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HID Conversion, Pictorial.

27K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  gdayjr 
#1 ·
After many many promises, I decided to do a short pictorial on how to install a set of HID lights in my R1200GS. This pictorial is done with lots of extra parts removed for clarity. I wont be telling you what tools to use, or torques. This type of pictorial doesn’t lend itself well to it, but you should easily be able to do what I did.


Here are the lights in the box. Mine were the fat ballasts, with the igniters built in. I have done the ones without the ballast built in, and they are definitely easier to mount, though basically in the same place.


I removed the instruments for the job to make it easier to see, but it is definitely not needed. Here are the High (left) and low (right) covers. Just pop the caps off by twisting them counterclockwise.


Here is a cap before drilling the 23mm hole. I used a Dremmel tool to do mine.


Here is the same cap after removing the material. Interestingly, it is exactly the same size as the indents in the caps. I bet you know why?



Simply push the wires through the hole, then pull the grommet in place. They recommend adding some sealant, but I didn’t. I figure they will seal just fine as is.



Here are both of them mounted. The wiring looks clean and secure in the caps.



Here is the right ballast mount. You can see it went to the screw holding the oil line.


This is the other mount, shown to illustrate the original shape. I bent it with pliars.


Now you can see it is a tight fit with the beak installed. But it is clean. I added some tie straps to secure the ballast to the mount, and firm it in place as well.



The right ballast fit in, and cleanly. With everything put back together, and the wiring secured, it is nearly invisible.



On the left side, the ballast goes into the same place. It is a tight fit, and you will have to play with it a bit, but it will fit. The slimmer ballast would have the advantage here.

Continued...
 
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#2 ·
Now lets take a look at the results:


Low HID. Clean white, but not too blue. This is the 4300 kit.

I then added a second GS, with Motolights, and compared them side-by-side.

Note that the bike on the left is completely stock with 35 watt Motolights. My bike has both HIDs, and 50 watt Motolights.


Low beam, you can see the difference here.



High beam, even more obvious.




Both bikes with Motolights and High Beams.

It seems obvious to me, especially after riding at night, that the HID lights are definitely superior, and not as susceptible to dimming at idle with Gerbings and Servos going.



Here is what the bulb looks like installed in the low beam.



Don’t forget to keep the old H7 bulbs, just in case. This procedure is completely reversible, and if an HID goes out, you can swap in the old H& in minutes.

Jim :cool:
 
#5 ·
Kermit came over tonight and showed off his newly colored Hella FF50 Lights.

I thought it a good opportunity to compare lights on each bike, so the following is my demo on my garage door.


HID Low beam only


Stock Low beam only


HID Low and High beam


Stock Low Beam (Note, Kermit has removed the cover on the tip of the bulb for better light).


Kermit's "yellow" FF50, painted with craft store spray stained glass window paint.


HID (left) and stock, both High Beams, with yellow FF50s on the right.

As you can see the beam for the HID light is slightly more scattered, mostly horizontally, but has a very similar line and height. I am very confident that the HID wont be blinding.


This is an example of a cold flash to pass. The High Beam HID was dead cold, and I flicked it on. When warm from recent use, it is VERY much brighter on Flash to Pass mode.

Also, for those concerned about excessive flood of light outside of the beam pattern, here is what you get:


Virtually identical to the stock amount of scattered light.

Jim :cool:

PS Just a note, these are unretouched photos, and the camera made some adjustments based on the amount of light. The HID lights were significantly brighter than the pictures showed, but if you look at this picture:



You can get a better feel for the differences.
 
#8 ·
Any kit from E-bay, or others seem to be about the same. I might suggest the slim ballast for easier fit, but either works fine.

The wiring is simple. Unplug the stock bulb, plug the stock wiring into the ballast, plug the wires from the ballast into the HID light, and walla!

No extra wiring, no wires to the battery, no cutting wires. If your HID bulb goes, you can plug the stocker right back in to the stock wiring.

Jim :cool:
 
#9 ·
Stupid Question!!

Jim,

Thanks for the pictorial....this is my next bike mod. My question concerns headlite adjustment on my 07 R1200GS. The little toggle thingy that you lift to adjust the headlite elevation screw.....does the little toggle thingy adjust for unloaded/loaded i.e. up or extended for one condition; and down for the other????????????????
 
#14 ·
What a fortunate thing that I found this thread.

I do believe my 2005 R1200GS is the very one shown in these pictures! I have your folder of documentation of everything that was done to the bike, but I was disappointed to see that there was nothing on this headlight conversion.

The low-beam bulb is kaput and assuming they were standard equipment, I went out and got some H7 bulbs. Imagine my surprise when I got into the buckets and realized those extra wires in the rubber caps weren't normal.

I now have to see if I can return some H7 bulbs.

So now my question, what's the manufacturer, Jim? Is there anything I need to know about buying a replacement bulb? I have to admit I don't know much about HID specs...

Oh, and the rubber grommet did seal just fine around the hole in the bucket without sealant. No moisture gets in the bucket and there's no sign of corrosion on any of the leads.

And to answer mercieca's question, there has been no issue with the CANbus system that I'm aware of.
 
#15 ·
What a fortunate thing that I found this thread.

I now have to see if I can return some H7 bulbs.

So now my question, what's the manufacturer, Jim? Is there anything I need to know about buying a replacement bulb? I have to admit I don't know much about HID specs...

And to answer mercieca's question, there has been no issue with the CANbus system that I'm aware of.

The VVME HID unit Jim used derives its power from the OEM wiring inside your headlight housing. All others, to my knowledge, are the same. You can order replacement bulbs on-line from dozens of suppliers but be aware of the color. 4300K bulbs are bright-white but, above that, the light get very blue very fast.

The only HID issues I'm aware of is some BMWs cannot handle the 55W low beam kits. My '09 GSA was one of those machines. I use 35W and have had no problems since I installed it in March of 2011.

Mike
 
#16 ·
Headlight aiming way to high

Hi. I fitted H I D headlights on my last bike and loved them.
I have since had the buke stolen, and have bought another one.
I bought the kit for the last bike from 1 Off Motorsports when i was over last year, but i have just found out they have gone out of business.

A few questions.
Where is a reliable place to buy a new kit for the 2004 GS 1200 ?

The headlight i have on this bike is aiming way to high, and i can not get the beams low enough.
I have taken the headlight unit out, and all seems to be right with it.
The fittings all seem ok, and i am wondering if there is some sort of ajustment on the front sub frame that may not be set right.

I would welcome any information from prople who may have come accross this before.

Best regards from Sydney Australia.
 
#17 ·
Hi. I fitted H I D headlights on my last bike and loved them.
I have since had the buke stolen, and have bought another one.
I bought the kit for the last bike from 1 Off Motorsports when i was over last year, but i have just found out they have gone out of business.

A few questions.
Where is a reliable place to buy a new kit for the 2004 GS 1200 ?

The headlight i have on this bike is aiming way to high, and i can not get the beams low enough.
I have taken the headlight unit out, and all seems to be right with it.
The fittings all seem ok, and i am wondering if there is some sort of ajustment on the front sub frame that may not be set right.

I would welcome any information from prople who may have come accross this before.

Best regards from Sydney Australia.

I've the same high-beam problem, too, Gdayjr. I've not been able to drop the beam enough to make it useful and will probably go back to a regular bulb, using the old HID bulb as a spare. I did add Clearwater Kristas to the bike a few weeks ago and they make all the difference. They're aimed just past the illumination of the low beam and do a great job.

Man, sorry about your bike! I hope the insurance company was sympathetic and generous.

Mike
 
#18 ·
Headlights aiming high

I got a fair grilling from Shannons (the insurer), but they did pay up in the end.

I bought a pretty good 04 model with 45000 km on it, 1 owner all books etc.
I want to fit HID, it is not hard, but untill i get the aim of the lightsdown enough, it may be a bit dangerous for oncoming trafic.

Both high and low are way too high. I have taken the unit out, and all looks ok.
I have backed the ajuster off as far as i can...it goes out far enough to leave a gap between the reflector ball, and the ajuster rod, so i may fit a small spring to pull the reflector back a bit.
It does bounce a bt of light of the bottom of the reflector when i do that, but i just can't see a way to lower the aim.

I saw a video on utube of a bike being stolen, it took about 20 seconds from start to finish. 3 guys, into the side door of a van, too easy.

Still looking for an answer to the high aiming if anyone can help. :(
 
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