My AHR HID Retrofit Review

[MikeC]

Well Chad at AHR really came through! The headlights look WONDERFUL! a crisp cutoff, and beautiful 5000k color.

Overall the actual retrofit work to the headlight housing was of great quality. Pretty much everything you'd expect for a reputable vendor that offers services to 5 other yamaha boards. The glue wasn't runny and dried everywhere like when I try to do it myself, and the retaining tabs were unbroken (as they usually do become broken when I do it myself).

Shroud was the E55R on just a basic retrofit. No fancy colors, or halos or angel eyes, I was going for an "OEM" look and i think it was achieved!

I would say its a great mod that increases night time safety exponentially! And when the cutoff is flipped down (high beam), you have visibility for thousands and thousands of feet.


The only really strong negatives I have, (and this is really for ANY kind of HID retrofit conversion), is that the ballast is just hard to "hide". I got the bike all back together because I was excited to see and test the final product, but I don't like the idea of the ballast just chillen under the airbox with all sorts of wires dangling everywhere. That segues into the other gripe I have which is the harness.

The harness is just terrible. I must have run the wiring all wrong, but it's just...a messy setup. You have stuff coming off the relay harness, 4 different connections to the headlight and the H4 harness that controls the high beam. This is not chads fault ,but it's a messy config from his harness supplier. Could very well be my fault for rushing through it as well.

I might take the weekend to just remake all the wiring to FZ8 Spec but I was pretty frustrated by all the different connectors and everything. Not to mention the spade terminal connectors were oversized and open ended. Convenient, but not secure. Of course, I realize it's for universal fit.

Anyways, onto the pictures...
That OEM look:

P.s. I was also able to do the airbox mod while I was trying to get the ballast in, and I definitely felt some down low torque shifted into upper range power. Sounds a little different too.

 

[Rabbitman109]

Sorry that you had so much trouble with the harness. Like I said on the phone, I constantly complain about the harnesses for motorcycles, as everything is just too big. The dude I work with at TRS knows this, and has shared with me what the next generation of wiring harnesses is going to be. Here is a preview:

The relay is a pass through design, and MUCH smaller. Plus, the overall bulk of the wires coming out of the current relay is eliminated. I am hoping they get these really soon. Again, wish that it wasn't such a pain, but until the new one comes out, we have to deal. You could look at it in a positive way, the FZ1 and FZ6 because they have two headlights, actually use a car harness!!! Tons of wiring there, and most of the time, I modify the harness to cut all the extra wire off. I actually have been told they will make me a special dual output harness for motorcycles until they come out with a bike specific model. So, it could be worse.

But otherwise it does actually look OEM!!

 

[SeñorJack]

Dude that is so good! I (surprisingly) like the OEM look! What a fricken cool looking bike you know? those lights make everything look so classy. it just really takes it up a notch into a different place.

ya chad I want mine to look oem too.... but everything different

Your bike is looking pretty good these days. PS I got the awesome decals, and have already used a bunch. I have a problem... and decals are the remedy. and more cowbell

 

[Stangrrr]

Looks great... hey, where's your decals? lol!

 

[Jacek3743]

Sorry that you had so much trouble with the harness. Like I said on the phone, I constantly complain about the harnesses for motorcycles, as everything is just too big. The dude I work with at TRS knows this, and has shared with me what the next generation of wiring harnesses is going to be.

The relay is a pass through design, and MUCH smaller. Plus, the overall bulk of the wires coming out of the current relay is eliminated. I am hoping they get these really soon. Again, wish that it wasn't such a pain, but until the new one comes out, we have to deal. You could look at it in a positive way, the FZ1 and FZ6 because they have two headlights, actually use a car harness!!! Tons of wiring there, and most of the time, I modify the harness to cut all the extra wire off. I actually have been told they will make me a special dual output harness for motorcycles until they come out with a bike specific model. So, it could be worse.

But otherwise it does actually look OEM!!

Did you do this job?

 

[Rabbitman109]

Did you do this job?

You mean micha3lchu's retrofit? Yes, I did. He actually didn't use my forum name, but my real name, and business name.

 

[charris247]

Before seeing Rabbitmans' posts, I purchased parts from BK Moto back in January. Overall I think I did a pretty good job. I originally was going for the OEM look and left the reflectors alone. However after about a two months i started thinking about how it would look in black. Last week I was doing a photo shoot with a buddy of mine and although I felt it looked good silver, I had to paint it black. So i picked up some plasti dip, busted the case open, and I am more than happy with the result.

Also, while it was a pain, I was able to fit my ballast under the air box mounted against the frame with some velcro. The wiring harness is zip-tied (with some slack) behind the light itself. It took me some time to figure out the best positioning for it all, but just play around with it and you will get it tidy.

 

[SeñorJack]

looks super clean man^

 

[Jacek3743]

You mean micha3lchu's retrofit? Yes, I did. He actually didn't use my forum name, but my real name, and business name.

hence why I was confused but this post sold me on getting it done from you. I was scared I was gonna lose the "stock look of the bike but this isn't bad at all. I love it actually. Now for the funds... lol

 

[Jacek3743]

Before seeing Rabbitmans' posts, I purchased parts from BK Moto back in January. Overall I think I did a pretty good job. I originally was going for the OEM look and left the reflectors alone. However after about a two months i started thinking about how it would look in black. Last week I was doing a photo shoot with a buddy of mine and although I felt it looked good silver, I had to paint it black. So i picked up some plasti dip, busted the case open, and I am more than happy with the result.

Also, while it was a pain, I was able to fit my ballast under the air box mounted against the frame with some velcro. The wiring harness is zip-tied (with some slack) behind the light itself. It took me some time to figure out the best positioning for it all, but just play around with it and you will get it tidy.

Ugh... It took me only 10 min to change my mind.... Now I would want my whole housing to be all black. One thing that I'm iffy about is the angel eye, that it's white and I would love everything in the housing to look all black...

 

[MikeC]

Sorry that you had so much trouble with the harness. Like I said on the phone, I constantly complain about the harnesses for motorcycles, as everything is just too big. The dude I work with at TRS knows this, and has shared with me what the next generation of wiring harnesses is going to be. Here is a preview:

The relay is a pass through design, and MUCH smaller. Plus, the overall bulk of the wires coming out of the current relay is eliminated. I am hoping they get these really soon. Again, wish that it wasn't such a pain, but until the new one comes out, we have to deal. You could look at it in a positive way, the FZ1 and FZ6 because they have two headlights, actually use a car harness!!! Tons of wiring there, and most of the time, I modify the harness to cut all the extra wire off. I actually have been told they will make me a special dual output harness for motorcycles until they come out with a bike specific model. So, it could be worse.

But otherwise it does actually look OEM!!

Ahh yes! I totally forgot to mention that the customer service is EXCELLENT. I got confused halfway through and gave him a call, and he helped me on the fly also letting me know about these "next gen" harnesses. As soon as they come out, I'm getting one. He also absorbed a huge cost for return shipping too! I was surprised, felt bad and wondered how he makes any money at all considering return shipping was $30 bucks.

For now, I'm just gonna fix some of the wiring. (Rabbitman) Chad, can you confirm that most wiring is okay to cut and resize EXCEPT the high voltage ones coming off the ballast?

And he's right, it could be a LOT worse. the thought of dual bi-xenon harnesses with two relays, full sized ballasts and ignitors makes me shudder.

Dude that is so good! I (surprisingly) like the OEM look! What a fricken cool looking bike you know? those lights make everything look so classy. it just really takes it up a notch into a different place.

ya chad I want mine to look oem too.... but everything different

Your bike is looking pretty good these days. PS I got the awesome decals, and have already used a bunch. I have a problem... and decals are the remedy. and more cowbell

It definitely makes the bike look a LOT different. And Jack You definitely ordered a LOT of stickers! Post em up!

Looks great... hey, where's your decals? lol!

Haha, Mine are located in strategic positions. mainly on the other side of the bike.

hence why I was confused but this post sold me on getting it done from you. I was scared I was gonna lose the "stock look of the bike but this isn't bad at all. I love it actually. Now for the funds... lol

Rest easy that Chad at AHR (rabbitman) is going to take good care of you! This is a man who knows his stuff. Thanks again Chad.

 

[charris247]

Ugh... It took me only 10 min to change my mind.... Now I would want my whole housing to be all black. One thing that I'm iffy about is the angel eye, that it's white and I would love everything in the housing to look all black...

You can always not have the angel eye. Or get it in a color. I have looked at Rabbitmans thread, and if I had not already done this, I may have gone with yellow for the halo. I can still replace that quite easily but it would involve baking the assembly a third time and to be honest, since painting it black, I am fully satisfied with the look. If you go the plasti dip route you can always put it back to stock.

 

[Rabbitman109]

hence why I was confused but this post sold me on getting it done from you. I was scared I was gonna lose the "stock look of the bike but this isn't bad at all. I love it actually. Now for the funds... lol

Thanks, sometimes the best thing is to look at the results. I do payment plans....(Bill me later or financing)

Ugh... It took me only 10 min to change my mind.... Now I would want my whole housing to be all black. One thing that I'm iffy about is the angel eye, that it's white and I would love everything in the housing to look all black...

Honestly, the decision is yours, I prefer paint in the housing, but I really like the OEM look. I think that also just adding a little paint for accents that would be pretty cool too. Sometimes people just let me get creative, and I can make a pretty sick retrofit.

Ahh yes! I totally forgot to mention that the customer service is EXCELLENT. I got confused halfway through and gave him a call, and he helped me on the fly also letting me know about these "next gen" harnesses. As soon as they come out, I'm getting one. He also absorbed a huge cost for return shipping too! I was surprised, felt bad and wondered how he makes any money at all considering return shipping was $30 bucks.

For now, I'm just gonna fix some of the wiring. (Rabbitman) Chad, can you confirm that most wiring is okay to cut and resize EXCEPT the high voltage ones coming off the ballast?

And he's right, it could be a LOT worse. the thought of dual bi-xenon harnesses with two relays, full sized ballasts and ignitors makes me shudder.

Rest easy that Chad at AHR (rabbitman) is going to take good care of you! This is a man who knows his stuff. Thanks again Chad.

Michael,

Thanks again for your business. I can't stress enough how much it means when someone trusts me with such a huge mod. Definitely an honor when everyone is always happy. Honestly, the shipping has been a hot button issue for me. I really don't make that much, by the time you figure with a headlight that contains paint and accessories, I usually have about 8-10 hours into it. That doesn't include waiting time. There are a lot of things people are unaware that has to be done. In order to get it to look so good, it takes extreme care, as you don't want it to look cheesy like a cheap knock off.

Anything on the wiring harness is okay to cut, and resize. The ballast wiring should NOT be touched, as I am not sure how that will affect operation.

Yes, the dual output harness is a bear to work with, and when I do them, I just trim it from the get go, because I have learned dealing with a bunch of wires can be extremely frustrating.

I have learned a lot from retrofitting. Learning all the time. I have acquired so many tools after I have been doing it for a while. Sometimes it is just essential to have the right tool for the job. I invite anyone to come and check my page here:

https://www.facebook.com/AffordableHIDRetrofitting

 

[DanS]

Well Chad at AHR really came through! The headlights look WONDERFUL! a crisp cutoff, and beautiful 5000k color.

Overall the actual retrofit work to the headlight housing was of great quality. Pretty much everything you'd expect for a reputable vendor that offers services to 5 other yamaha boards. The glue wasn't runny and dried everywhere like when I try to do it myself, and the retaining tabs were unbroken (as they usually do become broken when I do it myself).

Shroud was the E55R on just a basic retrofit. No fancy colors, or halos or angel eyes, I was going for an "OEM" look and i think it was achieved!

I would say its a great mod that increases night time safety exponentially! And when the cutoff is flipped down (high beam), you have visibility for thousands and thousands of feet.


The only really strong negatives I have, (and this is really for ANY kind of HID retrofit conversion), is that the ballast is just hard to "hide". I got the bike all back together because I was excited to see and test the final product, but I don't like the idea of the ballast just chillen under the airbox with all sorts of wires dangling everywhere. That segues into the other gripe I have which is the harness.

The harness is just terrible. I must have run the wiring all wrong, but it's just...a messy setup. You have stuff coming off the relay harness, 4 different connections to the headlight and the H4 harness that controls the high beam. This is not chads fault ,but it's a messy config from his harness supplier. Could very well be my fault for rushing through it as well.

I might take the weekend to just remake all the wiring to FZ8 Spec but I was pretty frustrated by all the different connectors and everything. Not to mention the spade terminal connectors were oversized and open ended. Convenient, but not secure. Of course, I realize it's for universal fit.

Anyways, onto the pictures...
That OEM look:

The Whole blurry shebang.

P.s. I was also able to do the airbox mod while I was trying to get the ballast in, and I definitely felt some down low torque shifted into upper range power. Sounds a little different too.

Looks Great!

 

[MikeC]

Quick update on the whole harness revamp thing. It took 4 hours, but I was able to clean up the harness a LOT!

Major changes include relocating the relay and relay harness to the empty space under the seat. also shortening the cutoff shield switch wiring.

I also had to cut more airbox away to accommodate the ballast mounted vertically against the right side of the frame.

 

[grant696]

Wow those look great. Perfect color!