HID recommendation for the CR

[JohnnyS999]

I want to convert the low beam to HID. Any of you do the research on this? I know theres a good thread dealing with another model and the guy who posted it has it together. But I'm like anyone else, I need a plug and play set up model specific with pictures. I think for one thing hiding the wiring and ballast will be easy, right behind the flyscreen.

[dave_xb12r]

DDMtuning.com would be a good place to purchase from. I would get a 55w 5000k or 6000k kit.

[polkiejoe]

I second DDM! Great value and service. Make sure you get the slim 55watt kit. I just purchased a 2 sets of Raptor 55watts for a Goldwing Trike... They look great but the ballests were the full sized ones.
I have the 35 watt raptors on my lightning and they are slim ballests

[dave_xb12r]

I have a slim 55w set from DDM

[acepilot79]

hey for those of you that have the 55W hid's in the lightning, have you had any problems?? over heating, melting anything??

[JeepinBueller]

The lamp assembly is fairly large in the CRs, I'm going with a 55w kit from DDM soon. I had a 35W kit in my Firebolt, but not so sure about the smaller incandescent Lightning headlights with a 55W HID kit.

Not sure which color to get ... probably 8000K or 10000K since the extra wattage washes out some of the color (55w 8000K will look like a 35W 5000K or something like that). The headlight assemblies are vented and get plenty of air so I think they'll be fine.

Obviously getting slim ballasts (that's the norm nowadays anyway), but anybody got any pitures of a CR install. Enough room under the fairing/behing the gauge cluster for the ballast, or will they have to be remotely mounted under-seat or under-pillion?

[dave_xb12r]

55w 8000K will look like a 35W 5000K or something like that

I have a 55w 6000k and it looks like 6000k

Kelvin is a measurement of color temperature. Luminance doesn't effect color temperature. Luminance will effect color intensity however. After I got the 6000k, I wished that I had got the 5000k because it was too blue for me. I'd rather have lumens vs color.

[JohnnyS999]

We need a picture tutorial of an install on a CR only.

[JeepinBueller]

I had the fairing off (as well os the right side pod to check my coolant level b/c that sight glass is useless) and it looks plausible.

I'd estimate the area to be about two fists ... a dual HID setup will be tough, but a low beam only HID set up looks perfectly fine.

How I see it, there are three ways to go about it:

1.) All electronics (ballast, ignitor, relay) under the fairing. For a dual HID setup, double the equipment. That means only one wire from the battery to the relays (daisy chain relays). Space is the main issue (the only other thing that's under there are factory wiring harnesses that can be pushed and manipulated out of the way). Obviously the #1 choice for a reason: everything's neat and tidy in the same place.

2.) Hybrid: ballast/ignitor under the fairing, relay back by the battery. This means there will be two runs of wire to route: signal wire from stock headlight positive to relay, and output wire from relay to ballast. If running dual HID setup, you'll need four runs, two for each ballast. This setup wouldn't be horrible and it will still work just fine.

3.) Remote: ballast, ignitor, and relay all behind the battery. Still the same amount of wire to run, just different purposes: signal wire from stock headlight positive to relay, and output wire from ballast to bulb. Double the wires to four runs for a dual HID setup. This seems to be the least attractive since you'll basically be taking up all your available storage, which we have almost nill of anyway. Plus, I'm not sure how the HID system will handle a run of 4-6 feet between the ballast/ignitor and bulb.

I'll be ordering a 55W kit from DDM soon and I'll post up a write-up when I'm done.

[nilla]

+7 for DDM. i say +7 cuz i just got DDM HID's for my self and 6 friends. i installed the last one just last night at the bar.

[nilla]

and i'm pretty sure you need H7 for the CR. pull out your bulb and look at it to make sure.

[Miami78]

No problems so far with the 55w in the lightning, and I love the look (low beam) so much I'm going to get one for the high beam after christmas! Nilla's 1125 is insanely bright with the pair of HID's, and once we got the hang of it they were installing in no time!

[vosnick52]

I am trying to install the low beam DDM kit and there is nothing that reaches the battery.
Having issues.

[Miami78]

What are you installing the DDM on? The 1125 and XB did not need anything going to the battery...

[nilla]

yeah, the ddm kits we had plugged into the connectors for the bulbs, fed out of thru bulb housing and into the ballast, then back in thru the housing to the bulb.
maybe you got an old kit or different style. ... ?
we had a few of the 55w regular, 55w slim, and 35w slim. i doubt the 35w regular is any different.
they come with instructions, which i got frustrated with and ignored. and DDM has tech support; online, and on the phone. or call me.
i'm pretty much a PRO by now ... JUST ASK ME!:D

[JeepinBueller]

For those asking, I will always relay the input power of the ballasts. Reason? The amperage draw for the ignition and warm up phases of the bulb is pretty hefty. I had a friend install a 35W kit on his Civic and it burnt to the ground about 2 weeks later because the ballasts overloaded the factory 18ga wiring for the headlights.

Of course, these instances are few and far between. I'm sure it'll be fine on the factory wiring. I just like to be safe and run relays just because ... it can also overload the factory switch. Just saying.

[JohnnyS999]

Someone here mentioned the H7 bulb for the CR, I believe its H8 instead. Can someone verify? After looking at a few HID vendors, the DDM sure looks the kind and only $30 for the 55W set up. I'm going to order the 55W with 5000K because I think the 6000K will have too much blue in it. The website indicated the bulb color does have blue in it.

[polkiejoe]

Don't get the 55w for $30!! The ballasts are huge! Step up to the other set and get the slim ballasts.

[hdwrenchtx]

I have the DMM 55w 8000k H7 on my CR

[hdwrenchtx]

here is a pic of mine

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af61/hdwrenchtx/lights.jpg

[xtreme6669]

The CR dose use a h8 bulb stock.

[hdwrenchtx]

this is direct from the buell site

Three-bulb headlamp with daylight running mode. 55 watt low beam (one (H7) 55 watt bulb), 110 watt high beam (one additional (H7) 55 watt bulb), 5 watt position lamp

[jet6]

I run 55w 8000k in my SS, love it

[bucketheadmjs]

Both bulbs are H7. It is in the manual as well as on the Buell website.

I am in the process of installing my set of HID. Did everyone have to modify the high beam housing that the stock bulb plugs into? I am finding that I may need to do some dremel to get the HID bulb to properly lock in place.

[polkiejoe]

Hey Buckethead...Is this what you are trying to do??http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/polkiejoe/photo15.jpg

[bucketheadmjs]

You sir are no longer my friend lol [up]

[JohnnyS999]

polkiejoe
"Don't get the 55w for $30!! The ballasts are huge! Step up to the other set and get the slim ballasts".

Well, I screwed up. I ordered and received the 55W - 5000K unit with the H8 bulb instead of the H7. I tried to install it and got hung up on what do you connect the old bulb two prong connector to. It looked like the only place to connect it would be to a rubber cowled connector DDM from the ballast (only thing left to connect to), but I couldn't get them together. I was thinking of cutting off the connectors and splicing the wires together when I stopped to take a look at this thread. Glad I did, I learned I had the wrong bulb so I disconnected everything and re-ordered the H7 bulb 55W 5000K unit. However, I couldn't find an option for the super slim ballast, in fact I thought I was getting the super thin ballast with the first order and I got a paper weight ballast instead. There are only like three motorcycle HID units on the DDM sight, one of those is for a single bulb. I really had no other choice unless I'm missing something there again. I can fit the heavy ballast but I would rather have the slim one.

Any advice on install and whats up with the ballast issue? My order came to around $47, this included the $11+ shipping and I think $7.50 upcharge for the 55W.

[polkiejoe]

I'll post a link to what you need to order....

[polkiejoe]

Here ya go....
http://www.ddmtuning.com/index.php?p=product&id=101&parent=85

Just beware...the socket for the low beam housing is different than the high beam (not sure why??) but you will have to dremel out the retaining ring to hold the bulb inplace.[up]

[JohnnyS999]

Too late on getting that unit, I already ordered the single bulb H7 replacement. Besides, I only want the low beam in HID, not both Hi and Low. So I have to live with the heavier ballast. I don't understand why they don't offer the thin ballast for the single bulb motorcycle unit. That is where smallness and weightsavings is the most important. I don't get it.

Also, what about the question I posed on where and what do you connect the stock bulb two prong (female) connector to? There is only one other possibility and its the male connector with the rubber cowling that comes from the ballast. As I said, I couldn't squezze them together so I was thinking about splicing the wires together after I cut off the plastic connectors.

I guess I could take a couple pics and post them, but actually the install seems straight forward even if the directions from DDM suck.

[polkiejoe]

The 2 male ends from the DDM unit fit into your female ends on the CR... Ohhh yeah.....

[JohnnyS999]

OK, I guess its a tight fit. I'll just have to really squezze them together, right? Maybe some KY gel will help?

[bucketheadmjs]

polkiejoe has the market corned on KY. You may have trouble finding some... He puts it on his nose, his wife is into that ****. :D

[polkiejoe]

Bucketheadmjs is correct :([sad]

[JohnnyS999]

Got my correct DDM Tuning HID kit today. An H7 bulb with 55W and 5000K. Generally an easy install, had to kind of use a little bit of force on the wire hold down things on the bulb housing. All of the connectors and fittings plugged right in. I couldn't find the slim ballast on the website so I got stuck with the heavy one. Good thing theres enough room under the flyscreen for that stuff. I don't like the extra weight of the big ballast, oh well.

The brightness of the light is awesome and I'm glad I didn't go higher than 5000K because someone mentioned the 6000K's light color was blue, he didn't like it. Mine has just a hint of it and gets whiter as it warms up, I'm super happy with it.

[dave_xb12r]

That was probably me. I've got 5000k bulbs on their way. I'd take extra lumens rather than "rice" colored headlights

[JohnnyS999]

dave xb12r quote:
That was probably me. I've got 5000k bulbs on their way. I'd take extra lumens rather than "rice" colored headlights.

+1 and thanks Dave.

[tank55]

just put mine on and i love them!

[JeepinBueller]

Got my HIDs in a couple weeks ago ... haven't been able to ride it yet with them with the horrible weather MD has been getting lately.

I got a DDM 6000K 55W kit for both the high- and low-beam. Remember, they're H7 bulbs. Install is pretty straight forward. You have to remove the terminals from the stock H7 bulb holders ... the male termianls are weird and I'll probably have to go back in a redo them as they're not that secure. You'll see what I mean when you do it. The high beam bulb holder needs careful modification. Sorry, no pics of it, but maybe soon.

Anyways, light output is fantastic ... I may swap out the bulbs to 4300K in the future, but I like the blue-ish tint right now.

It's nice because the stock fly screen actually blocks the upward glare ... beam pattern is pretty much dead-on with stock, but any glare in the stock units are exaggerated when going to HID. All things considered, it's really nice.


LOW BEAM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/ski_merlin/1125CR/CIMG5045.jpg


LOW/HIGH BEAM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/ski_merlin/1125CR/CIMG5047.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/ski_merlin/1125CR/CIMG5050.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/ski_merlin/1125CR/CIMG5055.jpg

[Maskido]

For all those that have this kit, any flickering issues? Error codes? Reliability issues? Thanks for the input!

EDIT (by flicker, I also mean do the bulbs bounce around while riding? or is it a secure fit?)

[JeepinBueller]

No no codes thrown (why would they?), rock solid in the bulb holders (you have to modify the high beam holder), and no flickering at all. DDM designs their kits to run on factory wiring, so everything's peachy without relays.

[Maskido]

Quick question;

I used the link from the first page & ordered the 55w 6000k slim ballast kit. After the order was placed, I noticed that they also offer MOTORCYCLE HID kits as well. What is the difference? Which one did you guys order?

[JeepinBueller]

The motorcycle kits are just one ballast and a single bulb. The regular kits (usually for cages) just have two ... no differences in components.

[Maskido]

Soo on the high beam connection, the white is positive (+) & the black/red is negative (-) riiiight?

[Maskido]

alright! thanks for the info!!!! You're the best!!

[Atle 1125CR]

Have anyone suffered problems due to heat after riding with high-beam for a longer period?

I ordered mine yesterday (55W 5000K) and noticed this on their website today:

"Our 55w HID Kit is not recommended for smaller fog light housings because they tend to concentrate a large amount of heat in a small area."

[Maskido]

NEGATIVE: The housing for the CR is plenty big. The stock bulbs themselves are 55W, so the HID set-up is no problem at all. The only problem is I wish there was a mirror truck rolling next to me to see how cool the bike looks with the HIDS on, but theres not.[cool]

[Atle 1125CR]

Great!
I saw in a norwegian MC-magazine that the 1125CR has crappy lights so hopefully this kit will make it possible to drive in the dark. The high-beam lights on the Buell were worse than the lo-beams on bikes like Speed Triple, Ducati SF and the Superduke...

That made me worry a bit since i hope to be riding both in the mornings and in the evenings.

The fact that they look pretty cool and are on sale at the moment doesn't make things worse :)

[IRULE]

The DDM Tuning kit works perfectly. I just did it and worth the money (especially when its on sale).

[rockin4runner]

Why do most people run 55watt instead of 35watt? Wont 35watt be a little less strain on the charging system?

[Sirius815]

55W is brighter than 35W, and yes, 35W is less strain (especially during initial turn on of the ballast).

[Global Eyes]

I'll be installing a CR headlamp on my XB come spring time. Anyone running both beams on, at the same time? When you run your high beams, do both lamps light up?

[rockin4runner]

Thanks Sirius815, I think I'm going to go with the 35Watt setup from DDM.

[independentrider]

Wanting to order the ddm kit. Anything special I need to do when ordering as far as the Hid harness and adapter cables?

[JeepinBueller]

Global Eyes: Yes, on the CR headlamp, the left side is low beam and the right is high beam, with both staying on for the high beam.

You shouldn't need anything special, inde.

[independentrider]

Thanks jeepin. Ended up going with the kit from the retrofit source for my cr. Dual morimoto projectors with 5500k xb35 bulbs. Got my headlight off and apart, parts coming in tomorrow.

[JeepinBueller]

That's awesome—good luck with the project. I would have liked to do that with the Morimoto mini projectors, but in the end the cost drove me away. I don't do much night riding anyway, but the dual low beam (plus the look) would be great to have.

[KeepCalmAndSigmaPiOn]

I went with DDMtuning.com also and it was all plug and play. Great quality HID kits

[Sina84]

So I'll be getting the (H7) 55w 6000k, or can I get 8000k? No harness, relays, or adapters needed correct? What kind of modification will I be needing to do, to install the high beam?

[Cooter]

Here… Read

this. (http://www.buellxb.com/Buell-XB-Forum/Buell-1125CR/HID-recommendation-for-the-CR)

[N8Tattoo]

Any pictures of the High Beam Bulb Mod?
Trying to figure out how to cut it to accept new bulb