Have you already bought your HID kit? The kit I bought is plug and play and actually has a connector that plugs into one of the OEM headlight connectors.
Have you already bought your HID kit? The kit I bought is plug and play and actually has a connector that plugs into one of the OEM headlight connectors.My kit is a VVME car kit. It has a connector to plug into one of the headlight connectors, however that connection is only used to trigger the high/low beam relay. Power for the ballasts is through a separate heavy red wire with an in-line 20 amp fuse.
My kit is a VVME car kit. It has a connector to plug into one of the headlight connectors, however that connection is only used to trigger the high/low beam relay. Power for the ballasts is through a separate heavy red wire with an in-line 20 amp fuse.
I don't think power for the ballasts could be reliably taken from the headlight connection, because there would be a power interruption every time you switched from high to low beam. You would need to tap in before the relay that drives the high/low beam switching. That's the point I'm hoping to locate.
My kit is a VVME car kit. It has a connector to plug into one of the headlight connectors, however that connection is only used to trigger the high/low beam relay. Power for the ballasts is through a separate heavy red wire with an in-line 20 amp fuse.We had a group buy here before the old forum crash. A & R motorsports, maybe the info is listed in one of the stickies.
I don't think power for the ballasts could be reliably taken from the headlight connection, because there would be a power interruption every time you switched from high to low beam. You would need to tap in before the relay that drives the high/low beam switching. That's the point I'm hoping to locate.
My kit is a VVME car kit. It has a connector to plug into one of the headlight connectors, however that connection is only used to trigger the high/low beam relay. Power for the ballasts is through a separate heavy red wire with an in-line 20 amp fuse.Now that I think about it I believe the A&R kit works the same way. I don't think you can safely avoid a direct connection to the battery. The accessory circuit would be convenient but is only rated for 10 amps, I beleive. Maybe the fan circuit would be suitable.
I don't think power for the ballasts could be reliably taken from the headlight connection, because there would be a power interruption every time you switched from high to low beam. You would need to tap in before the relay that drives the high/low beam switching. That's the point I'm hoping to locate.
You've really already answered your own question here, for the best performance of the light and to place the least amount of load "through" your bikes wiring harness which if like near all bikes is anemic in size run your load straight off the battery or power strip if you have one installed. The circuit your looking to tap into likely is sized for a 6 amp load.
My HID's are rated to pull no more than 10A at startup and 3.2A when running. Multiply that by two, and the startup current for both lamps would be 20A max, and the running load would be under 7A. (There is also a small current to control the solonoids that switch low and high beam, but the total system load during operation should come in under 8A.)
The stock headlight wiring is designed to power two 55/60 watt halogen bulbs. At 5A each, that means that the stock headlight wiring is "sized" for at least a 10A constant load. (Not sure where you'd get 6A.)
While I agree that the 20A initial surge is greater than the standard load, I think the short duration would probably not be a problem, although I might have to increase the stock fuse to a 20 or 25A. I have considered implementing a delay in startup, so that only one ballast would be surging at a time. That would limit my total load to 14A peak.
My wiring additions are not very sophisticated. I ran a 15A wire to a terminal block to run my driving lights, and a 20A wire to the terminal block to run my horns, LEDs, GPS, etc. I could use the 20A circuit, since I would not be blowing the horns at the same time I am powering on the HIDs. In fact, if I don't come up with another solution, that's what I'm going to do. Running another wire to my battery is my last resort option. It's getting crowded down there.
I stopped a little ways down the road, and shut the bike off, then turned the key back on. The following picture is with ONLY the LED driving lights turned on, the headlights are still off:
I share your concern. [...] There clearly is a great deal of "stray" light going upwards that does nobody any good. I am working on a solution for that right now.
Looks like the masking system is going to do the trick for me. After testing, I removed the lenses, and masked off (with plain old masking tape), the area where I wanted light to pass. Then I painted the rest of the lens black using BBQ paint. When dry, I put the painted side inward, and put the light back together. Not a great picture, but here's the basic concept: Anyway, there is definitely less light in the upper and lower parts of the pattern, but it seems to be at full strength in the middle, where I wanted it. At driver's eye height, significant reduction in glare.
(Careful though, these lenses are glass and they will break if dropped- and I know that for sure). Now I have one glass lens and one homemade acrylic lens. Working on getting some new glass ones.