| Author | Message | ||
     Jim_williams |
Can someone recommend the best plug & play hid kit out there? Saving money is always great, but, I'd rather spend a little extra for simplicity and quality. I'm looking to convert headlight, not add big honkin' lights to the front of my Uly. | ||
| Towpro |
I bought these in 4300K http://www.vvme.com/digital-slim-h7-hid-conversion -kit-p-68.html?cPath=44_45_23 These come with a grommet on the harness. I cut a hole in the back of the factory rubber cover on back of headlights the correct size so the grommet locks into it. All wiring is done inside the headlight area behind the rubber cover. NOTE: HID's don't come on bright right away. They might take 2 seconds to warm up. I run mine with Low on all the time and High is switched. I did it by jumpering a 10Amp diode across the H and L positive wires in headlight feed connector. I have the 35w lights. man what a difference. just adjust them so you don't bother oncoming traffic. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I use the VVME kit as well. It is the cheapest brand though... so if you'd rather spend the money, you can get higher end kits with the smaller ballasts, others will post links I'm sure. That being said, I've had the VVME kits on my cars for 2 years and my bike for 1 year and have yet to have any problems. Despite the fact that they are plug and play kits.. it is a good idea to run a relay. MANY people on here have posted a picture of the factory connector after its melted from running HID's. I bought the 55 watt HID kit from VVME (in 4600K color; the brightest) and love it! | ||
| Rwven |
For a few bucks more VVME has the slim ballasts also. | ||
| Ulyessesman |
i bought 2 hid xenon blue 55w head lamps from american sport bike last year , they are a bit pricey , something like $79.00 a piece , but wow!!! I CAN SEE NOW! well worth the money , the ones i have are simply stock replacements that plug into the stock sockets, i have checked the harness and sockets roughly every 2 or 300 miles and they have not shown any signs of overheating or melting down , so far im a happy camper!  | ||
| Towpro |
That link I posted above is for the set with the thin ballasts. They are on sale for $20.00 off right now. Shipping took around 8 days out of China. | ||
| Jim_williams |
thanks everyone. I don't know anything about these, so, big/small ballasts etc. I don't know anything about. All I know is that this seems like the way to go, since I'm so underwhelmed with the lighting on my Uly. That link shows some pretty cheap lighting! If I add a couple bucks, and, can improve it, I'll spend the $$, so, if someone can help me decide, it'd be much appreciated  | ||
| Svh |
Well it comes down to packaging. Do you have other farkles taking up room under your flyscreen? I have the regular VVME ballasts, both high and low, and they take up half the flyscreen. Some folks only run them on the low beam because of the warm up time associated with them. We are talking 2-4 seconds and they don't like to be cycled often. I may purchase the slim ballasts so I can have some more room in there for my loud a$$ horn that won't fit right now. I love them and am ordering a set for the wifes car soon. | ||
| Nadz |
OK, I want HID too, rather than additional reflectors, but I was under the impression they took much longer to warm up... is it dark for a few seconds and then ON, or is there a ramp to full-bright? Realistically, how long to useable output? How 'bout on shutdown? Any other reccomended vendors besides VVME? Thanks, -Nadz | ||
| Froggy |
Yep. It is dim for the first 4 seconds give or take as they warm up. It is none issue anyway, it takes longer for the check engine light to turn off. Watch this video, the fog lights show the warmup better, they are "done" when they turn fully yellow. http://www.vimeo.com/883402
Yes, I use DDM Tuning 50w units. 40% brighter than the VVME stuff, plus the ballasts are half the size. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
2-4 seconds is very optimistic. Like I said earlier, I have 3 of these kits (4 in a week) installed in vehicles. The initial power up may be 2 seconds, but they all take about 30 seconds to get to full brightness. | ||
| Sweetfish89 |
Will it still work if you have done the headlight trick that makes both high/low beams be on at the same time or will it over heat? | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Standard HID's are 35 watt, and therefor run quite a bit cooler than OEM 55 watt halogen bulbs. They will not over heat. | ||
| Sweetfish89 |
So they will not over heat if I run HID high/low at the same time? Why don't you put the HID in the high beam? | ||
| Froggy |
True about the 4 second thing, but it would be putting off usable light by then. Like stated before, its non issue really, as unless your running a delayed start on the HIDs, the bikes self test takes longer to run than the HID warmup time so you wouldn't be going anywhere anyway. Sweetfish, it will be fine. Not everyone runs high beam HID because of the bulb warm up delay problem. Your flash to pass is effectively useless unless your high beam was already on. | ||
| Towpro |
Plus they are only "for off road use" in the USA. HID's use a different type of reflector so the combination is not DOT approved. BUT: The difference is amazing  I made sure I had them adjusted so I don't get people flashing high beams at me. By sticking with the 4300K and adjusting them correct I don't expect to have the cops pulling me over. It's the blue bulbs that attract attention from the local Law, and the 4300k is bright white, not blue. And the way I installed them, all the connections are in the headlight housing. I can switch back to stock bulbs (leaving all the HID stuff installed) in a couple minutes if my PA state inspection guy requires it As far as space. I have a large-loud horn plus 2 thin ballast under the fly screen, plus room for relays if I end up going that way. All I did was take a big 10A diode and put it between the High and low wires (up stream from the headlight connector) so it conducts from the high beam Positive wire to the low beam positive wire when in the high beam position. The slight voltage drop don't seem to affect the HID's. Since the H/L switch has overlap (both high and low are on for an instant as you move the switch)the low beam never shuts off. When both high and low HID's are on at the same time it's amazing. Put it this way, you will see reflective signs lighting up in front of you in the middle of the day! | ||
| Rwven |
I've got 3 large VVME ballasts, a Nautilus airhorn and various relays under my flyscreen. It's tight but it all fits. | ||
| Nobuell |
I have a 35 watt HID on the low beam side. I have the standard halogen bulb in the high side and have two 55 watt halogen hella driving lights that go on with the high beam. I have the lights wired such that the all highs and the low are on for the high beam. I have a lot of light. The HID is a 4300K and it has a nice quality for driving. I am considering moving the 35 watt HID to the high beam side and replacing the low with a 50 watt HID. I do not think the warm up will be an issue for the high beam since the auxiliary lights are on immediately. Both the low and highs are wired through high amperage relays and the light power comes from the battery with individual 10 AWG fused feeds. Very low voltage drop. One can never have enough light when in the middle of no where. Also, I like the driving lights because I can aim them slightly to each side to widen the view and help watch for critters. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
The other reason people don't tend to put HID's in the high beam is because it is not good for the ballasts to be switched on and off. So running an HID high beam and turning it off for every oncoming car and then back on will significantly shorten the ballast life. | ||
| Towpro |
I have found no data on how many "on and off's" a ballast is good for. I figure HID's in cars last for 10 years? If you drive every day (RT) that is over 7000 "on off's". Plus at around $70.00 a pair for replacements, I can live with the lower life expectancy VS having bulbs with less light | ||
| Svh |
Digital ballasts are less prone to "abuse" from being turned on and off. | ||
| Rightpecial |
Here's a question: I have an HID kit that's been sitting around for a while and I figure I might as well put it on the Uly so I can actually drive at night. Now would it be possible, or advisable to rig it so that it is on for low beam applications, but both the stock "brights" and the HID are on when I switch on my brights? | ||
| Froggy |
Rightpecial, yes, it rigs up the exact same way as the stock bulbs. Just follow the instructions from any both headlight on thread. | ||
| Rightpecial |
Thanks Froggy, I figured as much but it never hurts to ask before you tear into something. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Another thing to note: IF you're going to use a relay to power your HID, you can run the switching relay power from ANY switched power source... such as the instrument cluster or marker light feed, or if you're relay will be under your seat, you can use the tail light or license plate light feed. That means that the HID low beam will be unaffected by switching to High beam; it will stay on 100% of the time. Just food for thought for those of you running a relay who haven't done the headlight mod yet. | ||
| Wademan |
My two cents... I installed the VME kit on high and low beam w/ relays and noticed the high beam did not add much more additional light. I removed the HID and Ballast from the high beam and just run the HID on the low. Still 200% better than stock and now I have an extra HID and ballast sitting around to use at a later time. YMMV Oh and the VME kit stood up to 15,000 miles on an Alaska trip, so I don't think the more expensive brands are worth the extra money, unless a small ballast is important to you. | ||
| Froggy |
The more expensive brand has an option for 55w bulbs, which have about 40% more light output. I can see the reflections off the logos on police cars half a mile away in broad day light. | ||
| Sweetfish89 |
I think Im going to add this to my list of things to do. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
The more expensive brand has an option for 55w bulbs, So does VVME. That's where I bought my 55 watt kit. Something like $75 shipped IIRC. | ||
| Choyashi |
"http://www.xerayusa.com" I got mine from these folks. Have the HID on the high beam only. Run it in the day for visibility. Just have a super Halogen in the dims. Can't ever run the high beam at night, always cars coming. Light is as bright as searchlight. Cars think alien spaceship is aproching!! (Message edited by choyashi on November 03, 2009) | ||
| Froggy |
I looked on VVME's site, it looks like you can't get the 55w bulbs with slim ballasts from them. Also the light output on their 55w kit is 3200 lumens, which is the same as most other 35w kits. | ||
| Hambcastle |
I'm looking at the VVME option. First, do you get two ballast and lamp setups in one kit? And if this is the case, can you set it up so that both the headlights are on low, and when you switch to high, both come on high? Since the Amp draw with HID's is much lower, the bike should handle it? | ||
| Froggy |
Having both lights be both high and low is not possible. One lamp is the low, the other is the high. The bulbs are the same 1 filament design, with the difference being the reflectors in the bulb housing make one a high and the other low. You can have both lights on at the same time, but one is high and one is low. |
