DIY - HID Headlight Conversion

[g21-30]

Recently, I finally took my bike for a ride at night and discovered a problem with the halogen headlights. Below is the low-beam problem.

It doesn't get any better with the high-beam.

After some research and PMs with kkim, I discovered the below solution.

It is available here for $58.99 with express shipping included:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=250336425186

EDIT: That link may have gone dead. Here's a new link that may have what we need.

The kit consists of the following components:


First step for this conversion is to take the fairings/cowlings off or as kkim says "Let's get nakid!" You can find kkim's DIY for this in one of the STICKIES at the top of this forum.

Now that the common fairings/cowlings are off, the OEM halogen bulbs need to be removed. In my past 40+ years of working on automobiles, I have an aversion to not working on anything in tight places, if I can avoid it. By removing less than a dozen screws/plastic retainers, the radiator cowling and the entire nose piece (contains the headlights) can be removed. The factory service manual paid for itself with this installation!!!

The following pictures detail the radiator cowling removal.

This is the left side radiator cowling detail. Identified by the blue arrow.

This is the right side radiator cowling detail. Also shown via a blue arrow.

The left and right sides actually make up a single piece. You must remove 1 screw on each side. The blue arrow points to the screw below.

Also remove the plastic rivet (one per side) by pushing in the center with a small screw driver and then pulling the entire rivet out. These are the same type of rivets used in previous DIYs.

From the front, remove the radiator cowling (blue arrow), like so:

Next, remove the windshield (2 bolts x 2 on each side...blue arrows).

Now for the nose piece, remove the 3 bolts on each side. One of the bolts is directly beneath the instrument panel and one is below and opposite the mirror (actually connects to the mirror mount support). The blue arrows represent the general direction of the bolts.


At this point, my camera's batteries were dying for the fourth time and I realized this was why my wife purchased a new canon camera last year! What I didn't realize was the next few pictures did not get saved. So, take my word for it, the nose piece came off!

The next picture shows the back of the nose piece, which details the headlight lamp housing, after the low beam (left side) bulb was replaced and the rubber housing was modified. The blue and yellow arrows detail the adjusting screws for the light beams.


Next I detail how this kit made certain mods necessary. Remember this kit was designed for an automobile, so we have to improvise.

Remove the rubber housing by pulling the tabs on each side. It looks like this:


Kawasaki installs a plastic spacer with connector prongs on the back of the H7. You can see the spacer (yellow arrow) in the below picture on the high beam (right) side. It is held down by a metal spring (blue arrow), just above the adjustment screw.


The HID bulbs need a spacer on the back, in order to fit snug into the headlight housing. With my mod, this is what the bulb looks like:


I went to Lowe's (one of many planning trips) and purchased 3 packages (4 per pkg) of nylon washers and stacked 5 washers per bulb. The blue arrows detail how the washers need to be cut, after the center hole is cut to a rectangle (to fit around the shrink wrap on the back of the bulb):


The next step is to fit the rubber insulator of HID wiring (yellow arrow) into the rubber housing (blue arrow).


Turn the rubber housing inside/out and remove about 1/2" of rubber (blue arrow) from the smaller end. Like so:


Next pull the two wires (blue arrows) out of the HID rubber insulator.


This is how the wires look, now:


Fit the HID rubber insulator into the rubber housing, which was just cut and fit the resulting assembly into the respective low or high beam headlight housing. My left side is repeated below:


Next mount the ballast on a frame support bracket, behind the nose piece. It is much easier to do with the nose piece removed. The yellow arrow shows the ballast mounted to the frame support bracket (blue arrows) on the right side with tie wraps. The ballast fits into a hinged bracket (supplied), which has the two tie wraps (Lowe's) passed thru the brackets and then around the frame. I then secured the wiring via more tie wraps and routed them to the front and center of the bike.


Repeat for the left side (not in good focus):


Another right side shot...more detail of bike showing location.


Install the nose piece, the radiator cowling, and the windshield.

Now connect the ballast wires. The Yellow/Black wire on the original headlight connector is the negative, so connect the black wire from the ballast to Yellow/Black wire on the respective side. The red ballast wire connects to the remaining headlight connector on each side.

Double check your connections. Start your bike and don't worry. The low beam comes on and goes right out!!!! It's OK. Just restart the bike and voila. The low beam is now on. Has something to do with a voltage drop at startup. It's documented in the FAQ for troubleshooting, included with the kit.
Turn on the high beam and let both bulbs burn in for a full 10 minutes without interruption.

Here's my low beam:


and high beam:


Install the rest of the cowlings and seat. Wait for it to get dark and adjust the bulbs per the factory service manual.

Any questions, please ask. Enjoy!

[ken_here]

factory service manual sounds like the key. I could have never figured this out on my own. Thanks for taking the time to post all this.

[g21-30]

Go here to get the manual slightly discounted:

http://www.babbittsonline.com/pages/.../Kawasaki.aspx

under "Publications"...$48 + S&H...roughly $61

[kkim]

Not the 20-30 minute installation some people talk about, eh? Good work and very meticulous. Thanks for taking the time to do a DIY. PITA, isn't it?

Have you had a chance to ride it around at night yet? Make sure the lights are properly aimed when you pull behind someone at a stop. Your low light cutoff should not be above the top edge of their trunk.

Your impressions of the difference?

[GreezMunky]

How long overall did this mod take you to do?

[g21-30]

kkim..As we discussed..I can't get the bike on the stand and the cowlings off in 20-30 minutes. If the rubber seals were deeper (as the plastic ones on cars are), that modification wouldn't be necessary. If Kawasaki didn't put the extension on the bulb, that mod wouldn't be necessary. If I could win a multi-million dollar lottery, I wouldn't have to work.

I haven't had a chance to ride, period, since I started this mod. After I finished the needle mod/carb tuning, I rode it at night with the halogens and have been working on the HIDs since then, off and on.

GreezMunky...It would have been much quicker, if I didn't have to take pictures. Believe me, I almost said %$#&*@( the pictures a few times. If this and if that....probably 6 hours total. Just depends on how you handle the 2 mods that are needed with this kit. kkim's kit was different and his shim solution was different.

Looking back...I could have left off the rubber mod, since I'm not going to ride in the rain. If I get caught in the rain, I will be OK though.

[GreezMunky]

Originally Posted by g21-30

It would have been much quicker, if I didn't have to take pictures. Believe me, I almost said %$#&*@( the pictures a few times.

lol, well first off, just wanted to say thank you! for taking the pictures. Seeing it all broken down in your DIY makes the idea of this being my next mod much more likely. 6 hours though (I'm gunna go with that because I tend take forever when modding anything), that means I'll have to set aside one of my Saturdays... Thanks for the your time.

[g21-30]

Give yourself a Sat and Sun. You will want to take a few breaks!

You're welcome. To quote an "old" sage "Pay it forward."

[randomwalk101]

Very nice DIY. I need to pull my apart and redo it I need to shim the bulb and cut the OEM boot to fit

[noche_caliente]

THANKS!! This one is in my near future!

[grandmaster]

Wow, a lot more involved then I ever would have thought...looks like I have some work to do when it warms up. (dont have a garage.) Thanks for the writeup, helped a lot

[Viper-Byte]

Nice job Sam

My HIDs have just arrived this Monday afternoon, so I can't wait to install them, I will do this next week as I have a week off (my christmas break) I must say, the differences between the HIDs you have, and mine are the box, instructions, label on the ballasts and the brackets on them, so they are very similar . I will photograph every step I take and note everything that I do and we will be able to make an in depth DIY for this including the missing pics due to your camera battery.

[Gregular]

Nice 1 dude. Appreciate the effort This'll come in handy in the hopefully very near future

[NJD022588]

Good write up! What color temp are those, 4300K or 6000K?

I really enjoy the before and after shots of the high beam. It's just like the photo trickery used in commercials.

[oscarr]

Nice install.My HID install also went smooth after replacing the light fuse to a bigger one.

[g21-30]

Originally Posted by njd022588

good write up! What color temp are those, 4300k or 6000k?

I really enjoy the before and after shots of the high beam. It's just like the photo trickery used in commercials. :d

4300k

[kkim]

Originally Posted by oscarr

Nice install.My HID install also went smooth after replacing the light fuse to a bigger one.

You popped a fuse with your HIDs? I've installed many a kit and I have never upgraded the fuse or have had a problem.

Do tell... what happened?

[g21-30]

kkim,

f-sane in their install recommend changing the fuse from 10 amp to 25 amp, because many people leave the high beam on. This is mentioned on the last page of the install link I showed you last week.

[kkim]

Originally Posted by g21-30

kkim,

f-sane in their install recommend changing the fuse from 10 amp to 25 amp, because many people leave the high beam on. This is mentioned on the last page of the install link I showed you last week.

Why would a bigger fuse be needed when the HIDs draw less current than the stock headlight bulbs? ... makes no sense.

[oscarr]

Originally Posted by kkim

You popped a fuse with your HIDs? I've installed many a kit and I have never upgraded the fuse or have had a problem.

Do tell... what happened?

Actually the HiDs did not fire up until I upgraded the fuse amp.No problems after that.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Alex]

They draw much less current once they reach steady state (after only a few seconds), but they draw much more current on startup. I imagine that's when the fuses could be at risk.

[oscarr]

Originally Posted by oscarr

Actually the HiDs did not fire up until I upgraded the fuse amp.No problems after that.
Posted via Mobile Device

Some peeps where saying that u pop the fuse if you turn on the bike on high beam? Never had any problems no matter what bam I was one starting the bike.
Posted via Mobile Device

[kkim]

Originally Posted by oscarr

Actually the HiDs did not fire up until I upgraded the fuse amp.No problems after that.
Posted via Mobile Device

Sounds like a wiring/fuse problem. If it have been a true over current condition, you would have popped the original fuse.

[kkim]

Originally Posted by Alex

They draw much less current once they reach steady state (after only a few seconds), but they draw much more current on startup. I imagine that's when the fuses could be at risk.

Yes, I understand the spike at start up, but like I said, I've never popped a fuse. I'm a bit leery of installing a larger fuse in a circuit designed to handle a certain sized fuse.... especially if I have no problems with the upgrade.

[Alex]

Agreed.

[kkim]

...that's not good when you and I agree on something!

[Alex]

Really cuts down on our post counts, I'll try not to make a habit of it!

[g21-30]

As stated in the DIY, my low beam came on and went out. I let the bike idle for a minute or so and turned it off. Restarted it and the low beam was on. Yesterday, I just held the starter a little bit longer and the light stayed on at startup.

The troubleshooting guide (included with the kit) talks about this problem (I mentioned it in the DIY).

[kkim]

I've been meaning to ask about that... what's up with my post count?? You must have known that someday people were going to have more than 1000 posts, right?

Posts: A lot.

[Alex]

THREAD TANGENT:

It's not aimed at you, Kelly, don't worry! As soon as anyone else reaches a 4-digit post count you will see they will automatically join the same ranks. Post count isn't deleted, modified, or inaccessible to those who are interested, for example right here and in anyone's profile.

It comes from a personal feeling that while post count is important to some extent, (I'll certainly listen more carefully to someone with a couple hundred or a couple thousand posts compared to someone who joined 2 days back and has 3 posts), once people reach a certain threshold of posting the perceived difference between them and other people who have reached that same value can't be relied upon and is more a distraction than anything meaningful. More simply, someone with 5,000 posts doesn't necessarily have anything more useful to say than someone with 2,000 posts. They very well may, but not because of their post count differences. Both of those posters have reached a level that people can recognize as being significant.

So that's why it says that. If you don't like just that phrase ("A lot"), and instead have a better suggestion "> 1000", "zillions", "a whole buttload", let me know and if I agree I'll change it for everyone.

[Alex]

Anyone seen these new PIAA all-in-one HID lamps yet? Self-contained ballast & igniter inside the lamp module itself. Insanely expensive (~ $600 for two lamps), but awfully slick as well. I want to see the first ninjette with two of these hanging off the fairing! We should have just enough electrical output to run them both, as long as no other additional accessories are on at the time...

http://www.piaa.com/Powersports/lamps.html

[kkim]

I just feel the post count should reflect the actual number of posts... period. If people want to read into that, that's their problem, but I bet most don't even look at that stat in people's user info to begin with.

I didn't take it personally.

sorry for the OT.

[g21-30]

Originally Posted by Alex

Anyone seen these new PIAA all-in-one HID lamps yet? Self-contained ballast & igniter inside the lamp module itself. Insanely expensive (~ $600 for two lamps), but awfully slick as well. I want to see the first ninjette with two of these hanging off the fairing! We should have just enough electrical output to run them both, as long as no other additional accessories are on at the time...

http://www.piaa.com/Powersports/lamps.html

I'll get right on that......not!

Alex, you found them, you have to install them. Isn't that the rule? He who finds the deal, does the deed!

Can't wait to see your DIY

[Alex]

Originally Posted by g21-30

Can't wait to see your DIY

It would start with "remove credit card from wallet", and likely end with "pick bike up from shop".

[g21-30]

Please make sure that you show BOTH SIDES of the Credit Card. Pretty please Maybe include phone number and other vital info!

[g21-30]

I had a pair of these:

http://www.shopatron.com/product/pro...PIA73141/353.0



What a ripoff! I paid around $50 for them. Eventually tossed them in the trash.

[Alex]

What did you want them for? Fog lights are 95% there so others can see you in the fog, and maybe 5% to help you see a little better in fog at 5 mph or less. For that, I'm sure those worked fine. But I'd bet they'd be almost useless at illuminating much in front of you.

Those cross-country HID lamps are a whole different kettle of fish. Expensive fish, at that.

[g21-30]

The lights were pre-motorcycle interest for my 4 wheel vehicle. I ended up with Hella's.

[Alex]

Makes sense.

[Viper-Byte]

Right, I have just about finished installing my HIDs (I just want to put a little silicon sealant round the rubber seals just to fully water proof them.) All went smoothly, except the testing part... I put the front back on, turned on the bike, WOW, what a difference!! then hmm, what is highbeam like? flick the switch, high beam comes on for a micro second and then both lights go out. checked the fuse box and I had blown the 10A fuse. I am going to get some fuses that will allow me to start the bike under full beam and leave that fuse, that way I will not be going too high a fuse that it is not going to do what it is designed for, but a fuse that will allow me to use the lights how I want.