K1200 Aftermarket Xenon Headlight Bulb Installation

[GILLY]

• In this picture I already have the ballast mounted to one of the brackets provided with the kit.

• I am going to mount the bracket on the rail in front of the instrument panel.

I have seen other kits where they give you something similar to a felt tape to wrap the ballast in, apparently to "wedge" the ballast someplace, but one thing that bothers me about that is that the outer case of the ballast is finned aluminum. I assume the manufacturer thought the ballast might have some heat to shed, so was happy to see brackets in this kit.

• I had only one small screw and nut in the kit though, so it's always nice to have an assortment of small nuts and screws for times like this.

Mounting the bracket I will discuss in the next post.

[GILLY]

• I used the bolt in the center of that brace to attach the bracket.

• The mounting hole in the bracket had to be enlarged slightly to have the bolt slip though. I also had to make an unusual bend in the bracket to get it off to the side a little.

The wire object is the holder for the hydraulic hoses, I thought that holder might have a little priority over this bracket, so wanted to make sure the holder ended up in the correct position. But it worked out fine.

The ballast is well ventilated and isn't touching anything.

• Be sure to check your installation and tweak the position if you have to, watch to make sure nothing rubs the hydraulic hoses. Be sure to check with the cycle off the center stand and turn handlebars lock to lock. SAFETY FIRST!

[GILLY]

• Wire tie the wires to something solid, the hydraulic hose guide, or an unused hole. The one in the ballast bracket would work or the one on the right side of this picture. Plug in the power supply connector and the 2 connectors for the bulb.

[GILLY]

• The bulb will come on AFTER the bike is started, just like a Halogen bulb on this bike. It won't come on just with the key "on".

It will flicker for a few seconds as the arc is ignited.

It will start out looking a little blueish and warms up to a white after 10 to 20 seconds. That is if you get a white "color range" bulb.

Take a few minutes to check the aim, mine needed to be raised a bit. These instructions for Paul Glaves is what I referred to:

http://webmaster10.com/ldr/headlight_aiming.html

[GILLY]

The top picture is of my bike with the Xenon kit, the second is member "Semper Fi"'s with the factory Xenon headlight:

[GILLY]

And the factory headlight:

[GILLY]

I think I have more light above the cutoff line as it is reflecting off my concrete driveway, Semper Fi's driveway is blacktop.