This could be useful for anyone else looking for a headlight upgrade beyond the capabilities of the existing reflector, even when coupled with a HID setup. The HID upgrades are the best that can be got out of the existing reflector and work well for 95% of the time, but start to find their limits on dark "interesting" roads. Use of a HID main beam as well as dipped is a big help, but still not perfect. Part of the problem is the relatively shallow but wide beam tipping when cornering, something that would be hard to correct.
One possible upgrade - I think - is to replace 1/both bulbs with a bixenon projector, allowing HID dipped and main beam from the same projector. The beam pattern tends to be rather more useful, with no time issues when switching from dipped to main. On a purely personal level I think a good bixenon setup is as good as any headlights can get for a home user, having fitted something similar to my car recently. Early measurements show that it's possible to replace both Bird bulbs with projectors with a bit of careful choice of projectors. There are a couple of decent writeups out there replacing just the main beam bulb with a projector, citing space issues with the dipped beam bulb. It is a tighter fit, but I can't yet see any good reason why a Morimoto Mini D2S projector wouldn't fit in there, worst case I might need to cut the reflector a little to recess the projector away from the front of the headlight.
The initial process is simple enough, although a bit more involved than fitting a plug & play HID kit - if you're in any doubt, then go for a plug & play HID kit, it's still a good upgrade!!
1) Remove upper fairing to give access to the headlight - not too hard, a load of hex bolts and a few plastic poppers, don't forget the ones above the front wheel!
2) Remove headlight. 4 10mm bolts, after disconnecting the headlights & sidelight.
3) The first scary bit, splitting the headlight. Remove headlight bulbs, plastic breather vents, sidelight bulb. Ideally use a hairdryer or hot air gun to gently heat the sealant between the headlight body and the lens, but if that's not possible then heating an oven to a low/middle temp and leaving the headlight near the front of the oven for a few minutes will soften it. Don't leave it too long, you risk melting the lens, also place the headlight with the lens closer to the oven door. Remove headlight - with gloves - and start to work around the sealant boundary loosening the 2 parts. No clips to be unscrewed, but a few plastic clips to be eased apart.
4) Keep the lens separate, it's not required for the next few bits. Unscrew the headlight adjusters and a bolt on the back left hand side of the headlight to remove the reflector.
Next bits to follow once the projectors have turned up - should be in Customs today from the US, so it'll be a week or so before the next part. Looks promising enough so far though :-0)
One possible upgrade - I think - is to replace 1/both bulbs with a bixenon projector, allowing HID dipped and main beam from the same projector. The beam pattern tends to be rather more useful, with no time issues when switching from dipped to main. On a purely personal level I think a good bixenon setup is as good as any headlights can get for a home user, having fitted something similar to my car recently. Early measurements show that it's possible to replace both Bird bulbs with projectors with a bit of careful choice of projectors. There are a couple of decent writeups out there replacing just the main beam bulb with a projector, citing space issues with the dipped beam bulb. It is a tighter fit, but I can't yet see any good reason why a Morimoto Mini D2S projector wouldn't fit in there, worst case I might need to cut the reflector a little to recess the projector away from the front of the headlight.
The initial process is simple enough, although a bit more involved than fitting a plug & play HID kit - if you're in any doubt, then go for a plug & play HID kit, it's still a good upgrade!!
1) Remove upper fairing to give access to the headlight - not too hard, a load of hex bolts and a few plastic poppers, don't forget the ones above the front wheel!
2) Remove headlight. 4 10mm bolts, after disconnecting the headlights & sidelight.
3) The first scary bit, splitting the headlight. Remove headlight bulbs, plastic breather vents, sidelight bulb. Ideally use a hairdryer or hot air gun to gently heat the sealant between the headlight body and the lens, but if that's not possible then heating an oven to a low/middle temp and leaving the headlight near the front of the oven for a few minutes will soften it. Don't leave it too long, you risk melting the lens, also place the headlight with the lens closer to the oven door. Remove headlight - with gloves - and start to work around the sealant boundary loosening the 2 parts. No clips to be unscrewed, but a few plastic clips to be eased apart.
4) Keep the lens separate, it's not required for the next few bits. Unscrew the headlight adjusters and a bolt on the back left hand side of the headlight to remove the reflector.
Next bits to follow once the projectors have turned up - should be in Customs today from the US, so it'll be a week or so before the next part. Looks promising enough so far though :-0)