DIY - HID Headlight Conversion

[g21-30]

^^^Looks like a lot of "cutting"!

[kamikaze]

i'm still looking for a cheap headlight housing for a retro

[GeneJunkie]

Originally Posted by FerociousNINJA

Found this HID Bi-Xenon thread for the '06 Ninja 650R. The headlight looks similar to the '08+ Ninja 250R.

"Newest Mod....a few pics (projector headlamps w/CCFL rings)"
http://www.riderforums.com/showthread.php?t=53770

I've seen those brought up in the past. What turns me off from it is taking the headlight housing apart... then what happens if a bulb goes out, gotta do the whole dang thing again. I'll stick to my normal HIDs.

[kamikaze]

Originally Posted by GeneJunkie

I've seen those brought up in the past. What turns me off from it is taking the headlight housing apart... then what happens if a bulb goes out, gotta do the whole dang thing again. I'll stick to my normal HIDs.

depends on the kit. i think those ebay ones with the projectors are a sealed unit, so the bulb is part of the projector. I want to go with the morimoto D2S mini bi-xenon projectors from theretrofitsource.com (http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...43fb4ae97b2720) and the bulbs can be removed from the back like normal.

[FerociousNINJA]

Originally Posted by g21-30

^^^Looks like a lot of "cutting"!

No cutting on the 650R. I did read something about trimming the rear part of the reflector so it sits in a bit more.

Originally Posted by GeneJunkie

I've seen those brought up in the past. What turns me off from it is taking the headlight housing apart... then what happens if a bulb goes out, gotta do the whole dang thing again. I'll stick to my normal HIDs.

No need taking the HL housing apart to switch bulbs.

I did notice the current technology is 5th gen which is rare on ebay. Here is a site that give some good info on these type of HID Bi-Xenons:
http://www.xenon-man.com/Angel-Eye_B...ens_Light.html

[kamikaze]

for anyone wondering about the dual in/dual out harness that DDM sells, it works very well with a small modification (well, what I'd consider to be small ). they give you lots of wire, and the connectors all snap into place. since it only comes with one relay (so that either headlamp will power the ballasts, I just added a relay and separated one part of the harness so that the lo beam triggers the relay for one ballast, and the hi beam triggers the other relay. nice thing is that the harness is good for 40A and comes fused, so there's no worries about the factory 10A fuse for the headlamps. I just have to buy a 40A for that harness to keep as a spare just in case. Even without projectors (which i still want to do at some point) the cutoffs look about the same, just a LOT brighter. it's too bad it's raining, i would have loved to take it for a rip since it's so warm out.

[wyckedflesh]

I keep reading about people having a fuse problem and wonder why they are stressing the integrity of their wiring as Kelly pointed out earlier, when a simpler solution would be to wire in a Relay. This would also open up the option of running full power to the lights straight from the battery.

I am looking into doing a non-HID dual beam conversion, with both Low and High beams on both sides. With the headlights mounted as close to each other as they are, they still look like one headlight from a distance. As a driver in the City, HID's irritate the hell out of me due to people never having them properly aimed, so yes, it is a personal preference born of irritation LOL

[camaroz1985]

To solve the problem of sealing in the boot, I noticed the kit I bought for my Versys came with an adapter and not modifications were necessary. I got them from DDM Tuning for $35. I will try to take a picture when I get a chance again, but basically it is a little piece that goes over the bulb like the adapter on the back of the stock bulbs, and matches to the inside of the rubber boot.

[nattygirl]

I have the DDM tuning kit also. Take a look at my pics of it on post #322 and the back of how it looks on post #357. This is what you're talking about, right? No need to post pics.

[kevlar250]

Originally Posted by wyckedflesh

I am looking into doing a non-HID dual beam conversion, with both Low and High beams on both sides. With the headlights mounted as close to each other as they are, they still look like one headlight from a distance.

That could be a problem as the H side is focused for highs only with a standard bulb. Maybe you could get a dual-element H/L bulb to fit and experiment with the two filaments to get L on the H side and H on the L side.

[camaroz1985]

Originally Posted by nattygirl

I have the DDM tuning kit also. Take a look at my pics of it on post #322 and the back of how it looks on post #357. This is what you're talking about, right? No need to post pics.

Yeah that's it, but on the Versys everything seals up tightly, just like stock. Guess the rubber boots are a little bit different.

[c717905]

I just put in my DDM Tuning HID kit yesterday and I haven't quite decided if I want to use both bulbs or not. I currently have both high and low beams in HID, but I am thinking of putting the halogen back in for the low beams so as not to blind people when I am riding. I know a lot of people don't care about the other drivers so long as they can see and be seen better, but I don't want to be that guy that has his high beams on all the time, or at least look like I do with my non-projector HID bulbs.

Now to the question. Is there any reason I can't put the stock halogen back in for the low beam and keep the HID for the high beam? Would that cause any obvious, or not so obvious problems?

Thanks all.

[ungluck]

mine was plug in,ziptie and turn-on DDM unit. 4300 temp..perfect..white light, works great in all weather.

i think the most common issue, is liek most effin ricers, they get really blue or purple colored bulbs(5500 and up) and they can't see in the wet at night...


love having a lowbeam HID..muuucchhh better

[kkim]

Originally Posted by c717905

Now to the question. Is there any reason I can't put the stock halogen back in for the low beam and keep the HID for the high beam? Would that cause any obvious, or not so obvious problems?

you can do that w/o any problems.

However, I suggest you install both high and low beam HIDs and then take the time to make sure your headlight aiming is correct.

[c717905]

Originally Posted by kkim

you can do that w/o any problems.

However, I suggest you install both high and low beam HIDs and then take the time to make sure your headlight aiming is correct.

I've tried to make adjustments to the low beam by turning the adjustment knob as explained by the OP and others in this thread, but without HID projectors, the beam is scattered and irregular. I am very concerned about blinding oncoming traffic and causing problems. Any suggestions?

[kkim]

how are you checking the aim? set the bike up in front of a wall and see what the pattern looks like. mine had a pretty even cutoff with the HIDs. maybe your bulb is not seated fully in the headlight?

[c717905]

Originally Posted by kkim

how are you checking the aim? set the bike up in front of a wall and see what the pattern looks like. mine had a pretty even cutoff with the HIDs. maybe your bulb is not seated fully in the headlight?

I did that when I first installed them and thought it would be ok. But when I actually rode with them it seemed light was going everywhere. I will double check the installation and alignment to see if that helps.

Thanks.

[Dipmode]

i haven't been on here in forever lol but i did make a DIY a long time ago on my bike with the HID so might as well not let it go to waste it took me about 45 min, i was going to go street fighter with it, but anyways thought i'd just put it on here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3hdSlCb6ak

[Azhyen]

Hey how did all of you remove the leads from the stock connector? You know the ones that connect to the ballast. Any pics? Thanks to everyone with all their pics so far! Very thorough guys and gals!

[kkim]

Originally Posted by Azhyen

Hey how did all of you remove the leads from the stock connector? You know the ones that connect to the ballast. Any pics? Thanks to everyone with all their pics so far! Very thorough guys and gals!

have you read this diy? http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11413

IIRC, the stock plug on the back of the headlight simple unplugs by pulling on it.

[Momaru]

Kelly, you realize you linked this thread, right?

Seph, are you talking about pulling out the connectors from the stock plug? If you look closely, there's a place where you can insert a flat-bladed screwdriver on the female plug (coming from the wiring harness) to get them out, but I'm not sure why you'd want to given this DIY. Or are you talking about the connectors that mate from the new HID bulb to its ballast?

Could you post a photo of what you're trying to extract? May be able to help once I know exactly what's goin on.

[kkim]

lolz...

[Azhyen]

Originally Posted by Momaru

Seph, are you talking about pulling out the connectors from the stock plug? If you look closely, there's a place where you can insert a flat-bladed screwdriver on the female plug (coming from the wiring harness) to get them out, but I'm not sure why you'd want to given this DIY.
May be able to help once I know exactly what's goin on.

Trying to connect the Ballast:



To the connector on the bike:

[Momaru]

Ahhhh. Ok, makes sense.

Well, as you've probably already figured out, those connectors won't work together, even if you pull the female spades out of the stock harness. Unless you want to cut up your stock wiring and solder/crimp on a new female 9006-type connector (the HID ballast has the male end), you'll need an adapter. You can cleanly make them (need 2, 1 for each ballast/bulb you replace) yourself using an H4 male connector (spades sticking out) and a 9006 female connector (accepts the pins from the ballast).

Sometimes those kits include a 9006-type pigtail (connector w/ wiring) but guess they didn't for yours; please correct me if I'm wrong. If they did, you could either just splice that into the stock wiring or solder/crimp on some appropriately-sized male spade connectors and insert them into the spade receivers in the stock harness. If you did this, you'd have basically the piece of wiring shown in the top of the pic from the OP:

This is how the wires look, now:

Took a look 'round the internets. Here is about the only place I've found the exact part, pre-made:
http://autolumination.com/connectors.htm
What you want are two of the H4 HID power harness (Search "HID Power" on the page I linked, then select H4 from the dropdown menu below the pictures). Only thing to note with that is it looks like they used all 3 pin slots on their connector, while our bikes only use two of them. One of the male spades won't be doing anything.

Yes, I know our bikes use H7 bulbs, but the stock wiring harness connector is an H4. That little black spacer/extender on the back of the stock bulbs is an H7 to H4 adapter, that essentially just spreads out and widens the pins. Reference post

Alternatively, I'd be happy to make them for ya, as I've got the tools/knowhow to do so, just need the parts. Cost-wise, it'd be pretty close to buying them premade, but I know how to crimp, solder and waterproof my connections, which is more than I can say about most wiring kits I've seen.

[Azhyen]

Ah ok! It DID come with just ONE. My kit came as a set of two... Thanks so much for explaining that Momaru! Guess I'll just connect the lowbeam for now.

[Momaru]

I got just one in my set of two bulb/ballasts as well, but didn't use it as I was going for a more drastic change and wanted to do a 'proper' wiring harness.

If you'd like, I can dig around and see if I've still got it. If so, I'd be happy to attach spades and send it over to ya.

PS. Sorry for the overkill explanation above, I tend to get a bit long-winded pretty often, but like people to understand their options, etc.

[Azhyen]

No, I appreciate thorough explanations! Managed to get my lowbeams swapped, they look real white compared to the hibeam which is still stock.

[nickjpass]

I know HID/Xenon lights aren't illegal in NY as many cars have them, but do you know if you can have green HID's? Yes they do exist.

[greatwhiteninja]

my guess would be in NY city you can run any color you want as ive seen cars up there with all different color lights..loL! but honestly id say green wouldnt be legal, anything other then white is usually illegal.. usually slightly blue they wont bother you but...

[nickjpass]

Originally Posted by greatwhiteninja

my guess would be in NY city you can run any color you want as ive seen cars up there with all different color lights..loL!

That's what I would assume. I'm not in NYC though. But, you probably shouldn't get red or blue because you can be mistaken for a police officer.

[greatwhiteninja]

probably any color from 4k on up to 10-12k youd be all right id imagine. probably could get away with 3k even which is yellow.

[nickjpass]

I have no clue what green ones are. But yellow wouldn't matter since older lights are already yellow, so I don't think many would even notice that they are HIDs.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by nickjpass

I know HID/Xenon lights aren't illegal in NY as many cars have them, but do you know if you can have green HID's? Yes they do exist.

None of the aftermarket HID kits are legal; they aren't DOT approved. But - if they aren't blinding oncoming traffic, they are less likely to cause a legal hassle than they did a few years back.

[nickjpass]

So do cars have to be DOT approved? Because if they're not doesn't that mean you can technically be pulled over?

[greatwhiteninja]

Originally Posted by nickjpass

I have no clue what green ones are. But yellow wouldn't matter since older lights are already yellow, so I don't think many would even notice that they are HIDs.

The yellow 3k It's a bright yellow, not a faded yellow. They actually look good.

[Alex]

All lighting equipment (lights, reflectors, etc.) on cars or bikes needs to be DOT approved.

[banhbaoo]

just installed my digital hid .. took forever taking apart the bike for the first time. I dremeled the old bulbs to use the plastic part in order to stabilize the bulbs in place more. Loving it so far!

[nickjpass]

Originally Posted by Alex

All lighting equipment (lights, reflectors, etc.) on cars or bikes needs to be DOT approved.

So why do people install non-dot approved lights?

[Alex]

Beats me.

(but the enforcement of those laws is clearly a very, very rare occurrence)

[nickjpass]

Originally Posted by Alex

Beats me.

(but the enforcement of those laws is clearly a very, very rare occurrence)

Do you have anything that isn't DOT approved on your bikes?