FZ1 Mod: Bi Xenon Conversion Kit

25 August 2010:  Can you See Me Now?

Last year when I met Cruzman, he had the 8000k xenon lights in his FZ1 and they were very noticeable.  After the ride, it got me thinking about headlights.  His lights didn't put out more lights than mine, they were just different colored.  I wondered if oncoming traffic would see him before me because of the color I chose.  I chose the 6000k xenons so I could see, never thinking about being seen.  At some point, I decided to stick with the xenons I had rather than changing colors.  But I did start thinking about lighting.

Not long after that, I started seeing posts about HID headlights and finally someone quit talking and did a conversion on his Gen 2.  From his pictures, it looked like a lot of light on the road and something for me to consider.  I did some searching and learned there are projector HIDs and regular HIDs.  The projectors are supposed to focus the light better than the regular ones but they offer an abrupt cut off and require you to bake open the headlight housing.  The regular HIDs have bulbs similar to the halogen bulbs and will allow me to use the stock aiming.  I wasn't really fond of the "angel eye" and there is also a drastic price difference.

With the option to have more lighting and keep the stock aiming function, I decided on a regular HID Kit.  I also wanted to have the high beam in HID too but most of the kits did offer it.  They either had no high beam or halogen high beam so I decided to wait.  My xenon bulbs were performing fine so it was no big rush.  Besides, I'd only seen them on the internet, not on a motorcycle in person.

The new year came and changed that.  On a ride with eFnJustRide, he was behind me for once and I noticed how bright his headlights were, even in the daytime.  He told me he just installed the HIDs and was very happy with them.  I was too because I got to see first hand the effect.  I didn't ask him much about his kit because I already knew what color I wanted from the research I'd been doing; I could stick with the 6000k I was used to looking at.  The question became where to get them.

There's a lot of information around about fake HIDs or poor quality HIDs that made making a decision difficult.  Fortunately for me, about the time I was making ready to buy them, I started seeing kits with both hi/low HID and the prices dropped and a seller stepped out from the crowd:  DDM Tuning.  Unfortunately, as I was gathering my pennies, I started reading complaints about customer service, wrong orders, late orders, and product quality.  Based on that, I thought taking my chance on an eBay seller would likely give me marginally better results.

That's when I discovered there are two different ballasts:  standard and ac.  The ac ballasts are advertised to eliminate that pesky flicker.  I didn't know what flicker but if it was a better product at the same costs, I'd get it.  When I had the money in hand, the eBay seller I'd carefully chosen was out of the ac ballasts H4 kits.  Plan 2:  Search the internet.

kryptonbulbs.com bi xenon h4 conversion kit

In searching the 'net, I kept seeing posts by kryptonbulbs.com in different forums selling their wares and promising to take down DDM Tuning.  They claimed they had a better product than DDM because of the ballasts and their customer service and product fulfillment was superior.  At that point, with DDM Tuning taking orders but not letting you know when you'd get the product, kryptonbulbs.com was looking pretty good.

I read through the threads they had on a couple of forum and came up with some questions I wanted answered before deciding to place my order.  I emailed them at nearly midnight and got an answer a few minutes later!  Wow, talk about customer service!  We exchanged emails and a few days later, I placed my order.  Within an hour of making payment, I had noticed that my item had shipped and it was at my door around 48 hours later!

Color me impressed.  I went back to the forums to consult the HID install threads just to be sure I had an idea of what I needed to do before heading to the garage to get started.  The first thing, unpack the box:

The people behind kryptonbulbs decided to take the time to translate the "chin-grish" directions supplied with the kit into American English.  I'm glad they did.  I read the booklet but it didn't really make sense, unlike the one page instructions that I could easily follow to the letter.

My new light:

The slim ac ballast:

The relay harness

Time to get started!

First, I disconnected the negative from the battery then I had to get access to the headlights

and so I could remove headlamp plug.

Then I removed protective rubber boot

So I could unclip and remove headlamp.

This is the bulb I am replacing:

Before I installed the HID Bulbs, I had to remove the bulb holder from the bulb

and then I clipped it into the place where the headlamp went.

Next, I re-installed the rubber boot.  I had to urge the rubber around the opening a little bit.

This is the new light:

I just slid it into the holder and turned it until it locked.  Remember, DO NOT TOUCH THE BULB.

I have installed the bulb.  Now to do the same thing for the other side.

Both of the bulbs have been installed,

now it's time to find a place for the ballasts.  I chose the side wall of the fairing and had to clean it up a little bit.  I used velcro and stuck the ballasts in place.

With the ballasts installed, I plugged in the lights.  There's really only one way to do this as the plugs have locks on the top.  Match red to red, clip, and I'm done!

Then I did the same thing on the other side.  There's more room over there so I thought I'd put the relay harness over there but it was not to be.  The cord to the battery was too short.  I had to find another spot.  While I thought about it, I cleaned a spot for the grounds from the ballasts and found the perfect spot!

I had to prop the tank though,

Relay harness is in place and a nice clean spot of bare metal for the grounds.  I chose to use the arm that holds the end of the fairing where it mates to the frame.  I zip tied the harness in place then connected the grounds.

The relay has a long side and a short side.  The short side has a plug that matches the factory headlight plug.

After plugging this in, there are a couple of more connections to complete before the relay harness, the ballasts, and the lights are all connected.  Again it's easy as there's only one way to plug them in.

Everything is installed and plugged in!

In this pic, you can actually see the ground wire attached (look bottom left corner)

Now, secure the wires and I'm done.

The power wire that goes to the battery is just long enough to reach it.  There's a reason the re-written instructions recommend connecting this to the battery side.  Last thing to do is to connect the power wire from the relay to the hot side of the battery.  I followed the wires from the headlight assembly to the battery then reconnected the negative.  Once everything was tidied up to my satisfaction, I fired them up.  They worked on the first try!!

Here is the raw video from when I turned them on the first time:

Time for some day time and dark photos:

It's looking like I'll need brigher 194 LEDs for the pod lights!

Here's a look, before and after:

It took longer to figure out where I wanted to put the relay harness then route the wires than it did to actually install everything.  I am very pleased with the results.  When I recover from this install, I'll connect the aux lights you see mounted to the front forks.  Here's a little preview of what they'll look like once I get them connected:

Aux Lights Test on Gen 1 FZ1

Video Comparison

I took a video of a night ride when I had the old lights in anticipation of getting the Bi Xenons.

First, the old setup--6000k xenon bright white headlamps:

Now, my new setup--6000k bi xenon hids:

10 Sep 2010 UPDATE:

New vs Old harness

The wiring harness I received was a little too short for my motorcycle.  A few days after the install, I went to pick up my niece from school and by the time I returned, I had no headlights!  I lifted the tank and discovered my wiring harness had a short.


I emailed Josh at kryptonbulbs.com right away and explained my problem.  He gave me several suggestions for a temp fix and promised to send me a new harness when they came in later the next week.  In the meantime, I re-installed the Xenons so I could go on the I Feel Fizzy ride with Cruzman.


I got the replacement harness today.  It had a longer tail for the power supply that enabled me to mount it without stressing any of the wires.  I now have all the lights!


I went from this:

To this:

In a few hours!  As you can see, I did a little more wiring work while waiting for the harness.  There will be a detailed post up soon.

Here's the new video I made:


(I've also been playing with Corel Studio and practicing using all my cameras in the hopes of make more interesting videos!)

Thanks for reading,
patrice, theWolfTamer