dedicated power supply. The relay does nothing but draw a small amount of power to "close the switch". Beyond that, there is no draw on the stock circuit. For my low beams, I have my lights relayed off the front power socket. The socket doesn't cycle when starting. I didn't want to "flicker" my HIDs. The high beam is running off the high beam bulb socket. Since I don't start it with the high beams on, I don't have to worry about it. I run the High and Low beams ALL the time (unless I'm in stop and go traffic at night). I don't turn the high beam on and off for oncoming traffic. Pay piss people off, but they have to SEE ME in order to be pissed off. | ||
| Wbrisett |
One other note. If you want to run both HID and High beam, use the city light wiring. That wiring stays on even when the headlight switch is moved to high beam. Of course there are those that have found the 'middle area' on the rocker switch where both High beam and low beam are on, but I find that method a big PITA. Wayne | ||
| Rr_eater |
vvme.com Get their dual H7 kit, I did and LOVE it. It is a 35 watt kit, once piece ballast/ignitor, all sealed plug and play, minus EVERY kit has a different way to seal the back of the bulb to the headlight housing, but is very easy to do and pretty self explanatory. You will be amazed at the difference. As a side note, the headlight housing obviously was not "designed" for HID bulbs, but VVME's kits bulb are at the same focal point as a conventional bulb, so the glare is not all that bad for oncoming traffic, but is not perfect. I am personally looking into the European headlight housing myself, for RH drivers, as E rated lighting have better light cutoff lines and better focusing then DOT standard lights, but we will see......... Keep in mind, vvme.com's prices are awesome, but they make up a bit of the difference in the shipping, like 20 bucks a set, but it is FAST!! Love mine Bruce (Message edited by rr_eater on January 14, 2009) | ||
| Johnboy777 |
Hey Hangetsu, There's a pretty long thread on the VVME HID Kit (I have 'em, but they're not installed as of yet): http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/383503.html#POST1211286 VVME Site: http://www.vvme.com/product/detail-20023.html . | ||
| Hangetsu |
Thanks for the testimonials on the VVME kit. To tell the truth, I get nervous when I see anything that is typically pretty expensive offered so cheaply. There's a Japanese unit I've been looking at that's completely digital, fully waterproof, and will handle being used as a high beam flasher, but it's a bit $$$. I'll read a bit more about the VVME kit. The price is certainly attractive. Thanks everyone. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
""I get nervous when I see anything that is typically pretty expensive offered so cheaply."" Good point - I'll sell you my VVME HID Kit for $300, if it makes you feel better. . | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I guess the other way to look at it is that you can buy two of the VVME kits and use one for spare parts and still come out ahead. I bought what I bought because it was all that was available at the time. I wouldn't walk away from the VVME kit based solely on price. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
""I wouldn't walk away from the VVME kit based solely on price"" If I'm not mistaken, I recall hearing at the time, the reason that VVME was selling these so cheaply (although shipping seemed high) is that they are mainly distributors. . | ||
| Court |
I haven't even opened the VME package that came air express. I will say that I was VERY impressed with their service. I clicked "order", got a confirmation in moments, e-mail about 3 minutes later that I'd failed to supply temperature, e-mailed back, shipping notice within 2 hours and the package, from Beijing, China, 2 days later. I'm still itching to find out what makes the PIAA HID worth $1,100 and confess to having an itch to do a comparison but I've yet to hear of anybody having anything but good experience with the VME. | ||
| Hangetsu |
I didn't mean to indicate that the VVME kit is in any way inferior simply based on price alone, but in many cases, with many products, low price is achieved through serious cuts in quality, but not necessarily in this case. It sounds like there are several Badwebbers out there who have had good experiences with these and I'll definitely give them serious consideration. Thanks again for the info. Cheers. | ||
| Maximum |
"I'm still itching to find out what makes the PIAA HID worth $1,100 " My PIAA HID was only a $100 upgrade.  | ||
| Portero72 |
I have had the VME kit on my 09 for about the last 1000 miles, and they work GREAT. Tons of light, easy install, fast delivery. I, too, have a hard time finding good reasons to spend over 1000$ on the PIAA kit when I could buy 15 VME's. Plus, all the parts are available separately, should you need them. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I want to see all 15 VME kits installed on the same bike. | ||
| Red_chili |
And the charging system on same. | ||
| Court |
What do you think of this and why would it be worth $1,045.95 ? Makes a strong case for the VMW.  | ||
| Hangetsu |
Well, you all are all doing a good job on selling me on the VVME kit and at that price, I will be able to move forward on this mod faster than I otherwise would have. One thing though. I keep reading posts by those who have taken some seemingly contrived means of setting these things up; wiring to the power outlet, connecting directly to the battery, etc. Can't you simply plug them directly into the existing headlight wiring? | ||
| Froggy |
I got my 50W kit here: http://www.ddmtuning.com/ddmhidkits.html Very happy with it, even bought a relay kit from them so I can bypass the factory wiring. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The initial draw of the Ballast and Igniter exceeds the capacity of the wiring harness. I would NOT wire the power directly off of the stock loom. The power outlet is probably the least hazardous if you do not want to wire a direct connection to the battery. I preferred to use a dedicated connection because I could fuse it separately, I could control the gauge of the wire used, and I put as little stress on the stock harness as possible should I want to return to stock at a later date. I believe many of the later electrical gremlins of a bike's life are created by overstressing the stock harness. You are basically looking at two wires (or only one if you plan to use a negative ground) to run. That's not that contorted or difficult. Simple on the front end can create some really complex problems on the back end. I prefer to do a little extra work on the front in order to keep complex things from occurring in the future. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Here's my original install: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/327 77/233088.html | ||
| Johnboy777 |
I have the Hella FF50 Driving Lights that use H7's as well, as was thinking of installing my H7 VVME HID Kit in those lights (if possible) and keeping my stock lights stock. I'm happy with the stock lights in the city, but find them lacking on county roads at night.  |
