One of my headlights burnt out this morning. I haven't looked at the book yet. Just wondering how much of a headache it is to change out the bulb. Also other than going HID has anyone increased the wattage rating of the bulbs. If so how did you like the results?

You just reach in there to the bulb socket,turn the little housing...VOILA!Easy.Replace bulb,slide er back in there the same way,turn till she kinda "locks"...you'll feel it.That's it.

I was thinking I had to pull the fairing???

God no...reach in there from the side of your bike.You can see the sockets in there.WAY visible and accessible.Plenty of room...right in the nose there.Under the meter.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/8/2011 @ 12:08 PM *

Have some fun and put some HIDs in there. About $40/PAIR. Easiest place to get them is ddmtuning.com. I believe our bikes take H9 and H11, low and high.

are the hid's plug and play or are there any changes needed

They're SUPPOSED to be plug and play.Mine...kinda were...but not as easy as they let ya on to believe.I bought TWO sets(4) of the HIGH BEAM bulbs and all.The high beam socket fitting worked fine(fitwise).Installing the HIGH beam into the socket of the LOW BEAM,now,that took a smidgen of modding of the bulb plug "ears".But it worked fine.I've got 4 6K bulbs in there.HIGH BEAM.DDM's.Good quality.Excellent light output.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/8/2011 @ 12:30 PM *

The thing with HIDs is you will HAVE to pull the top fairing if you want to do a decent job and make it so in the future it will disconnect just like OEM disconnects.

Why? 2 ballasts for lows, 2 ballasts for high. 2 starters for lows, 2 starters for highs.

If you don't mount that stuff to the top fairing, then to take the top fairing off in the future, you have to disconnect a whole bunch of stuff.

I took the time to affix the ballasts and starters to the headlamp frame and inside the top fairing, so the whole thing comes off just like OEM.

DDM Tuning makes the best kits, be sure to specify you want miniature ballasts.

I recommend 35W 6,000 warmth for both lows and highs, they make more than enough light for my deep mountain riding where there aren't any lights at all but from the stars and moon, and lots of nasty blind turns.

Some like 55W and hotter bulbs, so they can throw a blue spot on the pavement. Whatever.

* Last updated by: privateer on 6/8/2011 @ 1:20 PM *

Has anyone done a side by side comparo of 35w v 55w?

What do you conclude? I hear the high beam is a little slow to respond and this affects the passing switch most. Is that more pronounced with the 55w? Is it only with the 55w or both?

Does 6000k colour the same on both bulbs? I thoiught I read that the 35w 6000k were 'blue-er' than the 55w. True?

My 6k's look like this......and this..and this

They are listed on the color chart as "White like Noonday Sun".To me,they look white.Another lady rider here said"Oh,you have the bike with the BLUE headlights".... ...55w,6k's

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/8/2011 @ 4:17 PM *

Yes, 35W 6k are bluer than 55W 6k because the extra 20W is making the bulb hotter and so whiter.

when i researched them the manufacture stated (cause the color charts were with 35w bulbs) that which ever color you like say 5000k with the 35w youd need to get the 6000k in 55w to get the same color.

as far as plug and play they werent too bad the highs were but the lows i had to flip the wires on the plug going to the stock light harness. to do a nice clean install the nose does not need to come off but the rest of the fairings do need to come off.

* Last updated by: scottjkyl on 6/10/2011 @ 5:06 AM *

I found the same information, scottjkyl, at the DDM Tuning site. I chose 35W 6,000k because I liked the color and it had enough "power" for me to see what I need to see in the dark.

I am not certain you can do a good job of getting everything attached to the top (front) cowl without taking it off. Maybe with my ham-hocks I have for hands and fingers I can't, and others can.

But let me explain. I removed my top front cowl, and OEM it comes off with just a couple disconnections of connectors. Pretty easy but of course all the other cowlings need to come off first if you don't want to force it. I can't force it, the carbon fiber is light and strong but its also VERY rigid.

So I sat the front cowl on my workbench, and planned where the starters and ballasts would go. I ended up using silicone adhesive to attach the mini-ballasts (people thinking about buying from DDM Tuning, make sure to specifically state "MUST HAVE MINIATURE BALLASTS" because they don't always send them.) I had to the send the high-beam kit back because they sent me regular ballasts the first time.

I ended up wrapping the starters in bubblewrap (just enough to cover them), fastening it with clear tape, and then tie-wrapping them to the frame that holds the headlamp assembly onto the top cowl. Had to trial place the cowl a couple times to make sure it would go back on, until I found out where I could put them and not hit stuff on the front subframe and forks, etc. Also make sure you can get to the adjustment bolt heads with a socket and extension.

The ballasts were easy, I found a place just "under" the bottom of the windscreen to attach a pair of them with silicone adhesive and another place for the other pair, one on each side "under" the front running lights.

What I ended up with was 4 connector pairs dangling, and everything else permanently attached to the top cowl.

When I put it on, I just stuck the connector pairs (male prongs) into the OEM frame-side connectors, put a glob of silicone adhesive over it to protect the connection (from disconnecting, and moisture).

So if I ever have to take the top cowl off, say to do an "upgrade", or when A&A Performance puts a supercharger on it, the top cowl comes off just like it did when it was bone-stock.

And none of those starters or ballasts has ever rattled, come loose, or anything. And my lights come on instantly, highs included. Every time. Without fail.

DDM Tuning makes good kits, and 35W units always come on instantly, without a relay, without a fuse change.

* Last updated by: privateer on 6/10/2011 @ 6:16 AM *

I did 5Ks and in my opinion they're still too blue/dim. If I bought again especially for highs I'd buy 3 or 4 Ks or inbetween.

It's really not a big issue installing them on the bike. more preferences than anything. But you do get everything you'll need with the kit. Extra harness shouldn't be necessary, at least I haven't heard of one honest problem with the 14s harness.
You may want to just do lows first and see if you want to do them all after because yes they do take a moment to start up and flicking them on won't happen unless they've already been warmed up. I don't usually flash my brights anyways because they're always on so I just use the bird.

WHY is everyone telling him he needs to pull his fairings?Only thing I had to remove was the ram duct covers.THAT'S IT.Mine went in perfecto.EVERYTHING went fine.

You're NOT removing or replacing the factory harness....You're ONLY putting the unit "in between".Nothing is being removed!If anything....MAYBE the windscreen...IF you choose to put your ballasts up front.But it's NOT a "have to" deal.You can put your ballasts ANYPLACE you want,long as they are NOT physically contacting the bare bodywork(the outer fairings).Long as you have some foam in between the ballast and the fairing work,they'll be just fine.The factory bodywork foam is ideal.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/10/2011 @ 11:28 AM *

+1.3

If ya want "easy access" to all yer internals...why not just replace all your factory fasteners,get some "quick release" deals in there,and enjoy!Might want to be careful though if you do anything over 35 mph.

That midfairing there,just below the ram tube,there's a handy little pocket right there....nice foam backing...igniter and ballast fit fine.Cozy as can be!Haven't had a meltdown with mine yet...been there over two years now.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/10/2011 @ 12:19 PM *

I guess I'm just not a fan of quick and dirty. What keeps them from bouncing around?

Because I was putting on new cowling, it made sense to do it the way I did, but I'd still pull it and do the same thing if I upgraded, thats just me.

* Last updated by: privateer on 6/10/2011 @ 4:31 PM *

blue, the first time i installed mine i did like you just pulled the dash covers but i wasnt happy with the look down in the cockpit ares(lot of wires showing) so when i had the fairings and nose off doing my leds i hooked my hids up b4 putting the sides back on and it was so much easier for me with my gorilla hands lol and was able to route the wires out of site.
.
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edge, i had to buy the relay harness for my brights cause sometimes 1 or both wouldnt fire up. called ddm and they recomended the relay harness cause the highs draw more power to ignite and said motorcycle wiring isnt big enough so i got on ebay(cause ddm too $$$) got me a relay harness and alls good. now it seems no one else here had that problem but i did and it worked for me so my advice is if you got the bike tore apart to install hids you might as well spend the $10 for a harness so if you do have a prob ur not tearing it upart again to add a relay harness later just my .o2 cents

S'all good Scott.I ran my wiring along the inside midfairing/upper cowl.Can't see anything.Ram covers make it easily accessible for me.

So Priv....what do you need to do to get to your wiring of those?

What keeps em from bouncing around?The black plastic inner fairing,and the outer fairing with the stock foam already attached in there.They don't go anywhere.If ya need to get to em,you just pull em on up and out,put em back the same way.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/10/2011 @ 7:52 PM *

Scott just reminded me of a good point. If you do get the harness from DDM make sure you give the cheap inline fuse a good look or just replace it with a quality unit. The harness I put on my mom's P.T. worked fine after I installed, then a day later no lights. Their fuse is just basically two 90 degree spade connectors on the fuse tabs with a cheap flimsy plastic housing around that. You will need to crimp the spade connectors a little flatter - mine was not making good contact with the fuse tabs - and then some 33+ 3m ELECTRICAL TAPE or shrink wrap around the housing to waterproof it a bit .

blue07 wrote:

So Priv....what do you need to do to get to your wiring of those?[

All HID wiring is in the top cowl, and I never need to get to it for anything, it just works.

Not sure what your question was....

* Last updated by: privateer on 6/13/2011 @ 3:29 PM *

Went ahead and got the PIAA H11 crystal Ion yellow and the lumenics H9 Ion yellow blubs.. Looks good with the green bodywork.. The right hand side High beam was a pain to install