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HOW TO: HID PROJECTOR RETROFIT ON A BUDGET. MINI H1


jmacas87

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So the scope of this retrofit was to significantly improve the stock h4 lighting in the FZ, while on an aggressive budget.
 
As with most h4 reflector designs, they leave much to be desired, especially when you only have one headlamp .
 
A plug in HID or LED bulb kit would be a good improvement, but a properly setup projector will have better control and overall performance vs the H4 reflector.
 
 
SIDE NOTE: HID snobs be warned, I'm well aware of the more popular high quality setups (morimoto/TRS/oem). I don't ride at night all that much, and would rather dump the $$ into performance mods. That said, with proper tuning of the projector and bulb alignment, I've gotten results that still far out perform the stock bulb and reflector.
 
 
The components:
 
-Nilight mini h1 bi-xenon projectors
 
-ddm tuning 4300k H1 hid kit
 
-H4 HID relay harness
 
-Optional headlight butyl sealant tape. (I didn't buy it this time around, if I have to open the headlights again in the future, I will use some of this to ensure a good seal)
 
 
mnaKFXdl.jpg
 
 
All of that cost me ~80 bucks. Here's the kicker, they are sold in pairs so technically if you went halvsies with a buddy it'd cost you about ~45 ish bucks (since you'd still need your own relay harness)
 
 
 
Optional Pre-work: I spent time "tuning" the projector/bulb setup to maximize results to my liking. You can read up online on cutoffs, color mod, bulb alignment/hotspot etc.
 
 
Step 1:
 
Remove headlight. Take off anything you don't want in the oven. I removed as much as possible. (marker light/harness, white plastic cap things, and the trim pieces)
 
 
zvUnc0zl.jpg?1
 
 
Step 2:
 
Bake the headlight to open it. I used 250° heat with an initial 5 minutes, and did a couple of minutes each try after that until the headlights would come apart without too much force. This is a guideline, I recommend short bursts in the oven to not damage anything.
 
I started separating at the top of the headlight and worked my way around. It does take some effort even if the sealant is warm, since it's sticky stuff and there are molded clip features that keep the thing together.
 
WCPVyFOl.jpg
 
As I've seen elsewhere online, the clips around the headlight may get damaged when trying to pull them apart. At least one of mine did. No worries, the butyl sealant is what actually seals and holds the headlight together. My bet is the clips just aid in factory assembly while the sealant cures (they probably use the liquid/caulk form of butyl)
 
38HXPlCl.jpg?1
 
 
 
Step 3:
 
Put the projector in. The order of the components goes projector > large silicone washer > headlight assembly > H4 adapter plate > locking ring nut
 
Since the H4 bulb is mounted at an angle in our housings, I modified the h4 adapter by grinding off the centering nub. That way I can manually adjust the horizontal alignment of the cutoff by rotating the projector.
pXj21CPl.jpg?1
 
HIMUOMpl.jpg
 
 
Here's the projector assembled into the housing. You have to fish the high beam solenoid wires through to the back.
 
ysZDVuql.jpg
TFnpRa9l.jpg
XR14OBOl.jpg
 
Test out the beam and horizontal rotation alignment before putting back together and fully tightening the locking nut.
 
FEYg8SCl.jpg
 
 
 
Step 4:
Put back together. I re-heated the assembly @250 for about 6 minutes. This made the sealant nice and soft. Push them headlight halves together and hold them tight for a few minutes while it cools down a bit. Go around the headlight and make sure the halves are seated together properly
E0CXoFIl.jpg
 
 
Step 5:

I used the innovated H4 harness for the wiring. It’s made to power two HID setups, so I hacked it a bit to make it work for me and where I wanted to place things. What’s nice about using a harness kit vs doing the wiring from scratch is that it already includes the mating connectors for the high beam and ballast connection, mating connector the existing H4 to plug, as well as being fused in line for direct power to the battery.
 
I won’t get into too much detail as your wiring locations might differ, but basically the layout for power is:
 
Relay harness power leads connects directly to battery > relay harness connects to your existing H4 socket, plug in high beam power connector, plug in ballast power connector> hid ballast connects to the h1 hid bulb.
 
Shot of where I currently have the ballast/igniter. I never ride rain, but these are weather sealed anyhow. You could run it under the seat, but you will need to extend the bulb power wires. Zip ties and VHB tape hold the ballast solid.
 
nLekIl6l.jpg
9iKUmrpl.jpg?1
 
And a nice little spot for the relay.
TMYH6AJl.jpg
 
 
 
 
Tidy it up and that’s all there is to it. If you get over the fear of baking the headlight, it’s really a straightforward job that can be done in a day or less.
 

Action Shots
 
7wLQQiHl.jpg
HMIxlhxl.jpg
 
Cutoff along a wall
nlpIs2ll.jpg
 
High beam on same wall
 
CF0erNPl.jpg
 
Street, notice the cutoff on the left along the trees. No blinding oncoming traffic ;)
Kxb2LOul.jpg
 
LIghting up a dark street
dRIDvV7l.jpg
 
 
Cutoff on a fence. The center shows some "color flicker" visible to oncoming traffic and street signs. 
o2C1jqCl.jpg
 
high beam on same fence
xQIFB1Yl.jpg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Looks nice. Also dig the cyclops look it gives to the bike.
I'm not that sure about the "not blinding" part though. I wouldn't want to be facing your bike at night.   8-)   :P

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I've been thinking about doing this last year,finally I just bought a H4 led light similar to the cyclop one. Didn't wanted to mess with the headlight.
 
Light output is better than the stock halogen bulb,but the light pattern isn't that great (for me). It has a lot of dark spots,it feels a bit weird.
 
Now I think I'll be going the projector/hid route...should have done it in the first place!

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I did the same to mine last year (I put the other projector in my FZ6R before I did the FZ07 headlight) and I love it. Though I will say that the lighting going around curves isn't the best since the cutoff drops as your bike angle decreases. I may need to adjust my headlight a bit to compensate or if you know a way around it, I would love to hear it. I also blacked out the stock reflector to give it a much more "stealth look" and added a halo around the shroud.
 
Edit: Also didn't realize this was my first post! I've been lurking for a while lol.
 

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@scoobyfan
I know what you mean. For a lot of people, an HID or LED bulb suffices just fine. For me, I know that the extra glare and sloppy reflector pattern would bother me.
 
@bbbabe1
It's the same for me when the bike leans you can see the cutoff dropping. On any bike the light degrades in the lean, but with the projector cutoff it becomes more obvious. No way around it for now, there was that post here about the adaptive headlight that lit up different beams as the bike leans. It was $$$ though I'll wait until that tech matures ;)

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  • 6 months later...
On 9/17/2017 at 9:26 PM, fzinla said:

Guys,

Where is the write up? Would like to work on this conversion but I do not see the write up on this page. Help!

 

Thanks.

Posts were temporarily messed up from the forum conversion. All fixed now! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is really awesome guys.

I am about to start working on my assembly and I know where everything goes apart from where the OEM BULB INPUT gets plugged. Do you know where that is on the bike? It is a plug with 3 connectors. I assume this is what tells the system to turn on the HID and to switch between Low and Hi beam.

First picture shows the harness and where the plug is. the second one shows a close up of the plug I am interested in finding where it needs to go.

 

Thank you all. I will post pictures once I am done with the install.

 

I also would like your opinions: I have the gray/blue model. Should I keep the inside of the headlight chrome or paint it? I see folks going with Blue but I am not sure I am a big fan.  Any other suggestions?

59d07046dbb2f_9-30-20177-54-04PM.thumb.jpg.7fa09a9fbe1aadad6880ee8684c21d8a.jpg59d07087aa391_9-30-20177-58-04PM.thumb.jpg.3a2a73df68021d9f6a7bc74360eeba9b.jpg

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It's the connector that goes into the OEM bulb. The hid bulb plugs into the ballast instead,so you plug the oem connector into the relay harness .

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  • 4 months later...
On 2/28/2017 at 3:38 PM, bbbabe1 said:

I did the same to mine last year (I put the other projector in my FZ6R before I did the FZ07 headlight) and I love it. Though I will say that the lighting going around curves isn't the best since the cutoff drops as your bike angle decreases. I may need to adjust my headlight a bit to compensate or if you know a way around it, I would love to hear it. I also blacked out the stock reflector to give it a much more "stealth look" and added a halo around the shroud.
 
Edit: Also didn't realize this was my first post! I've been lurking for a while lol.
 

Would you happen to have any photos of the blacked out stock reflector? I am thinking about doing that as well.

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On 2/24/2018 at 10:11 AM, hofstetm said:

Would you happen to have any photos of the blacked out stock reflector? I am thinking about doing that as well.

Here's a close up.  I can get one further away too if you want.

 

38696092870_b0f7d1c6b9_b.jpg

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38 minutes ago, bbbabe1 said:

Here's a close up.  I can get one further away too if you want.

 

38696092870_b0f7d1c6b9_b.jpg

Sure, farther away would also be appreciated. 

 

Thanks for taking the first one, it looks great! Well done! :D

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  • 1 month later...
On 2/26/2018 at 10:21 PM, hofstetm said:

Sure, farther away would also be appreciated. 

 

Thanks for taking the first one, it looks great! Well done! :D

Took awhile but here it is:

 

20180331_073034

 

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15 hours ago, hofstetm said:

Wow, it looks awesome and OEM - thank you!!

Thanks, I was really happy with how it turned out.  I used a projector you can get off Amazon for like $30 for the pair but it would be interesting to see the performance increase with a TRS projector.  I got a set for my car and they're crazy good (and a lot larger physically). But overall, I highly recommend this project.  It's a great DIY.

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I do like how they focus and they're really bright. How long do the bulbs usually last on average?

Beemer

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