Resolved: Bullets on ER6f

[darich]

Hi
I'd probably have bought a set of bullets for my last bike had it not been an AC voltage system (CBF125) but I've now upgraded and seriously thinking of buying a set.

I have a 2010 ER6f and liked the video you have of the black bike in Video 1 (looks like a Kawasaki ZX). The bullets appear to be tucked up behind the indicators which are flush with the fairing....same as my bike.

Couple of questions regarding that location.............
1 - do the super bright leds interfere with the visibilty of the indicator?
2 - Is it possible to run the cable between the fairing and indicator lens and avoid drilling the fairing?

I like the idea of wiring them up to my sidelights so they come on with the side lights but wondered if it was feasible or even worth fitting a switch to the cables so the bullets can be operated independently of the lights.

Thanks
David

[Fluke]

Hi and welcome

The bike in the video is my old ZX10R... the Bullets were mounted just under the indicator which as you say meant a tiny hole for the wire. The didn't interfere with indicators at all from a visibility point of view.

A good alternative would be to mount up 'under' something, like the front nose of fairing, or tuck away in a ram air scoop (the later is what I did in the end. By doing this if you ever remove them it won't leave any visible hole at all... most people go with this method of mounting.

You could fit a switch, but as they consume so little power it's best just to leave them running all the time (powered from the sidelights)

Have a browse around the gallery forum and you will get lots of neat ideas on fitting locations.

Regards

[darich]

Thanks......
I'll have a look at possible alternative locations but ideally I'd like them as wide apart as possible, but without drilling. I wondered if I could get the cable between the fairing and indicator lens so will see how much of a gap there is there.

The bullets themselves, does the cable come out the bottom (through the sticky pad) or out the rear (opposite end from the light)??

Where the cable comes out will obviously infuence how easy it is to fit them.

Thanks

[Fluke]

Hi

The cable exits on the base of the bullet towards the rear through it's sticky pad...  i'm sure you could find a good spot though as they are so small

Regards

[darich]

Great...thanks

I replaced my sidelights yesterday with leds and it looks great......means I had the cables out for that light so I kow exactly where to connect the bullets......I ordered a set earlier today.

I've also ordered some shrink wrap from ebay to cover the soldering.

I'm seriously tempted by the HID conversion but not sure how easy it is for a non-electrically minded person to fit. My mate is a spark so it wold be a piece of cake for him though. Need to speak nicely to him if I decide to go for it.

I'll send a few shots of the bike once I get the bullets fitted.....although it might be a couple of weeks.

[Fluke]

Many thanks.. keep me posted how it all goes, we're always here to help

The HIDs are pretty easy to fit... with the biggest job being finding a good location for the ballast (HID control box). No soldering or wire joining is needed.

Regards

[darich]

Thanks

I'll get the bullets fitted then give it a month or two....I've only just got the bike and already bought a load of stuff (extra clothing, paddock stand, toolkit, bullets etc) so I'll give it a while before I go buying more stuff.

If it really is just plug and play then it shouldn't be too hard....I'd have thought I could hide ballast inside the front faring somewhere.
Does the ballast get warm or hot?

thanks again

[darich]

another question about the HID kits.......
you say no soldering or joining is required.

So does the ballast connect to the existing wiring loom with the new bulb replacing the existing one?
How does the ballast connect to the loom without cutting/soldering?

Apologies for the barrage of questions but I'm interested in the kit and trying to find out as much as possible prior to ordering/fitting.

thanks again

[Fluke]

Hi

The ballast itself as fully digital consumes very little power, and gets only warm. It's usually best tied up somewhere with cable ties, mounted using fixing, or simply stuck on inside of a fairing panel with supplied sticky pad.

The installation just requires -

- unplug bulb connector from old bike
- remove old bulb
- install HID bulb
- connect bulb connector on bike to male input loom on ballast.
- connect ballast to HID bulb

Test everything works...

- secure ballast and tidy cabling

So in effect you just interupt the existing wiring with the ballast... all the connectors just snap together so no splicing or joining.

Regards

[darich]

Excellent info

Just what I thought regarding the HID...essentially a change of bulb and the ballast connectde in series.

Very tempting.............very tempting indeed!!!

Many thanks
David

[Fluke]

You're welcome David 

[darich]

Hi again.....
resurrecting an old thread but there are a few questions here others may benefit from.

new questions
it seems that reading one of your previous posts, the fitting is really dead simple - change bulb, then fit ballast between old bulb fitment and new one. job done.....is it really that easy?
It sound like it's just a few minutes

I know the site says main beam is not advised due to the slight delay in ignition of the bulb.....but why is that an issue? My car has bi-xenon lights and works fine. Genuinely wondering why I would be advised not to buy 2?

I'm about to go out and find out what type of bulb I have but wanted to post this early and I might get an answer allowing me to order tonight

thanks
David

[darich]

Right....just checked my bike bulbs.
Looks like H7....two flat connectors parallel but opposite each other.

I'm guessing that determines the connections on the ballast unit for connecting to my bulb fittings.

And it's fine to use sticky pad to secure the ballast inside the faring??

thanks again

[Fluke]

Hi

I'll try to answer some of these..

Job really is that easy... just plug and play. What can take a little longer is just keeping all the wires neat and tied up. This is really important on a bike so not to get in the way of moving parts such as steering.

The problem is with main beam is it is often used for short periods of time (and just a second with the 'pass' button). This means the bulb cannot warm up fully shortening the life of it by a long way... also the 1-2 seconds it takes to light is not the instant light you require on a high beam. With BiXenon this is not a problem as the bulb often moves within a shutter to alter the beam pattern, but often bikes have two bulbs, one for low beam and one for main.

Though HID consumes less power than stock halogen once running (at 35W), the startup current to start the arc up within the bulb is greater than stock. On a bike where two HIDs are being started this load is oten too much for the stock electrics and will often result in one or both lights failing to fire up. There is no simple or elegant way around this problem.

The Ballast like you say can just stick on, but I would be tempted to fix it a little better with ties / and or a bolt of some kind (when installing them myself I often remove a bodywork bolt fixing and sandwich the Ballast inbetween)

I hope the above helps a little, but please don't hesitate in getting back if you need more info

Regards

[darich]

Dan

Very helpful and many thanks for your answer.

Seems reasonable enough why it's not advisable to have the hi-beam as a xenon since it can be flashed.
I looked into options and I think I'd by a standard halogen bulb for the hi-beam but a xenon look one. It seems these bulbs have a blue covering to give a light closer to xenon so if I flash the light, it works as a halogen but looks more like a xenon.

Securing the ballast shouldn't be so difficult - there is plenty room inside the fairing to secure or stick it. Sticky pads, plastic ties or even using a small amount of silicon sealant, I'm sure I could fix it somewhere suitable.

I've just placed an order for the xenon kit.
Hopefully it'll arrive on Thursday or Friday when someone is at home to accept delivery.

Many thanks once again
David