Installing HID headlight. Anyone do it?

[M249Joe]

Would like to install a HID in the H11 stock headlight.

These bulbs just drop in or are mods needed? I've read 1off sells CANBUS ok H11 kits.

Any info on what you have done?

thx

[Coyote Crazy]

M249Joe,

You can find many opinons here from those that have many more years experience than I that suggest you should not install an HID in the existing housing. I think many of them have valid points so my advise is to do a search and give what they say honest consideration.

That being said I have attempted 2 low beam conversions on my 2007 R1200R.

The first one was unsuccessful, primarily due to the fact the components were generic junk! The "H11" bulb had plastic locking tabs that did not quite fit the headlight and the back of the bulb did not have the 90° connector on the back like the OEM bulb. The plastic locking tabs broke the second time I tried to install the bulb and the back of the bulb wiring was squashed tight up against the back of the headlight housing. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact the seller I chucked the whole thing into the trash and wrote it off to experience.

The second attempt has been very successful. I purchased the "kit" from here http://www.carhidkits.com. You will need to email them for pricing on half a kit with the digital slim ballast because all the kits online have 2 bulbs and 2 ballasts (unless you are attempting to do both hi and low beam). I ordered the 6000K color bulb. What I received was a complete half kit with 1 wiring harness, 1 digital slim ballast and 1 H11 Philips bulb with stainless steel locking tabs and a 90° connector on the back. At first you will think it is impossible to get all that wiring and ballast into the rear portion of the headlight housing. It took me several attempts but I was eventually successful. It is a tight fit, otherwise you will need to drill about a 1" hole in the back of the headlight housing and find a location to mount the balast outside the housing and run the wiring back into the housing through an included rubber grommet (I cut the grommet off since I fit everything inside the housing and did not need it, if you are attempting to convert both hi and low beam you will need to drill the holes and mount the ballasts outside the housing and use the rubber grommets).

I have had no CANBUS issues or "flickering" issues what so ever. What this bulb does not have is the black coating on the tip of the bulb that the OEM bulb has so you want to be very carful as to how you aim the headlight. I lowered the angle on mine just a bit to make sure I was not blinding oncoming traffic or the vehicle in front of me. After several thousand miles, many of which were after sun down, and some 400 to 500 mile days it has been trouble free for over a year now. I have been riding solo and with groups in various positions, and poled my fellow riders and there were no complaints when I was behind them about "blinding" light and to date no oncoming traffic has "flashed" me. The biggest change I noticed was the enhanced brightness of reflective materials, the 6000K wavelength reflects much more light back from reflective signs and highway reflectors. I also believe that I can see better and farther down the road at night but YMMV.


Yuup it's bright!

Note the "orange glow" in the lower right corner, that is the light from a compact florescent bulb. You can see from the differance how "white" the 6000K bulb is.

[deilenberger]

A small contrary view (as Cayote Crazy predicted)..

- Consider auxiliary lights. The standard R1200R housing doesn't have a bulb shield in place, and the HID conversion kits I've seen don't have the anti-glare coating on the end of the bulb. As Cayote mention - this can lead to glare for oncoming traffic. BTDT on an HID conversion on a BMW M3.. and went back to higher output halogen bulbs.

- If you are going to do an HID conversion, I'd strongly suggest not using 6K bulbs, look for "4,300K" bulbs. This is the standard that auto manufacturers use. Despite it sounding like a good idea to go more "white" (which at 6,000K is actually heading toward blue) - your eye is more sensitive to red then it is to blue. If you have any cataract problems - the 6,000K bulb will cause scattering in your eye - which lessens the contrast you can see. Things may look more bright, but the visual information you're processing is actually less, the lack of contrast makes it harder to see stuff in/on the road like debris or potholes. The higher number (blue-r) light will also cause more glare for oncoming traffic. Aiming the light lower to prevent glare problems for oncoming traffic is only partially successful, since some of the glare is coming from the uncoated end of the HID capsule, and simply lowering the beam does nothing to help that. Plus lowering the beam lowers the cutoff from the light assembly, which makes for a shorter beam reach.

Some info on HID colors: http://www.delonixradar.com.au/hid-xeno ... -chart.php

For lots of good info on why an HID conversion may not be the best idea.. I'd suggest you look at Daniel Stern's website. Here is a link to some relevant info from his website: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... bulbs.html and http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... sions.html - and I'd suggest reading about Daniel Stern to see what his qualifications are.

What does work well on the R12R is higher output (but same wattage) uncolored halogen bulbs. Daniel Stern sells them, as does PowerBulbs.com in the UK (they offer great prices and about 3 day shipping to the US..) The only downside of these bulbs is a shorter lifespan. I have used the Philips and Osram +50 bulbs on other bikes and cars.. but they're a bit rare in the H11 size the R1200R takes. Osram does make one that works: http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/osram ... -h11-bulbs - do not confuse this with the US made Sylvania "Nightbreaker" - despite Osram owning Sylvania now - the bulbs are not at all the same (not even close.)

OK - why auxiliary lights instead?

- Most important to me - redundancy. If your headlight craps out - the auxiliary lights are still there. Darkness never engulfs you.

- Conspicuity (ie - can they see you?) A pair of auxiliary lights can be used to create a light triangle - making the bike much more visible during daylight hours - especially when the sun is behind you at dawn or dusk. The triangle also makes it easier to judge the speed and position of the bike. "I didn't see you.." is much less likely.

- Aiming - I can aim my auxiliary light to where I really need it. I use Hella FF50 lights mounted on the fork sliders with LumaLink mounts. I'm able to aim these lights to fill in where the headlight doesn't light up (no matter what bulbs you have in it.) The sides of the road are of great interest to me considering the number of deer (hoofed rats) in NJ and the risk of meeting up with one at night. The auxiliary lights DO light up the eyeballs of deer quite well and seem to work to stop them in their tracks (sort of like "jack-lighting" - an illegal way to hunt deer at night.)

A well done HID light - like the one on the K1600GT would be wonderful on the R12R - but due to the complexity of the gyro aiming mechanism (that allows the light to turn into a turn) I don't think the conversion kit will provide the same level of lighting.

FWIW - YMMV - just my ramblings..