| Author | Message | ||
     Heraldj07 |
Not too pleased with my cityx head lights at night. I know all the tricks to wiring them together, but they still dont offer what im looking for. Im going to see if i can get some sort of housing from piaa or something like that. Then get an HID kit and have highs and lows on both sides at all times. Let me know if you guys know of anything. | ||
| Froggy |
The 2009's have a better reflector and light the road better, but you can get a pair of HIDs and install them in your stock ones and will be much happier. | ||
| Sifo |
Just an HID on the low beam side makes a huge difference. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Ditto Sifo. Get the $35 DDM motorcycle hid kit, throw it in place of the low beam, and ride the bike. I think I did the whole thing in under 30 minutes, and I don't think I even cut a single wire to do it. The bright light then just becomes a "flash to pass" indicator, or a backup if the HID dies for some reason. | ||
| No_rice |
could always change to the firebolt headlights... | ||
| Reepicheep |
Oh, and room is tight under that flyscreen (my easy install was on the Uly, when I did my 9sx it was a much klunkier kit and there is a lot less space). I suspect with some work you can get the whole DDM kit under the S bike flyscreen. To give your self a little more margin, also go to your local auto parts store and get a Fiam Freeway Blaster ($9 or something on the shelf) and swap that out for the stock horn. The Fiam isn't smaller, but unlike the stock horn you can have stuff wedged up against it, and it will still work well. It's lots louder as well, so its a nice upgrade by itself to begin with. | ||
| Sifo |
I just checked their website they are now listed at $22.50. That's a great deal. I also ran power straight off the battery (fused of course) through a relay that is controlled by the stock wiring. I had done the low beam always on mod long ago. One of my big concerns was what do I do if the HID goes bad when I'm on the road. Well I can simply disconnect my HID system at the original wiring harness and plug in a standard bulb and be on my way again. Of course DDM claims the HID light will last much longer than a standard bulb, but I still planned for failure at the worst time. So far so good, but it's only been a few months so far. It really helps with daytime visibility too, yet I don't get flashed by oncoming traffic at night. I went with the 8000K color which has just a hint of blue tint. I think that may be part of why it's more visible during daytime. The yellowish stock light is too close to the ambient light. The 8000K HID really stands out much better. | ||
| Heraldj07 |
Wow guys thanks. I want it nowwww!! So moving forward, would it be a bad idea to get the two balast setup? Leave the low beam always on mod, and run both hid bulbs at high beam? Does anyone have any pictures from ddm? maybe even a video of the quality? seems really cheap for hid. | ||
| Sifo |
My understanding is that the two balast setup is is nothing but two of everything in the single kit. It would be no big deal to add the high beam later if you got a single for the low beam now. There is a lag as they start up, so you would definitely want the low beam on all the time, otherwise you are driving blind when switching. From there I see a couple of downsides to doing the high beam. You really loose the ability to flash the high beam because of the start up lag. Also the start up supposedly shortens the life of the system (not sure if its the bulb, balast, or both). I'm still thinking about adding the high beam HID someday though. I will probably have to relocate my horn to do that though. It's getting pretty crowded behind the fly screen after adding a few other things in there. With a lifetime warranty it really shouldn't be an issue if the life of the system is shortened a bit from switching the high beams on and off. A lot of people have used the DDM kit and I haven't seen anyone say anything good or bad about their warranty experience. I guess the worst possible case is that you are out $22.50 when it burns out and you have to replace it with a standard bulb again. I would say get a kit now, and try it on the low beam at least. | ||
| Reepicheep |
You will have a hard time putting one ballast and ignitor under the flyscreen of an S bike, much less two. If you get the 35w version, it seems to run just fine off the old low beam light connector. That lets you use the high beam switch to turn the HID off and the normal high beam on anytime you wish for whatever reason. The HIDS take a bit of time to turn on and come up to full brightness, so I do not recommend they be used for a high beam anyway. | ||
| Sifo |
The problem I see with going to high beam and shutting off the low beam is that when you switch back to low beam it will take a moment for it to ignite. Given that you have probably just switched to low beam because of oncoming headlights and you are now with virtually no headlight with headlights in your eyes. I could live with my high beam taking a moment to come on as long as my low beam is still turned on. Clearly opinions will differ on what's best. | ||
| Reepicheep |
True Sifo, that would happen. It's not an issue for me because I never use the high beam now that I have the HID low beam. No need, and it doesn't really add much anyway as the HID is so bright. I do like and use the "flash to pass" button though. That leaves the low beam on. |
