The incompetent Rosbif fails to fit HID kit...

[Ros]

Hi everyone!

It's a beautiful day here today so I thought I would drag my toolkit outside and set about installing my recently purchased HID kit and LED sidelights.   

The side lights were actually quite easy - once I'd figured out that you have to yank the rubber out the back of the housing and the bulbs come out with it...  Interestingly the first time in I managed to hook both LEDs in backwards so no light at all.     Rotating the polarity sorted that nicely.  here's some B4 and After pics:

Before

After


However, I have totally failed to fit the HID kit for the main headlamps and this is where I need a bit of help... Bryn will probably be quite chuffed that he's not the only one looking for help on this - and I know that he has a thread running on this but it went a bit cold (tumbleweed smileys and everything...) so I started a new one... We have space, anyway... I think...   

This is the kit I have purchased:

The box:

The contents:

The enormous ballast:


So, off came the top left, centre and right plastic covers and I had a bit of a recce inside.

Found the back of the main bulbs and they are covered in a floppy rubber gromit so I decided to try and yank that off.  No good.  Well, certainly not very easy.  Nevermind - I'll come back to that later.  More important is where the hell should I fit the ballasts?? 

I could not find a suitable place.  I know that someone was talking on Bryn's thread about snorkels and so forth... but a) I don't know what snorkels are if they're not for diving, and b) if they are what I THINK they are, then I can't possibly attach the ballasts to those and there's nowhere above them to put 'em... 

Here's a picture of what I'm on about...




And the size of the ballasts is a little concerning... Check it out:





I have put the bike back together again now, and will look at it when I have a little more of a clue as to wtf I'm doing...

So, I have several questions.

• How do you remove the original light bulbs from the housing? 
• Is it necessary to drop the entire headlamp assy (or is it easier to do so for this)?
• Where have you other folks hidden the ballasts? (in laymans terms) 
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how easy should this be really?? (1 being like the sidelights and 10 being needing a masters in engineering...)
• Does anyone have any practical advise on how I should conduct my second attempt? 

I suspect that what I will probably do is to do things in this order:

1) Mount the ballasts
2) connect the other electrical shite that came with it (wiring loom, electronics etc.) and hide em away nicely.
3) Only when I'm ready, and everything else is nice and tidy and secure, switch the bulbs and connect everything.

What do you think?

Sorry to make your PCs complain about so many pictures, but I like pictures 

Kindest regards

The incompetent Rosbif

[coman37]

Hi Rosbif,

  I recently changed my h/lights bulbs (not HD) so i know that it is a piece of pixx. Wiggle electrical conn at back of lamp until it comes off. Then apply constant firm pressure to pull off the rubber grommet. Once off, unclip bulb and remove. Obviously install is the reverse. Cant help you with the HD kit, but i believe that most zip tie to the "hoover"tubes either side

regards Coman

[2kwacks]

putting a square peg in a round hole springs to mind someone who has fitted this kit before will soon come along to advise you. personally I don't think there's anything wrong with the standard lighting

[half man half pie]

I'm not great at this sort of stuff so got mine fitted by a mechanic who services my GSXR.
The ballast has been fitted to the bar in your pics. On the right side of the bike , its positioned next to the air intake tube fastened to the bar.
On mine the bulbs are a bit fatter than the original bulbs so the hole in the headlight had to be increased by 2mm.
All the wiring fits into the fold of the fairing.
Went out to test the lights last night and they are a big improvement

[Ros]

Thanks for your replies folks. I haven't had a chance to have a second go yet, but will probably do so this weekend. There's a cyclone comin' so should get some spare time to do it!

@2Kwaks:

personally I don't think there's anything wrong with the standard lighting

There is nothing wrong with the standard lighting, it's just that here in Europe (well, France and Italy anyway) they haven't heard of catseyes. The white paint they use for lines is MUCH more visible with Xenon lights than standard ones.  The lines reflect very well with around 6000K.

I personally prefer xenons to halogens ever since my last car. The difference is unbelievable

Cheers

Ros

[2kwacks]

Thanks for your replies folks. I haven't had a chance to have a second go yet, but will probably do so this weekend. There's a cyclone comin' so should get some spare time to do it!

@2Kwaks:
There is nothing wrong with the standard lighting, it's just that here in Europe (well, France and Italy anyway) they haven't heard of catseyes. The white paint they use for lines is MUCH more visible with Xenon lights than standard ones.  The lines reflect very well with around 6000K.

I personally prefer xenons to halogens ever since my last car. The difference is unbelievable

Cheers

Ros

I see... no pun intended thou

[Debs]

I fitted my HID Lights to my 2009 with no problem...

I think I know what the problem is.. You're a Man and men never read instructions...

[Ros]

I think I know what the problem is.. You're a Man and men never read instructions...

Instructions? Whaddya need them for?

[Bryn]

I've not got mine fitted yet... but I have a friendly Auto electrical geek for a mate who's just fitted a set to his FJR  ....

First thing he did was ditch the ballasts as he thought they were too big, and changed them for slimline ballasts.  He's also shortened the wiring to reflect the fact they're not being fitted to a car... his are up and running, so I said  'Can you sort it for me then '

Here's how it is so far  ( he's in Lanzarote for a week which is why they're not on the bike yet)

Ballasts are 60mm long, and 15mm tall.... and he's sealed them with loads of silicone to ensure they're waterproof, after bench testing them to see everything is working properly  ( well beyond my capabilities ... All of this would have resulted in a call to the fire service  )

[Ros]

RIGHT!!

I just had another go and YES they work !!  Dead chuffed with myself actually...

The ballast emplacements are probably not ideal, but they fit:

One here:


and the other one here:


Industrial strength 3M tape on the back of em and a cable tie or two just for good measure. 

And for some reason, the connection up to the battery was the scariest part for me.  But they work



And they're bloody brilliant!

[Bryn]

Success then!  I'll probably have mine fitted next weekend.....

[Ros]

Good luck! Takes a bit of time but the biggest problem is finding where to stick the ballasts. I didn't want to stick them to the inside of any fairing incase the dealer wants to whip it off in servicing or anything.

They are bloody bright and now I just need to take some time to properly position them so I don't dazzle everyone

Post piccies of where you put the ballasts 

[Bryn]

Good luck! Takes a bit of time but the biggest problem is finding where to stick the ballasts. I didn't want to stick them to the inside of any fairing incase the dealer wants to whip it off in servicing or anything.

They are bloody bright and now I just need to take some time to properly position them so I don't dazzle everyone

Post piccies of where you put the ballasts 

I'll take lots of photo's ... as my auto electrical experty type  mate fits them   

[Hans]

What is is? 6000 or 8000K ?

[Ros]

6000K