I plan on upgrading my lighting as soon as the extra funds come available. Would it make since to have the 8000k 35w for the low beam and the 6000k 55w for the hi beam? I want some blue in the lights but not so much that I lose visibility. Or would I be better off getting the 55w 6000k? Second question...halo's are just for looks right?

I went with 55W 6,000's highs and lows.My lady friend says they look "blue"....I don't think they look blue at all.WHITE...BRIGHT WHITE.Very nice at night.Extreme luminosity.Highs OR lows.....well...maybe a TEENSY blue around the edges there...but straight on...no...WHITE.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 2/17/2012 @ 8:30 PM *

if you want your hi's and lows to look the same when using both 35w and 55w you have to go up on the 55's
ie- 35w 6000k 55w 8000k this is because the brightness of the 55w bulbs wash out the color somewhat

I'm running 35w hi's and lows 10,000k and trust me they are bright, heres mine on a sunny day com in at ya lol

* Last updated by: scottjkyl on 2/19/2012 @ 5:34 AM *

I read a few posts about the 55w may burn the housing on a motorcycle. Sounds like the 55w would be pushing it. Will I have to buy four separate kits for each light? And what are a good place to buy from?

probably 99% of members on this forum got theirs from ddm.com i really don't think the 55w is needed. they used to sell as pairs but it looks now its for a single ($25 or $100 for all 4)

ddmtuning

* Last updated by: scottjkyl on 2/17/2012 @ 11:18 PM *

I agree, 55W is a waste of watts. You don't need that many lumens and cannot tell the diffence in nighttime riding compared to 35W.

35W 4,000k would be pretty white.

My ZX14 had 35W 6,000k and they are blue to oncoming traffic.

55W 6,000k would be a little whiter, you'd have to go to 8,000k to be as blue.

I cannot think of any performance or factual reason to go 55W.

For the guys with 55w do you have any heating issues?

For the guys with 55w do you have any heating issues?

None.

Ok, call me stupid but would i need two of these kits for mine?

www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DDM-35W-55W-Dual-Motorcycle-HID-Kit

Yes....two of those dual bulb kits.(you'll have four bulbs,four ballasts/ignitors)

Priv said..."I cannot think of any performance or factual reason to go 55W"......how bout..."because I can?" Even the biggest HID's STILL out perform the stock lamps when it comes to 'power use'.Nothing like getting your bang for your buck....try riding with those stock lamps...if you dare...at any 'above average' speed.Ride with those stockers for a tad at night,then switch to the HID's....you'll start to wonder 'how in the heck did I even survive?!'

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 3/8/2012 @ 11:04 PM *

LOL, I put Sylvania H4 bulbs in my Connie, because I can, and because they only have two bulbs, left and right, that do high and low beam.

The Sylvania bulbs are every bit as bright as the HIDs were on my ZX14, and they are daylight white, so the visibility is perfect.

I could test this, because the Connie is sitting in the same spot in the garage as the ZX14 was when I adjusted the headlights on it.

Basically, buying 55W bulbs does nothing practical but consume 20W extra a bulb. Four of them, 80W.

I can run a set of Denali D2 LED driving lights on high intensity for that 80W. And thereby get twice as much light as you get from 4 55W HIDs.

Perhaps...but your Sylvania's will be toast in one year's time.Mine are still going strong at almost 5 years...yep...they're the ones I had in my 07. But just to clarify here...at night...I'm not riding with my high beams on.....the lows give excellent coverage.... So that's 40 watts...not 80.Not that it matters.....my heated gear works very well with my extry saved wattage My riding battery voltage is at 14.3...consistently...with everything running.I don't think I'll be installing an LCD display for...what is that deal that shows roads and such?That'd be like talking on a cell phone and driving I could could just see me trying to read a display while banked in hard on a rippin road .

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 3/9/2012 @ 6:54 AM *

i really want to go with the 55w both low and high but im afraid of the heat issues

It will not damage any plastic.All four of mine are 55W.Had em on my 07...never a problem.

Grn14 wrote:

Perhaps...but your Sylvania's will be toast in one year's time.Mine are still going strong at almost 5 years...yep...

Not true.

The new ones have very long life. Guys using the +80% ones are getting over 5 years, there are old Connies running even older versions still after more than 5 years.

EDIT:

Part of the problem is I'm an idiot sometimes.... I don't have Sylvanias, I have Philips, and those are the ones Murph sells us C14 and C10 folks, and those are the ones that are lasting forever seemingly.

So you may be right, Grn14, the Sylvania bulbs may have a 1 year apparent lifespan. My bad.

My backup set (I carry a set in original package -- safe that way) are Plasmaglow H4 HID Xenon/Krypton, which go in just like oem bulbs, nothing special needed.

One of the problems guys create with H4 bulbs is they touch the bulb during removal from packaging or installation. Just ever so slight a bit of skin or oil on them, and after a few months they hot spot and cook off. The better kits include an alcohol pad. When I put the ones in I have now, I wiped the bulbs with denatured alcohol to be sure. And my spare kit has several alcohol pads in case I need to use it.

* Last updated by: privateer on 3/9/2012 @ 1:26 PM *

I did at one point consider those white xenon bulbs...I think they were Sylvania's....not exactly sure.Supposed to equal very closely anyhow the HID's...depending on what K value of HID you have.After researching for bit...the price was pretty high...just for one bulb...and the lifespan was around a year....wasn't worth it to me....but not having the ballast and all....'could' have been a plus.Nah...my slimline HIDs are doing just great.Only one bulb burned out...on startup no less...not even in the bike yet...just hanging outside of it checking before I actually put it in the socket.IDK what was wrong with it.It lit up fine...for about 2 seconds...then had a serious meltdown.I never touched the glass on any of em...not that I'm aware of anyway.We need more pics of your Connie Priv.....one aint gonna get it!

There will indeed be pictures around the end of April, maybe sooner. You have to understand my process, its one I've been through twice on the ZX14 and now on the Connie.

I'm installing the following, in the numbered order:

1) Philips +100% bulbs
2) Dispatch 1 Electronic Fuse Box w/ remote
3) Rostra Electronic Cruise Control
4) Denali D2 LED driving lights
5) Stebel Horn
6) ProjekD radiator protector
7) Murph's front fender extension
8) Back-off brake light modulator
9) Admore TS harness - brake, running, turn signal on my Givi E52 top case.
10) GPS/XM antenna

The Rostra is about a month of work all by itself.

And I'm painting the lid of the E52 top case gloss black to match the bike, which is a month long process because the plastic fusion paint needs a week to dry before wet sanding. I've only gotten the base coat (2 coats of gloss black within an hour of each other) on so far because its been too cold to do that kind of painting.

So other than the pictures I'm taking to create the 2010+ C14 How-To Addendum for the Rostra to submit to Murph for posting on his Rostra page, I'm not taking pictures now, I'm working.

* Last updated by: privateer on 3/10/2012 @ 1:48 AM *

Hello guys! Quick question. I have a 07 zx14 and im currently outta town. I wanna install the 35w HID kits from ddmtuning but since im not near my bike i have no clue what bulbs I should order from them. They give 4 choices: H4-H13-9004-9007. Can somebody help me make trhe right choice. Im a order these bad boys and soon as i got back in town they are going on. Thansk for your help guys

Chavoc, I'm going to link you a thread on this forum, which explains it all.

In the future, you can use Search to find all kinds of how-to posts, etc. In this case, searching "ddmtuning" will find you more information than you need.

And welcome to the forum, it is an excellant gathering of ZX14 fanatics and ex-fanatics. Heh.

Discussion of HID bulb types

Privateer: Thanks for all your help!!!

well its not any of those 4 lol....H9 and H11

* Last updated by: scottjkyl on 3/10/2012 @ 3:11 PM *

The link I gave explains that, scottjkyl

Where are you all buying your HIDs??? Cycle gear has singles for 109 ebay has pairs for 40 bucks hmmmmm
anyone own either?

I'm ordering my kit later today from ddm tuning. Are the h9 for the lo beams and h11 for hi beam