rockertom Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 Question for you all. I have a HID low beam on my 99. It has been blinking when first starting up. Then gets nice and bright. I just took it out for a few and now the blinking won't go away. It is also changing color now. I am thinking it is time to replace. Question is? Just the bulb or would I need to replace the ballast as well. Not very familiar with HID's. What is the bulb I am looking for? Tried doing a search but not much was coming up. other than a shit load of pages. Went through some of them. But found it easier to ask. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John01XX Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 (edited) H7 HID bulb Flickering is usually a voltage issue in my experience I replaced both the bulb and the ballast last time I had a flickering problem. Pretty cheap now a days I prefer the 5000K or the 6000K for best visibility. I have 6000k in my Bird both high and low. https://www.amazon.com/Innovited-Lights-Colors-Digital-Ballast/dp/B07NCLL854/ref=sr_1_4?gclid=CjwKCAiA3abwBRBqEiwAKwICA8hPNFeTsuzxDJ1UYXPUz_RrGTfJAxHEiWctjBwcUSnH9PRqLI-AkRoCpvEQAvD_BwE&hvadid=177574150776&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9011841&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t2&hvqmt=b&hvrand=1399993115731322341&hvtargid=aud-837858999240%3Akwd-29922686335&hydadcr=5703_9590289&keywords=55w+hid+h7&qid=1577734565&sr=8-4 Edited December 30, 2019 by John01XX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampNut Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 What John said. Too cheap to fuck around. I helped a neighbor with HID issues recently, and after replacing one part, then the other, it seemed like they were causing each other to fail. No idea if that's possible, but that was the gut feeling. He's back on regular bulbs now. I have a set of LEDs for the XX, haven't tested them yet. If that would interest you, Oscar and I can fire one up with a whisky and a cigar in the garage later and give a driveway review. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockertom Posted December 30, 2019 Author Share Posted December 30, 2019 28 minutes ago, SwampNut said: What John said. Too cheap to fuck around. I helped a neighbor with HID issues recently, and after replacing one part, then the other, it seemed like they were causing each other to fail. No idea if that's possible, but that was the gut feeling. He's back on regular bulbs now. I have a set of LEDs for the XX, haven't tested them yet. If that would interest you, Oscar and I can fire one up with a whisky and a cigar in the garage later and give a driveway review. Sounds good. I just did my truck recently and like the results with LED. I don't have a preference to stay with HID's or go LED. John, I just replaced the Reg not that long ago. The voltmeter on board shows 12v and some change at idle. Then goes to 14.3 as soon as I get on the gas. Just one of things that bugs me. I don't believe the stator is going out due to the voltmeter running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John01XX Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 1 hour ago, rockertom said: Sounds good. I just did my truck recently and like the results with LED. I don't have a preference to stay with HID's or go LED. John, I just replaced the Reg not that long ago. The voltmeter on board shows 12v and some change at idle. Then goes to 14.3 as soon as I get on the gas. Just one of things that bugs me. I don't believe the stator is going out due to the voltmeter running. Tom, You misunderstood my poor explanation. I was implying that the improper voltage needed to start the HID bulb coming from the Ballast is probably bad. As Swampy said they are so cheap that I would recommend replacing both the bulb and the ballast together as I did on my Bird. The link shows under $50 delivered for a pair so you then have a spare if you don't use it in the high beam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockertom Posted December 30, 2019 Author Share Posted December 30, 2019 25 minutes ago, John01XX said: Tom, You misunderstood my poor explanation. I was implying that the improper voltage needed to start the HID bulb coming from the Ballast is probably bad. As Swampy said they are so cheap that I would recommend replacing both the bulb and the ballast together as I did on my Bird. The link shows under $50 delivered for a pair so you then have a spare if you don't use it in the high beam. Ah ok, that makes sense now. Thanks. I am going to take it apart tomorrow and see what I need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampNut Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Oops, forgot to post about the LED test. It seems like a win. The bike is apart so the test was done just holding the light in the driveway. I also need to find an adapter/spacer, I forgot that the XX has a weird plastic plug added to the bulb. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NXS9RHB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
googus Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Like the LEDs. I want to change mine out just worried about the PITA factor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero Knievel Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Mine would flicker if I used the turn signal too soon after start up. Takes time for ballast to get fully charged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockertom Posted January 1, 2020 Author Share Posted January 1, 2020 That LED is pretty bright. I'll have to figure out which way I'll go. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockertom Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Well that was a PITA to do. I ended up buying the kit that John posted. Turns out my hands are to big to just take the lower dash plastics off. Ended up removing the windscreen and dash. That made life a lot easier. Now I have a second one as a spare when the time comes. I will also be looking at using a LED for the high beam. as that is instant on off. Thanks for the Amazon link to the LED Swampnut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampNut Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 What did you do for spacers? I still haven't put the bike back together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironmike Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 When I did the HIDs years ago, I faced the same spacer problem. I used plasticized rubber washers for garden hoses I got at a hardware store; they were almost a perfect fit in diameter and about 3/16" thick , but a hair too snug around the new bulb. So I made a diagonal slice (using a razor blade) to one inner side of the washer to allow a degree of expansion; it worked, and the clip snapped snugly into place. The rubber composition of the washer even further isolated any vibration. It was a cheap fix, and it's been fine for about a decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampNut Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Fucking brilliant. I'm always super happy when I find a way to repurpose cheap shit for another use, and impressed when others do the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockertom Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 Yes there was a rubber washer that I repurposed from the old one.took me a bit to figure that out. Here is what the HID looks like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 It looks like it would blind oncoming drivers. Have you tried looking at it from the front to see how it is at car driver level? Guessing it just needs to be adjusted down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiXXation Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 It kind of looks like the bulb in the lower chamber might be the one connected to the low beam wiring instead of the correct bulb in the upper chamber. It would take a lot of adjustment to get the low beam down far enough. Maybe the bulb is not completely seated in the housing socket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero Knievel Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 5 hours ago, superhawk996 said: It looks like it would blind oncoming drivers. Have you tried looking at it from the front to see how it is at car driver level? Guessing it just needs to be adjusted down. Also, do you have the shield thing to block direct exposure to the bulb? I forget who here fabricated some of those to reduce glare to oncoming traffic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockertom Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 4 hours ago, Zero Knievel said: Also, do you have the shield thing to block direct exposure to the bulb? I forget who here fabricated some of those to reduce glare to oncoming traffic. No, don’t have the shield. Bulb is square to the head light. Not sure about on coming drivers . Will have to look at that. Most likely it will be they will see me for sure at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 3 minutes ago, rockertom said: Most likely it will be they will see me for sure at night. They'll definitely see you, but it'll be harder for them to judge your distance & speed so it creates a new hazard for you. Plus they'll likely blast back with their high beams possibly blinding you. Even during the day I often find it hard to judge a bike's speed when they have the high beam on. Many riders run the high beam to be more visible and don't understand that it's a double edged sword. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampNut Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 I've had an argument about the high beam in daylight thing. I had a lot of people threatening me with left turns until I *stopped* doing it. The Hurt study was in 1975-ish when motorcycle headlights were a brown glow of 35 watts of tungsten. High beams then were dimmer than our low beams now. I think blinded drivers say "fuck it" and just go. Retarded, but I'd rather not have my tombstone say "but he was right." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockertom Posted January 9, 2020 Author Share Posted January 9, 2020 Took the bird for a ride to dinner just now. Well it’s bright. Not shinning directly in mirrors. But a few peeps put their hand out to cover it. I bought a 55watt and the old one that came out was a 35watt. Explains the difference in brightness from the old one. Not much more I can do other than going back to the 35watt. I’ll run it for awhile and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhawk996 Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 You can't aim it downward some? Or is the light just scattered? In the photo it appears to have a decent horizontal cut-off line so adjustment might be all it needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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