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Wanting to change my 79'gs1000 circle light to a square HID

  • Thread starter Thread starter 78gs1000
  • Start date Start date
I got my HID from these guys.

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Product-Categories/Motorcycle-HID-Kits-Lighting

Couldn't have been more pleased with it. As far as switching from a round to square bucket you'll have to find a square one. As long as the bulb size is the same it shouldn't make too much difference. Although I don't know what the reflectors are like in the square units.

I suppose you could also get an HID tail-light but I would be concerned with wiring it to the brake too. I don't have much experience in that area. :o
 
78gs1000 said:
Also for the lights I'm going with a blacked out look, so wanting HID's for my taillight as well, any suggestions? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Never heard of HID tail lights! You could increase the bulb wattage a bit, to be seen with a blacked out lens though, or use one of the superbright L.E.D replacement bulbs. Seems like the guys running the blacked out lights on their cars are more concerned with displaying bad ass cosmetics than safety...... but on a bike, that visibility is crucial.
 
Just fine. I've had mine in for about a year now and haven't noticed any issues. And I can see at night :cool:
 
Ask some of the riders at ACH ride... BLACKED out turn signals are illegal for street use !!!!!!!!
 
Tim Tom said:
I got my HID from these guys.

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Product-Categories/Motorcycle-HID-Kits-Lighting

Couldn't have been more pleased with it. As far as switching from a round to square bucket you'll have to find a square one. As long as the bulb size is the same it shouldn't make too much difference. Although I don't know what the reflectors are like in the square units.

I suppose you could also get an HID tail-light but I would be concerned with wiring it to the brake too. I don't have much experience in that area. :o
Click to expand...
tim which bulb did you order from them? i have an 82 with the round bulb.
 
Where did y'all mount your ballast when you switched to the HID setup?
 
1) HIDs do NOT get used for tail lights. HID stands for High Intensity Discharge. I think you meant LED, which stands for Light Emitting Diode. if you managed to even find an HID that would fit in the signals, you'd melt them off in under an hour.

2) make sure that whatever reflector/housing/lens you use is designed for use with HID bulbs. If it's not, the geometry of the beam pattern will be off, and you will have hot spots, produce massive gare for oncoming riders, and really not much better visibility.
And before you say, "bah, more glare makes me more noticeable, it's safer actually!" think again. It might have that effect during daylight hours, but when it's dark, a poorly aimed, poorly executed HID install will cause such bright glare to the oncoming car that they will close their eyes, or look away. Unless you really want to find out just how a head-on collision with a car feels?

3) Just because it uses 35W instead of a normal 55W of an incandescent does NOT mean that it puts out less heat, either. If you've got plastic housings/reflectors, be ready for them to melt and/or deform. which will also affect your beam pattern.

I'm not saying not to use HID's; I'm saying do it RIGHT.

--sarge
 
6000k is a very bad blue color in the light spectrum to see with at night. Is it just that your old reflector was bad and the extra intensity makes it better, and cool to look at, or is it really that much better to see with? The HID's on my RX8 are very white and absolutely better to see with. I would like to reduce power on the head light with a good set of HID's. I'm just asking to get your honest opinion before trying them. They seem to be reasonable in price, but good light quality usually comes at a high price.
 
Last edited:
DrImodium said:
Where did y'all mount your ballast when you switched to the HID setup?
Click to expand...

I mounted it to the frame hidden under the tank with some big zip black zip-ties. A year later and it hasn't given me a problem yet.

As far as 6000K being a 'bad' color I can't really comment on. Having never tried a 8000K bulb I also cant comment which one would be 'best' to see with.

What I can say though is I really like the blue tint, and I can see at night. Which is more than I could say about the stock bulb.

Also nothing in my headlight has melted or become deformed due to the heat of the bulb. Even when riding in hot days, the headlight does not feel any hotter than the rest of the bike.
 
I was wrong on the 8000K, I think the pure white is more in the 4300k spectrum.
 
For my 450S, the light was way too dim so I just went to denniskirk and found a $30 halogen that is definitely bright enough, even with only a 7 incher. May not be what you're looking for but they have them for many sizes.
 
I believe that 5000K is as white as you can get before they start to turn blue and less bright.

Daniel
 
Tim Tom said:
I mounted it to the frame hidden under the tank with some big zip black zip-ties. A year later and it hasn't given me a problem yet.
Click to expand...

Did you just cut off the stock headlight connector from the suzuki harness and splice in a automotive style connector to plug into the HID harness?

No issues at start-up or around town from amp/current draw?
 
4300 is the typical OEM light temperature, and the OE uses 35 watt systems, for the most part in the automotive world.

Fluted glass reflectors, like the H4's for our bikes, will produce a very dispersed beam even above the cutoff, and it is still enough to be blinding to oncoming traffic. This doesn't happen with a standard halogen bulb becuase the light source is almost a point, whereas an HID bulb uses and arc of electricity at low amperage (relatively) and very high voltagem in effect like a spark plug but on a much larger scale and through a reactive gas. This means that the light hitting the reflector and refracting forwards is no longer where the designers intended, and your cutoff will be very vague and likely not even close to being in the right place. There are some companies out there that sell ellipsoidal and parabolic housings designed for HIDs, but they are a little unusual and not terribly cheap.

Also, DDM has gone downhill recently; their quality has dropped off and they now only sell 3 different light temperature bulbs, with stickers on them to tell the customer what they bought. So really they have 3000k, 6000k, and 10-12000k bulbs. I'd shop elsewhere, like at VVME if they're still around.

Honestly, a good glass-lense metal-reflector H4 from Hella or another reputable company with a european 80 watt or 100 watt Osram bulb will put out all the light you really need, without all the glare and extra wiring.
 
DrImodium said:
Did you just cut off the stock headlight connector from the suzuki harness and splice in a automotive style connector to plug into the HID harness?

No issues at start-up or around town from amp/current draw?
Click to expand...

I just disconnected it. It's still attached to the harness so if I ever needed, I could undo the HID mod very easily. The HID uses its own little harness complete with ballasts and fuse. Hot part to battery, ground it, and wire in the highbeam switch. It was pretty simple to install.

I've not had a problem with my bike not starting because of current draw from the headlight. Of course my GS is also in reasonable good tune and usually starts first push of the button to begin with.

If you were super concerned about this I suppose you could wire in a headlight kill switch, although I didn't think it was needed.
 
And you are using the original refector and lense?

Tim Tom said:
I just disconnected it. It's still attached to the harness so if I ever needed, I could undo the HID mod very easily. The HID uses its own little harness complete with ballasts and fuse. Hot part to battery, ground it, and wire in the highbeam switch. It was pretty simple to install.

I've not had a problem with my bike not starting because of current draw from the headlight. Of course my GS is also in reasonable good tune and usually starts first push of the button to begin with.

If you were super concerned about this I suppose you could wire in a headlight kill switch, although I didn't think it was needed.
Click to expand...
 
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