My Low Rider and the FXD I had before it are the first bikes I've owned that I didn't immediatly install HID kits in. Mostly because there is no fairing to hide the ballast and igniter. I have a Daymaker and have done a fair bit of night riding lately and have come to the conclusion that it's just not bright enough. Disadvantages of a HID bulb in a reflector aside, I'm going to look hard at a conversion. Probably going to buy a new bucket from HD, going to use a xenondepot.com H4 bi-xenon 35w 4300k kit.

Looking to see where anyone else who used a HID kit put the ballast and igniter on the bike. I'll probably rewire the kit, as most take power from the H4 connector in the bucket, and crimp a harness connector on and plug directly in, rather then out the back of the bucket and back in with the high voltage wires.

I've had these in many bikes, The last two canbus, plugged directly into the factory harness. Never needed relay kits.

A kit from socalmotogear also looks good, but is 6000k, which is a little blue. The xenondepot kit is 4300k which is factory for most new cars, and the brightest.

Anyway, I'll post more if/when I go for it. But again, anyone who did this, where did you mount the HID electronics?

Thanks

 

Is the day maker really that bad at night? I have read that it's pretty good. Maybe it just needs to be adjusted.

 

my old bike had HID's and now I have daymakers...the daymakers are waaaayyyy brighter

 

I thought so too, but it's exactly where it should be - cutoff 1.5" below the center of the headlight at 25'


Don't get me wrong, the Daymaker is far better then the stock candle, but from my recollection, well under the HID's brightness.

 

I attached my ballast/igniter to the steering neck ahead of, & below the fuel tank. Not an ideal location, but since the frame/tank/engine/wiring are all black, it blends in fairly well. I tried mounting the ballast/igniter beneath the seat, then running a high-tension connector to the lamp, but it simply would not ignite. I had to mount it close to the headlight to get it to fire off. Absolutely no way to mount inside an '04 bucket. I started out with a 6k lamp, but quickly switched to a 5k. 6K is way too blue, and the 5k was pure white & much brighter, particularly with a 55w ballast. Much, much better than stock, but I've had no experience with an LED so can't say. For the $, I'm very satisfied as nearly 1/2 of my riding is at night.

 

I have a daymaker and it is badass.

 

I too think you have your headlight adjusted wrong. Put a tape mark 35 inches up from the floor on the wall. Your headlights should be 25 feet from that target. Center your low beam at the 35 inch mark. That should give you a perfect adjustment. HID is old school and far inferior to LEDs.

Still need more lighting, install a set of LED side lights as well. It really doesn't get any better than that!

 

I ran the 4300 HID on my '05 Fat Boy. It was the unit that's all over EBAY in a 100 different variants. Its was crazy bright. I however won't say it is ANY better than what you're running now. I suspect you will be disappointed in the switch. The only advantage I have ever found with the HID vs the Daymaker LED is that the factory H4 housing does sometimes give a better pattern than does the Daymaker. Many complain that in the twisties, your Daymakers light pattern leaves the road as you lean in turns. Something the standard H4 incandescent light doesn't seem to do. If that's your issue, maybe a HID bulb in a stock housing would be beneficial. Otherwise, I don't think you will gain a thing going from LED to HID. Regardless of brand. EBAY or otherwise.


My Fat Boy had a giant bucket, so the ballast fit right in. I have seen a number of HID kits with a "slim" ballast designed just for the small Dyna and Snorkster buckets.

 

I been looking at alternate lighting options as well lately. I also do a fair amount of night riding and through canyons at that. I ride next to some guys that have Daymakers. I'm notsold on a single Daymaker. My buddy has 13' CVO Roadglide so it has dual Daymakers. His is really bright and nice BUT they're dual lights. The other guy is on '15 Electraglide with the 7" daymaker and his low beam is way better than my OE H4 BUT high beam to high beam my stock bulb out performs his to boot. I'm glad I didn't drop the cash on one. Way over rated IMO. Best thing we've come up with since him and I are in agreeance with what I just stated is that we ride side by side a lot anyways so he keeps his low beam on (helping that is his driving lights) and I roll with my high beams on and together we see everything lol. I did find some insanely bright driving/spot lights on youtube the other day that I may just buy a set of. 3000 Lumen each. $165 bucks for a pair I think. Just not sure I can get past the ugly-assness of driving lights bolted to my bike. At least they have black housings though lol.

Here's the link if you guys are interested in checking them out. As far as I can tell they'd shame any single headlight replacement. Again though, they're ugly like something you'd put on one of them BMW Enduro Donkeys lol.

Link to the Demo

Link to buy
http://2allbuyer.auctivacommerce.com...2.aspx#reviews

 

Where did you get that measurement? I only ask because everything I have ever seen is based on the height of the headlight you're aiming?


Also, I think I may try a Hella 5 3/4" lens. I've read that they are far better then the factory lens at focusing the HID arc. I actually do want a little bit of scatter though, the severe cut off of the Daymaker isn't ideal.


We'll see. I'm going to put it all together in a separate bucket and do some brightness comparisons before making it permanent. I'll also take some photos - which are usually useless as the camera's auto exposure never gets the difference between two light sources right. You have to set it manually and use the same shutter speed and aperture on both photos for a true comparison. Hopefully I'll remember to actually take the photos...