Topic: DDM HID

[wannabridin]

I know HID's have been discussed on here, but i found a good HID kit for a really good price through some VTX forums.  it's from DDM and they offer a 35W and a 55W HID kit.  does anyone have any experience with them??  i have an aftermarket housing ready to accept an H4 bulb, and i've heard really good things about these bulbs over on that forum by people that have installed them.  they offer a good lifetime warranty and stand by their product.  i'm considering purchasing one of these and relaying it in to get a nice safe headlight!  the ballasts are really skinny and the wiring is minimal!

http://www.ddmtuning.com/index.php?p=product&id=105&parent=61  $32.45 for an 6000K (best usable lumen output) single beam bulb.  not too bad right???

i don't care what people have to say about the glare, i'm planning on using a single filament bulb with no hi-beam, just a low beam because its so damn bright anyways!

[bistromath]

Well, you don't *have* to care about the glare, you're behind the headlight. 

But others in front of you might not appreciate it. Your call. It's also a cop magnet -- lots of HID conversions on squidmobiles around here, and lots of riders getting $150 fixit-tickets for it.

[wannabridin]

well i'm going to make sure to aim it properly, using shims or whatever to fix the glare.  if a cop tells me it's illegal (i'm in TX, they don't care about as much down here, especially on older bikes) then i'll tell him that it's a DOT housing with a bright bulb.  there's PLENTY of people around here with way too bright and way to misaligned bulbs that don't ever get pulled over!

either way, it's like a cop telling you your pipes are too loud.  unless they have the proper equipment to measure the offense, then technically/legally, they can't do anything about it!  i have HIR bulbs in my truck, and they're NEARLY as bright as HID's, and they have a good bulb pattern, but still some glare, and i've never had problems with these!  but anything i can do to get noticed is acceptable with me, as long as it's within some reason!  loud pipes save lives, so do bright colors and lights!   

[richenry]

I put a set of ddm hid light on my 1150gs and they are fantastic.  The glare is not an issue if you properly adjust the beam to compensate for the hid brightness.

They are local to me so I picked them up and asked them a ton of questions in the progress.

If you are concerned about being a cop magnet then get a color that is not near the blue/purple color range.

[Laminar]

I bought two of their H4 high/low 35W 5000K motorcycle kits. The motorcycle kit comes with the slim ballasts and an extra relay box with all of the wiring you need already done.

I just mocked up the kit this week on my workbench, I'm waiting for a new retaining ring to put this on my bike. The light was very bright and lit up my whole garage, but of course beam pattern is highly dependent on your housing and lens.

In "high" mode, the H4 high/low bulb uses an electromagnet to move the bulb guard to reveal more of the bulb to the housing reflector.

Once I get it installed I'm planning on taking some comparison pictures. It shouldn't be hard to be better than the stock Honda light.

Also, I would STRONGLY recommend getting 5000K or under. The 35W/5000K is already very white with a tiny hint of bluish, 6000K is going to look blue.

[Really?]

I think the silverstar I just put in my yammi was only 55w/4k.  So, you will prolly be doing good on that part.

[wannabridin]

well i read on there, and have heard from others, than the 6K will wash out in the 55W ranges.  if i get the 55w, i'll go 6000K, if i get the 35W, i'll get 4500 or 5000k.  and with proper adjustment, i don't think reducing the glare will be a problem at all...

in regards to keeping the hi-lo feature, here's a very nifty kit you can install relatively easy to delay the HID from coming on once the ignition is triggered.  adjustable from 1-15 seconds.  the reason for this is because of the strain that starting the bike puts on the HID's wearing out the ballasts quicker.  for $40, it's not a bad deal, regardless of what bike it's going on.  hope this helps somewhat, thoughts for or against a setup like this are appreciated!

[theoctopus]

I have a dual 55w/6000k kit in my Buell.  It's pretty serious lighting, to be sure.

That being said, though SOME of the blue washes out with the 55w kit, it's still pretty blue.  If you're looking for pure white, I would suggest 4500k (that's what I wish I had gotten).

Instead of wiring a delay relay, you can also wire in a DPDT relay, which is what I've done.  That way I can start my bike, or work on it (tune the FI or adjust ECM parameters) without the light coming on at all.  Once I hit the switch (which was the flash to pass button on my Buell), the low beam comes on and I can ride away.

[wannabridin]

i see, do you hav ea link to one of these relays?  and does anyone think the 55W is too much for an aftermarket housing going in the 750 bucket?  i do like the idea of being able to turn the lights on whenever, and i also like the ability to still have my high beam to flash...  but the 750 doesnt have any other extra switches, unless i threw one on somewhere...

[cb750k77]

dont run a 55w HID it will draw way to much i have a 35watt HID 5000k light and it works perfect infact its the HI/Lo one and its prol the best Old school MC light i've seen

[jaguar]

if your worried about the glare buy a projector housing.  i was thinking about finding someone the go into a set with.  you can but 7' projector housings cheap on the bay

but for the DDM questions
-they are hard to get on the phone but thats about all i can say about them
i use 4 hella 500FF with 55w 5k DDM HIDs in them.  lets just say the deer fear me....lol
ive had them for a while and never had a problem
i know a few people that use them and all are happy.

when you read about them the only people that talk bad about them are the ignorent people saying....:you get what you pay for"
its a great kit at a great price
you cant go wrong

what wattage is the factory bulb?
HIDs draw less and burn colder too

[theoctopus]

dont run a 55w HID it will draw way to much i have a 35watt HID 5000k light and it works perfect infact its the HI/Lo one and its prol the best Old school MC light i've seen

I don't think total power draw would be an issue at all.  I certainly wouldn't wire the HID into the stock harness....that would definitely be a bad idea.  Instead, it's best to wire it through a 30A auto relay, drawing power directly from the battery (using a 20 A in-line fuse).  Then, you can use the stock harness for switch power only.

[shizzomynizzo]

Hello,

I just did an H4 conversion, but for this price I am now considering trying one of these out.

Can you provide a link to the posts where you found out about this? I would like to read up what other people experienced with these.

Thanks,
Shizz

[wannabridin]

sure thing shizz.  http://www.vtxcafe.com/showthread.php?t=41988

i started with that, and branched off on a few links through there.

lets look at it this way, if your charging system has a decent quality battery and is up to par with keeping said battery charged, along with having an independent circuit that's only controlled by the switch on the handlebars, then i don't see any problem with using this kit, even the 55W kit.  a silverstar bulb draws 55/65W standard.  now initial fire up might be a bit higher than usual, but it's temporary, and if your circuit is set up properly with a relay and whatnot, then you should be just fine!

i think adding a simple switch to the ground side of things would allow for user selectable headlight operation, while still retaining full use of the high/low switch on the bars.  this way you could turn the headlight on when you wanted to and off during heavy traffic or idling situations, or when it's really hot outside...  thoughts?

[Laminar]

dont run a 55w HID it will draw way to much i have a 35watt HID 5000k light and it works perfect infact its the HI/Lo one and its prol the best Old school MC light i've seen

I don't think total power draw would be an issue at all.  I certainly wouldn't wire the HID into the stock harness....that would definitely be a bad idea.  Instead, it's best to wire it through a 30A auto relay, drawing power directly from the battery (using a 20 A in-line fuse).  Then, you can use the stock harness for switch power only.

Or, like I've mentioned before, get their motorcycle kit, which comes with all of the wiring you need and a compact relay box.

[cb750k77]

the trouble is that CB550 (or smaller) came with a 40/50 watt head light
CB750 50/55

the 750 has trouble with leaving the headlight on ALL the time let along "HI" all the time....

so my train of thought was to install LED's for the brake light... turn signals and make sure the wiring of the bike was up to snuff

then install the 35watt HID kit to make sure that the battery stayed fully charged and didnt run down that fast in traffic..

the 35watt HID (5000k) is 80% brighter than a 55/65 halogen its a nice pure white light i love it and i know that by running that light it saves on electrical load...

the idea behind the HID on our old bikes is that you want to make it more effiecent and not use more

and yes the kit i have has a relay and is wired directly into the battery!

[theoctopus]

Or, like I've mentioned before, get their motorcycle kit, which comes with all of the wiring you need and a compact relay box.

Hrm, I purchased the dual 55W motorcycle lighting kit about a month ago and did not receive any compact relay box.  All that came were two igniters, two ballasts, and two bulbs, plus a few other necessities (mount systems, weather proofing materials).  Certainly no relay.  The kits on their websites make no mention of a relay, unless I missed some sub-section of the website.

Oh well, no matter, very easy to run down to radioshack and pick one up for about 3 bucks.

I haven't delved into the headlight wiring of my Honda yet, so I'm not sure how helpful this will be.  Also, please forgive the watermark of a Buell forum on the bottom, I'll remove the image if it's against the rules (don't mean to step on toes at all).  Here's how the DPDT relay was wired (with "to lights" on the right side of the image actually leading to switch power for the relays, for the high and low beam).  Orange is parking lights (disregard), white is high beam, yellow is low beam, and black is ground.  It'd be easy enough to pick up a SPST button and mount it somewhere on the bike to turn the low beam on, such that when it is pressed it connects low beam wiring providing switch power to both the DPDT relay and the auto relay.  This would also allow you to avoid burning up your ballast with light flicker (if that's an issue on a CB, I know it is on my Buell) when you turn the bike on.



Again, sorry if this info is less than applicable.  I JUST got into the world of Honda's (about 4 days ago to be exact), so I'm not sure how the electrical systems work just yet.

[Laminar]

Or, like I've mentioned before, get their motorcycle kit, which comes with all of the wiring you need and a compact relay box.

Hrm, I purchased the dual 55W motorcycle lighting kit about a month ago and did not receive any compact relay box.  All that came were two igniters, two ballasts, and two bulbs, plus a few other necessities (mount systems, weather proofing materials).  Certainly no relay.  The kits on their websites make no mention of a relay, unless I missed some sub-section of the website.

I got the single H4 hi/lo kit:



It looks like only the hi/lo kits come with the relay and wiring - they're made to plug right into the H4 connector and work like stock.

[wannabridin]

looks like laminar has the best kit found!  i figure i'd just run an on/off switch and tuck it away neatly on the bike somewhere so that i can control when the headlight is turned on an off.  this will still allow function of the high-low and allow me to start it with no headlight if necessary.  especially if i'm going to go kick only...  or would this make that big of a deal with kick only??

[Laminar]

looks like laminar has the best kit found!  i figure i'd just run an on/off switch and tuck it away neatly on the bike somewhere so that i can control when the headlight is turned on an off.  this will still allow function of the high-low and allow me to start it with no headlight if necessary.

This is what I'm doing.

[cb750k77]

http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-HID/H4-9003-HB2/V-HIDS-PREMIUM-DIGITAL-p8092223-1-3.html

motorcycle H4 kit Priemum digital balast.... 5000k 35watt $99 2-year warr

http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-HID/H4-9003-HB2/V-HIDS-35W-SLIM-BALLAST-p4961321-1-3.html

motorcycle H4 kit Slim balast.... 5000k 35watt $74.99  1-yr warr

both of these have free shipping and are great quality parts i have used both of them! these guys have lots of really k00l LED stuff on thier site as well!

[Laminar]

k00l?

[J.Webster Designs]

Retrosolutions HIDs are an outstanding supplier with a lifetime warranty.... They are slim ballasts and are digitial as well....

ALSO, one thing i found VERY appealing about the retrosolutions kits is that they have a "hot restrike feature". this means that if you turn the bike off then turn it back on quickly, it will not damage the HID ballasts or bulbs... They have motorcycle kits and car kits. I was hoping that someone would want to go half in on a car kit to lower the price.

[wannabridin]

k00l = cool  kind of like l337 = leet and n00b = noob

it's haxor talk.  my good buddy and old roommate plays a LOT of counterstrike still, so he told me all this stuff!

something like how i'm CAL-o and he's CAL-i.  he'll be like, pwnag3 n00b!  i'm cal-i haxor!!  l337

i know, lame huh??

[wannabridin]

justin.  link to the kits?  also, are their twin H4 kits 35W, 55w?  can they be split up into two equal kits?  i know some have a controller, or some shared wiring for a relay...  what's the price like?