| Author | Message | ||
     Sifo |
It's been a crazy few weeks lately with a deadline to have my act together for our 2 week trip to the smokies starting this Friday. One thing on my plate was a burnt out headlight on the lightning that I was planning to replace with an HID setup when it went. Naturally it failed less than 2 weeks before the trip (I know, better than on the trip). Naturally DDM Tuning had them backordered. Well DDM bumped my 3 day shipping to 2 day shipping all on their own. Package showed up today and the install was quite easy. Easy enough that they didn't provide any directions. I don't know if that's normal, but there wasn't much to it. 55 watt kit at the 8000K color, slight blueish tint. Makes my high beam look like an old girl scout flashlight in the day time. Can't wait to see it at night! The picture doesn't do it justice.  I put together a plan B for the wife's Triumph just in case parts don't show up. It's working great and I'm confident that it will be reliable if plan A doesn't happen. Things are finally looking great for the trip. Can't wait till Friday!  | ||
| Sifo |
The new light is great! Much brighter than stock, but didn't get flashed by any oncoming traffic. Very happy with the HID. The wife was happy to get to ride the Triumph again too. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I love my 55 watt HID. I sincerely hope you powered it through a relay though. | ||
| Sifo |
I was going to, but went the easy route after finding many people claiming no problems with going off the stock wiring (this board and others). Have you seen problems going off the stock wiring? | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I've seen problems with 35 watt HID's. I'd almost guarantee problems with 55 watt. Maybe not right away, but you never know. You only need to run one (fused) wire from the battery to behind the flyscreen. After that it's just a few pigtales. It really only takes fifteen minutes to add a relay. I personally think it's worth it simply for the peace of mind. | ||
| Andymnelson |
The DDM kits are capped at 6amps on startup, and the 55w ballasts will drop to about 3 amps after that. Assuming that's what they actually do, there should be no issues. I ran a direct line and relay to mine however. I installed the same 55w 8000k lights into my Uly and my fiances XB9S. Too bright...actually I think they are a bit dangerous- hurts to look in the general direction of the bike at night. We rode on a 2 lane country road the other night (not much ambient light at all) and got "brighted" by about 7-8 cars. I think I'll be replacing the ballasts with 35 watt units soon. (Message edited by andymnelson on July 20, 2010) | ||
| Sifo |
I was surprised last night that I didn't get "brighted", even when I was on a back road with little light and I was kind of expecting it. I think how the light is aimed can make a big difference, especially with how directional the reflectors are on our Buells. Still considering a relay if I get a chance before Friday. I don't think it should be necessary, but would provide peace of mind. The "plan A" parts came in today for the wife's Triumph. I just got that buttoned up and it's shifting great again. Another couple hours of work, but nice to have parts that weren't fixed with a hammer... Literally! | ||
| Mikef5000 |
The only times I've been 'brighted' with my 55 watt hid was when I was 2-up and the extra tail weight was pointing the headlight up. You sure yours is adjusted properly? | ||
| Andymnelson |
"You sure yours is adjusted properly?" Yeah, adjusted according to the manual. If I adjust them any lower, they will be too low to be worth anything...because of how focused the housings are. I'm going to play with them a bit more before giving up on them. Been contemplating buying a 35 watt kit for the fog light housings on my truck, and using the 35w ballasts on the Buells, the 55w on the truck. At least that way the too-bright lights would be aux lighting... | ||
| Sifo |
So I put in a relay. At first I was concerned about how to run the wiring, but realized that there's room to make the necessary wire runs in and out of the headlight boot right along side of the stock wiring. No more holes required in the boot which was the main hurdle that I was worried about. The good news is that while running power from the battery I found the lead for my trickle charger on the positive terminal had virtually disintegrated into a black mess between the battery cable and the battery post. It wouldn't have been long before I was left with a bike that wouldn't run from a low battery. Very strange it almost looked like a chemical reaction had caused the terminal on the pigtail to corrode, but the battery cable and post were not affected. A buddy of mine stopped by to get his oil changed on his Triumph Daytona in the middle of doing all this. He asked if I was at all concerned about making these modifications 2 days before taking off for a 2 week vacation. "Well... Yeah... Sort of..." A bigger concern was that I just got replacement parts for the trans in my wife's Street Triple yesterday. It's a load off my mind having that back in running order. All that's left is packing, picking some routes to load into the GPS and wondering about weather. Oh, and that pesky wheel bearing seal that's failing on the Triple. Hopefully the part comes in tomorrow! Otherwise the Triumph dealer assures me it will be OK for the trip, and I tend to agree as long as I keep from riding through floods. Less than 48 hours to launch time toward the smokies, and beyond!  | ||
| Rotzaruck |
"Well... Yeah... Sort of..." I suppose you ARE taking a copy of the BRAN with you. I'm within striking distance, but still a fur piece away. There are a few folks closer to that area. There is some very nice country to look at up that way and all around, I think you will have a very nice ride! | ||
| Sifo |
Triumph deal called saying the wheel bearing seal is in. Pulled the wheel, took it in, and they installed the seal in a couple of minutes for me. Great folks! All bikes are good to go for first thing Friday AM! I suppose you ARE taking a copy of the BRAN with you. My own tool kit is always my plan A, but I will have a copy of the BRAN. I've got to get myself added to that one of these days too. I'm actually very confident in the work that I have just done, and the lighting mods can be undone on the roadside and just plug in a standard bulb. I really try to keep my wiring harness unmolested and only add new wiring to the bike. It's not that I'm afraid to splice into a wire if needed, but I really try not to if at all possible. It's bike night around here, so... |
