This seems to be a rather small topic for the KLX section, but a bigger one in the Ninja section. Any how, with winter months coming up, I will be riding more in the night time and would like some more light on the road to see. My headlight is correctly adjusted and does provide good lighting, but I would like to have a more whiter light as well. I've been thinking about and doing some research on the HID Bi-Xenon conversion kits. I know there are some shady issues with it, including but not limited to, DOT law issues, incorrect headlight lens for bulb type, increased glare, etc. If I do go with it, the color range will most likely be with in the 4300K ~ 5000K.

Just would like some feedback on the idea and to see if anyone else has done this yet.

 

Thought about it, looked into it a bit. Until they bring out drop in kits and get to be a reasonable price I'll leave em alone. I also read an article about how dangerous (glare) they are to oncoming traffic (the non dot replacement kits). Last thing I want is someone running into me or someone else because my lights blinded them.

Just my 2c

Cheers

p.s. found this article which is interesting reading, be careful as to which kit you get

http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/h...ht-conversion/

edit: found this bit at the end of that article

"I just finished reading the HID light conversion review ... and have a concern with the explanation about the relay. In general, HIDs use less power than incandescent bulbs. However, at startup, HIDs have a much higher inrush current requirement than incandescents. In fact, this inrush current is often in excess of the current the stock wiring can safely supply.

Hence, you use a relay and separate harness wired straight to the battery to safely supply the energy necessary to start the bulbs. It has nothing to do with tricking the ECUs into thinking that a traditional incandescent is installed - that is (sort-of) the purpose behind a load equalizer for LED turn signals, but not for HIDs.

If you look at the motorcycle HID kit at XenonDepot, the tech specs tab describes this. You'll note the spec for inrush current is less than 45A. 45A at 12V is 540W! That would smoke the stock wiring harness (not sure what the wire gage for the stock wiring is but if it's 12, the limit is 20A, and if it's 14, it'd typically be 15A).

Hence you have higher gage wiring direct from the battery to supply the necessary start-up power. After start-up, the energy usage of an HID bulb drops dramatically, and since you spend more time with HIDs on in steady-state, over the life of the light you use far less energy than an incandescent.

Cheers

 

I just ordered a kit this morning. About $105 for everything. The kit includes 2x Bi-Xenon bulbs (High & low beam), 2x ballasts, wiring kit, and extra parts (relays, etc). Since the kit includes 2x of everything, I'll have a spare since I only need 1x bulb set.

I did my research and I'm well aware that the HID's are not DOT approved or street legal in any vehicle that did not come with them factory. But, are legal for off-road use. Hence the KLX dualsport (Murphys law will get me). I'll try this conversion kit and see how well is does.

http://www.vvme.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVyVRvzFst4

 

Glad you did all of the writing for me Mav.

Yeah HID basically works off of the same principle as a flourescent light. They required a 'starter' which provides the necessary voltage and current (momentarily) to ionize the gas inside the bulb. Once the bulb is lit, it consumes roughly half of what our H4 55/60W halogen bulbs do.

The thing to remember though is that the required current is only momentary, so while you will have to run a wire to the batt, it won't be the unweildy thing some might imagine. The starter also contains a capacitor which shoulders the load of the start, then recharges at slower rate from the battery, further reducing stress on the wiring. Most kits should come with their own harness though.

The next thing to worry about is beam scatter. The stock headlight assembly doesn't do a very good job of controlling that. I know of one person here in Japan that reports very good results from the KLX450R headlight asssy. I'm tempted to give that a try because it costs only about 5000 yen (roughly $50.00US)...and it looks awesome on the 06/07. I think the US 09KLX light fixture might work equally well. The Japanese 09 fixure uses twin 35W bulbs, so that's out.

 

I do appericate the replys. I figure the beam might scatter some. I took a good look at the H4 (9003) bulb and figured that the HID bulb will probably be minimal at beam scatter. I want to keep the 06' headlight housing. The lens is made of glass, which is rare this day of age. Most are polycarb (plastic) lens.

If all else, I'll be the test subject of this. Or AKA: Guinea Pig.

 

Cool beans!

Just more data to add to the pool..can't hurt any. I only personally -as in met the guy and saw his bike- know of one guy who went with the KLX450 fixture. I read of anohter case whith a D-tracker where a guy went with one of the aftermarket fixutures. In both cases, they felt the multi-reflector design helped to negate the beam scatter.

Just to clariy for those who might be looking into this, the 'H-4' hi/low (or dual) HID shares the same base with the H4 halogen, so it will fit an H4 fixture but that's where the similarities stop. There's actually a solenoid inside the HID hi/low bulbs that physically repositions the beam to switch between hi and low beam.

Since Minako's primary focus is for off road, maybe it's not that big of a deal.

I'm just saying that I've personally seen once case, then read about another where they felt that beam scatter was enough of an issue to switch after first trying the stock unit. It wasn't a DOT/non DOT issue over here because 250cc and below don't require an annual road worthiness inspection. The rider just felt that it presented enough of a hazard to make the switch, but they also spend most of their time on the slab

 

After doing research on them for my Accord, I've found that it doesn't matter how much light it puts out if the reflecting surface isn't designed for HID. IMO you might be better off getting something like a Silverstar bulb (if they make them for our application). I put the 2nd-from-top Silverstars in my low beams in the Accord and they're about as bright as the factory high-beams.

Another thing to consider is that ballists are fragile. 90% of HID kits you see (especially the cheaper ones; less than a few hundred dollars) have crappy ballists that break. Plus they can't get wet IIRC. Might not be such a good idea for a dirt bike.

Just my .02 good luck with the HID!

 

+1 on this for anyone that does not want to install HIDs. There is a motorcycle-specific Silverstar. I have always installed them in my cars and thought I'd try one in my KLX- Awesome. Looks great and the light is a lot "cleaner" to me than standard halogen.

 

Actually, the Silverstar bulbs were my first consideration. I have those installed on the Ranger and Blazer. They made a world of difference. Unfortunely, the KLX low beam stays on while driving and this causes the bulb to burn out (dim) faster also. The more hours a bulb burns, the less the brighter it is. Another factor why I'm switching to the HID.

Also when I consider the cost between the conversion, its only around $50 difference. If all else fail, I'll just switch back and use the HID kit for aux lighting on the Ranger.

 

If you live and ride in a cold climate. There is a real risk the battery will die at the most awkward time. As I understand it the USA KLX250 has no switch to turn the headlight off. (Same as the AUS KLX250.) In the UK however, they do get a switch to turn the light off.
The UK bike has a side light in the headlamp lens that stays on all the time and only draws 5 watts. It think splicing a switch into the high low switch will give you a little extra insurance against flatting the battery while out on a cold ride. I've read a lot of enduro riders just cut the low beam wire effectively allowing them to turn the headlight off when not needed. (Most performance enduro bikes don't have large batteries and need a lot of juice for the electric leg, big bore thumpers especially.)