HID headlight conversion

[bcware]

I'm sure there are cheap options well below $100. The sky is the limit when it comes to headlights.

 

[bentwrench]

My bike didn't run and was painted with house paint when I got it.

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Well, I decided to take BC's advice and upgrade from the poor man's HID conversion. Nothing useful was found in the junkyard, but Ebay was another story. I had planned on just buying the lens/projector and mounting it inside a spare headlight, and came up with this: I figure that I can pop out the lens, remove the halogen-style cowl, and maybe weld the projector to the dish, and finish it up by replacing the lens. The seller went all out on shipping this baby: four layers of bubblewrap, separated with sheet foam, and everything was shrunk-wrapped. The actual product was a little different from my expectation: What do I do with all these wires?!? Oh... That means I have more stuff that I need to hide. Anyway, I thought I could just put the H4-bulb that I already had into this baby, but it uses a tiny one instead (no halogen backup now). Luckily it came with one, and it was 35W; so I didn't have to buy a new ballast. Now the advertised H4 comes from these adapter plates: and you just throw the one you want on the back. The lens and adapter are then mounted to the receptacle by a die-cast wing-nut thingy.

Because of all this, I decided to mount it to my old sealed-beam (PO modified), since it doesn't need these: I used a wire wheel to remove the bulk of the resin holding the lens in, and dug a razor blade into what remained. Then I tried to pry out the lens... It turns out that there was resin underneath the lens too. After cleaning up the glass, I was able to mount the projector in the hole in the sealed beam where the PO did the poor man's halogen conversion. The projector sticks out a fair ways, so replacing the glass was never an option anyway.

Here's a little comparison between how they look: I needed to route the control wires to the angel eye and shutter through the housing, so I took off the rubber grommet from the bulb and put it in a hole I drilled in the housing. There is a temporary chunk of rubber in there to try to seal it off for now. And now to compare the light coming out of the projector: Top is low-beam (shutter obstructing the light), bottom is high-beam (shutter open completely). Left is head-on, right is above the cutoff angle. I have the angel eye wired to the high-beam for now, we'll see if I change my mind later.

 

[OliverB]

Pseudo,
Your conversion is a work or art. Great job.

For others wanting headlight upgrade w/o going to HIDs: We have had this discussion before. An easy and effective way is to purchase the "Candlepower" conversion reflector (http://store.candlepower.com/ca631quheleu.html) in the original diameter and install one of the high intensity halogen bulbs. I use SilverStar Ultra. Install on my '80 and son's '81 was very simple. Is a little different for pre '80 headlamps, I think. The new reflector is designed for motorcycle use and gives a great beam pattern. The SilverStar bulb is very bright and gives great down-the-road projection. Offset the increased amp draw of using a 55/60W bulb by installing a pair of LED tail/stop bulbs. If you have already gone to LED turn signal/instrument bulbs, that's even better.

 

[JARichmond]

Pseudo, is there a brand name associated with the headlight you picked up above? It seems pretty simple. Were there any "This isn't going to work" moments you had when doing the conversion?

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Pseudo, Your conversion is a work or art. Great job.

Thanks! I can't help but love it myself: it just looks like it belongs there.

Pseudo, is there a brand name associated with the headlight you picked up above? It seems pretty simple. Were there any "This isn't going to work" moments you had when doing the conversion?

No brand that I'm aware of, but here's the ebay listing that I bought it from if that helps. There were a few moments like that but, considering that I had planned on trying to weld it to the old headlight, the whole process was pretty laid back. I actually spent quite a while trying to figure out the wiring before I noticed the diagram on the box! Other than wiring, drilling for the grommet in the housing was the most drama I had to endure: my biggest drill bit was 3/8", so I had to use the pivot&walk-around-the-edge method to get the hole big enough for the grommet.

 

[JARichmond]

Superb. I noticed that the package does not include the ballast. Have you got any information on the ballast you used in the assembly?

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

I pretty much just grabbed one of the first ones that I saw. The listing for it has ended, but it was advertised as a "slim 35W HID Xenon Ballast Conversion Replacement" and looks like this one. I paid $11 for mine, but it looks like there are much cheaper ones out there.

 

[JARichmond]

I'm running out of positive exclamations, but marvelous!

 

[SpecialDetail13]

I know this is a slightly older post but I thought I would throw in my 2 cents. I bought my bike a few months ago and it had the stock headlight. I couldn't believe how poor the original light was and although I knew I wouldn't do much night time driving I had to upgrade. I first bought the Candlepower 6 3/8" headlight with H4 bulb. It came with the 55/60 watt bulb and was easy enough to install. The headlight was much brighter but still dimmed with the brake lights etc. I then bought a 35 watt HID/xenon kit off of ebay. Easy to intall and seems to be almost twice as bright as the 55/60 watt halogen. The headlight from Candlepower properly reflects the light so it is aimed at your lane and down. Oncoming traffic does not "flash" me and I'm a LOT safer now riding at night. Total spent was less than $100.

 

[halfbreed4lyfe]

I would plan to try and buy these and retrofit them next season, does anyone know if the projector in these is sufficient, and 7" will fit in the xs headlight right?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/65-78-FORD-MUSTANG-7-ROUND-PROJECTOR-HEADLIGHTS-LAMP-W-CITY-LIGHTS-H4-BULBS-/150921615225?hash=item2323a11779&item=150921615225&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr

 

[jmd_forest]

I converted to the 60 Watt halogen with very little work and I think it cost $19 for the halogen bulb at the local big box auto store. All it took was some gentle removal of the original bulb from the headlight reflector and a pair of tin snips to trim the halogen bulb base to fit. Not as good as a HID but a great improvement to the original.

I had already converted the stop light and turn signals to LEDS so I have no dimming of the headlight upon breaking.

 

[1lowdiesel]

I've got $35 bucks in my HID conversion.

 

[jonjkim12]

For anyone who did this, how did you guys get the headlight socket from the HID kit to plug into the bike? on my bike, the headlight wires were soldered to the headlight bulb, is that wrong?

am i supposed to connect the wires directly to the kit's plug wires?

i took my whole headlight wire apart with labels, and thought it was going to be straight forwards, but not so much.

please help!

 

[16VGTIDave]

The wires were soldered to the bulb??? Now that is some special kind of "shade tree mechanic" work! There is supposed to be a 3 wire plug that connects to the headlight, so that it is easy to replace when it gets broken or dies.

Since you don't have that plug, you can with solder the wires together, or use bullet connectors, or find a 3 pin connector, whatever. Just be sure it rated for 10A and is secure, as loosing your headlight on a dark road isn't fun at all, especially at speed. DAMHIK...

 

[jonjkim12]

Ya i just did some research,

ended up buying one from Mikesxs (almost $40 with 2nd day air, I'm impatient).

i wanna do it right since i'm going to have it all open anyways. a lot of the wiring at shoved in the headlight was so improperly managed.

While we're discussing, is a hairdryer the easiest way to get the glass off a headlight assembly? just bought one from DCC where the CS rep told me it was easily removable, but there's silicone that won't belt off (....i used a blow torch, gently).

i'm gonna try the cardboard box and hair dryer method, but i wanted to see if there's an easier way you guys know of.

 

[16VGTIDave]

If it is a silicone adhesive, it is probably temperature resistant. You may be best off trying to cut as much of it away with a scalpel or sharp utility knife. Also, some adhesives are dissolved by WD40. Might give that a try in a small area and see what happens after it has sat for 15 or 20 minutes.

 

[jonjkim12]

Hey Dave,

thanks for the suggestion, it worked. had to go around a few times after the WD40 with a razor blade and a clay pick, but its worked.

note: be careful with the WD-40 or any other chemical, i seemed to have burned off some of the chrome paint on my reflector with one of my chemicals, but i dont think itll make a difference since i'm installing a projector.

 

[16VGTIDave]

Gad to hear it worked for you!

With the projector, you could paint the reflector black if you want. It won't be used.

 

[jonjkim12]

that sounds like an interesting idea, i should figure it out before i put silicone back on that lens haha.

thanks Dave.