Headlights not working? HID?

[Defiant]

As some of you may know, I recently got my first gen 1 busa. The person I purchased from said he recently installed HIDs to it. I didn't think much about it at the time. I never had HIDs on my motorcycles before.

The first time I rode at night, I noticed that my headlights (low beams) were not working so I switched to high beams. The high beams were very bright, I assumed they were the HIDs. They didn't seem to be aimed to high so I kept them on during the ride. I assumed the low beams were burned out.

The next day I attempted to replace the low beam bulbs. I noticed the bulb enclosure were not like what were described in the online owners manual. The bulb assembly pulled right out! The wire spring that was supposed to keep the bulb in apparently wasn't working or there. I didn't take the fairings off, I just reached under the front. The bulb wasn't an h7 like I expected, it was a sylvannia h3? It looked like a 90 degree plug with the bulb on 1 end. Anyway, I disconnected the bulb and looked at it and it didn't look like the element was burned out. I got a voltmeter out and tried to measure the voltage on the plug with the ignition on. I didn't get any voltage reading at the plug. I tried to turn on the high beams which I believed were the HIDs and they didn't work, it flashed real quick and went out.

I was puzzled by this. The hi beams were working the night before. Out of curiosity I plugged the low beam bulb back in and the low beams started working again?

Is this how the HIDs work? I'm not sure what to do. The low beams were now turning on when I turned on the hi beams. Should I use whatever bulbs work?

???

 

[jphilipson]

Sounds like we'll need some pictures of the wiring to be able to help better. But based on your description, whomever installed the hids/lights botched it up good. Not too hard to figure out how if should be by looking at and comparing it to the manual.

 

[Defiant]

Anyone know where I can get a manual for the HID? The guy who sold it to me didn't supply me with one.

 

[sanket_420]

if yo ucan post some pics. more members can prob. chime in and help you fix your hid problem. There's no real manual for a HID kit.. its all basically plug n play. So yea if you can provide some pics. of your setup it would help understand and troubleshoot the problem. It could by anything from a blown fuse to a bad harness/bulb/ballast.

 

[card16969]

deffinately need pictures

 

[Defiant]

I appreciate the suggestions. I'd like to get you pics but since I didn't install it or any other HID system for that matter, where do I take pics? The battery area? Headlight area?

Sorry for sounding like a dum dum but can someone tell me what area of the bike to take pics of for where the ballast etc is at?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Defiant]

I appreciate the suggestions. I'd like to get you pics but since I didn't install it or any other HID system for that matter, where do I take pics? The battery area? Headlight area?

Sorry for sounding like a dum dum but can someone tell me what area of the bike to take pics of for where the ballast etc is at?

Thanks for any help.

 

[lankeeyankee]

As some of you may know, I recently got my first gen 1 busa. The person I purchased from said he recently installed HIDs to it. I didn't think much about it at the time. I never had HIDs on my motorcycles before.

The first time I rode at night, I noticed that my headlights (low beams) were not working so I switched to high beams. The high beams were very bright, I assumed they were the HIDs. They didn't seem to be aimed to high so I kept them on during the ride. I assumed the low beams were burned out.

The next day I attempted to replace the low beam bulbs. I noticed the bulb enclosure were not like what were described in the online owners manual. The bulb assembly pulled right out! The wire spring that was supposed to keep the bulb in apparently wasn't working or there. I didn't take the fairings off, I just reached under the front. The bulb wasn't an h7 like I expected, it was a sylvannia h3? It looked like a 90 degree plug with the bulb on 1 end. Anyway, I disconnected the bulb and looked at it and it didn't look like the element was burned out. I got a voltmeter out and tried to measure the voltage on the plug with the ignition on. I didn't get any voltage reading at the plug. I tried to turn on the high beams which I believed were the HIDs and they didn't work, it flashed real quick and went out.

I was puzzled by this. The hi beams were working the night before. Out of curiosity I plugged the low beam bulb back in and the low beams started working again?

Is this how the HIDs work? I'm not sure what to do. The low beams were now turning on when I turned on the hi beams. Should I use whatever bulbs work?

???

If it was me.... I would just buy a new HID kit off of Ebay. Go to bikebandit. com pull up your bike and look at the parts schematic and make sure you have all the pieces such as the spring clip that holds the bulb into the headlight.. Write the part numbers down that you dont have... contact Justin on the forum East Toledo Honda giv him the part number of the OEM parts you need.. Start fresh sounds like the last install was half azz, and you cant provide enough information nor pictures of the complete install.

 

[ks-waterbug]

Somethings not right here... H7 low beam has 2 prongs and fits in the headlight assembly just as you described (spring clip/fastener)
H3 would appear to have just the one wire coming from it and the glass bulb is smaller. Really need those pictures to try and understand what was done to your ride. Remember that IF it worked once its probably some thing simple that's wrong now.

 

[dadofthree]

Somebody took advantage of someone. The H3 is not a HID it is halogen. It has a positive lead and the device enclosure provides the ground. This could have been rigged up to work, but it's not a HID. You definitely need to have someone look at it before you damage the headlamp assembly.

 

[Stoney McSloth]

I have a question? Now that I'm living in CNY I could really use my high beam, where in South Florida I never really needed it. So I looked up the OEM bulb and got one. The problem is the guy I bought the bike from had HID high beam which he took off before he sold the bike to me. No big deal, so i thought. My question is when i went to put the high beam in, I took off the rubber boot and the spring clip is missing to retain the bulb. So I went onto Honda East and checked the micro fiche and it just lists the bulb and not the retaining spring. Does that mean you can't buy just a replacement retaining spring? And does that mean i have to rig some type of retainer for it? Sorry to hijack the thread but I guess no one checks the Electrical section of the forum anymore. Thanks for any info.

 

[dadofthree]

You can PM Justin and see if you can order it separate or maybe someone like GoldenChild has one laying around. For the cost of a new headlamp assembly I'd be looking at rigging myself