| Author | Message | ||
     Ratbuell |
OK, so I just got my pair of H7 HID's. Going to put one in the low beam of the CR and the other in the Uly low beam. But. There's clips and spacers, and no instructions. Anyone got any guesses? Or will it all become apparent once I have hands-on the bike during the install? | ||
| Nik |
They have PDF instructions on their website. | ||
| Froggy |
Square peg in the square hole  It is fairly simple, hardest part is getting those stupid clips to hold the bulb in the headlamp housing. Only thing you will need to do is cut a small hole in the back of that rubber boot on the headlamp to allow the wires to pass through. You will understand once you start playing with it. | ||
| Weaponxbs |
Froggy, Been wanting to put HID's on the XB12S. Whats your take on doing both beams? | ||
| Aesquire |
Don't do both beams. HID's don't like to be turned on and off rapidly. I do suggest that you use a higher power halogen for high beam...but it may not be legal in your jurisdiction  so use your best judgment. | ||
| Sifo |
On my XB I cut the boot by tracing a quarter with an exacto knife. Perfect fit. Everything else was pretty much like Froggy said... Square peg in the square hole. It only goes together one way, and there are limited parts involved. | ||
| Weaponxbs |
And THIS is why I default to our brothers and sisters on BadWeb. LOTS of knowledge. And saving me some $$$ too  One more question. Where, other than behind the flyscreen can I/ do you suggest I mount the ballast? I have a Stebel Compact Airhorn shoehorned in there. Both the trumpet and compressor (Thanks to the Mrs. "Thanks honey") | ||
| Ratbuell |
Given the length of the harnesses that came with these...either inside the flyscreen, or tied to the bottom of the headlight housing, is about the only option unless you want to splice/stretch the wires to put them behind the steering head somewhere. They are admirably small, though. Actually...about the same size as my Blackberry. Thanks for all the input, folks Guess these, and a new door weatherstrip on my truck, will be this Saturday's project. | ||
| Froggy |
You don't need a highbeam after installing HID. Mine has been unplugged for a few years now.
Neither do halogen bulbs.
Anywhere you want. It should fit fine with the Stebel, it did for me when I still had a horn. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
Leave a halogen in your high beam. 55w 6000k hid high beam is like the sun mounted to the front of your bike. Too bright for anything. I get flashed in the middle of the day. | ||
| Aesquire |
Neither do halogen bulbs True, but they handle it better than striking an arc and quenching repeatedly. The biggest problem with Halogen bulbs is that they need to be hot enough to do their voodoo. The gas in the bulb encourages the vaporized tungsten to redeposit on the filament, not the inside of the bulb. If they don't get warm enough, the vaporized metal just plates the bulb and the lifespan is compromised. OTOH, I can't recall replacing a head lamp bulb ( with high and low beams, like a H4 ) when the high beam burned out. The amount of time you can safely( and with courtesy ) drive with highs on is usually limited. Usually. | ||
| Froggy |
Given how cheap and easy to replace the bulbs are, I'm not worried about it ever failing. I am not gentle on mine with my constant stopping and starting, and I am yet to have an issue. My bulbs and ballasts have more miles and flashes on it than your average police strobe light. I want them to fail, that way I can justify spending money on something new. | ||
| Weaponxbs |
If it turns night into day on one bulb then great. I have a 17 mile ride to work in the morning at around 4:00 AM and the "forest rats", aka deer, are pretty active. (XB + deer= BAD) I usually see 3-4, every morning, on just one 2 mile stretch. The horn does a great job on getting them to scatter but if I can see them that much more ahead of time, GREAT Thanks again everyone. Ratbuell. . .sorry about the hijack. I'm bowing out now  (Message edited by weapon-xbs on January 18, 2012) | ||
| Ratbuell |
no hijack...that's the same reason I upgraded! I'll get them installed this weekend and try and get some pictures ofnthe Uly - it also has a stebel. | ||
| Skntpig |
Where does a Stebel fit/hide well on a CR? | ||
| Ratbuell |
Dunno. My stebel is on the Uly. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Pretty self-explanatory so far. CR headlight assembly was a PITA to get out. Wow. Both headlights (the CR's, and the Uly's) are in my kitchen now, RTV curing inside where its warm, where I opened up the headlight rubber covers and put in the DDM plug. I'll get pics posted once the install is finished, but it looks like the CR has ACRES of space behind the flyscreen, and even the Uly will have plenty of room in the flyscreen for the ballast. Current inventory of the area in the Uly: (1) relay for LED turn signals (1) relay for aux lights (1) fuse for aux lights (1) relay for Stebel (1) Stebel air horn (factory horn delete) (1) wiring bundle for Buell heated grips (1) wiring bundle for Buell / Quest GPS cradle ...and now... (1) DDM tuning HID ballast (1) DDM tuning boxy-thing inline from ballast to HID lamp (1) wiring bundle for DDM tuning HID's There's a lot of crap in there!! LOL Dumb question, before I locate and secure the ballasts...they say "do not touch when operating" and mention electricity. Do they get exceedingly hot? Like...should I *not* zip-tie them to wiring bundles to locate them in a rattle-free zone? Or will they be OK? (Message edited by ratbuell on January 21, 2012) | ||
| Ratbuell |
And, photos: Before pic - red circle is the aux lighting relay. Green, Stebel relay. Blue, LED signals relay:  During - to show the box that goes inline between the ballast box and the light itself (yellow). Note the relocation of only the LED signal relay:  And the finished product, including the mounted ballast:  And IT WORKS!! I re-did the bike to have the high-beam mod again, so the HID stays on with the highs, and my aux lights are also tied to the high beam - so the bike goes from one light to FOUR when I turn on the highs. 35W HID, stock 55W high, 55W aux'es.  | ||
| 86129squids |
Dang! Now all you gotta do is go out at nite looking for deer- when you see one, hit those high beams, POOF! Instant cooked venison! Nice job! | ||
| Ronmold |
I've had 3 instances this past summer where a large white-tailed "rat" (deer) bounded out from the ditch and seeing my 5000k HID's instantly turned around & headed back to the woods. Regular headlights seem to freeze them on the road. We are infested with them around here!  |
