Member Contributer blkrabit Posted March 31, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 31, 2009 So I'm thinking of bringing on an aftermarket line of HID products at my stealership, and I'd like to know: Have any VFRD-ers done this mod on their VFR or other bikes? What did you pay for the mod? How easy was it to install? Are there any negative things to be aware of, i.e., melting headlight housings, etc.? Thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 So I'm thinking of bringing on an aftermarket line of HID products at my stealership, and I'd like to know:Have any VFRD-ers done this mod on their VFR or other bikes? What did you pay for the mod? How easy was it to install? Are there any negative things to be aware of, i.e., melting headlight housings, etc.? Thanks for the info! Here's some info on them.......Monk http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/hid-lig...ght-conversion/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer blkrabit Posted March 31, 2009 Author Member Contributer Share Posted March 31, 2009 @ monk Hooboy...lots of reading to do...thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer digitallyhip Posted March 31, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 31, 2009 So I'm thinking of bringing on an aftermarket line of HID products at my stealership, and I'd like to know:Have any VFRD-ers done this mod on their VFR or other bikes? What did you pay for the mod? How easy was it to install? Are there any negative things to be aware of, i.e., melting headlight housings, etc.? Thanks for the info! Yes! Last weekend I installed H4s and H7s in my 2003 VFR. I bought two 6000K kits from Xenon Rider and am VERY pleased. The install was a little tedious because of bodywork concerns, but I was able to get everything in and functional pretty easily. The biggest thing is the quality of the lighting: it really does look like daylight in front of my bike. If I were starting over, I'd skip the high beams and just do the mains. When I hit the brights, it's slightly brighter, but not much. Now... how to get them installed in my company car: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JZH Posted March 31, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 31, 2009 I've done two HID conversions, and they're basically evil. :wheel: By that I mean they are all (and I mean ALL) bodge jobs in one way or another, with the common theme being "if some light is good, a shitload of light must be a lot better!" Which is, of course, utter bollocks. HID conversions appeal to people who do not know any better. They are fascinated by the pretty light and ignorant of the way it is improperly focused, distributed and contained. Shoving an insanely bright HID capsule into a reflector headlight housing is like dropping a Torocharged VFR engine into a moped. Now that I have seen the light (sorry), I am embarassed about my HID converted bikes. Oh, the shame... Ciao, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Luvmyvfr Posted March 31, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 31, 2009 I had a ballast and a H7 bulb from a spotlight laying around(6000K I think) so I finally installed it and WOW, I love it and have considered taking apart my working spotlight for the other side. When I turn off my high beams, and go back to regular bulbs, they feel like i have candles lit... I can't wait until I finish off the other 3 bulbs...I do a good bit of night riding and always have to watch out for deer, so to me it's money well spent on safety. I might go to a 5000K bulb instead though. One negative that I have noticed is that when the high beams are on, it makes road signs really glare back at you! I wonder if they could angle them away form oncoming traffic??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer spotthedogg Posted March 31, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 31, 2009 I have a set of ApexCone H4's in my '03. I have had no issues yet. I also have the same kit in my Protege5, very bright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I am (partially) with JZH, it doesn't work as expected with headlights that have faceted/directional lenses designed for the less luminous halogen bulbs. It does work OK on the fifth and sixth gen. headlights in that is passes tests using a headlamp tester. I have a single Pilot H4 Bi-Xenon HID Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Peto Posted March 31, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 31, 2009 I've done two HID conversions, and they're basically evil. :lurk: By that I mean they are all (and I mean ALL) bodge jobs in one way or another, with the common theme being "if some light is good, a shitload of light must be a lot better!" Which is, of course, utter bollocks. HID conversions appeal to people who do not know any better. They are fascinated by the pretty light and ignorant of the way it is improperly focused, distributed and contained. Shoving an insanely bright HID capsule into a reflector headlight housing is like dropping a Torocharged VFR engine into a moped. Now that I have seen the light (sorry), I am embarassed about my HID converted bikes. Oh, the shame... Ciao, +1 I had a quality set of 4300K bulbs installed with top quality phillips ballasts. Nothing but issues. When you turn the key on both would fire up, then after you start the bike they wouldn't always re-fire. Sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes neither. I modified the setup so that when on high beams the headlights were off, so that I could keep them off until I had the bike started and then fire them up. This fixed that problem. BUT, the light dances around when you hit bumps, the halogen reflectors are polygons, and it causes the light dance on the road. It makes you crazy after awhile. They are really bright, signs light up in the day time, but the light is not focused at all, its everywhere and has missing spots throughout. When I pulled the system out. I upgraded to 55/55W silverstars. Then I modded them to use both filaments on high beams. This is better then HIDs BY FAR, IMO. The light is stable, always works, and like a beacon in the night. When I need the extra light I hit the double fire (hi-beam) button and POW even more. When you are taking an exit ramp where there are no streetlights and you lay your bike over, the low beams (or HIDs) dont show you the road ahead, but your high beams light up the curve where you will be. The double fire makes the high beams actually usable because it doesn't become dark right in front of your bike when the low beams extinguish. IMO, for functionality do the above, if you are into the look and just ride around locally then do HIDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BartmanEH Posted April 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 7, 2009 I upgraded to 55/55W silverstars. Then I modded them to use both filaments on high beams. Hey, Peto that's sounds neato (pardon the pun). Care to share how you mod'ed them so both Hi and Lo are on at the same time in high beam mode? Some kind of wiring mod? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum CEO HispanicSlammer Posted April 7, 2009 Forum CEO Share Posted April 7, 2009 I read that most aftermarket hid systems that slot into h-4 type bulb sockets are not properly focused by the reflector cause the hid arc is not in the same place as a standard halogen filiment. So the beam is brighter but much more diffused and it causes havoc with oncomming traffic since well they get blinded, brighter but not usefully placed beam makes for a useless modification! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Hoover Posted April 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 7, 2009 Are we talking 35W ktis or 55W kits here? I know the higher K are known for a lot of glare. Does anyone have any experiance with 3000K HID's. The yellow light is easier on the eyes and is more like a halogen colour of light. I was thinking about adding them as I live in a rural area and deer can be a problem, or would I still blind other drivers? Hoover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rice Posted April 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 7, 2009 I drove my truck on a rural road just the other night and an oncoming car blinded me with its headlihts. I almost ended up in its lane and narrowly avoided a head-on collision. I am also one of the better drivers out there (IMHO). If you do not want to have a head-on encounter with a car, don't do it. Go with Peto's suggestion - the best solution by far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BartmanEH Posted April 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 7, 2009 Go with Peto's suggestion - the best solution by far. Right, now we need Peto to tell us how he did it. Peto? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vanion2 Posted April 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 7, 2009 I read that most aftermarket hid systems that slot into h-4 type bulb sockets are not properly focused by the reflector cause the hid arc is not in the same place as a standard halogen filiment. So the beam is brighter but much more diffused and it causes havoc with on coming traffic since well they get blinded, brighter but not usefully placed beam makes for a useless modification! HS hit the nail on the head there. Unless you are getting the whole lens kit all you are doing is blinding people coming at you head on. It's your life so go ahead and do what you please. I read a post here where a guy took some Porsche HID lenses and installed them on an early gen VFR. It looked awesome and the HID's actually worked as they were supposed to. Of course the HID lenses cost more than his bike but it still looked cool. :goofy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 sounds like a good idea lo and hi together now we need to know how its done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BartmanEH Posted April 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 7, 2009 I PM'd Peto to get his attention. Come on, Peto, spill the beans! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JZH Posted April 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 7, 2009 I read a post here where a guy took some Porsche HID lenses and installed them on an early gen VFR. It looked awesome and the HID's actually worked as they were supposed to. Of course the HID lenses cost more than his bike but it still looked cool. :biggrin:ISTR seeing that. Forgot about it, though (but I probably saved the pics somewhere!).It's called "retrofitting", and it's not that difficult, but you need to be willing to sacrifice expensive plastic parts, buy loads of unusable parts and do careful measurements. I worked on this when I was back in California over the winter, but didn't have time to finish it off, so I've not really wanted to tease you guys with it (any more than strictly necessary)... But, I can say that I've worked out a mounting plate and design that allows me to properly mount (i.e., so that the adjusters function) a pair of Infiniti G35 bi-xenon clear-lens projectors within the 5th-gen headlight housing. There are a few details I've yet to work out (and can't, since all the stuff is 5,000mi away), but I'm fairly certain it will work. I just want it to be as right as I can make it--and duplicable by you guys, if you want. Performance-wise, the beam quality should be about the same as that of...an Infiniti G35 with xenon projectors, actually. Which kinda makes sense, as all I'm doing is transplanting a proven, high-quality lighting system from one vehicle into another. The challenge is to keep it from being (or appearing to be) a bodge-job. [And this is where I'd attach the photos, if I were on the right computer!] Oh, well. Perhaps I should start a new thread anyway... Stay tuned (or should that be "focused"?) :goofy: Ciao, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Peto Posted April 8, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 8, 2009 I have never felt so missed before. :goofy: First of all I cannot take credit for this mod. I believe I got the idea from HS and his superbright post (which disappeared btw). Well, you all have different bikes so the options you have and the way you connect them is different. On 5th gens with H4 bulbs it is easy. You want the low beams always on. You want to be able to cycle the high beams on when you need extra light. The stock condition is to switch between low beams or high beams. The idea of the mod is to keep the low beam headlight relay's signal wire hot when the high beams are flipped on (and the high beams relay's signal wire becomes hot). How to do this? Easy, use a bridge wire to connect the signal wires from the two relays (blue to white on 99 5th). However, any of you savy electrical guys out there will realise that doing this will cause both high/low beams to be on no matter what position the hi/lo switch is in. You must prevent electricity from going through that jumper wire towards the high beam relay, but allow the electricity to go from high beam relay (blue) to the low beam relay signal wire (white). How do you do this? Easy, install a one-way electrical gate or diode. Pick up a small one at radio shack. You can also run an inline switch on this jumper wire so that you can disable this mod, I believe HS did this, I chose not too. 4th gens should be the same as above, but you need to use the wiring diagram in the service manual to see which wires to short with a diode (probably the ones coming from the hi/low switch). On the 6th gens you have 4 bulbs. The low beams are H4s (assumption), so you can "double fire" those on the high beam setting. I don't know how they are wired, but I bet the 3rd prong on the H4 bulb is not used and in which case you can just add a relay to power that prong, and use the high beam signal wire from the high beam relay to power the signal wire of your new relay. Presto 6 filaments lit on high beam settingm, while low beams are normal. Darth Bling drew something up here using instead a 5 pole relay: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.p...ights+filaments The mod on the 6th gen will produce a lot of light, but a big draw on your electrical system. If you run accessories (especially heated clothing) be very mindful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BartmanEH Posted April 8, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 8, 2009 Brilliant, Peto! Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer FotoMoto Posted April 8, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 8, 2009 I rode in a truck on a moonless night that had serious and I mean serious lighting; running a baja 1000 at night kind of stuff. It was WAY too bright for even the dark canyon roads. How can that be? It was so strong that the reflections from typical road signs were so intense it blinded you! I can only imagine what oncoming traffic would feel like (see). It's been said many times, the 6gen has one of the better systems on the road today. Upgrade to better, more efficient bulbs and you'll be quite satisfied and save money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLO97VFR Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I read that most aftermarket hid systems that slot into h-4 type bulb sockets are not properly focused by the reflector cause the hid arc is not in the same place as a standard halogen filiment. So the beam is brighter but much more diffused and it causes havoc with oncomming traffic since well they get blinded, brighter but not usefully placed beam makes for a useless modification! :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 the hid arc is not in the same place as a standard halogen filiment. Hmmm, will have to look into that. Maybe there is some room for improvement. Oh, well. Perhaps I should start a new thread anyway... Stay tuned (or should that be "focused"?) :biggrin: Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Macs06VFR Posted April 8, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 8, 2009 It's been said many times, the 6gen has one of the better systems on the road today. Upgrade to better, more efficient bulbs and you'll be quite satisfied and save money. I'm pretty happy with my lights, but I'm curious - what are the better, more efficient bulbs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BartmanEH Posted April 8, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 8, 2009 I'd also like to know which make/model of more efficient bulbs peeps have had good success with. OK, FotoMoto, your turn to spill the beans! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vanion2 Posted April 8, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted April 8, 2009 Search and you shall find... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
blkrabit
So I'm thinking of bringing on an aftermarket line of HID products at my stealership, and I'd like to know:
Have any VFRD-ers done this mod on their VFR or other bikes?
What did you pay for the mod?
How easy was it to install?
Are there any negative things to be aware of, i.e., melting headlight housings, etc.?
Thanks for the info!
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