HID Upgrade advice/experiences

S

souperman

Active Member
I'm wanting to upgrade my tired old bulb on my 75 CB500T with something brighter. I have already replaced my signals and taillight with LED assemblies trying to lighten the load on my charging circuit. At first I was thinking a hologen setup, but the one i want is about $100, I have seen motorcycle HID kits for about the same cost.

Does anyone have any advice on which kits worked for them, or ones to avoid? Some of the cheap crap on ebay seems too good to be true. Is it reasonable to expect one of these kits to work with the headlight reflector I already have?
 
The higher the Kelvin temperature, the more colorful the light, but the less usable output. 5300K would be ideal. That was what I had in my car. 6000K is also good. 8000 and up is too purple, and it will not make it easy for you to ride at night. 5300K will let you see unborn children...it's THAT bright.
remember you have to find a place for the ballast... it is a bit bigger than a cig box... i have squeezed them in 7 in headlight buckets or stashed them in fairings... it is going to be tuff on the 750 but maybe can be stashed in the bucket
 
Ok your 500T has a typical old honda charging system but you've gone a good deal of the way toward your goal.
The 450/500t have a dual tap on the output winding of the alternator, one for low load (1a) and one for high load(up to 12a I believe) ....... Screw that low load shit! basically you want to gang the two output wires together (parallel) and run a nice fat cable to the stoutest battery you can fit.
That should get you taken care of, wire in a battery tender for when you're not riding and you should be golden.
 
What do you think about using a relay to power the light? From what I can see the headlight power goes back and forth at least 2 or 3 times from the front to the rear of the bike as it passes through the dimmer switch, starter button, and the fuse block. That's a lot of wire and connectors. I was thinking about using the existing wiring for the coil of a relay that would switch a 14AWG wire right from the fuseblock.

I'd imagine this would be beneficial to either halogen or HID setups.

Swagger said:
Ok your 500T has a typical old honda charging system but you've gone a good deal of the way toward your goal.
The 450/500t have a dual tap on the output winding of the alternator, one for low load (1a) and one for high load(up to 12a I believe) ....... Screw that low load shit! basically you want to gang the two output wires together (parallel) and run a nice fat cable to the stoutest battery you can fit.
That should get you taken care of, wire in a battery tender for when you're not riding and you should be golden.
Click to expand...
 
Not a bad idea if you're not gonna rewire completely.
I wouldn't bother trying to run to the fusebox. Dedicate a wire and fuse for the headlite if you're gonna go that way.
Run it directly to the positive terminal on the battery.
 
Here is a pretty extensive thread from SOHC4 about a member's proces, experience, criticism, and findings :D Yup it's all there... I am likely gonna order the same kit he has for my 76 CB550F.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=50294.0

Happy reading!!!

Mike
 
good link!

Mike, do you have a larger copy of your avatar? I have a thing for nose=art and that looks to be the theme in that pic....thanks
 
lol me too! I love the pinup style and nose art.... And one day it hit me. Why not combine nose art + bike? :) Figured I would mess around in photoshop and see what my concept would look like on my bike. I posted it on SOHC4 just for fun, and now it seems like people want me to make this into stickers. So.... am hoping to have that ready within the next few weeks. :)

Here is a pic... the paint scheme is thus far virtual BUT am trying to find a 76-78 CB550F tank and side covers so I can start painting .... hint hint to anyone with these things for sale ;)

2672663780038546794S500x500Q85.jpg


Mike
 
yo man look up some of the harley bobbers... i have worked on several witht this style... i am having a pin up girl done on my new rear fender on my harley as we speak!
 
I make water transfer decals, if you have a clean file shoot it to me and I'll make you a couple for trade.
Keep in mind, when you use it you'll want to clearcoat over it for protection.
It's very similar to the way factory marking and stripes and such are done these days.

Sound like a deal? If so, PM me and we'll get the details sorted.

I've been sitting on this a little but perhaps a DTT decal could be done as well.
I hesitated a little in offering this (and other help) on the boards here for reasons of perception.
I offered some quick machining to a fellow builder here basically for the cost of shipping but got hammered by a couple other members for trying to self-promote. So...if you find this offensive, please feel free to not join in.
However if you're interested lemme know.....
 
hell i do not think that is an issue i think that is awesome! you offer something alot of us can not do or do not have aceess to! what is wrong with that?! i think it is cool as hell! i may have you make some up for me so i can lay a clear powder over the top...
 
lemme know though we should probably experiment first as I don't know the max temp spec on the substrate. I don't think the manufacturers had powder in mind as a clear but if it works....booyah!
 
cool man, send me some scrap... i powder over vynal decals all the time.. no issues.. not sure about something like this but why not try it!?
 
JRK5892 said:
cool man, send me some scrap... i powder over vynal decals all the time.. no issues.. not sure about something like this but why not try it!?
Click to expand...

If vinyl survives then we may well be onto something.
(sorry for the hijack guys)
 
Thanks for the link. This type of information is exactly what I was looking for.

mikethejeepguy said:
Here is a pretty extensive thread from SOHC4 about a member's proces, experience, criticism, and findings :D Yup it's all there... I am likely gonna order the same kit he has for my 76 CB550F.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=50294.0

Happy reading!!!

Mike
Click to expand...
 
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