| Author | Message | ||
     Ft_bstrd |
I was finally able to get my pictures back in PhotoBucket. I didn't like the lighting that came stock on the Ulysses. It was like riding down a paper towel tube. I decided to replace the stock H7 setup with an aftermarket HID kit. I purchased it from Riders Warehouse (the Aerostitch folks). The kit was $200 delivered.  It comes complete with Igniter, Ballast, Relay Harness, Mounting Screws, Mounting Tape, Zip Ties, and HID Capsule with dust sealing boot.  I started with the usual Uly wiring compartment in the front.  Next I removed the horn. The three screws holding on the lighting housing were next.  In case you are so inclined, the European "city light" is already wired into the harness.  It is located between the two beam housings.  I plan to add a yellow or blue 194 bulb to the socket. Here is what that bulb looks like without any headlights. (not my bike or garage btw)  Once you pull the rubber dust cup off, here is the stock H7 bulb.  Stock bulb removed.  Here is the H7 compared to the HID capsule. Although the capsule is longer than the stock bulb, the xenon discharge portion is right where the halogen element is.  Here is the back of the stock dust cap and the newly severed H7 wiring plug.  Back of the dust cup.  In order to run the new HID capsule, I cut a circle in the back of the stock dust cup.  And inserted the dust plug from the HID kit complete with wiring. The plug comes with all the wiring already run through the dust plug, so dust should be kept at a minimum. There is also a rubber plug that can be fitted behind the bulb if your particular application lacks this dust cup.  Backside of new dust plug.  Here is the wiring relay that comes with the kit. It has a 30w fuse built in.   You can run it directly from the battery. As seen here. Because there are two cables that run from the ballast and they are fairly thick, I chose to run the power to the battery and remotely locate both the ballast and the igniter up front. They will also be exposed to less heat from the notorious "fan". I used head insulated shrink wrap for the wires as they will run directly over the top of the heads and through the center of the frame with the rest of the wiring stock harness.     Here is the HID capsule in the housing.  Here is the igniter plug. I also have the relay switch plug running out of the back with the leads coming out of the stock wiring exit point. In this picture. I decided to run the relay separately to keep things cleaner outside the wiring box in the front.  To seal out the dust, I zip tied the outlet shut. You can see that the only wires coming out of the back of the dust cup are the capsule wires leading to the igniter plug.  I placed the Igniter box under the headlight and horn bracket. One lead goes to the capsule, the second lead goes to the ballast. I mounted the ballast on the headlight bracket behind the horn. Both are mounted with the adhesive foam that came with the kit as well as zip ties.  Currently I have the typical Uly Rat's Nest underneath the housing, but after I have worked any remaining gremlins out of the system, I will go back in and modify the harness to take out any slack. I ran the relay off of the power port.  Here are the stock lowbeam headlights against the wall.  Here are the HID low beams.  Low beams plus high beams.  HIDs head on.   HIDs plus high beams.   They are very bright and have a good white light. With the stock reflector, they have a good throw and illuminate both down range as well as the periphery. I also added the sylvania silver star to the high beam, but next to the HID, it looked as yellow as the stock bulb. I am very pleased. They generate about 100w of light but draw less than stock. I also have better visibility during the daytime because of the white light. | ||
| Samiam |
Did you get the 6000k kit? I ask because your low beam looks quite bluer than my 4300k kit. Nice writeup by the way. It looks like the Uly definitely has more room under the fairing for the ballast than my 'bolt. Looks good. Sam | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
Nice write up. It seems HID's are the new hot Buell accessory. Sam, your 4300k kit should look similar by now. They get bluer over time. | ||
| Warbaby |
Excellent report!  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The kit is actually the 8300K kit. The light, though, is very white. The 8300K kit is less intense than the 4000K or 6000K kit, so it is less likely to draw attention for brightness from the LEOs. | ||
| Diablobrian |
Nice write up. I was considering doing the H3 kit from Aerostitch on my firebolt. It looks like it should be a fairly straight-forward process. | ||
| Samiam |
A bit of advice to you all. If you're going to purchase a HID kit from any of these sites, be very wary of buying any kit over 5000k if you don't want attention from the cops. Reason being is 4200k to 5000k is about as "white" of a light you can get. It is as Ft_Bstrd said brighter, however the color difference of going to 8300k would IMO draw much more unwanted attention. Once you get above 6000k the manufacturers have to tint the bulbs themselves, making them produce less light. I think a cop is going to notice the purple light coming out of a headlight at 8000-12000k more than the white light coming out at 4000-5000k. If you don't believe me, go here. Sam | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
Samiam is totally right. The high kelvin bulbs WILL/DO attract unwanted attention. All factory HID lights (Audi,BMW, lexus, etc...) are 4300k. The blue you see comes from the projector lenses. I suspect if you change your bulb to a 4300-5000k you will be very pleased with the light. | ||
| Debueller |
Ft Bstrd, First off, great photos and write up. Did you only install the HID in the low beam? If installed in the high beam there will be a time delay before the bulb is at full brightness. Thats something I'm not willing to live with. (when I hit the high beam I want it NOW) Or did you use a Silverstar in the the high beam? The warm up time delay is the only thing keeping me from going to HID's for the high beam. On the low beam it wouldn't be an issue for me. Just courious. | ||
| Dirty_jersey |
Regards to the color ratings. Hid color is measured in temperature, or degrees Kelvin. A warmer lamp will have a rating around 3000K, this will appear more in the red spectrum. Where as a cooler lamp will have a higher temperature, say 4000K, this will appear more in the blue spectrum. Lamps will not chance color over time, but there output will diminish, thus appearing less bright. This is the Mean Lumen output as opposed to the Initial Lumen output. This will be about a 25% to 30% drop in light output at 40% of the lamp life. If anyone cares. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Debueller, I did not install on the high beam. "Flicking" the HIDs on will diminish both the capsule life as well as the ballast and igniter. I used the Silver Stars for the high beams. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
As far as color. The color is very white. It appears much "bluer" in the pictures than it really is. The kit you chose is up to you. My hope is that this write up will assist in your install. I have not had any problem with LEOs and my HIDs so far. I don't know if it's because of the brightness or the way I have them aimed, but they don't draw any attention so far. As far as the color, they are the same color as my Acura's HIDs. I don't know if my eyes just don't work right or if there is not that much difference between the 8300K and 4300K HIDs, but they look the same to me. Ultimately, I bought the Aerostitch kit as it was designed for motorcycle use rather than automotive use. Color spectrum was a secondary concern. Thus far, I have had zero complaints. | ||
| Fullpower |
I have been running my HID low beam (xenondepot.com) for a bit over 10,000 miles. still working very well. If you ride at night the HID is very highly recommended. | ||
| Diablobrian |
I wonder how hard it would be to convert over to an H4 style hi/lo so that both bulbs are lit on low and there won't be a color difference between the lights. It looks like with the HID low beam the high is kind of redundant, except maybe for where it's aimed. How long is the delay for warm-up? Out here in the sticks you can use your high beam a lot at night. Back in San Diego I hardly ever used my high beams, except to signal to truckers it was okay to move over  So.... does it take (in seconds) for them to come up? | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Think of the warm up like an old tv set that comes on but it takes a few seconds to reach peak intensity. The lens on the high beam is also aimed differently. The low beam has a pronounced cut off. The high beam has a much longer throw (as it should) and has a much broader spread pattern. I wouldn't worry about them being different colors. I've gotten over the asymetry a long time ago. As for the H4, I'm not convinced that the HIDs work in an H4 housing. NONE of the factory automotive uses have an H4 set up. I don't feel the capsule was meant to move. I'd avoid it. | ||
| Samiam |
Brian, Unfortunately, you cannot use a HID bulb as a high/low beam, as it has only one "filament". Cars with OEM HID lights use flip down reflectors to flip to high beam. In my case with my Firebolt I could just purchase a second low beam projector housing and install it in the high beam slot if I wanted two low beams. Not sure how it'd work on a lightning Warmup time is about 20 seconds, however the bulb will put out quite a bit of light just a second after being flipped on. It takes the 20 seconds to reach full brightness and change from the initial blue color to the warmed up white light. You can flash the high beam if you have HID installed, but that is bad for the ballast as it puts extra strain on it. Here's where I posted a few videos to show the flashing of high beam. Go here to see the HID warmup. Sam (Message edited by samiam on October 11, 2006) | ||
| Henrik |
There are H4 kits out there. They use a motor to move the bulb in and out for Hi/Low. Key question is how accurate the position of the Xenon discharge "spot" compared to the filaments in a standard bulb. The Aerostitch H4 kit uses a motor set-up. Henrik | ||
| Samiam |
I stand corrected on the H4 high/low. Wow, I wish I would have found that earlier. Does anyone have any pictures of the motor setup? Sam | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
In the early days of after-market HID kits, Hi/Low H4 kits were common. They aren't now. The reason is reliability. Most of the kits used a motorized sheath that would slide back and forth to position the light within the reflector housing. These systems are prone to failure. Even most OEM systems have gone to bi-xenon systems with seperate hi/low beams. I believe lighting should be one of those KISS moments. Just make it work well, reliably... | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Agreed. I can't think of a single application of HI/LO beam using an H4 type setup in an OEM automotive application. There are simply to many variables to get a good aftermarket application. If your bike calls for a particular application, use that type of HID. Converting your particular bulb to another type and then converting to HIDs seems problematic to me. | ||
| Chrisgrant |
Ft_bstrd wrote; The 8300K kit is less intense than the 4000K or 6000K kit, so it is less likely to draw attention for brightness from the LEOs. Are the HID lights not legal? | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
Holy old thread batman Are HID's legal = only if they are factory installed. You cannot legally buy an aftermarket kit in the US. The vast majority of the kits come through Canada. The few that are sold here, are clearly marked for "Off road use only" | ||
| Anna1985beatufy |
yeah . Nice write up. I was considering doing the H3 kit from Aerostitch on my firebolt. It looks like it should be a fairly straight-forward process. |
