| Author | Message | ||
     Fullpower |
greetings from Alaska, getting cold and darker here this time of year. anyone running HID lighting on their XB yet? another Q: anyone tried stuffing a 2 filament H4 into the stock lightning housing, so that the high beam could also be a low beam? here is my current setup:  | ||
| Glitch |
You need scorpion tires and the headlamp grill to finish off the look  How much better can you see to the sides? | ||
| Fullpower |
so far i have been able to see the moose coming from the roadside bushes. the PIAA's are wired via relay to the hi-beams, and they really help fill in the gap. the stock hi-beam has a piaa superwhite bulb and does a pretty decent job straight ahead at distance, but leaves a big "hole" up close, and pretty much becomes useless when healed over in curves.so the simple answer is that they help a bunch, but more light would be better. | ||
| Roc |
Fullpower - I have fog lights mounted on my XB. They are aimed like a big x and put some light into the corners. | ||
| Opto |
anyone tried stuffing a 2 filament H4 into the stock lightning housing, so that the high beam could also be a low beam? That sounds like a really good idea, 2 low beams and 2 high beams, no more "hey mate, you've got a light out!" The one and only night ride I've been on in the country was pretty dark and slow cause there was no moon  | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
Fullpower, what kind of Piaa lights are those? It's getting dark quite early here in MN now too so I'm looking for more light. I've just got the stock bulbs in right now and always have the high beam on (only get flashed occasionally). Roc, where did you mount them on your R? I was thinking of putting something on the bottom of the fairing, but that will limit how far they can go. I like the way FP put them on the forks, for the S anyway. | ||
| Fullpower |
the PIAA number was 004x, and i picked them up from dennis kirk 800 328 9280. | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
Thanks, I'm not far from Dennis Kirk and will be driving past there this weekend so I might stop to get some. Any reason you got the 004X instead of the 004XT? On Dennis Kirk's website they claim one is 60W from 35W and the other is 75W from 35W. The Piaa site says 55W = 110W, what the heck does all that mean? Is it two 55W lights are 110W total or is it an equivalent amount of light claim? The pic on DK's site looks like they come with wiring and a switch. I might just do them that way, with a separate switch. How exactly did you add them on to the high beam circuit, just splice into the high beam wires? I ride around town a lot so I can't have them with the high beam or I'll for sure get flashed! | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
FP, not sure if you knew about this, but if you roll the light switch between high and low, just as the highbeam indicator comes on the dash, you will have BOTH lights on. As to the wiring I am with CWR, do you have them spliced into the stock wiring harness? if so any problems with the wires getting real hot? I am looking at putting a pair of Catz eyes under the fairing up front but at the sides. The low profile ovals that also have the amber fog and the bright white driving lamp setup. I want to wire them into the highbeam portion as well, then wire the high and low beam bulbs into the lowbeam circuit. | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
That's another option that I like, to have both stock lights on the low and the aux lights on the high. I'll have to look into the circuits to see how this could be done, hopefully not tough. It would be nice to retain the stock switch location and functionality. What exactly are the Catz Eyes? Piaa also has these LED's on their site called Deno, but there's no wattage listed so they might just be for show. I want bright light, not pretty colors, thought this could be mounted on the crossbar between the forks, just under the fairing.  | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
http://foglights.com/xld.html  I am not finding the FET Catz Eye model I had a few years back listed. It was shaped more like the one in your pic above, but has dual bulbs with the amber being off to one side. The one I linked is what I am looking at now it seems since I can't find the ones I had. (FET is the manufacturer and Catz is the product line) | ||
| Fullpower |
i got the 004X model because they are black in color, the xt is a silver colored plastic case. the kirk page is misleading, the individual H3 bulbs are 55 watts each, included in the kit is a big bunch of wire, a fuse holder, switch, and relay. i hacked up the included wire harness, tucked the relay behind the fly screen, ran the fused hot wire from the battery to the relay, and ran the relay coil (trigger) lead to the high beam wire back of headlite assemmbley (white wire). that way i did not have any additional switch gear, and the lights are supplemental to the high beams. so far the charging system is fine. it keeps up with heated grips, electric heated vest, and the (3) 55 watt bulbs, gets cold around here after the sun goes down, and so i run everything on full heat almost all the time. i have 9905 miles on so far, and no problems with the electrics. | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
That's a great setup FP, I think I will do something similar when I get time. I was looking at the bike last night and where you have them mounted is the best place. It looks good on the S, and will be almost more hidden with the fairing on the R. Not having the lights in hand, I couldn't find a better place to put them that wouldn't be blocked by the fairing. I plan to get the 004XT's because my bike is all white and silver (and they have a little more output). Thanks for the wiring tips, I just wanted to know which ones to tap into. Of course I'll double check with the service manual before actually doing it! As I mentioned above, I really like the idea Wycked had to put the two stock lights (hi/low) on always and use the switch for the aux lights. It's good to know the system can handle it. Right now I'm running electric gloves and will soon be adding an electric vest. Gerbing warns that some bikes can't handle too much draw but apparently ours can. One other question. I've done some searching through old threads and it seems people have tried lots of options to upgrade the stock bulbs. Is there any conclusion on this? Looking at PIAA's options for H3 bulbs there is Xtreme White, Platinum Super White, Ion Crystal, and they're all expensive. Otherwise there's Hella or Sylvania. I was thinking of trying the yellow "bad weather" bulb in the low beam and something strong and clear in the high. There are also some supposed Xenon H3 55W bulbs, for $10? They have a few wires attached. Do these need to be used with the full expensive HID systems or can you just throw them in? | ||
| Jpl9sx |
I have a car with HID lights and one with normal headlights. The HID headlights are vastly superior in lighting up the road especially at highway speeds. I would think with HIDs replacements on a bike you wouldn't need any additional lights such as PIAAs. I noticed American Sport Bike has an HID kit for Lightnings. Does anyone have those installed ? | ||
| U4euh |
Fullpower, I was looking at your picture of the piaa auxillary lights. The right side(as viewing the pic.) appears to lower than the left. Not complaining, just curious as to vibration and any movement of the lights. I have a set of lights that I have been wanting to mount, Just didn't know where. You have solved that. What type of strap did you use to wrap around the forks? Thanks, JIM | ||
| Roc |
Coldweather - I mounted mine where the mirrors were, there is a picture in my profile. They are FF200's, Hella. I found them cheap on ebay. I have run the lights, a vest, and heated grips without any problems. For power I made a short section of wire with a plug at either end and a splice into it. I plugged this in line with the high beam wire to the bulb, I did it this way so I could switch it back. This feed goes to a solenoid that supplies the lights from the battery. | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
Where the mirrors were??? I can't tell in the dark picture, do you not have mirrors now?! For being in the city I need the mirrors and don't want to be too obvious that I'm trying to blind people! I still like the small PIAA's and the way FP mounted them, a little more discrete. This will probably become a winter project so I have some time to figure it out. I might even try to mount some smaller lights to the existing mirrors, sort of how all the new bikes have integrated turn signals. Thanks for the idea of having them up high. | ||
| Fullpower |
i mounted my aux lights to the fork side reflectors with very small self tapping screws, then secured with a stainless hose clamp. i first put a length of heat shrink tube over the hose clamp. also have run PIAA H7 superwhite bulbs in stock headlamp housings, very good light upgrade, low beam lasted 8500 miles, high beam still going. they are quite expensive bulbs. still like to hear a report from someone running an HID setup. | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
What's the difference between H3 and H7? The stock housing takes H3's right? I think I'm going to try some bulbs like that for now and do the aux light upgrade over winter. | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
Oops, duh. Different bikes, different bulbs. I keep forgetting there are some differences in the XB's. Just ordered a pair of H3 Xtreme Whites to install next week when I'm back from vacation. Can't wait, daylight savings time is just around the corner. | ||
| Roc |
Coldweather- The mirror is now the bar end type. The cross type pattern of the fog lights gives a bit of a soft light spot for on comming cars, but I turn them off anyway - as the high beam is on too. | ||
| Coldwthrrider |
I can't do bar end mirrors, because I have the throttlemeister. I'll see how the little PIAA's work like FP has when I get some...can always add more. I have a friend who does lots of long distance riding and has tons of aux lights on his bike. It makes it like daylight when riding cross country in the middle of the night, not that I'll be doing that a lot but I am doing a 24hr ride next spring... |
