Just got my new HID headlight.

[tsigwing]

Having installed my last weekend and simple wiring it up the way it was intended, there isn't any problem, so I am going to leave it as is and just enjoy the brighter light.

[greg_in_london]

Flicking across from the other thread about the reserve lighting unit ( http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=51483 )

I came to the same conclusion about the computer and also did not want to start hacking up the wiring. In the end I found the three way block connector (green, yellow, black) which carries the live hi/low feed from the switch and an earth from the indicators (for the cancelling function I guess, I didn't check).

I pulled the two connectors apart and made a connection for the green and yellow - lo/hi wires and also made a jumper for the black (ground) to connect the black of the original two connectors (so the indicators still work) with a wire to the third connection for the hid relay.

 

It would have been neater and easier if I had bought a headlamp plug first ( and better if I could buy a spare of those three way connectors, but they're not available).

 

This way I can convert back to halogen bulbs if needed, but the computer is not happy. If I have any problems with this system I'll post.

[JoeKanuck]

I just did an hid mod on my 86. It was a bear of a job getting the cmu out. The 86 unit does look different than the one pictured but it still has 4 of the things which need shorting. Jumpered all 4 while I was in there.

 

The rsu is slightly different as well. I jumpered the plug as pictured and everything worked except that the headlight lamp went on with the highbeam and not the highbeam indicator. It seems I don't have a blue/green wire...just green. No problem. I just swapped bulbs in the dash. It works great and nobody would ever guess.

 

It is a job worth doing but it is not a straight swap. Maybe someone can work out a way to avoid the warnings without rewiring but for now it will take a bit of mechanicking.

 

Totally worth it tho. The light is so bright that road signs are like car hi beams on brite.

Edited August 14, 2010 by JoeKanuck

[Flyinfool]

OK so it has been a while.

I FINALLY got around to hooking something up so that the headlight does not light when I turn on the ignition and then go out when I hit the starter and then have to relight again. I am sure that the extra starts on the ballast are not doing it any good.

 

So here is what I ended up with.

I have a push button switch to turn the headlight on and a flashing LED to tell me the light has not yet been turned on.

 

First off I no longer have the jumpers as pictured way back in the how to part of this thread. I acquired a dead Reserve Lighting Unit, from a member here, just so I could cut the connector off of it.

You could still do this by attaching to the jumpers on the RLU connector as shown previously.

 

I used 18AWG wire for everything.

I use the type of crimp on terminals that have the built in heat shrink tubing.

I completely removed the RLU from the bike to make more room for this mod and I can see that I will not be going back to needing it.

 

 

Parts list;

Switch - SPST, push button, momentary, Normally Open. Digi-Key #679-1040-ND

Switch boot - Water proof boot for switch, Digi-Key #679-1297-ND

Relay - SPDT, 30A, Digi-Key #255-1830-ND

LED - Bright red, blinking, Radio Shack #276-312

LED holder - holder for LED Radio Shack #276-080

Resistor - 330 ohm 1/8W, Radio Shack #271-012

Assorted wire, shrink tubing and terminals type stuff.

 

The steps;

 

I soldered a jumper wire onto the relay from terminal 87 to terminal 85. You could just as easily add the jumper using the QC terminals.

 

Crimp a QC terminal onto the Blue/black wire from the RLU connector, and add in an extra wire enough to reach to the place you intend to install the push button switch to this crimp and attach the QC to Term 30 of the relay.

 

Crimp a QC term to the extra wire from step 2 and plug it onto the switch.

 

Make up a wire with a QC on each end the same length as the extra wire from step 2. Plug one end of this wire onto term 85 of the relay and the other end onto the remaining term of the switch.

 

Slide the rubber part of the LED holder onto the leads of the LED.

 

Look close at the leads of the LED, notice that one of the leads is longer than the other one. Solder a 330 ohm resistor onto the long lead and attach a wire to the resistor that is long enough to reach back to the relay. Cover the resistor and its solder joints up to the rubber piece with heat shrink tubing. Attach a QC term to the other end of the wire and plug it onto Term 87a of the relay.

 

Solder a wire long enough to reach back to the RLU connector to the short lead of the LED and cover with heat shrink tubing.

 

Mount the LED holder in your desired location and then press the LED and the rubber up into the holder. I used just a dab of clear silicone just to seal it from water and to be sure that the LED can not fall out.

 

Attach a QC to a 6 inch wire and plug it into term 86 of the relay.

 

Bring together the Light Green, and Black wires from the RLU connector along with the free ends of the wires from the relay term 86, and the LED. connect these 4 wires together (I twisted them together and soldered) and cover with Heat shrink tubing.

 

If you haven't already, connect the Yellow/Green and the Blue/red wires of the RLU connector together and cover with Heat shrink tubing.

 

The yellow and the Green/Red wires of the RLU connector are not used, just insulate the ends to prevent shorting.

 

Tape and seal everything up nice to keep water and corrosion out and dress and fasten everything down neatly.

 

Operation will be as follows.

When you turn the key on the LED will be flashing and the headlight will be off.

Start the engine.

The LED will be flashing and the headlight will still be off.

Press the push button switch and the headlight will come on and the LED will turn off.

The Headlight will stay on and the LED will stay off till something causes the head light to turn off, like pressing the starter switch or turning off the key. Anything that turns the headlight off will reset the circuit to having the headlight off and LED flashing. pushing the switch returns it to Headlight on and LED off.

 

This will save the ballast from always having to start the HID twice every time you start the bike.

 

This circuit could be easily adapted to a 2nd gen to avoid the problem of the voltage dropping during cranking and the HID turning off due to low voltage, and you having to shut the bike off and restart to get the HID back on.

 

Again this almost took longer to type than to do.

 

I will post pics later.

 

Edited May 20, 2018 by Freebird
Fixed Wiring diagram

[Flyinfool]

I have been getting a lot of requests for where to find out about jumping the reed switches in the cmu, here are 3 threads to get you started.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/sh...3&postcount=10

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/sh...5&postcount=11

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/sh...ad.php?t=33285

 

These are for an earlier MkI cmu but the principle is the same and the parts that need to be jumpered still look the same.

[Trevor Heath]

Hi all,

 

I've been wondering about the chrome plated "shield" that is fitted the HiD bulb I've fitted in my Venture.

 

The (aftermarket also) bulbs fitted in my car do not have these.

 

Is anyone running a bulb without this shield? Did you try with and with out? What light "footprint" could I expect without?

 

Why do I ask....simply while the HiD is clearly superior to the H4 I was expecting better.

 

Thanks

 

TH

[Dmnordin]

I added an HID to my '83 Frankenbike w/'86 engine & Vboost, and I modded the wiring harness/jumper, and I add manual switches this past year when I rebuilt my bike.

 

I also added 2, 5+" headlights with HID on custom mounts that I made that go where the horn used to be.

 

I absolutely love it! I call the extra headlights my "landing lights" - one friend said my bike looks like an apache helicopter when I ride behind him.

 

I have an on/off switch for the main headlight HID, and an on/off/low only switch for the landing lights which I usually just have them on & lo/hi with the main headlight.

 

Doug

[reddevilmedic]

i have just the single low beam in mine at 6000k. superbright! its been in about 6 months with no issues at all. not even at starting. also, here is the cmu layout for a jumper wire to get the headlight warning icon off the dash.

[jae]

has anyone thought about a really simple setup using the voltage regulator output to power the relay for the headlight?

 

I guess this system breaks down if your voltage regulator goes out.

[Flyinfool]

It is in theory very simple but would be expensive to implement.

You would tap the relay coil wire near the RR but then you would need to have a diode big enough to handle the full RR output to keep the battery voltage from just holding the relay on at all times. That BIG diode will drop some voltage that could have been used for charging.

[camos]

I want to remove the RLU from the bike but have not quite figured out how it is mounted. The pic in the parts fiche looks like there is a rubber holder sleeve that slips over a metal tab. The trouble is the RLU does not move at all so I'm wondering if it truly is just stuck or if it is mounted differently from how I think it might be.

[camos]

To answer my own question, the RLU is indeed attached by a rubber sleeve to a tab just as it looks like in the parts fiche. The stiction was likely due to old rubber that had not been moved in 20+ years. All it took to loosen it was a bit of muscle and an incantation "Move you SOB." There is more to removing the RLU though since there is not enough room to get it off the tab. The tab is welded to a bar that holds some relays. The screws that hold the bar have to be accessed from inside so the CMS has to come out.

 

I jumpered the RLU connector as per the info in FF's instructions and photo but got the same result as JoeKanuck.

Will likely resolve the issue in the same way too.

Thanks JK.

[camos]

Before I talk about my HID install I want to voice my appreciation and thanks to FlyinFool for this post with all the details and pix because it inspired me to venture ahead.

 

Thought I would be doing the install today but it is a much bigger job than expected. I have the all the parts necessary to install HID in two headlights with a Hi/Lo H4 LED in place of the OEM headlight. The LED will likely only be useful as a DRL and I hope it is adequate but won't know until it is installed. The main harness needs to have a normal H4 connector spliced in to accept the LED.

 

The relay and connector harness is meant for a car and so the proportions are wrong to fit a bike so will require rearranging. Also the connectors at the headlight end won't fit through the wire hole so the headlightwill need some attention as well. The good thing about doing an HID conversion this way is that there should be no issues with starting as well as double the light output.

 

Did a single HID conversion on my Virago two weeks ago which works great. No RLU or CMS issues there. Just need to hold down the start button before switching the ignition on. KISS.

[campfire12]

Thought i was allways going to be a HID fan after installing one in my 84. It wasen't a hard instal by any means. Put the switch and relay in just fine. The only dislike was the way the bulb just hang loose in its socket when not pulled into its socket for hi/lo beam. Well after just over a year and a half the bulb craped out. Every bulb i ever put into my bikes still works except the expensive HID. went back with the silverstar bulb i took out for the HID and am willing to bet it wont go bad at night in the rain like the HID did. In my opinion the HID is not ready for motorcycle use yet. They need to get the bugs worked out first. This is just one mans opinion.

[Flyinfool]

My Original HID bulb is now 2 years old and works as good as the day it was new.

I have now installed 9 HID bulbs between my bike and other vehicles and not a single issue so far.

 

On my truck I went with the "new" 50 watt HIDs and they are noticeably brighter than the 35 watt. The bulb is the same between the 35 and 50 watt, it is the ballast that is different. I am thinking of upgrading the headlight on the bike to 50W HID.

[Flyinfool]

Just another update.

4 years and my HID is still going strong.

 

I now have it switched on by using the brake lights as the trigger. Even with the seperate switch and blinking red light, I found I was still forgetting to turn on the headlight in the daytime. I know that I will not ride very far at all without using one of the brakes.

 

Nothing to remember.

Headlight comes on when you hit either brake for the first time.

Headlight turns off with the key.

If you hit the start button after the headlight is on, the headlight will turn off until you hit either brake again. This would come into play if you should kill the engine for some reason and have to restart.

 

The hookup is so simple that it was hard to see at first.

 

Prep a relay by connecting a wire from pin 85 to pin 30. I used a piece of solid wire and soldered it as close to the case as I could so that I can still push on the connectors.

 

Connect pin 86 to ground.

 

Find the yellow wire that runs from the front brake switch. Tap into this wire and connect it to the anode of a diode (1n400x or similar). Connect the cathode end of the diode (the end with the stripe on it) to pin 85.

 

Find the blue/white wire that goes to the high low beam switch. Cut this wire. Connect the side that goes to the hi/lo switch to pin 30 and connect the bike side to pin 87.

 

How it works.

When you turn the key on the blue/white wire goes hot, that is the normal feed for the headlight. But since it is connected to the NO relay, nothing happens.

When you hit the brake it closes the relay and the power is sent on to the headlight. The little jumper wire on the relay holds the relay closed until something causes a power interruption on the blue/white wire. The only 2 things that should cause a power interruption on the blue/white wire is turning off the ignition switch or pressing the start button.

The Diode is there to keep the blue white wire from back feeding the brake light.

 

I also looked into why the white light was coming on instead of the blue High beam indicator. It seems there is an error in the wiring diagram in the service manual, they had these two bulbs reversed. I have gone back and edited my original how to with the correct wire colors. Or you can just pull them out and switch their positions in the dash panel like you guys did.

 

Edited May 20, 2018 by Freebird

[RedRider]

Jeff, That is a beautiful solution. Really like the brake trigger idea. One time I had my HID go out at night. Fortunately, I was in the middle of Iowa at the time and there wasn't a curve in sight. Had forgotten to turn on my running lights also. Pitch black. Major pucker.

 

However, I grabbed the brakes. That would have triggered it back on. As it was, I cycled the ignition and it came back on.

 

Perhaps next winter. I am done working on the bike for this year. Time to ride.

 

RR

[dingy]

If there is an Ignitech TCI in your future, it could be done with an output from the TCI.

 

There are 2 power out circuits available on the TCI. Both have various settings that control if power out signal is energized. One way is to set the RPM setting to only power on the output when it detects an RPM of 500 or higher. Picture attached.

 

The output signal can then drive a relay to control the HID light circuit.

 

Gary

 

Edited May 20, 2018 by Freebird

[Flyinfool]

Dingy

Do you know if that output can be set so that once it goes high it stays high until you turn off the ignition. Or would I have to do the same latching relay trick I did here with the jumper and a diode.

 

After my ordeal last year with the engine cutting out I would not want the road to go dark.

 

Red Rider

I still have that headlight out indicator sitting in the wings looking for a guinea pig.....

[dingy]

Dingy

Do you know if that output can be set so that once it goes high it stays high until you turn off the ignition. Or would I have to do the same latching relay trick I did here with the jumper and a diode.

 

After my ordeal last year with the engine cutting out I would not want the road to go dark.

 

Red Rider

I still have that headlight out indicator sitting in the wings looking for a guinea pig.....

 

It will not latch, once RPM drops below specified value, output shuts off. When RPM exceeds value, output turns on. There is also a Hysteresis setting so if selected trigger value is right at idle speed RPM, then output can be adjusted so as not to 'chatter'.

 

Gary

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Thought i was allways going to be a HID fan after installing one in my 84. It wasen't a hard instal by any means. Put the switch and relay in just fine. The only dislike was the way the bulb just hang loose in its socket when not pulled into its socket for hi/lo beam. Well after just over a year and a half the bulb craped out. Every bulb i ever put into my bikes still works except the expensive HID. went back with the silverstar bulb i took out for the HID and am willing to bet it wont go bad at night in the rain like the HID did. In my opinion the HID is not ready for motorcycle use yet. They need to get the bugs worked out first. This is just one mans opinion.

 

I had a similar experience...I think it would be so simple for the HID manufacturers to imbed a selectable delay, or incorporate a simple motion sensor, to delay the start until the bike is actually moving or about to move before the ballast fires.

 

I was very disappointed in the one I tried..I threw it in the trash.

 

I'm glad Jeff is having good luck with his.

 

I also firmly believe they should not be used unless the reflector and lens are designed for HID.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

 

 

[xssquared]

Not much help Buddy I know what my wallet is like empty, but after nearly 40 years of marriage I have no idea what it would look like with $50.00...

[Evan]

Love my LED headlight so far. It was a simple plug in deal and while I don't have the specs with me, it is much brighter than the PIAA bulb that it replaced. It came from a supplier in Montreal (bought it at the Toronto Bike Show) and was apparently manufactured for motorcycle use.