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KTMista!!!
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Having had HID lights on my previous R1200GS and KTM950Adv, I know how excellent they are and what a difference they make. I commute to & from work down some dingy lanes and a HID is worth its weight in gold. And when filtering around the M25 cars dont half jump out of the way. Also, I always end up writing very detailed illustrated fitting guides for whatever internet forum I am frequenting at the time.
Anyway, with winter closing in, it was time to fit one to my 950SM.
Firstly, the SM uses a single bulb headlight whereas the Adv uses twin bulbs. This means you need to get an H4 HID light that can do both high and low beam. The one I got is generally thought to be the best configuration - a single "filament" (arc or whatever it is) which is moved in & out with a solenoid to replicate the dual filaments in a normal H4 incandescent bulb. This configuration is called "H4-3".
It cost £30 inc p&p from Hong Kong and arrived in 4 days - bloody amazing. I bought if from eBay. Here's the eBay item number: 110188098029 and here's the seller's eBay shop: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/diane-shop. You are looking for "BI-XENON HID CONVERSION KIT H4-3 For Motorcycle Bike".
Note that I wanted to ensure I could revert back to normal H4 bulbs if I wanted to, or if the HID failed in the boonies somewhere, so none of the changes I've made prevent this.
The kit looks like this - pliers included for scale:
You can see the ballast at the top, the bulb on the left, and a "control" box on the bottom. The control box manages the hi/lo solenoid in the bulb via a relay which is connected to the battery by the fused wires to the right.
First challenge - where to put the ballast. It is a bit bigger than a cigarette packet, and there isn't space in the headlight surround as you can see when you remove the headlight unit by undoing the two allen bolts on the top. It's a mess of wires to be honest, reminiscent of my old Alfasud dashboard:
Time to remove the tank to find some space, using the most excellent technique described here: http://www.ktmforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4902. Easy when you know how!!
This reveals a nice little space in the V of the headstock which is big enough for the ballast and the little control box. Here...
Remove the strange plastic separator thingy to improve access:
And remove the little side panels by taking out the single screw that holds both together. You can see the ballast lurking in its spot here -the silvery box with two silvery bits sticking out of it...
Next job - how to get the new HID bulb to lock into the headlight surround. The HID bulb has 3 different shaped plates that screw onto it to match the shape of the metal surround of the standard bulb. The one that was fitted on the HID as it came in the box was fine with its three prongs. But...the standard bulb (left) is held in using the white plastic thingy which keeps the bulb inside the headlight unit. The hole in the middle of this white thingy isn't big enough to go over the HID unit.
Cue some action with the Dremel to open up the hole...
Sorted. Note you have top open the hole up a bit bigger than you think as the white thingy needs to rotate around the bulb when you insert it into the headlight surround...
See!!! It fits!!
Obviously you wont have connected any wires up yet as you still need to put the rubber gaiter over the bulb unit. You need to make one of the holes a bit bigger to pass the HID bulb wires through, so a quick bit of Stanley knife action sorts it out. You dont need to make a very big hole, I just put two slits either side of one hole to make a flap...
See the rubber gaiter is nicely over the headlight opening and the minimal hole allows for the wires to exit but no water to get in...
Now a potentially tricky bit. The plug that took power to the "old" incandesent bulb should plug straight into a connector on the HID setup. Except that the HID connector is a completely different shape!! Doh!!!. It appeared that the HID manufacturers were disrespecting my KTM wiring loom. Harsh. So I retaliated with the Stanley knife by cutting off the connector on the HID wiring and put a suitably sized spade connector onto each of the 3 wires like this:
hese spade connectors could then slot into the 3 holes in the KTM connector. Result!!
Except...which wire goes in which hole?? Some jiggery-pokery with a multimeter reveals the following:
KTM brown = ground
KTM green = low beam
KTM blue = high beam
Of course, the HID kit doesn't have detailed wiring info about polarities etc of its three wires, which are white, yellow and black. Being somewhat grumpy by this point, I decided to wing it. And somehow I ended up right.
HID black = ground
HID white = low beam
HID yellow = high beam
Phew - thought I might blow the whole lot up or at a minimum ignite all the spilt petrol that had pooled on the floor when I removed the first fuel line without turning the tap off.
I tucked away all the ballast, control unit and wiring into the headstock. I taped up the wires going to the headlight and taped up the spade connector thingy as well to keep it all neat, tidy & watertight. I had to extend the 2 wires to the battery that power the control unit relay. Just used 30cm or so of decent wire to extend backwards with a couple of ring connectors to bolt onto the battery terminal.
Here's the finished install tucked into the headstock. Nice & neat. Note that I put some neoprene around the ballast to stop it rattling against the frame tubes, but anything shock absorbent will do. Or cable tie it to the frame tubes - up to you.
Blimey it is bright. Very very good. Beam pattern looks fine on low beam (might need to adjust the light up a bit using the normal adjuster). High beam is very illuminating. Nothing blew up - super!!
That's it - sorted. Took about 4-5 hours with a run to Halfords for some spade connectors. If I had a guide like this I'd do it in 2-3 hours I think.
Oh - I also noted that my throttle cables run really tight on right lock and are fraying through the plastic surround. Tried to free them up a bit but no joy - time for a quick warranty claim I think.
Cheers!
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0 replies since 25/8/2009, 15:20 320 views
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