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Author Topic: Cool HID headlight modification  (Read 2619 times)

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Mike103

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Cool HID headlight modification
« on: October 31, 2005, 02:59:03 PM »

Just got the Autumn Haze.  Bought it in FL and rode it home to Chicago.  I had an HID headlight installed, and I like the low beam, but the high beam was a little weak.  I noticed how similar the H8 (low beam  bulb) is to the H11 (high beam bulb).  The physical difference is that the H11 top tab (where it goes into the headlamp) is slightly wider than the H8.  

I bought a PIAA H11 Extreme White Plus 55/110w bulb and took my Dremel with the small cutoff wheel and did a little surgery on the top tab.  Voilla!  A very respectable high beam that (assuming you haven't modified your spots to work with the high beam on AND on the same circuit as the headlight), will not tax the electrics.

Also, there was not enough adjustment in the up/down adjuster to aim it satisfactorily for my taste.  I found that if you remove the top adjuster screw and then remove the tension spring that surrounds that screw, you can cut a couple of turns off that spring (with the Dremel cutoff wheel) and have all the adjustment you want.

This mod makes the spots unnecessary, IMHO.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2005, 03:06:30 PM by miked847 »
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Mike103

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Re: Cool HID headlight modification
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2005, 03:29:28 PM »

Oops.  Correction:  The H8 is the high beam and the H11 is the low beam bulb.  Still, you want the PIAA h11.
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06ULTRASE

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Re: Cool HID headlight modification
« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2005, 06:21:10 PM »

Thanks for the tip, the headlight is the only thing on mine that I don't like. Where can I get the bulb you are talking about?

Other than complaining to the dealer that really doesn't do any good, does anyone know of a hot line or email address that you can tell HD about our feeling of short coming like the poor headlight on these bikes??????
« Last Edit: October 31, 2005, 06:24:24 PM by 06ULTRASE »
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FR8TRN

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Re: Cool HID headlight modification
« Reply #3 on: October 31, 2005, 06:36:33 PM »

Quote
Just got the Autumn Haze.  Bought it in FL and rode it home to Chicago.  I had an HID headlight installed, and I like the low beam, but the high beam was a little weak.  I noticed how similar the H8 (low beam  bulb) is to the H11 (high beam bulb).  The physical difference is that the H11 top tab (where it goes into the headlamp) is slightly wider than the H8.  

I bought a PIAA H11 Extreme White Plus 55/110w bulb and took my Dremel with the small cutoff wheel and did a little surgery on the top tab.  Voilla!  A very respectable high beam that (assuming you haven't modified your spots to work with the high beam on AND on the same circuit as the headlight), will not tax the electrics.

Also, there was not enough adjustment in the up/down adjuster to aim it satisfactorily for my taste.  I found that if you remove the top adjuster screw and then remove the tension spring that surrounds that screw, you can cut a couple of turns off that spring (with the Dremel cutoff wheel) and have all the adjustment you want.

This mod makes the spots unnecessary, IMHO.

I hate to mess things up here, but if you had an HID light installed, and still have the H8 and H11 bulbs, somebody screwed you out of some coin.  Those are the stock bulbs for this bike.  The HID is a High Intensity Discharge Light, the H8 and H11 are Halogen Bulbs.
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Mike103

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Re: Cool HID headlight modification
« Reply #4 on: October 31, 2005, 09:12:32 PM »

I think you can order the H11 bulbs directly from PIAA.com.  I luckily have a dealer in my town.
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Mike103

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Re: Cool HID headlight modification
« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2005, 09:14:04 PM »

I hate to mess things up here, but if you had an HID light installed, and still have the H8 and H11 bulbs, somebody screwed you out of some coin.  Those are the stock bulbs for this bike.  The HID is a High Intensity Discharge Light, the H8 and H11 are Halogen Bulbs.

Still getting the hang of this forum thing...
Anyway, if you get the HID headlight, you have TWO headlights to play with.  What fun, eh?
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bgregston

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Re: Cool HID headlight modification
« Reply #6 on: November 01, 2005, 09:40:32 AM »

Just trying to consolidate some info from different threads and make sure I've got it right. For the HID setup, the low beam is the High Intensity Discharge type and the high beam is halogen. Mike103's tip is to improve the high beam for white/bright with the modified PIAA H11. I'm not clear on over taxing the system if you run spots with the HID on high beam.
Mike103's second tip to modify the spring allows for more adjustment.
For the spots, someone was going to try HD Part# 68208-04A and someone else suggested trying GE Siverstar bulbs. I don't think they have come back with results.
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Mike103

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Re: Cool HID headlight modification
« Reply #7 on: November 01, 2005, 12:14:55 PM »

Quote
Just trying to consolidate some info from different threads and make sure I've got it right. For the HID setup, the low beam is the High Intensity Discharge type and the high beam is halogen. Mike103's tip is to improve the high beam for white/bright with the modified PIAA H11. I'm not clear on over taxing the system if you run spots with the HID on high beam.
Mike103's second tip to modify the spring allows for more adjustment.
For the spots, someone was going to try HD Part# 68208-04A and someone else suggested trying GE Siverstar bulbs. I don't think they have come back with results.

I tried the HD halogen spots on 2005 bike and actually preferred the stock bulbs.  I was not successful in getting info on the Silverstar bulbs, but I'm interested in feedback from others.

To clarify my earlier post, if you have not rewired the spots to be on when the high beam is on and powered off of the same circuit as the rest of the lights, you should have no trouble burning the PIAA H11.  The spots are, I believe 27 watts each, totalling 54 watts.  The PIAAs draw 55 watts (stock bulb is 35), but is still within 1 watt of what the system is designed for as long as the spots go off when the high beam is switched on.  

It is a different story if one has wired the spots onto another circiut.  In that case, there should be no problem with the addl. wattage of the PIAA and burning the spots all at the same time.

The HID bulb is wired completely independently from the headlamp circuit and has it's own fuse, so there is absolutely no problem with the HID setup.

For those without an HID headlamp, I believe you should be able to safely burn two PIAA H11 bulbs with the stock headlamp housing (provided you modify the bulb to fit in an H8 hole - one in the high beam hole and one in the low beam hole.  The only question might be whether the plastic diffuser in the low beam can stand  the heat generation of the PIAA.  But I'd bet that it would be okay.

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Mike103

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Re: Cool HID headlight modification
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2005, 07:36:32 AM »

Upon further review, the low beam diffuser is metal, not plastic, so there should be no heat issue problem.

Also, it's easier to adjust the headlamp with the chrome trim ring off.  And if you have either the vertical or horizontal screws bottomed out, you'll have no adjustment in either direction.
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