HID retrofit with Projectors and Angel Eyes

Hi all

Some of you have contacted me regarding my HID retrofit that I have been working on lately, It is done and cant be any happier. I retrofitted projectors and LED Angel eyes as DRL's

I bought everything from www.theretrofitsource.com. They are phenomenal!

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/complete-retrofit-kits.html

I have the "motorcycle:stage 2" kit. It comes with H4 harness, H1 projectors (they have a solenoid to do low and high beam), shrouds (I chose mini Gatling gun), 5000k bubs and ballasts. The brand of all this is a well known brand (Morimoto). I also bought 70mm LED halos (Angel Eyes) that go in the outside of the shroud.

The harness and wiring is a bit fiddly and totally doable. I placed the ballasts and Harness under the saddle to free up space in the front. In the Gen I there is a lot of dead space in the tail, by the tail lights, under the saddle. This implies a lot of harness and wiring extensions and soldering...

Here are a few pictures (note that in one picture only one bulb is on (the other one wasn't in yet). It was to show the halo on the other side and the lowbeam and halo on the other side. In reality both Halos are on at all times (when the bike is on) and you can switch the low and high beams on and off.



This is still a mess. The ballasts are tugged in under the metal flaps that hold the pillion saddle. And I have done a lot of cable management. Note all the mesh sleeving!

So this is what is looks like more recently



More recent pictures (note that the ones with the Angel eyes on: They appear not very bright but they are. I use the as DRL since they really stand out!



You can also choose to spray paint your reflectors in black with a high temp paint (Rust oleum for example). I chose not to.

If anyone is interested in some more detail on the how to, just let me know... I would try and post one with more detailed explanation.

Enjoy!

Luis

That is an excellent post. I really appreciate the detailed pics and the explanation.

You really have something unique there.

How do the projectors actually fit through the reflectors? Any pictures of the back of the nose cone during installation? I assume you have to cut the reflectors or disassemble the lenses somehow. I also noticed the blue LED in the upper outside corners.

Those upper outside corners are standard in the european model. I just changed the bulbs for blue LED's

No cutting needed. The projectors fit perfectly with a series of adaptors, including a H4 plate. What this means is that you do not need any cutting and you do not need to rotate and orient the projector either in a horizontal plane.

Yes, you need to bake the assembly at 270F for 7min (I did it twice). But the lense comes out like butter. Same proccess to put it back in. No extra glue needed. Mind you that the kit comes with a whole role of butyl rubber glue.



For further info please see this link:

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/diy-installation-guides/minih1-guide.html#instructions

Okay, cool! that's what I wanted to know. Nice looking mod, and should have better lighting than a H4 conversion. Glad to see it doesn't require massive changes to the reflector housing. So you installed the biXenon Stage II kit that starts at $270? What exact configuration did you use? I see stage III and IV kits and I'm not sure what the difference is. Also you used a H1 kit rather than H4.

Glad to see you got it figured out, I just am looking for specific information on what was done.

Let's see...

Motorcycle stage 2 kit

Mini H1 6.0 lhd (for USA standard...symmetrical)

35dsp ballasts

H1 bulbs (5000k)

H4 dual output harness

Mini gatling gun shrouds

70mm led halos

And then in order to modify the harness

20awg and 18-16awg wire (black and red).Also you may want yellow, green and brown to match colours of your H4 conexion

Loads of shrinking tube

Techflex pet 1/4 in braided sleeve

Zip ties and the likes...

I will post if interested a wee schematic of how to modify the harness...

I think I am not forgetting anything there...

By the way, automatic wire strippers (tool aid 19100) comes in very handy!

Think this is all!

luis

Cool. This is the right way to do HID.

By the way, Note in one of the pictures (third from the bottom of the first post), that there are two wires going into the chassis (cross bar under the saddle). These are to ground the ballasts themselves. They come with a bracket to anchor them somewhere (I didn't since they are a nice fit in that area) but you can use those brackets to wire them and ground them (recommended by the instructions). Also wires that run under tank are protected from the intense heat by asphalt loom (NAPA)

I like the install. Got me thinking.

On my current HID setup the ballasts fit behind the side fairings nicely, and the loom is long enough to reach the lights without stretching. The only thing that gives me pause is the idea of baking my headlights.

It's cool, but I wouldn't do any of it. Lol...I would break something and end up spending $500 to end up right where I started.

Got my headlights blacked out (the internal trim outside of the reflector areas was chromed) and Angel Eyes installed on the mighty STi. It's not a minor thing to pull off cleanly. I did the R&R but left cracking the lamp housings and the actual upgrade to the pros.

Kudos for a successful and clean-looking installation. Please keep us posted on how they do since HIDs have had an historical problem dealing with the dual-filament issues of the H4.

Bounce said:

Kudos for a successful and clean-looking installation. Please keep us posted on how they do since HIDs have had an historical problem dealing with the dual-filament issues of the H4.

Click to expand...

+1

TominCa

Baking the lights is the easiest, most benign thing that you will be doing here. It is a 7min procedure and the lense comes out like butter! When you start messing with the kit's harness extending, soldering, sleeving, drilling holes in the plastic, sticking grommets... is a different kettle of fish. One needs a good wire diagram and good planning. Label everything!

I can tell you that the results go beyond what you would have thought. The pictures do not make good justice. The halos (angel eyes) are really bright! The output of those lights is phenomenal and without glaring other in coming vehicles! Well worth the effort and money... I would be interested in knowing whether the 2015 comes with projectors like the new Tenere... I initially bought all this for my potential new 2015... But it is too painful for me to get rid of my beloved 2001... So I said to hell with this! I'll give that 2001 a face lift! I'm not done... This Fri I'll have my new racetech gold valves. It already has new racetech springs and penske shock....

Thank you all for your comments!

Luis,

Here's what you oughta do....

Buy an FJR headlight bucket from Partshark.com for $250.00.

Buy the Stage 2 Kit with the mini-gatling gun surround from the theretrofitsource.com for $320.00.

Do the conversion on the headlight bucket you bought, add some $$$ for your time and expertise, and sell them to forum members.

Example - Charge $320.00 to break-even on the Stage 2 kit, add $100 for your time and effort, and charge a $250 refundable "core" charge to cover the cost of the headlight bucket for those riders, like myself, who can't send OUR headlight assemblies to you and not have a bike to ride during the down time.

Or those riders who CAN send their headlight assemblies to you, don't have to pay the core charge and you could turn around your conversion the same day you get their headlight assemblies at your door and you have another bucket for your next conversion.

In simpler terms, go into business for yourself! I'd gladly pay someone $100 to do this conversion for me. Projector HIDs are the ONLY way to go, and $420 for a "plug and play" HID Projector conversion is definitely in MY wheelhouse.

Let me know when I can send you the $$$ to get you started. This would be the first farkle for my '04.

I bet I'm not the only one here who would pony-up the $$$ for a TRUE HID conversion on my beloved FJR.

Are you gonna take drive in appointments?

That's really a good idea. Bump it up to $500 to make it nice and round and cover return shipping!

Bounce said:

Kudos for a successful and clean-looking installation. Please keep us posted on how they do since HIDs have had an historical problem dealing with the dual-filament issues of the H4.

Click to expand...

HID retro-fits into an OEM reflector have problems, HID Projectors don't. The projectors are a complete light using the original housing simply for a location. They are permanently "ON", with one filament that doesn't move. Beam is switched by a solenoid operated metal shield that rises and falls in response to the High Beam switch. So the focusing issues common to bi-xenon installations don't apply.

The only issue is that a front glass that is cut and beveled for halogen bulbs doesn't work well with HID projectors. They need a clear front glass. The FJR has that so the instal should work very well.

I fitted an HID Projector from the retrofitsource into my Yamaha Venture Royal. It was tricky to get it in there, but once installed it worked flawlessly for 30 000 miles until I sold the bike. It is still working, last I heard. The improvement had to be seen to be believed. I would consider it for the FJR, but the advances in LED lighting are such that HID is probably not the first choice any more. I'll wait for Justin's H4 replacements for the OEM bulbs, meanwhile the auxiliary lights almost make the OEM headlight redundant.

The instal in this thread looks very clean, and my guess is that the OP will be happy with it.

RadioHowie said:

Luis,
Here's what you oughta do....

Buy an FJR headlight bucket from Partshark.com for $250.00.

Buy the Stage 2 Kit with the mini-gatling gun surround from the theretrofitsource.com for $320.00.

Do the conversion on the headlight bucket you bought, add some $$$ for your time and expertise, and sell them to forum members.

Example - Charge $320.00 to break-even on the Stage 2 kit, add $100 for your time and effort, and charge a $250 refundable "core" charge to cover the cost of the headlight bucket for those riders, like myself, who can't send OUR headlight assemblies to you and not have a bike to ride during the down time.

Or those riders who CAN send their headlight assemblies to you, don't have to pay the core charge and you could turn around your conversion the same day you get their headlight assemblies at your door and you have another bucket for your next conversion.

In simpler terms, go into business for yourself! I'd gladly pay someone $100 to do this conversion for me. Projector HIDs are the ONLY way to go, and $420 for a "plug and play" HID Projector conversion is definitely in MY wheelhouse.

Let me know when I can send you the $$$ to get you started. This would be the first farkle for my '04.

I bet I'm not the only one here who would pony-up the $$$ for a TRUE HID conversion on my beloved FJR.

Click to expand...

Radio Howie is onto something here. His numbers may be a touch "soft", but the idea is right. People pay upwards of $5 or 600 just for auxiliary lights that look like a couple of warts hanging off the sides of your bike.

A full plug and play, state of the art performance projector headlight system should pull down easily $750. If you work a core charge in that would be icing on the cake. Just make sure that it performs like you say and it will sell itself.

Coming back this Saturday from Hartford, CT. Had to switch those babies on.... was getting dark. Aiming a little too high. Need to aim them right. Should take a few minutes... Still not convinced if I should have painted the reflectors black...