HID conversion

[grim_reaper]

Hey guys,

I don't know if anyone has done this but for some reason I couldn't find much when I did a forum search. I am thinking about putting in some HIDs. I've done it on a car before and it wasn't a huge deal, the ballasts are pretty small. If you're wondering why, looks is part of it. I ride at night a lot, when I drive home 40 miles at 11:30 and it'd be nice to have some more distance. At night time on low beams, I am out riding my vision at like 65 mph.. I still go 80 - 90 but it'd be nice to see things a bit earlier.

So can it be done?? HID conversion.. Btw I also notice that the headlights flicker slightly when idling.. I am guessing bad ground??

[Stumpy]

It can be done.

I heartily suggest sticking with good h4 bulbs though - I had to take out my HID's as they put light in all the wrong places Looked great though!

Your lights flickering at idle are not really flickering - it's simply voltage changes from the alternator at low revs. Perfectly normal.

[Scout]

I burned through 3 sets of HID bulbs in a summer, on my Katana. The vibration was the culprit, I think.

Anyway, yes...it can be done. Hope you have better luck than I did.

[grim_reaper]

So when you guys say it can be done, are we talking almost like a semi-challenging project or it's just a simple bulb swap with ballast?? Also, why was the projection thrown off?? You didn't have to change the housing so shouldn't the projection be as good as any other bulb??

Burning through three HIDs doesn't sound fun. I don't want to do it if that's going to be my fate. Were they all the same brand??

Btw any other suggestions on going brighter than standard headlights outside of driving around with the high beams on?? How about those sylvania or whatever bright whites?? I heard they were trash for cars but maybe they'll work for bikes..

Sorry for all the questions..

[Wild-Bill]

There are some issues with an HID conversion. The biggest is that if you just drop in some "conversion" bulbs then your stock headlight reflector won't focus the light properly. (It's also illegal because of that.) I installed HID projectors inside my stock headlight bucket and it's been working extremely well for me. See the link below for a complete writeup.

If you're not sure about the HID thing then I'd suggest trying a Sylvania Ultra-Star bulb. I've got them in my truck and they're pretty nice. Not as nice as HID but a whole lot brighter than the original bulbs and since they're standard-base halogen bulbs, the install just doesn't get any easier than that.

[grim_reaper]

There are some issues with an HID conversion. The biggest is that if you just drop in some "conversion" bulbs then your stock headlight reflector won't focus the light properly. (It's also illegal because of that.) I installed HID projectors inside my stock headlight bucket and it's been working extremely well for me. See the link below for a complete writeup.

If you're not sure about the HID thing then I'd suggest trying a Sylvania Ultra-Star bulb. I've got them in my truck and they're pretty nice. Not as nice as HID but a whole lot brighter than the original bulbs and since they're standard-base halogen bulbs, the install just doesn't get any easier than that.

Oh wow you did an awesome retrofit job. I've seen lots of guys do the retrofit job for cars but not bikes. When I put HIDs in my car, I just threw on aftermarket projector housing but no such thing available for katana from what I've seen.

There's no way I could do the whole retrofit job. I don't even have a garage, I live in an apartment complex and secondly, I don't have anywhere near the tools necessary for that. But I have to say, yours is very impressive and good looking too.

I guess I'll stick to the sylvania bright whites and see how that works out for me.

[Wild-Bill]

Don't sell yourself short. I managed a top-end rebuild while living in an apartment in NJ. The two main tools needed for a HID retrofit are a Dremel and an oven. Both are easy in an apartment.

[06kat06g6]

i ordered HID's, came with a shroud to correct the reflection issues. so far i love them, have had no issues. same brand i used in my car too.

[Stumpy]

The shrouds won't help all they do is prevent oncoming traffic seeing two bright plasma arcs directly

The HID units are not shaped to work with the stock reflector. They will throw out light down the road pretty good, and make you think you can see really well. Fact is - they put out a nasty shaped blob thats too high and too wide. The solenoid that controls the highbeam is fragile too - and they don't last long. Stick with good H4 bulbs.

If you are properly fitting projector units though - thats a different story.

Last thing you want is to dazzle an oncoming 18 wheeler carrying something nasty.

[06kat06g6]

The shrouds won't help all they do is prevent oncoming traffic seeing two bright plasma arcs directly

The HID units are not shaped to work with the stock reflector. They will throw out light down the road pretty good, and make you think you can see really well. Fact is - they put out a nasty shaped blob thats too high and too wide. The solenoid that controls the highbeam is fragile too - and they don't last long. Stick with good H4 bulbs.

If you are properly fitting projector units though - thats a different story.

Last thing you want is to dazzle an oncoming 18 wheeler carrying something nasty.

well if i think i can see well, chances are i'm seeing well. i'll report on the durability of the highbeam solenoid as well, so far 5 months of riding it's been good.

[scottynoface]

Anything less than a full projector is a waste of time. Spotty, scattered, and poorly focused light is NOT what I want...

[Stumpy]

I always get a giggle out of the guys in old cars fitted with ultra-extreme-violet HID's. They cannot possibly see anything. And judging by the dents in a lot of such cars, they really don't

I passed a ford ranger truck thing today - I was amazed it was on the road at all. The door lowers and sills had all rotted away, and the whole bed was a spiders web of rusted holes. The only thing holding any of the bed together was chicken wire stapled to a bit of 2x4 which replaced the rear bumper. And yes - he had HID's.

[scottynoface]

I had 6000K on my last car and it was still too green/blue, have 4300K now and its perfect

[Stumpy]

Part of the problem seems to be the same as the megahertz/megapixel myth. The higher something is on some scale, the better it must be!

Hey, if headlights output at 12,000 kelvin - they absolutely must be better than anything at a lowly 2k, right? Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work that way

Especially irritating when some of the peeps involved cannot adequately describe what a Kelvin actually is lol

[92Katana914]

ddmtuning.com is a great site for HID'S. i have them in my car and haven't had a problem. If i ever get around to my headlight swap to a 7 inch projector round, I will surely get HID lol