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Author Topic: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works  (Read 3915 times)

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cvo2007

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HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« on: December 04, 2013, 12:41:00 PM »

I know there are hundreds of posts on HID conversions but all seem to be a couple of years old or older.  We all know how technology changes so I would like to get some updated recommendations from someone who might have recently done this.  First some quick history.  I just picked up a used 2007 FLHTCSUSE2 this summer that had less than 2,000 miles on it.  I really like the looks of the headlight but hate the yellowish and lack of light that it offers.  I upgraded my lighting on my 1990 EVO to Truck-lites LED and although they offer fantastic performance in light and lower power consumption, I just never really liked the dark split reflector look.  Figured HID might be the way to go.

I do not want to mess around and want something that works.  I found someone who said that Hemerick Performance had a kit that included or offered HID for the driving lights and the headlight but they are no longer in business.  I have seen where some sites are offering a LED that replaces the existing bulb in the driving lights and the headlight was HID, but wondered how well the LED actually worked since they were simply a bulb replacement.  Any other options or recommendations of something that actually works well but will not break the bank. Thanks in advance.
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Pete7539

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2013, 01:16:37 PM »

I have/had the Hemrick setup on mine. The owner passed away a while back and that's why business closed. The setup melted my passing light reflectors. Not completely, but enough to make them look bad up close around the bulb. Others have said they didn't have this problem. I replaced the passing lamps with sunstars or something like that from custom dynamics. They're LED clusters. Bright, but I miss the glass lens appearance. As for the headlamp. If you find a kit you might only want to go with the low beam and get a PIAA or another bright halogen for high. The warm up time is long enough that if you need to flash someone they won't notice at all. I've had radio interference with mine for FM reception. I've installed choke blocks on the wiring and it helped somewhat. They look nice, but I'm waiting for a company to come out with something more appealing in LED that doesn't stick out farther than the stock headlight lens.
Hemrick was supposed to be the best, but after seeing other HID kits in the auto market his stuff looked identical to the same Japanese kits out there. So if you really want it, I'd just search out any retro kit for your bulb type on ebay in the 6k temperature range.
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FlaHeatWave

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2013, 01:31:47 PM »

'Just ordered The Harley Combo Kit (for the '05 SEEG) from http://www.harleyhids.com/
with a group buy (expiring on the 10th) from the .org forum that I go to for my '09 SERG.

It sounds like a good cost effective alternative to the LEDs (the "Kit" comes with led bulbs for the passing lamps)

I will post a review here when I have a chance to use them.
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HDOrange

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2013, 02:25:07 PM »

Custom Dynamics is coming out with a new headlight the first of 2014.
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cvo2007

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2013, 06:21:43 PM »

After reading a lot of warnings about the reflectors of the existing bulbs not focusing properly with the HID, I decided to just order some bulbs that offer the whiter light at night to see if that helps and adjust the lights that I have.  Unfortunately snow has been on the ground since I have received the bulbs and will have to wait awhile before I can post an update.  Looking forward to see what Custom Dynamics comes up with as far as LED.  I did notice that the stock low beam was a 55W and the high beam was 35W and the sockets were exactly the same so ordered two 55W bulbs.  Assuming that should give me a little brighter high beam for those darker roads.  Also kicked up the wattage on the driving lights from the 881 bulb to the 889 which increased the wattage from 27.5 to 35 watts. I am going to leave one of the original bulbs in the driving lights and replace the other and test them out once I get it out on the road and will post at least my opinion if there is any difference in the brightness or viewing distance.
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FlaHeatWave

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2013, 08:05:50 PM »

Installed and put some miles on the Harley Combo Kit ('05 SEEG  :cherry:  from http://www.harleyhids.com/  and I am very satisfied with the Kit. I can't speak as to longevity as I have only had the kit in for a week. A good friend had one of the older HID kits in his '06 CUSE for a few years (until he traded the bike with 93k mi.) and he told me, "I really liked them, no problems."

Purchased on a group buy $155 shipped (The GB is over, but it wouldn't hurt to ask if you are interested)

More, much whiter light, than even the superwhite bulbs.

The kit was all plug and play, the wiring, the ballast, and I guess, the igniter seemed to be well sealed, and of good quality, and matched up fine with the factory connectors. I did have to reverse the polarity on one of the passing lamps for the LED bulb to work, no big deal, just reversed the factory plugs in the passing lamp housing. There are other ways of piecing together HID kits, and making your own connections, etc... for little less $, but for me the P&P is the way to go.

For me the Harley Combo Kit is a very cost effective alternative to the DMs. 'Have DMs on the '09 SERG and they are PIMP :bananarock: but we all know what they cost... 

A little tip: Take a little alcohol on a paper towel and a stick (I used a screw driver) and wipe out the inside of the head light lens, on the passing lamps just swish a little alcohol around the inside of the lens and blow them out with compressed air, and presto! you have as new, perfectly clear lights! 
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cvo2007

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #6 on: May 14, 2014, 04:56:38 PM »

I've had a chance to ride with the so called whiter brighter Hologen bulbs.  Disaster.  Had to ride home through some curves and scared the hell out of me.  Should have known better.  My delima is that I like the look of the CVO headlight and hate to give it up.  I think I will order a set of Harley LED driving lights and get the HID conversion from HarleyHID.com mentioned above.  They seem to be more costly than many on the market, but if they are known to work seems like a better idea than buying another set of junk on eBay and not being happy.  Will post how the set-up works out.

Note:  Will not go with HID on the high beam because of the delay of lighting up, and will probably shy away from the 80W led bulb for the high beam because the CVO garage door system is not compatible for some odd reason.  (from what is posted on their site) When I ran the Truck lite LED's on my old Ultra I almost never needed to use the high beams anyways so hope this set-up works as well.

Anyone else tried similar set-up please post.
« Last Edit: May 14, 2014, 05:07:25 PM by cvo2007 »
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FlaHeatWave

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2014, 07:35:05 PM »

There is no high beam delay in the kit (posted above) that I have, there is a little reflector that switches to high instantly.

Once I adjusted the headlight up one full turn on the adjusting screw the HID beam pattern (low and hi) was perfect for me.

'Have about 6k miles on the HID kit so far, still really like it!
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cvo2007

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2014, 07:49:52 PM »

Glad to hear that still satisfied.  The CVO headlight that I have actually has two bulbs in it, low and another for high.  They suggested either another HID, but cautioned about the delay, or an LED bulb.  From what I have heard, the LED bulbs that go into a standard socket just do not have the light output plus I would also lose the garage door feature for whatever reason.  HID and standard bulb, opener would continue to work.

I will order one of their sets tomorrow based on your confirmation.  Thanks for responding so quickly.
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FlaHeatWave

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #9 on: May 14, 2014, 08:13:13 PM »

Glad to hear that still satisfied.  The CVO headlight that I have actually has two bulbs in it, low and another for high.  They suggested either another HID, but cautioned about the delay, or an LED bulb.  From what I have heard, the LED bulbs that go into a standard socket just do not have the light output plus I would also lose the garage door feature for whatever reason.  HID and standard bulb, opener would continue to work.

I will order one of their sets tomorrow based on your confirmation.  Thanks for responding so quickly.

'Let us know how it works for your dual bulb set-up :2vrolijk_21:
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Gnarl78

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #10 on: May 16, 2014, 08:57:25 AM »

I just bought the HID conversion kit for the CVO dual halogen headlight with a pair of LED driving lights from socalmotogear.com. Have not had a chance to install them yet.
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cvo2007

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #11 on: May 16, 2014, 09:39:02 AM »

Gnarl78:  There appeared to be two options.  One was to use two HID bulbs, another the the HID for the Low then they offered an 80w LED bulb for the high beam.  Tried to select that option but was not available within the drop down box so waiting to hear back from them....

Please post you findings and will do the same.   Order HD LED driving lights.  Found a HD dealer selling them below retail so grabbed them. 

Also my previous post stated there was an issue with the garage door opener.  After some additional searching found that later models do not have an issue but the earlier years do.  Think around 2011 they mode some changes.  There is an adapter kit from Harley that corrects the issue or you can just make the modes yourself.  It all comes down to if the opener is connected before or after the connector for the bulb from what I've read.  Again will update after I get my parts.
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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #12 on: May 16, 2014, 10:44:39 AM »

Order HD LED driving lights.  Found a HD dealer selling them below retail so grabbed them. 

OK, details?
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cvo2007

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #13 on: May 16, 2014, 11:39:23 AM »

Ordered Daymakers 73396-10a Auxiliary lamps from Surdyke Harley.  Still working with SoCalMotorGear to get the HID/LED combo that I want.  As mentioned, I have the dual bulb 7" headlight that comes on the CVO that actually has two separate bulbs.  I plan on installing the HID for the low beam.  The sales or web contact person is telling me they offer a 80W LED bulb for the high beam thus eliminating the start up or warm up delay when switching to high beams.  Will list details along with part numbers after I get them installed along with at least personal opinion of the set-up.   

It appears the Daymakers are on back order until the end of the month so looks like a two week delay.
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mark

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Re: HID Conversion - Need some updated feedback on what works
« Reply #14 on: May 16, 2014, 12:55:54 PM »

I just ordered a hi and low beam 35 watt HID kit for my 2010 SESG, which has the dual bulb headlight (when the high beam is on, the low beam stays on too).  I ordered from DDM Tuning.  I'm going on a bike trip next week, so I probably won't have them installed for about two weeks.  If you can wait, I'll post some before and after night illumination pics and let you know how I like the HIDs.

Surely anything will be an improvement over the stock light.  It's so bad, I don't even use the low beam at night.

The two DDM kits and a wiring harness (so I can wire either the hi or low beam to the battery....or maybe both) cost $55.
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