Pictorial: HID50 HID Kit Installation

Last summer my high-beam lens was broken by a rock while riding. So this spring I decided to replace the lens and install a HID kit on the bike. After doing my homework on HID kits, I decided to buy one from the gentlemen at www.hid50.com. The cost was $252.07 US.

These two photographs show the kit as it arrived from the UK.






This photograph shows the balast wiring harness. The balast is about 4-in by 2.5-in by 11/16-in thick.



This photograph shows the lamp wiring harness. The two spade terminals are the positive (blue wire) and ground (black wire) that connect to the OEM 12-V spade terminals that formerly connected to, and provided power to, the OEM Halogen H1 lamp. Things will become clearer as you look at more pictures.



This photograph shows the "high voltage" connectors that connect the HID H1 lamp to the balast.



This photograph shows the "low voltage" connector that attaches the 12-V spade terminals to the balast.



This photograph shows the two wiring harnesses connected to each other. In this photograph, everything below the rubber boot goes in the lens assembly; everything above the rubber boot remains outside the lens assembly and must somehow be mounted to the bike.



This photograph shows the OEM lens assembly with the connections to the OEM Halogen H1 lamp exposed. (This is my ONLY good picture. I don't know what I did wrong.)



This photograph shows how the positive spade terminal attached to the OEM Halogen H1 lamp.



This photograph shows how the 12-V spade terminals connect. You can see in this photograph how power to the HID kit is provided by the OEM wiring harness to the headlamps. That is why HID kits are "plug and play".



This photograph shows the 1-in-diameter hole that must be cut into the cap that attaches to the back of the OEM lens assembly. I cut the hole by hand using a 1-in hole saw.



This photograph shows the rubber boot fitted into the 1-in-diameter hole in the cap.



This photograph shows the lamp wiring harness completely fitted into the OEM lens assembly.



This photograph shows a close-up of the rubber boot fitted into the 1-in-diameter hole in the cap. There is not much room inside the lens assembly for the wires. You have to take care to keep the positive and negative spade connectors separated from each other.



This photograph shows the completed job for the high-beam lens. The next task is to find a place to mount the balasts on the bike. This photograph illustrates better than any of the others the "plug and play" concept. To install the HID kit, you do not alter ANY of the OEM wiring on the bike.



This photograph shows a side-by-side comparison of the OEM Halogen H1 lamp and the HID H1 lamp.



This photograph shows the HID lamp being inserted into the low-beam lens.



This photograph shows the HID lamp installed in the low-beam lens.



This photograph shows the exposed spade connectors in the low-beam lens cap.



This photograph shows the same spade connectors covered with some electrical tape to prevent possible shorting.



This photograph shows the completed headlight assembly. I highly recommend that you remove the headlight assembly to install a HID kit. It's not necessary, but I think it would be a royal pain-in-the-ass to do this work otherwise.



This photograph shows where I placed the balast to the high-beam lamp.



This photograph shows where I placed the balast for the low-beam lamp.



And finally, it all seems to work! I'll check the adjustments tonight and call it done.

This is the exact same kit as Xenon Rider sells for $229 including the slim balasts. When you were doing your homework, why did you decide to get them from the UK instead of the US?

If I'm not mistaken (and I could be) the HID50 kit comes with 50W balasts and the Xenon Rider kit comes with 35W balasts. So the two kits are not the same. THAT is why I went with the HID50 kit.

OK, I'll give you an A for your homework

Just installed the exact same kit (35W ballasts) deleivered from Hong Kong (in 4 days!!! DHL) for $80

It's not the "exact same kit" if it comes with 35W balasts. I read most of the HID-related posts on GSpot and many other places before I purchased.

Beware of possible shorting issues inside the cap.
Note that this part of the harness is not protected by any fuse. If a short occurs the will be melting wires!
I added extra heat shrink tubing as shown to safeguard against this on mine.

GS Addict,

You make a very excellent point. Of the whole installation, tucking the wires and spade connections into the cap is perhaps the only tricky part where you have to be especially careful.

SYG

Just curious, what's the advantage of the 50W ballasts over 35W ones?

Isn't it obvious, they're 15 more.

The 35s put out about 3200-3400 Lumens per bulb

The 50s about 5000 Lumens

I just got some 55watt $85 for a pair from http://www.ddmtuning.com

Which is crazy because in '95 I paid $400 for a pair.


Dave

thanks for the pictorials!
Not so scared anymore to install em myself...

Now... to order those HIDs

Thanks! Great photos.
Good timing, I just ordered a HID kit last week.

Nice pictorial, and great pics!

Jim

Have the same kit and enjoyed your report. Plenty and illustrative pictures

Any one have before and after pics at night?

Oh nice find!

Les at HID50 is a hella nice guy too.

I would recommend paying close attention to the mounting / routing of "high voltage" connectors as those little bastiges are a bit fiddly and mine have come undone several times, seemingly just from being out in the air.

One thing to keep in mind if fitting two kits (like High and Low beam) is the ability to swap ballasts. If one fails it is nice to be able to switch And to my understanding they (as every thing else) will fail, it is just a question of time. To be more specific, a kit will fire only a limited number of times and the low beam will for most riders be the first to go

I originally mounted my ballast from VVMI in Hong Kong (Hella) as pictured at the start of this thread--within the instrument cluster space, but quickly found that the high voltage played havoc with my fuel, temp and temp sensor readouts. At first I thought I had pinched a wire but after much trial and error determined it was the high voltage confusing the unit (hopefully no permanent damage). When I removed the ballast from the cavity beside the gauge and put it in the space behind the high beam, all was back to normal. In addition, beware that these ballsts need maximum cooling and being tucked up inside the cluster housing may also cause excessive heat buildup. I now have about 8000 km on this unit with no issues at all. I recently upgraded my hi-beam with the second bulb/ballast assembly and tucked the ballast along the right side of the cowling where it tucks away nicely. Again, works fine as long as you dim your lights for oncoming traffic.