New HID Headlight Install

Yesterday, I installed a new HID kit in the FJR. I bought the new G4 ballasts, relay wiring and H4 bixenon bulbs fromHIDcountry.com. The total including shipping came to $100.93. I had accidentally purchase a kit from HIDextra which was complete garbage, I and I returned it. The HIDcountry kit appears to be of high quality with excellent shielding on the bulbs and came in a professionally packaged kit.

The G4 ballasts have integrated igniters making for a very small installation footprint. The relay harness provides power directly from the battery and uses the headlight wiring to trigger the relay. It may not be needed for the FJR installation, but it did make for an easy idiot-proof install, and the inline fuse was installed along panel D near the inline fuse for my battery tender and accessories outlet.

Here is the bike before starting with the kit by the front wheel.



This is a picture of the two G4 ballasts compared to my iPhone 3G. The ballasts are amazingly small and have integrated igniters. This is the smallest HID ballast on the market today that I'm aware of.



My installation was facilitated by removing the front cowling from the FJR. There is extensive fairing and cowling on the FJR and access to do this install was just too tight. This was my first time skinning the FJR and I think I know some shortcuts for next time.

Here you can see the headlight bulbs installed with the rubber boots to keep out moisture and dust, with the ballasts bolted and tied to a "shelf" on the cowling. On the FJR the vertical headlight alignment is adjusted with the wheels located near the lower outside of each headlight. This adjustment can be made with the assembly on the bike.



Here we are finishing up battery and ground connections. You can see the extent of the disassembly to remove the headlight assembly. The front fender is covered with a towel to prevent scratches.



The lights in action: From a higher angle, the beam is projected below the line of vision of oncoming drivers. Only the top of the reflector is used in low beam mode due to shielding. Good shielding is essential since the light intensity is 3X normal halogen or xenon gas filled incandescent lighting.



From in front of the bike, you can see how the bulb shielding shapes the beam to use only the top of the reflector. This shot is taken low and is in the main beam of the light. This causes the background to be very dark.



This shot shows how bright the lights are on the side periphery. Excellent illumination to the side of the road. This shot is taken low, within the main beam.

Do you have any way of metering how many watts those things suck at power up and after?

How many watts have you saved once you dumped the quartz halogens?

Khunajawdge said:

Do you have any way of metering how many watts those things suck at power up and after?

How many watts have you saved once you dumped the quartz halogens?

Click to expand...

I have not measured actual power use, but the stock H4 bulbs are rated 55/60 watts. The G4 ballast puts out 33 watts based on specs and has an operating range of 8 to 16 VDC. Here is a much larger image of the ballast with the specs. I believe this is the most power efficient ballast anyone has posted yet.

This is on my list of "To Do"...

Mike

Looks good Tom. Although, the light does appear to be a shade bluer than I prefer. Is it just the camera?

Also, I think what Khunajawdge was interested in is learning the power savings on the Gen 1 alternator output by switching to HID's. The bulbs themselves might use 35W ea, however I think he is referring to power loss in the ballasts which trim away from actual power savings.

The windshield looks good too!

PS - You told me you suspected the PO dropped the bike on the right side. I think you are correct. Look at your rear view mirrors from the front of the bike - the right side one is not symmetrical to the left side and seems a little bent up. Did you bend the sub-frame back to near it's original shape when you had the front off?

I did mine last week and absolutely the best bang for the buck :clapping: I also did mine without taking the plastic off...only the 4 uppers was all.

puppychow said:

Looks good Tom. Although, the light does appear to be a shade bluer than I prefer. Is it just the camera?

Also, I think what Khunajawdge was interested in is learning the power savings on the Gen 1 alternator output by switching to HID's. The bulbs themselves might use 35W ea, however I think he is referring to power loss in the ballasts which trim away from actual power savings.

The windshield looks good too!

PS - You told me you suspected the PO dropped the bike on the right side. I think you are correct. Look at your rear view mirrors from the front of the bike - the right side one is not symmetrical to the left side and seems a little bent up. Did you bend the sub-frame back to near it's original shape when you had the front off?

Click to expand...

I got the 8K bulbs which are called Diamond blue in color. The brightest WHITE is 6K bulbs with barely a hint of blue. Anything above 8K and you get blue to that stupid purple.

puppychow said:

Looks good Tom. Although, the light does appear to be a shade bluer than I prefer. Is it just the camera?

Also, I think what Khunajawdge was interested in is learning the power savings on the Gen 1 alternator output by switching to HID's. The bulbs themselves might use 35W ea, however I think he is referring to power loss in the ballasts which trim away from actual power savings.

The windshield looks good too!

PS - You told me you suspected the PO dropped the bike on the right side. I think you are correct. Look at your rear view mirrors from the front of the bike - the right side one is not symmetrical to the left side and seems a little bent up. Did you bend the sub-frame back to near it's original shape when you had the front off?

Click to expand...

There are scratches on the mirror a minor scratch on the exhaust, footpeg and brake on the right side. I will eventually replace the mirrors with something with better rear visibility. The bulb coler is 6000K and the blue is accented by the camera for some reason. It would be interesting to put this side by side with your Nissan Z and compare color temperature. One advantage is a very noticeable increase in visibility. Cagers were constantly pulling in front of me and misjudging the distance. The lights seem to help the bike stand out, and look closer...at least that is the result so far.

It would be pretty easy to measure the power draw across the inline fuse on the lights. If someone locally has a meter that can do that, it would be easy to access.

Today was a great day to ride anywhere higher than Shingle Springs in elevation. I had lunch in Placerville, rode up to Pollock Pines, then E16 out to Fairplay, and returned by back roads. Very warm and clear, compared to the dank cold fog in the valley.

Khunajawdge said:

Do you have any way of metering how many watts those things suck at power up and after?

How many watts have you saved once you dumped the quartz halogens?

Click to expand...

A most excellent question buckaroo. Personally, I don't think there is much if any watt savings going to HID. The few reported actual measurements I have seen on this forum have not shown any appreciable savings in watts. I wish more would do it.

Me, I am not convinced HID is the way to go for H4 applications. Sure, they look 'different' after installation than stock, but I think peeps report the 'differenc' as 'better' when that is not necessarily the case. I tried HID, and am now back to stock. And in the future if I try any HID will ONLY go with 4300K bulbs.

SkooterG said:

Khunajawdge said:

Do you have any way of metering how many watts those things suck at power up and after?

How many watts have you saved once you dumped the quartz halogens?

Click to expand...

A most excellent question buckaroo. Personally, I don't think there is much if any watt savings going to HID. The few reported actual measurements I have seen on this forum have not shown any appreciable savings in watts. I wish more would do it.

Me, I am not convinced HID is the way to go for H4 applications. Sure, they look 'different' after installation than stock, but I think peeps report the 'differenc' as 'better' when that is not necessarily the case. I tried HID, and am now back to stock. And in the future if I try any HID will ONLY go with 4300K bulbs.

Click to expand...

Looks to me it's about 25W per bulb for a total of around 50W.

I had the bike out tonight and the headlight aim was very high. The low beam cutoff had to be objectionable and the high beam was useless. Fortunately the lights are very easy to adjust and after many turns of the adjustment wheels, I got them where I wanted them. Just a note for anyone doing this mod, the headlights will likely need to be aimed. I think others have had the same comment.

TomInCA said:

I had the bike out tonight and the headlight aim was very high. The low beam cutoff had to be objectionable and the high beam was useless. Fortunately the lights are very easy to adjust and after many turns of the adjustment wheels, I got them where I wanted them. Just a note for anyone doing this mod, the headlights will likely need to be aimed. I think others have had the same comment.

Click to expand...

I had to adjust the crap out of mine to bring them down too. <_< Also...wanna know how well they look? On a sunny day I see the reflective tape glowing on sign markers. :clapping:

SkooterG said:

Me, I am not convinced HID is the way to go for H4 applications. Sure, they look 'different' after installation than stock, but I think peeps report the 'differenc' as 'better' when that is not necessarily the case. I tried HID, and am now back to stock. And in the future if I try any HID will ONLY go with 4300K bulbs.

Click to expand...

I'm getting ready to convert to HID. I went with the FutureVision low beam only setup (4300K) plus some aux lights for high beam. I should get everything this week and teardown will start after our Central Florida ride mentioned in another thread.

I don't know what the right combination for lighting is, but know I need to do something as only the stock setup just does not do it in some situations - like on a 2 lane road in the middle of the night! We'll see; I'll do pics and a write up as well if anyone is interested.

I've already hit a 'critter' in that situation and after 6 wks down + $4K in damages I'm just trying to be proactive! I feel that if I had had better lighting in that particular situation I could have avoided it.

Good luck with the install. After the height adjustment, I am very happy with the illumination at low and high beam, and I took some "twisties" on Winding Way going home last night to check out the lighting in turns. The width of the lit path allows visibility through the curves, especially on high beam with no oncoming traffic. Low beam of course shortens the field dept, but is adequate and improved over stock to the point there really is no comparison. Wish I had the money for a set of the Clearwater driving lights, but these seem to do most of what I need. I do think that members that have reported a "hole" in the high beam visibility simply need to adjust their lights downward. For me, the road is well lit.

Comparing the Future Vision Kit, it seems to be about 4- times more expensive and uses marginally larger sized ballasts. The FV ballast is 77.5 x 68.5 x 19.5 mm dimension and weighing 1/2 pound each, while the G4 ballast I used measures only 60 x 50 x 21 mm. Should be no problem, but I would go with the hi/lo bixenon bulbs. You only do this once.

(edited to correct ballast dimension).

fljab said:

<br />

SkooterG said:

<br />Me, I am not convinced HID is the way to go for H4 applications.  Sure, they look 'different' after installation than stock, but I think peeps report the 'difference' as 'better' when that is not necessarily the case.  I tried HID, and am now back to stock.  And in the future if I try any HID will ONLY go with 4300K bulbs.<br />

Click to expand...

<br /><br />I'm getting ready to convert to HID.  I went with the FutureVision low beam only setup (4300K) plus some aux lights for high beam.  I should get everything this week and teardown will start after our Central Florida ride mentioned in another thread.<br /><br />I don't know what the right combination for lighting is, but know I need to do something as only the stock setup just does not do it in some situations - like on a 2 lane road in the middle of the night!  We'll see; I'll do pics and a write up as well if anyone is interested.<br /><br />I've already hit a 'critter' in that situation and after 6 wks down + $4K in damages I'm just trying to be proactive!  I feel that if I had had better lighting in that particular situation I could have avoided it.<br />

Click to expand...

<br /><br /><br />
I'm interested in pics / write up if we're taking votes. Thanks!

TomInCA said:

<br />Good luck with the install.  After the height adjustment, I am very happy with the illumination at low and high beam, and I took some "twisties" on Winding Way going home last night to check out the lighting in turns.  The width of the lit path allows visibility through the curves, especially on high beam with no oncoming traffic.   Low beam of course shortens the field dept, but is adequate and  improved over stock to the point there really is no comparison.  Wish I had the money for a set of the Clearwater driving lights, but these seem to do most of what I need.   I do think that members that have reported a "hole" in the high beam visibility simply need to adjust their lights downward.  For me, the road is well lit.<br /><br />Comparing the Future Vision Kit, it seems to be about 4- times more expensive and uses marginally larger sized ballasts.  The FV ballast is 77.5 x 68.5 x 19.5 mm dimension and weighing 1/2 pound each, while the G4 ballast I used measures only 60 x 50 x 21 mm.  Should be no problem, but I would go with the hi/lo bixenon bulbs.  You only do this once.  <br /><br />(edited to correct ballast dimension).<br />

Click to expand...

<br /><br /><br />
It is very interesting to see the difference in the prices for HID set ups. I think the main cause for this is where the parts are manufactured. I hear alot of bad stuff about the parts coming out of China and hear that the Phillips / German type stuff is the way to go. I need a hi/low beam set up to pass the annual safety inspection we have here in the state otherwise I'd use a low beam only with supplemental high beams.

fljab said:

SkooterG said:

Me, I am not convinced HID is the way to go for H4 applications. Sure, they look 'different' after installation than stock, but I think peeps report the 'differenc' as 'better' when that is not necessarily the case. I tried HID, and am now back to stock. And in the future if I try any HID will ONLY go with 4300K bulbs.

Click to expand...

I'm getting ready to convert to HID. I went with the FutureVision low beam only setup (4300K) plus some aux lights for high beam. I should get everything this week and teardown will start after our Central Florida ride mentioned in another thread.

I don't know what the right combination for lighting is, but know I need to do something as only the stock setup just does not do it in some situations - like on a 2 lane road in the middle of the night! We'll see; I'll do pics and a write up as well if anyone is interested.

I've already hit a 'critter' in that situation and after 6 wks down + $4K in damages I'm just trying to be proactive! I feel that if I had had better lighting in that particular situation I could have avoided it.

Click to expand...

Good luck with that Hi beam Aux bulb...mines a piece of crap when it goes to Hi beam and I'm now having to deal with Amazon to either get my money back, or exchange for a all in one bulb. Problem is when mine go to Hi beam, it shuts the HID bulb off making Hi useless. My Lo beam is flat awesome though.

HID comes in a lot of flavors, and I have seen (and returned) Hi Lo bulbs hybrid bulbs with a xenon low and halogen high beam. Those are clearly not the answer. Even bixenon has several different movement solenoids and shielding.

This was my third installation (two motorcycles one car) and I've been happy with the price and quality I get from the HIDcountry source, and they do a 6-hour burn-in test. In this kit, the high and low beam is the same bulb moved to a different position relative to the shield and reflector so that the light angle projects higher. In my opinion, this particular kit got it right. Quality is all over the place, and you really need to check on what your are getting. There are some really bad implementations and crappy quality out there.

To be honest I've poured through all the info and advice here and wherever I could find it on lighting. I'm on a budget like most of us but did want to do a setup that was "right". Dunno if the way I'm going is all that but it'll take me to the next step. You know the old saying "Do something, even if it's wrong!"...

I went with FutureVision low beam only as it's been recommended in numerous places; for aux lights I have 3:

1> I got in on the group buy setup by RenoJohn for the "Shanghai Express" HID's with Alex brackets,

2> I have a new set of Hella FF50's that have been on my bench for some time; I figure to hang them off the Alex brackets as well, and

3> I have a cheap set of white LED's that I plan to hang off my forks; I was thinking of these more as running lights but they might just surprise me and LED's don't eat much electrical power.

Still figuring out the best way to tie them in and all; any constructive suggestions are welcome!

For this riding 'season' my goals are to do the lighting, get my aux tank mounted and plumbed, and while I'm right there on the lighting, change out the stock head bearings with the Timkens I have sitting on the shelf.