Winter Project Kickoff

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Dang, looks REALLY nice!!

 

yeah:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

decepicon..............................................

 

Couple more pics taken during the daytime at Deal's Gap. I also shaved down my seat to make it a lil more comfy and monted my TomTom a little higher up on the dash above the gauges so I can look at it by just glancing down instead of having to bend my head down. That was using a custom bracket. And of course the Throttlemeisters which I absolutely love.

 

Great write-up Mike. I have to ask, what if anything have you done about the high beams? Are they now irrelevant? I have bought a 55W H7 kit to use in them, but now not sure if it will be practical/usable etc. Also, may I ask what the conversion cost you all up?

Thanks.

 

dude...you stole my lid! lights look great.

 

Keager - you have the Joe Rocket carbon fiber too? I love mine. I cut out some foam about the size of a half dollar behind the ear pads and mounted Sony speakers inside my helmet that connect to my GPS that I run my mp3s through. But I love that helmet. For whatever reason, my chrome shield looks clear or smoked in those pictures.

Winaje - the highbeams are still oem, work the same as they did before. I didn't replace the highs with HID b/c the HID bulbs take ~ 12 seconds or so to warm up and get to full intensity. When I hit my high beams, I want instant bright. I felt it could be unsafe if I needed more light immediately and there was a delay in the highs warming up. I know people who are running true HID's in cars say they have no delay with HB's coming on, but that's b/c they're running biXenon bulbs and when they hit the HB, it's not a bulb that's flipping on - the bulb is already on. There's an actuator that moves inside the projector that refocuses the light to allow more to come out... i.e, high beam. But the bulb is already on and that's why they don't see a delay when they hit the HB's. I honestly don't remember the last time I used my HB's since I installed the HID LB's. But my HB's are still stock and work just like they used to. The conversion all said and done was ~$300 I want to say, probably a little less.I didn't keep track of how many hours is took me... but it wasn't done in a weekend! I wasn't in a rush either, so it was probably drawn out a lot longer than it needed to be.

One thing I would caution anyone on is running the 55w HID's on either LB or HB. While HID's draw less amps than stock once they're warmed up(depending on the kit), they almost always draw more amps than stock during their warmup cycle when they first come on. There should be specs on the kit for running amps and startup amps. The oem wires to the headlights are really thin gauge. I ran my HID's on 12 gauge wires coming off an aux fuse panel I installedunder the seat that kicks on with a relay triggered by the ignition. I know people who are just running HID bulbs in stock projectors with no problems whatsoever. I've read of other people frying their stock wires or blowing fuses. I planned on installing the aux fuse panel anyway so I could power GPS, heated grips, and some other goodies, so I used an extra fuse port and ran the HID's on heavier gauge wire to be safe. Plus, they're completely isolated on their own circuit this way and it just made me feel better. It's probably overkill; but Dad always said if it's worth doing, it's worth over-doing

 

Thanks for the reply Mike. Will start looking for projectors soon... Are you using BiXenon projectors, and can I assume that I can use other types of projectors from other cars, such as an E55, like in this auction? nissan e55 hid bi xenon projectors,wires, holders,mint:eBay Motors (item 260532628004 end time Jan-10-10 14:12:49 PST)

Regarding the wiring, I am currently running 2x6mm OD power wires and 1x6mm earth wire direct from battery to my headlight system, power feeds fused, and running auxiliary relays switched off the OEM relays. Earth wire and negative from headlights are soldered to a terminal which is solidly grounded to the headlight subframe. There is no load at all on the OEM system, apart from switching the auxiliary relays. So I assume that this setup will handle the higher initial startup amperage of the 55W HID ballasts.

Thanks again.

 

It's been a while since I researched all this, but I believe the bixenon projectors are for lights that have an integrated low/high beam. There's an actuator in the projector that has to be powered to moved and refocus light for the high beam. There's a bixenon specific bulb you need to use as well. Just go with a standard projector and bulb. Also, make sure you look up the specs for the projector and know the front-to-back measured length. There isn't a whole lot of room to work with inside the stock headlight and I want to say mine was 4 3/4 or right around 5 inches front to back. A lot of projectors are 6+ inches front to back and you'll run into trouble with your forks hitting the back of the projector when you turn sharply. I'll try to find the specs for the ones I used, but you can search for Lexus IS 330 HID and it may give you a diagram that outligns the specs for projector dimensions. But go with standard xenon projectors and find a length front-to-back that's less than 5 1/2 inches. You should be able to find a pair for under $100 for sure on eBay. Better than that is if you can find some that come with the plastic bezel around the light. You may be able to modify that bezel to fit instead of having to fab your own out of Lexan. If you can't find them with bezels, you can always buy the bezel aftermarket. But they soke you for it... ~$50 or so for 2 little pieces of plastic you're going to cut up anyway.

 

Great project. I sent my lights out not long ago to be retrofitted with projectors. Do you by chance know what the 3-pin configuration is on the light... common ground or the opposite?

 

I don't off the top of my head, actually. The bulbs the projectors used were S1's. I wired them straight off an aux fuse box so I could use heavier gauge wire and used one of the existing low beam lights to trip a relay to fire up the aux fuse box. There are kits today that supposedly do the same thing I did in a much simpler fashion. I say supposedly only b/c I have no experience using one of those kits, so I have no idea how well the do/don't work. Like this: http://eshop.ktautopart.com/motorcycle-hid-projector/honda-hid-projectors/honda-vfr800/kt-mt6d.html