[2011_GSXR600_B]

hey all, a noobie here,
just wondering if any locals have done an HID upgrade with a relay or delay on their L1 GSXR...or any GSXR for that matter.
I've seen lots of R6 and CBRs on the road with HID but rarely a GSXR. I'm sure they are out there.
If anyone has this done, would like to hear from you regarding what kit you used, and any trouble points you may have had during install....pics of final output are also welcome.

Thanks

 

[Ape Man 2007]

Consider reading this first -> http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

 

[Son of Lars]

HID conversions are fucking awful, and need to be ticketed more. I was riding down the S2S last week about dusk. There was a pack of idiots with blue bullshit headlights coming the other way. About 8 of them in total. I was so fucking blinded by the scattered shit light, I couldn't even see. They all waved at me, I gave them the finger.

 

[Good Karma]

Disregarding what SoL said above........

I had HID on my 08 GSXR 1000 and it was fantastic......improved the visibility dramatically which in my opinion made it much safer to be riding at night on places like S2S where there isn't much lighting and there is potential for animals or road debris.

I am actually in the process of turning that bike into a track bike so if you want the HID I would sell it to you for a decent price. I also have the matching bulb for the little light above the headlight. If you don't change that bulb your bike will look silly have 2 different colour lights.

 

[2011_GSXR600_B]

SOL - despite your bad experience, HID have a place. If you're being blinded by other riders, its probably more to do with wrong positioning or lack of adjusting the headlight housing rather than the HID.
I plan to adjust the beam downward as the added brightness will still allow the road to be lit up in front of me, without the light spreading out and blinding other riders regardless of it being a halgen lamp housing vs projector.

Good Karma - i agree with you...however, I have an idea of what I'm already planning to buy...also, I believe the 08 uses an H11 bulb where as the L1 uses an H7...could be wrong, either way...I've already sort of decided on what components I'm getting. Thx anyways.

 

[Son of Lars]

My bad experience goes far beyond last week! I'm a journeyman automotive technician, and have been one for almost 20 years.

At least take the time to read Daniel Stern's link above. He knows his shit.

 

[Commuter Boy]

Any shops in town experienced in proper HID projector retrofits?

 

[kivyee]

SOL - despite your bad experience, HID have a place. If you're being blinded by other riders, its probably more to do with wrong positioning or lack of adjusting the headlight housing rather than the HID.
I plan to adjust the beam downward as the added brightness will still allow the road to be lit up in front of me, without the light spreading out and blinding other riders regardless of it being a halgen lamp housing vs projector.

Not true - using an HID in a halogen healight (whether projector or otherwise) will always introduce the scatter of light where it's not supposed to go. Of course some will be better than others, but there's no way of removing that scatter through aiming of the headlights. This is primarily because you are changing the position of the light source - the halogen filament and the HID arc will be in different places, and the headlight will not function as it was designed.

Follow SOL's advice, go read that article. Though I'm sure your mind is already set, at least know the technical details of what you are doing wrong.

 

[SpookyjacK]

Learn better riding skills, HID...meh rather have an Ohlins, Brembo or BST at least take an ART class.

Better any one of the above mentioned items for safe/safer riding than HID's.

Just my two cents.

 

[splitmind]

A lot depends to me on how bad your original lighting is. My old Versys despite having an odd ball looking vertically stacked light, threw very good light down the road once properly aimed with a good halogen bulb. My present bike, a Tiger 1050 has a low beam that is about as effective as an IKEA tea light. It throws so little light forward that with just a low beam on it is unsafe driving much faster than 40-50 km/h when there are no street lights. The high beam is better, but it still isn't great. This is a known issue and is the biggest complaint most Tiger owners seem to have on their bike specific discussion boards. I'm going to put a HID in the Tiger later this summer and see if it is any better. If the light is too blinding and doesn't work well with the Tiger's reflector, I'll try something else. I like evening rides, and the stock set up doesn't work well for me.

One plus for a HID kit is most 35 watt kits will replace a 55 watt halogen. This saves you a few amps for things like heated grips or gear if you like to ride year round.

 

[mosquito]

We install hid's daily. For one bulb installed you can get out the door for under 150 bucks most of the time.

Or do the SOL retrofit for 1000-2000 dollars have lighting that's slighter better.

 

[CanaganD]

Yes, DO NOT for the love of god go for the $150 HID refit kit as posted by Bayside (Mosquito)

For fucks sake, if you ever end up on a group ride with me, I will slash your tires at the first Starbucks so no one will have to suffer being constantly blinded in the rear view with your fucking piece of shit halogen reflector+HID set up.


Ahem, rage aside. The best solution is to use projector systems on your bike. Not only do they provide a clean cutoff to reduce glare, they look awesome both in the headlight housing and as a projected beam on the road.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/

Yes, it is work. No, it's not as cheap as $150. But in my opinion is either: stick with Halogen lamps, or do HIDs properly with projectors.

AND NOT IN BETWEEN

Ok, Rant over. I'm going to go home and fix my fridge now. :spinsmile

 

[vancitymike]

+1 hahahaha @ CanaganD, dude you're going to suffer with high blood pressure with all that rage.

here's a good websight on how to do a proper HID conversion. I would start there.


http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=236


Check out how they do it in europe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3p5jedQcjg