| Author | Message | ||
     Gman5700 |
I want to get the headlights upgraded on my 08 25r but am not sure which kit and where to buy from. If anyone has done this lemme know where and how much you paid and how complicated it was to install them please. Thanks for all your help | ||
| 07xb12ss |
Xenonrider.com gets my vote, very easy to install would probably recommend 6k or 8k if you want a lil blue, I had 6k and went to 3k just for looks | ||
| Ccryder |
+1 on xenonrider. I think I have 4 of their kits. The one on the 1125rt has 20,000+ miles. I recommend 5,000k or less. If you go with any higher temp you are loosing visible light output. I don't recommend HID's in the high beams due to their warm up time. I went with H11 PIAA's and they make a big difference over the stock H8. Later Neil S. PM me if you need some more details. | ||
| Daarc |
I also have HIDs from xenonrider.com i got the 6000k and maybe they don't put out as much light as the 5000k's but they sure do look great, and are a huge increase over the stock low beams. I don't know where the others mounted their ballast but i ended up mounting mine to the underside of the front fairing. You might want to think about getting the slim ballast upgrade. Ccryder I'm curious as to why the H11 PIAA's are better than the standard H8's? | ||
| Anakist |
Daarc, H11 are 55w, H8 are 35w for a start. Ccryder, how do you find the HID low / Halogen high difference? I have been talking to a local guy about doing the lows only in HID and he said it was a waste to do only one. The other one becomes practically useless. Is the H11 high a good match colour wise? James | ||
| 07xb12ss |
halogen high beams are just for flashing now on my bike | ||
| Ccryder |
The HID to Halogen is not even a fair comparison. HID is 3x the output of the stock light. You can always go back and add the hi beams in HID but for the $'s, I would try a set of PIAA bulbs first. Also the warm up time is still a factor even with the new type of ballasts. I run 70 miles of 2 lane TN back roads everyday and have to flip up and down b/t high and low beams. Waiting for the HID to come to full power would not be good for being able to see and for the HID system. I went with the slim ballasts and they are mounted right above the headlights in the nose of the fairing. They seem to fit very nice there with a little foam to cushion them and keep them in place. The H11's from PIAA in the Superwhite are much whiter than the H8's but, not as white as the HID's. We are talking function here not form. Neil S. | ||
| Lastonetherebuys |
everyday and have to flip up and down b/t high and low beams. Waiting for the HID to come to full power would not be good for being able to see and for the HID system. What am I missing here? Yes i understand that HID's take time to warm up but the low beam bulbs are always on. so when you flick it on to high there is going to be a delay but it would still work even though there would be a delay for the full power of high beam | ||
| Gman5700 |
thanks for all the help gonna go with ccryders suggestion this winter i'll let ya know what i think. | ||
| Ccryder |
Justin: You are missing something. In an urban riding condition, I usually will go to hi beam because I think I see something out beyond my low beams or I have few seconds w/o on coming traffic where I can extend my field of view. Usually for 2-7 seconds. For the HID to get to full brightness requires about this length of time. HID electronics don't like this start/ stop repeat, it will shorten their life. Plus the electrical load is high during this start up period. Out in the country where you usually could flip to hi beam and leave it there, it would not be that much of an issue because, like you stated, you have your low beams. Even with my low beams I'll use the "Flash-to-pass" switch to fill in the area above the low beams so that Deer or other critters is illuminated so I can avoid them. I typically ride 20,000+ miles a year over these combined environments so this is not just a wild a$$ guess but real world experience. I have heard that there is a Type III HID available to the OEM's that does not have any real warm up but so far that technology has not filtered down. There are also shutter type systems, like BMW/ Audi etc, that by moving a shutter uncovers a slightly different light path for the hi beam. That would be for an H4 or H13 type dual beam reflector. Now you almost know as much as me ;+}. You have some valid questions, don't stop asking but, a little searching goes a looong way. Do you know the difference dimensionally b/t an H8, H9, and H11?  Can you see that an H9 will fit the reflector but, the focus will be way off. Focus is CRITICAL since it is how the reflector projects the light down the road. Also it keeps from blinding the on coming traffic. Time2Work Neil S. | ||
| Anakist |
Yeah I understand function over form, I ride an 1125r. Do you do any sustained high beam riding? Or only ever use them for short term fill? I usually ride in town at night, so don't use high beams, but sometimes we ride down to the inlaws' to see our horses: 40min of highway. Do the h11 bulbs offer enough light on top of the hid? James | ||
| Ccryder |
Yes can tell when the H11 hi beams are on. It does reach out there further and fill in light at the longer distances. | ||
| Nadz |
CC, where did you get the center-of-focus specifications? I am curious if the H7 bulbs on a CR can be replaced with a Bi-xenon (hi/low with the shutter), like H4 or H13. Imagine the lighting power of dual HID low-beam bulbs, that instantly become deer-killing hi-beams when needed! | ||
| Daarc |
wow those piaa super whites are expensive, almost as much as the HIDs. do the piaa's have the same kind of life span as the HIDs? also did you put h11 HIDs in or h8? | ||
| Ccryder |
THe specs on the "HX" are a DOT standard I think. THere are many places that publish those dimensions. Since the cr reflectors are not designed for dual beams it won't be focused correctly for either hi/ low. Also the tabs for the bulb mounting won't work. If you adapted something like this: http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=131 it would be HOT.  But they are quite pricey. Later Neil S. | ||
| Nadz |
Yea, I thought of the reflector focus thing as soon as I hit [post]. So now I'm thinking HID low with a conventional hi bulb of similar color temperature. Dave at Rallylights has some good ones. Still would be cool to have a bi-xenon version of the H7! | ||
| Oldog |
I have the moving lamp in a tube set up on my X1 ,I also have an emergency re-start switch incase it goes out, has happened several times, ( required a balast replacement. ) when Hid goes out say low voltage it may not re-light, the moving lamp presents some other issues, mine moves out of the detent and has to be cycled halogen high beams and hid lows make sense, perhaps hid driving lights for open country after having seen Neils Hid on a sunny day you cant miss them. BTW Neil S is it ok to send mail to your Biz Address? | ||
| Palerider |
Wiring and charging system can safely handle the increased wattage from the H11's? I thought I saw some where they did't recommend putting H11 in place of H8? I ride a lot of back roads and use the Hi beams a lot for added safety. If the H11's work with no side effects I'd try them. Thanks for any info. | ||
| Puzzled |
I used a Starrotors HID kit.  I decided to go with 6000K bulbs and slim ballasts. I'm installing them on the low beem side and if room permits I'll do the hi beems next. Here is the kit.  Tha ballasts are small however there is an additional box inline. Space savings? Tough to tell | ||
| Puzzled |
I decided to remove the fairing as it looked like the best way to gain access to the low beam bulbs. There is one #27 Torx screw on each lower side of the fairing.  There are two nuts on each mirror that hold them on.  The wires for the turn signals need to be disconnected from each mirror.  Gently lift up and out and the fairing comes right off. | ||
| Puzzled |
Each headlight has two upper allen head bolts holding them on. There is a spacer inside the bushing so be sure not to loose them.  There is one lower allen head bolt on each side also.  The headlights are tied together with a single 10MM bolt.  | ||
| Puzzled |
HID bulb installed, factory boot, factory wiring harness.  The factory boot had to be trimmed a little to allow the HID leads to be pulled through it.  I decided to hide as much of the wiring in the actual headlight assembly as possible.  | ||
| Puzzled |
HID VS. Stock.   | ||
| Puzzled |
Fast forward, both sides installed. The pictures make the lights look blue however they are very white.   Hi and low beem.  | ||
| Puzzled |
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where to place the ballasts. This is my final decision.  I shot two screws into the headlight housing to hold the ballasts. Double sided tape or zip ties just wouldn't have worked here.  (take note of the single bolt that holds the two lights together that I mentioned earlier)  | ||
| Puzzled |
The ballasts after the fairing is installed.    | ||
| Puzzled |
I had originally planned on installing the ballasts under here. After seeing how easy the fairing came off I didn't want to make that process difficult by attaching ballasts to it.   When I get to the hi beems I will more than likely look to use this area. I will look at a way to attatch to the fairing stay as opposed to the fairing itself. | ||
| Puzzled |
My LED outside bulbs showed up today so I immediately went to the garage to install them. They are LED bulbs from StarRotors. After removing the stock bulb and attempting to install the new one I discovered that they don't fit. A litlle sanding with some sand paper and I was in business.    | ||
| Puzzled |
One side installed.   | ||
| Puzzled |
Both sides installed    |
