HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

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gavinfdavies
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HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by gavinfdavies »

This is a brief overview of how I installed a proper HID bulb into my ZXR.

Product;
I chose to buy from http://www.hids4u.co.uk/, as recommended by Harris Performance.
you'll need the H4 bulb kit and slimline ballast from the bike section...
http://www.hids4u.co.uk/h4-hids4u-slim- ... ycles.html

The kit comprises of the HID bulb (uses a carefully maintained spark/ark to produce light, not a filament), slim ballast (ballast is basically a transformer, producing 24,000v to make the spark, then dropping it down to about 90v to maintain it safely), and a small wiring loom. All the connectors are designed to just slot into your existing loom, now joining required. It's dead simple, and very neat. The instructions are brilliant, and the feel one of excellent quality.

This kit is for only one bulb, since i'm a) poor, and b) wary of new stuff and wanted to see if these were as good as they are cracked up to bew. they are! There is a twin H4 bulb kit available, but i'm not sure if its different, or merely two single kits together.
Prices (inc vat & p&p); Single = £78, Twin = £140ish

You'll need;
to remove seat, tank, and air box (5mm allen key, posie screw driver, and 10mm long socket). My layout required no cutting or drilling, and everything end up neatly packed away out of sight.

Box;
Photo0116.jpg
Very posh, with magnetic opening.

Contents;
Photo0117.jpg
Neatly laid out, and securely packaged.

Bulb; (sorry about crap quality, blame cheap samsung phone)
Photo0118.jpg
The metal shield unlocks and detaches, which is necessary to modify it, as it is also the bulb carrier.

Continued below...
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Last edited by gavinfdavies on Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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gavinfdavies
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by gavinfdavies »

Bulb carrier mods; (as detailed here; http://www.zxrworld.co.uk/zxr400/iridium.html)
Photo0119.jpg
I simply bent the lower two tangs back, and used a dremmel to gentle grind a grove the width of the lip next to the "open" mark. To protect the bulb, make sure you remove the carrier first.

Layout under air box;
Photo0120.jpg
chuck the ballast loom and switc loom under the air box (paper only to help make them visible in the picture) and push the connectors through the relevant frame hole.

Layout fairing;
Photo0121.jpg
Poke these ends BETWEEN the forks.

Joining up;
Very simple, since everything only fits in one place. Detach metal carrier from bulb, and insert and lock into lamp. Then lock the bare bulb into the carrier. Attach the other connectors together between the forks, check for full freedom of movement, and maybe have a quick test. Bright eh?

continued...
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I do 700 miles a week in all weathers including snow, that's roughly 35,000 miles a year, and some weekend warrior biker has the nerve to get out of his Audi at work to tell me to I was riding far too fast in the wet (over taking at 50... fast eh?).
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gavinfdavies
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by gavinfdavies »

Packing the wiring away;
Photo0122.jpg
Stuff the switch unit and other small block into the space left at each side of front of air box, with the flat ballast and larger connector hanging up over the frame. One the air box is seated and bolted in, and you haven't caught a throttle cable, you could pop the ballast and connector inside the air filter compartment. I run mine without the sponge filter, using just the metal gauze to catch bugs, so i've got plenty of space. put the bast behind where the snorkel would go, and lay the connector along the top of the filter basket thing. Cut a little grove into the side to allow the cables in, then bolt the snorkel back on.

This keeps everything secure and tidy, the ballast is out of the element, but should still be kept cool by the air flow through box, and being behind the snorkel, is not blocking the airflow.

Reassemble the bike making sue you reconnect the fuel line. Can lead to fatally decreased fuel consumption when you get about 1.3 miles down the road if you forget... confuddled

Now make sure your lamps are well adjusted so you don't blind people, and enjoy.

Result...
Photo0123.jpg
The yellow one is an Osram 40%+ H4 bulb (55/60W) whilst the white one is the 35/35w HID bulb. When riding you can't even see where the H4 is illuminating, because the HID is just so damn good! :excited
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I do 700 miles a week in all weathers including snow, that's roughly 35,000 miles a year, and some weekend warrior biker has the nerve to get out of his Audi at work to tell me to I was riding far too fast in the wet (over taking at 50... fast eh?).
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by RedexRobB »

Nice post, i did read tho that HID lights arent suitable for bulb headlamps as the filament of the HID compared to a bulb is a different shape, therefore giving a different beam pattern. Which goes someway to explaining why chavs in corsas look like they are driving round with lights on full beam once they have HID kits fitted..
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gavinfdavies
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by gavinfdavies »

It depends on the bulb. These ones are particularly good, and specifically designed to produce the correct patter. Because of the brightness (think of a continuous camera flash!) you need to keep the lenses clean to prevent the dirt scattering the light. Mine bulb gives a perfect dispersal pattern.

Also, the blue ones chav use won't pass mot's (the light has to be white or yellow), and the plain white ones are actually the brightest for a given wattage.
I do 700 miles a week in all weathers including snow, that's roughly 35,000 miles a year, and some weekend warrior biker has the nerve to get out of his Audi at work to tell me to I was riding far too fast in the wet (over taking at 50... fast eh?).
banzay
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by banzay »

Hello There! I just did this thing too, a few day ago :) Only i got xenon on low, and halogen on high. (or i could have swaped the bi-low/high bulbs on my care, but didn't know where to put all wires and the supplimentary relay)

I'll try to post some pics later :) BTW i got 2 bulbs, and 2 x ballast for only 25 euros :)
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gavinfdavies
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by gavinfdavies »

that's cheap! Relay? the proper discharge bulbs come with ballast (sort of transformer for increasing the voltage), is that what you mean? H4 xenon bulbs are more expensive that normal ones as they have to have two dischargers, one to replace each filament.

At the minute i'm running just the one, since my heated grips are using the wattage that would otherwise power the second. Trying to run both and the grips simply flattens your battery! Also, my one 35w/35w xenon bulb produces more light than the previous pair of 55w/60w bulbs!
I do 700 miles a week in all weathers including snow, that's roughly 35,000 miles a year, and some weekend warrior biker has the nerve to get out of his Audi at work to tell me to I was riding far too fast in the wet (over taking at 50... fast eh?).
banzay
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by banzay »

Ballast, not relay, you are right! :)

Some day, they worked fine, but now, they just flicker for a moment, and it takes longer to light up. The xenon 35w, the low lights, start to flicker (they work fine on 12V so they are ok), but the high 55w, works fine, so i suspect the charging/charging relay, since my signal lights relay is dead too (it does not flicker). Did not measured the charging, but i will when the tempreture rises over 1 grade C :o
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by Columbo »

Is this a UK model or Import?

I'm hoping for a straight fit since mine is a UK bike.
tgal7032
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by tgal7032 »

how did you wire the kit up to your light switches? Does it just plug straight in?
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by Columbo »

tgal7032 wrote:how did you wire the kit up to your light switches? Does it just plug straight in?
In the OP and on the site for the kit, it says it's a plug and play kit. Comes fitted with connectors to plug straight into the loom.
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gavinfdavies
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by gavinfdavies »

Hi guys, been away for a while, sorry for the late reply.

The HIDs4U kits plug straight in using only your existing connectors, so no tinkering is necessary. The tricky part is finding somewhere to hide the ballast and starters. I fed me cables through the hole in the frame and hid (no pun intended) the ballast behind the snorkel in the air box. If I were to do it again, I would ring HIDs4U and ask about some shorter cables without the additional in-line switches (can't remember what they were for).
I do 700 miles a week in all weathers including snow, that's roughly 35,000 miles a year, and some weekend warrior biker has the nerve to get out of his Audi at work to tell me to I was riding far too fast in the wet (over taking at 50... fast eh?).
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by Johnson »

gavinfdavies wrote:This is a brief overview of how I installed a proper HID bulb into my ZXR.

Product;
I chose to buy from http://www.robustbuy.com/lighting-syste ... 5_653.html, as recommended by Harris Performance.
you'll need the H4 bulb kit and slimline ballast from the bike section...
http://www.hids4u.co.uk/h4-hids4u-slim- ... ycles.html

The kit comprises of the HID bulb (uses a carefully maintained spark/ark to produce light, not a filament), slim ballast (ballast is basically a transformer, producing 24,000v to make the spark, then dropping it down to about 90v to maintain it safely), and a small wiring loom. All the connectors are designed to just slot into your existing loom, now joining required. It's dead simple, and very neat. The instructions are brilliant, and the feel one of excellent quality.

This kit is for only one bulb, since i'm a) poor, and b) wary of new stuff and wanted to see if these were as good as they are cracked up to bew. they are! There is a twin H4 bulb kit available, but i'm not sure if its different, or merely two single kits together.
Prices (inc vat & p&p); Single = £78, Twin = £140ish

You'll need;
to remove seat, tank, and air box (5mm allen key, posie screw driver, and 10mm long socket). My layout required no cutting or drilling, and everything end up neatly packed away out of sight.
Hello Dear, Thank you very much for sharing the brief overview of how to install a proper HID bulb into ZXR. It solved many of my problem to install HID in my kawasaki ZXR. biggrin
Songshan
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by Songshan »

Hi, just put these onto my J plate. Only one light anyway. I ordered the slim line balast kit and the normal H4 one. THought the slim line came on its own. Anyway I fitted the slim line kit and had no difference between high and low beam, and it turned off momentarily whilst switching so I swapped the part with the three way light connector for the one that came with the normal kit, the part with the switches on. Seems to now work with no flickering off, but still not much difference between full and low beam if any. Weird. Gona ring them in the week to find out if that's normal. Anyway had that on here?
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Re: HID Xenon bulb conversion... 300% brighter!

Post by Songshan »

Oh! and I didn't need to change the bulb in any way, just slotted straight in.
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