Here's my experience installing a HID headlight: (Fall '09)
For reference go to the HID Nation site's Motorcycle page:
http://www.hidnation.com/mohidki.htmlI'm not recommending any specific kit. Shop around but use the specs listed below.
First off it's an H4 HID/Halogen (Low Beam/High Beam) bulb. It uses the HID for the Low Beam. I decided on the 6000K kit for it pure white light. None of the blue tinge though you can buy that if you wish though the lumens output is lower and the glare is higher. The High Beam is a Halogen bulb built in to the HID unit. That's the law. Everything was Plug-and-Play, no cutting of wires at all. Here's how the install went...
The box arrives! Ready to get to work..
1. Remove the 3-prong connector from the old headlight bulb.
2. Pull off the rubber boot for a minute to get it out of the way.
3. And flip-up the wire clip holding the old bulb in.
4. Remove the old bulb carefully and don't touch the glass as skin oils will burn and shatter the bulb when you decide to reuse it (I wrapped mine in bubble wrap and keep it as a spare in the side bags for an emergency).
Note the orientation for re-install. The horizontal pin on top, and the two side vertical pins with the flat part of the socket holder facing down.
5. I decided to put the ballast into the left fairing pocket for better weather protection, so I drilled a hole forward to run the wires through. The hole on the right was put there by the previous owner, but it was binding the wires a bit, so I drilled another one. You can also mount the ballast under the fairing fastening it to the fairing mount.
6. This kit comes with a metal bracket to hold the ballast snugly but it was a bit long, so I trimmed off some of the end of the bracket, and drilled 2 small holes to attach it to the pocket with screws and nuts with blue loctite on the threads.
7. Next, trim the inner circle of the rubber boot to make it big enough to fit the new bulb and wires through.
8. Reconnect the bulb, connect up the wires to the ballast, then install the new bulb.
9. Flip back down the wire clip to hold the bulb in place.
10. Snug the rubber boot back on.
11. Zip tie the extra wires to the front sub-frame mounts
12. Fire it up! Nice and bright white.
It's hard to get a good sense with these pics exactly how much brighter the HID is, but it's quite dramatic.
Low beam
HID, see the nice cutoff line of the beam:
High beam
Halogen:
All in all, it took about an hour to do and makes a HUGE difference. Well worth the time IMHO.
