Using autobody trim tape, I glued my ballast to the flat spot on the neck/frame area. Most people like the look, they are really bright, and I've never been hassled.

 

Jimmy, do you have the stock Dyna bucket with no extension ring ? What year is the bike ? Are you using a bi-xenon set-up that has both hi and low beams and the solenoid behind the bulb ? I tried and that bulb would not fit in my 09 bucket.

 

No, I have a bullet housing and yes I got the ballast to fit in the housing. It took some time and different positions but I got it to fit.

 

So you have no problems with the ballast getting to hot and melting stuff like other members were saying ?

 

Educate me on the "bullet housing." Is that aftermarket ? What source ?

 

I have been running the same HID 35W since 2006 and have never been noticed by law enforcement. I just got my other bike (Black Dyna) inspected by DMV (FL) yesterday that has a HID in it. Inspected because it was an out of state bike that was rebuilt. No problems at all.

I would suggest that you aim your headlight. There is a difference in quality between different HID kits. Unfortunately when you have problems, the vendor is already gone.

I do not advocate putting a ballast inside of a headlight bucket. Jimmy has done it with no problems so what do I know?

Ballast installed under the backbone under the gas tank below.


Ballast installed on the neck (look in front of the gas tank).

 

Was just investigating some of the HID kits out there and some of the kits that move the bulb in and out for hi/low beam require removal of the piece inside the headlight. That is not a problem because the bulb is already covered in that area. Would those that are running the HID lights to list the brands they run and what they think of them.

 

I take back that comment. I went back and tried again and WAS able to get the solenoid bi-xenon bulb to fit inside my stock headlight bucket. I devised a relay system to create a plug-and-play hook-up to my stock lamp connector and I located the ballast under the speedo console. Works great !

 

DDM tuning sells good stuff and their hi/low bulb kit comes with a reflective hood on it which is the part you need to make it similar light pattern to a Halogen. I tried a couple of other brands before some of my fellow wheelers in the 4x4 world suggested DDM. I have run 3 sets of HID's from them and they worked really well.

First off there is no Federal vehicle inspection patrol which mandates what is legal and not legal on the public roads, that is purely the jurisdiction of the state law enforcement and dept of transportation. The only time the Federal government has jurisdiction is when a manufacturer that sells products nationally has created a situation wherein a product has resulted in high numbers of casualties or loss of life across several states elevating a state civil case to the federal level. No such cases have been presented regarding use of HID, but there have been several appeals to legalize HID in all 50 states which failed to get a unanimous vote and were dismissed. For instance in my state there is no revised statute or code that specifies HID's are illegal nor is there any wording in the law which prohibits use of them. Also the NTSB nor the FHTSB has the legal authority to prohibit aftermarket items for sale or use without a case being submitted to the Federal courts and I can legally put a DOT sticker on my lawn chair as it technically meets DOT standards and since there is no actual DOT inspection force to check it then falls entirely to my local state inspection station to enforce that. Thats why there have been several helmet companies that sold supposedly DOT approved helmets when they were not even close to meeting DOT standards. It's like saying Mil-Spec which only means something to people who are clueless about what that actually means. DOT simply means that the product follows the same guidelines or descriptors that the DOT set as what they recommend the standard should be. So are HID's illegal? If your state laws say so then they are, but not all states agree that they are so its up to you to know. Furthermore if my state laws say they are legal and I am driving through your state and they ticket me I can legally fight the ticket citing that my vehicle met and passed my states vehicle standards and code.

The big misconception about HID and legality has to do mostly with 2 things:

Color - most of you know how annoying it is seeing some ricer with purple lights which just adds fuel to the whole not legal fire. If you want HID while still running comparable light color to Halogen like silverstars run in the 5000K (yellow)-7000K (slight hint of blue) range and stay away from anything higher than that as it goes progressively from blue to purple the higher the K range. Staying within this color spectrum will also likely keep you out of trouble with the law because bulbs in that K range just appear like extra bright lights regardless of whether they are HID, LED, or Halogen and I have personally run all of the above on road and offroad. I've run them aimed properly in a street legal Rubicon with a 5" lift on 37" tires and never got flashed by other drivers with the "hey a**hole turn off your brights" signal.

Reflective hood - the little metal hood at the end of the bulb is necessary to reflect the light from the bulb back into the reflective cone inside the housing itself otherwise the light is projected straight out into the eyes of oncoming drivers. This is where the whole argument about HID being dangerous comes from when in reality a 6500K Sylvania Silverstar is no less dangerous than a 6500K HID bulb. The difference is if you look at the bulbs most Halogen aftermarket bulbs come with a coating on the end of the bulb to replicate the affect of the metal hood in case your headlight housing does not have them whereas HID bulbs typically do not come with this end coating so if you put them in a housing with no inner hood the light is not directional and can have a blinding affect on oncoming drivers. Improperly adjusting a Halogen with no end coating can blind oncoming drivers just as easily as an HID can. Some stock and aftermarket H4 housings already have the hood inside of it and it may or not need removing depending on what bulb configuration you get.

Point is know your equipment and know how to adjust it for maximum visibility without creating an unnecessary hazard to the view of oncoming traffic. All of this "its dangerous to run HID" and "they blind other drivers" is mythical bullshit created by a lot of people who have no actual knowledge of how HID works. I would bet half of the vehicles they attribute to HID are actually Halogen. The problem with HID is if your clueless about the light spread on them, don't aim them properly, and don't ensure they have a reflective hood on the bulb your gonna risk temporarily blinding someone. This is the reason why KC bullets are not street legal because they use a H3 Halogen with no hood or reflective end so the light shines straight out and the inner reflective surface of the light just amplifies it instead of directing it. This is why a lot of states have laws making it illegal to run fog lights or aftermarket driving lights in anything other than low visibility conditions like fog.

 

Not trying to advise doing anything dangerous but that little hood really cuts down on the HID light output. If the hood somehow gets lost and the result is better light output, just be sure not to aim the headlight to high.