FZ6-N: Morimoto Mini D2S retrofit

[degake]

One of the things that bothers me the most about the naked FZ6, is the poor lighting of the FZ6-N headlight.
Some people on the forum have put a plug and play HID replacement bulb into their headlight, which does give a much improved lighting.
However, with this sort of HID replacement, you'll also introduce a lot of extra glare, as the stock reflector isn't designed to use any bulb other than a H4 dual filament halogen bulb.
Comparing different specs (light output, cut-off, glare, etc.) of these plug and play bulbs versus HID projectors, I made up my mind to get myself into a bit more tinkering and going for a projector setup.

Capo79's thread has inspired me to get into modifying my headlight to accept a HID projector: [thread=18162]HID projector on my FZN - Complete [/thread]
There were only some minor issues that I had to overcome, after seeing the results made by Capo79.

First of all was the routing of all the wiring; "dumping" them all in the under seat storage seemed a bit too easy and made the only free, lockable space of the bike unusable.
Secondly; after asking some info to Capo79 as why he changed projector again (he went from the original G1 projector to a G3), he said that the G1 projector didn't gave the much needed light when driving in the dark.
He tried to fit the G3 projector, though it was to big, which lead to some problems: [thread=40738]F*cked up my headlight lens cover[/thread].

So the search began to find a projector with a decent light output, which wasn't too tall so it would fit the headlight housing.
At first, I came up with the newer G5 projector, which was only a bit taller than the G1, but had a better light output (the manufacturer stated it would even be better than the G3 light output).
I still had some thoughts about this projector and searched a bit further, continously looking at other projector retrofits done to faired versions of our beloved bike :spank:
I took a look at the website of TRS and looked at the Morimoto Mini H1 dimensions: they're too tall
But after browsing a bit more, I found another type of easy retrofit projectors on their website: the Morimoto Mini D2S projectors. I looked at the dimensions and thought: they should fit!! :cheer:
(I've remembered something Capo79 said to me: "If you need a bit of extra depth, aim your beam lower to clear the headlight lens. So I should have some extra room )


Here is a comparison between the Morimoto Mini H1 and D2S projectors:



So the decision was made: I was going to install the Morimoto Mini D2S projector into my headlight!!:cheer:

So the next part would obviously be ordering everything to need with.
As for all of you in the US; you have the chance of having a company like TRS to order stuff from.
Ordering from them and shipping to Europe would be a hasle (all the extra taxes/duties, shipping costs + time, ...), so I looked at what parts needed to be ordered.
The list consists of:

• 1 Morimoto Mini D2S projector
• 1 D2S bulb
• 1 ballast
• 1 H4 bi-xenon harness
• 1 projector shroud

While searching for all the parts, I stumbled upon a business located at the Netherlands, which sells the Morimoto Mini H1s.
After mailing back and forth with the owner, he proposed to get me all the needed parts and ship them to me.
Best of all: it costed only €103 (134 uSD). (And it even included an Angel eye + converter, which I didn't use in the end )

So the definate list became:

• 1 Morimoto Mini D2S projector
• 1 D2S bulb (4300K)
• 1 slimline AMP ballast (with CanBus warning canceller, which really isn't needed on our bikes )
• 1 (slim) H4 bi-xenon harness
• 1 D2S to AMP converter (to connect the D2S bulb to the AMP connectors of the ballast)
• 1 HID (AMP) extension cable (note: you need to get an extension cord of at least 80cm (31.5"). I got a 120cm (47.2") cord)
• 1 GTI-R projector shroud (complete with shroud centric rings)

I chose the GTI-R shroud, as it had the smallest diameter of all the available shrouds:



If anyone wants to get a quote of the same kit I used, including shimpent, let me know and I'll ask the company.

I also ordered some extra high temperature wire (you can't be too safe ) to extend all the relay wiring, some insulating hoses to run the wires through and some kynar shrinking tube, as I would solder every cable extension.

• 18 AWG wire (3x 100cm (39.4"); I used 3 different colours (same as used in the relay harness) as to easily identify the correct wires. You could also use 300cm (118.2") of 1 colour wire.)
• 22 AWG wire (2x 150cm (59.1") (or 1x 300cm (118.2"; just as said above))
• insulation hose (different diameters/lengths: see what you all find best suiting)
• kynar shrinking tube (I preferred to use this shrinking tube, as it has a dielectric strength of at least 30kV/mm, which will be usefull when soldering the high voltage wires.)

 

[degake]

Now it's time to get to the real stuff:
Let's go bake us some headlight :BLAA:

First of all, we need to take the headlight of the bike and strip all the loose bits of it.

1. Unbolt the allen head bolts holding the headlight.


After unbolting the headlight, you will have to unplug the headlight socket, a white square socket on top (feeding the indicator lights) and pulling the parking light (To remove this, you will have to twist to unlock and then pull it.).


2. Stripp off the side covers and blinkers: both are held in place with 1 hex bolt each. Remove the plate as well.
You can unplug the little grey plug (going to 1 of the indicator lights) to make it a bit easier to get the plates off.
After this, remove the dustcap.



3. Removing the bulb: to remove the bulb, simply pull the bulb retaining clip holding the bulb.
When the bulb is removed, unscrew the little Philips head screw and remove the bulb retaining clip.
There are 3 Philips head screws into cavities at the edges of the headlight housing. Unscrew them.


When the bulb is out, lower the headlight alignment by adjusting the proper adjuster:

Get it lowered enough; this will give the projector enough room when reinstalling the headlight lens.


4. Getting the lens separated:
Pre-heat your oven at 105°C (220°F ).
Put the headlight housing in it (place it on top of a piece of (plie)wood) and let it bake for 7-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on it: when it turns crispy brown, you'll have to flip it . If it gets black/smokey, scream "Ohooh, f*ck!!"
When the time is done, get the headlight out of the oven and start to pry the parts apart.
Be careful!! It WILL be hot!
The best way to get the parts separated, is to start working at the 2 little corners above the parking light. Use a small flatblade screwdriver to create a small gap and then start pulling the parts apart. (If you let the part bake long enough, it should be fairly easy).
If you haven't got the parts separated within 45 seconds, put it back in the oven for 4-5 minutes and retry.
You will need quite some muscle into it to get it fully apart.

When the parts are seperated, let them cool down.



5. When the parts are cooled down enough to comfortably work on them, start installing the projector.
First, try to take of the connector of the solenoid wires, leaving only the wires with 2 separate connectors.
Install the projector into the housing. Be carefull to put all the pieces in the right order!!

You will have to tighten the lock ring nut with some pliers, as you want it to be 100% tight (you really need to get it 100%!! Tightening the nut will force the projector a bit more backwards in the headlight housing (by compressing the big white grommet) and gives you enough thread at the back to get the bulb fully locked afterwards.)

6. The projector is installed:


Now you probably asked yourself allready Why did I have to pull the connector of the solenoid wires??
Here is why: You need to get the solenoid wires from the front of the headlight reflector to the back of the headlight housing. If you don't get the connector of, you will have to trim a little nodge at the bulb base to pass the cables through there.
But, if you did unplug the connector, you could use the hole were the original bulb retaining clip sat. You would almost think Yamaha engineers did this on purpose


7. Time to get the shroud installed:
When I got all my parts, I've always thought I had to cut the shroud to get it to fit. I was really surprised to find out that the shroud fitted 99,9% as is!! :cheer:
The only thing I did, was trimming a really tiny bit of the shroud ("flattening" the outer diameter), so I was sure it wouldn't interfere with the stock reflector. (By default it touches by a hair)


With the use of the shroud centric ring, the shroud fits firmly onto the projector, without the need to use glue or anything else.

8. When you've got the shroud aligned correctly, reheat your oven to 105°C (again: 220°F).
Put the 2 halfs back together and get them into the oven.
Let them bake for another 5-10 minutes to get the sealing glue liquid enough.
Get the headlight out of the oven and press both halfs firmly together. Repeat this until both parts are fully together.
Keep the pressure on the two parts (You could either use some clamps or some painters tape to keep the parts together) and let them completely cool down.
This will take some time, so get yourself something to drink (If it's allready late and you won't continue doing this retrofit till the morning, it's OK to get some beer )

The retrofitted headlight is now back together.
Replug the connector to the solenoid wires (polarity shouldn't matter).
Carefully insert the HID bulb. (See the fitting sequence shown above)

 

[degake]

Alright...
Let's get physical, physical. I wanna get physical,... Darn, did I sing this out loud??

Back to the story: When I first test fitted the headlight with the projector installed, I noticed I didn't have enough clearance behind it for the bulb and D2S connector.


After a lot of thinking/measuring, I decided it would be best to just bring the whole headlight component (so the headlight, fairing stay, headlight surrounding and indicators) a bit to the front, creating extra space between the back of the headlight housing and the frame.

I thought it would be a rather simple unbolt/bolt job to get the fairing stay of the bike.
Boy, was I wrong...
I started removing the top of the fairing stay and thought it was bolted with 2 bolts... It were actually 3 (where the 3rd bolt bolts into the same piece as the bolt at the RH side).

I hope you enjoy yourself as much as I did to get the 2 outer bolts out... *sigh*

After unbolting the top, I noticed there was a lot more to be done to get the fairing stay of the bike...
Do you remember I said that the bolt in the middle uses the same "leg" of the fairing stay?? Well guess what; you've got to get some cables out of the fairing stay before you can even think of removing them...
To get some decent access to that part of the fairing stay, you should remove the speedometer.
To do so you will have to follow these steps cnote: the pictures show a round speedo (S1 model), but the S2 version speedo should be quite similar to do):

First unplug all the speedometer cables:


After this, unbolt the speedo housing and remove the speedometer:


When the speedometer is removed, you'll see 2 tiny plastic philips head screws, which secure the speedo cover to the fairing stay.
Unscrew these and push the little bushings out. (Make sure you don't break them!)

You see those cables that need to be removed? Those are the 2 gas cables, the electrical wiring coming from the RH control and the clutch cable (if it has been "properly" routed as per instructions of Yamaha :spank.

To remove these, you'll have to get some reason into it.
Removing the clutch cable is quite simple: Unbolt the clutch lever, adjust the cable spanner to it's loosest point, get the clutch cable out of the lever and pull it through the fairing stay.
Removing the gas cables is also quite simple: open the RH control (3 philips head screws at the bottom), get the gas cables of the throttle cam and through the fairing stay. (Make sure you mark which gas cable goes at what end of the throttle (push pull).
The electrical wiring however is a bit trickier. Here you can go 2 routes; Propping up your gas tank, removing the airbox and unplug the plug connecting that part of the wiring with the main wiring harness, or get the contacts out of the controls.
I did the latter, and although it was a bit fiddly, it was a lot simpler than getting the airbox out (and reseated correctly afterwards).
Remember all your steps, as you will have to reverse them when mounting everything back together.

With those wires out of the way, it's time to get the last bolts out and get the fairing stay from the bike.
Unbolt the single bolt at the bottom. Make sure you unbolt the brake hose holder as well.
Now you can get the frame off the bike. You will have to manoevre with it a bit to get it passed the ignition contact.
When the fairing stay is removed, remove the little bracket at the bottom, by unbolting the 2 hex bolts.



Now that everything is loose, it's time to start modifying your fairing stay.


You remember I said the whole unit has to come forward to get sufficient space to the frame?
1,5cm (or 0.6") is the golden answer .
If you look at the picture, you'll see what the best way of reallocating those mounting holes is. (By doing it like this, remounting the fairing stay will be just as easy (or difficult :spank as it was originally).


Ok, seems fairly easy... But why did we have to remove that little bottom bracket?
The answer is; YOU DIDN'T!! No, I'm joking
I found out that, when I realigned the projector in the headlight housing (this was done with the headlight allready on my bike), I couldn't get the beam high enough, as the projector would be touching the headlight lens (and thus also preventing the projector to get at the perfect level).
So to tackle this problem, we have to tilt the complete housing a bit, just to get the alignment correct.
I did this by making 2 spacers out of some circular aluminium tubing I had lying around.
These spacers need to be 2,5cm (or 1"). You could also use just 1 spacer, and put it between the fairing stay and the little bracket, but this would cause a lot of stress on a single bolt and would also create a pivot point for the complete assy.


When you have the fairing stay modified and the spacers made, make sure you get all the new/added pieces painted (or protected from the elements by any other means) and start remounting everything.
Don't forget to use Loctite where needed!




Hmmm, it starts to look like a bike again, doesn't it?

 

[degake]

Allright, were almost done...
Now is the time to get yourself some drinks, food, sex... anything you might have missed while dealing with the fairing stay. :BLAA:

This is the final stage, but be prepared: it will take quite a while to get your install as clean as possible...

First of all I would like to add that I wanted the less wires visible as possible.
To achieve this, I decided to route the wiring coming from the headlight alongside both sides of the frame.

The LH side (clutch side) I used for routing the relay wiring (coming from the OEM headlight bulb socket).


The RH side (throttle side) I used for routing the high voltage wiring and the solenoid wires.


I've put all those wires in an insulating hose first, before pulling them through the frame.
At the RH side, the solenoid wires run inside the same hose as the high voltage wires.

To prevent any moisture to get into the headlight and/or projector, I tried to cut the original dust cap as little as possible, so it would fit real tight around the D2S connector.
I decided to get the solenoid connector under the dust cap as well, preventing even more for dust/moisture to come in, as well as cleaning things up a bit.


As you can see in the picture; I only cut the part of the dustcap which originally surrounded the H4 headlight bulb (if you look from the inside of the dustcap: the part that gets back to the inside).
You will want to use a pair of thin, flat bladed screwdrivers to pry the duscap onto the D2S connector.
To get the solenoid wires to pass, just use one of those screwdrivers to wedge between the connector and dustcap; this will give you a temporary opening where you can feed the wires through.


Getting the tank up and away:
Remove your seat.
Loosen your gas tank: remove the 2 allen bolts up front.
Now it's time to get your tank up.
There are a lot of different methods (using a piece of wood, metal rod, ..) to keep it up, but you will need all the posible working space you can get.
I would suggest to do the same as I did: use a (thick, nylon) cord and make a loop; Put the loop over the tank holder (where you took out the 2 allen bolts), keep the tank up as far as you can (mind your fuel pump wiring!!) and tie the cord to the passenger grab bars.
This is stable enough if you have a (quite) empty gas tank. If your tank is more than half full, you had better first ridden the hell out of it before starting on this mod


As for placing of the ballast and igniter, I really didn't find THE spot. You will have to look for yourself where you want to mount them.
Just be sure you won't put the different parts (ballast, igniter, (warning canceller)) on top of each other, as you really don't have that much space.
When you think you've found a good place to put it all, lower your tank and hear/feel if it touches anything it didn't before. (Mine did touch the warning canceller at first with the lowest part of the fuel pump assy)

This is why I said we don't need a CanBus compatible slimline ballast: the warning canceller is just another extra block you've got to find a place for...

If you're comfortable with where you put the ballast and igniter, ,use some zip ties to get it all secured. (I secured them to the wiring harness where possible.)


Now it's time to find a place for the relay...
Originally I intended to put the relay under the gas tank as well, but after seeing all the good space being used by the ballast and ignitor, I searched for another place to put it.

And so I found:


I removed the LH sidepod (unbolting the bullet head allen bolt in the middle of the sidepod, then pulling the sidepod of the bike) and zip tied the relay to the frame, just behind the other relays.
This renders the relay well protected, though easily reachable.

Routing all the wires to/from the relay is simple, as you can follow the main wire harness towards the tank.



Now you finally placed every component on its respective place, it's time to measure all your wire lengths and start soldering them together.
I have cut all the wires and added a new piece of wire in between (this, because I couldn't find the right loose spade connectors for the solenoid wiring and the H4 coupler).
I used the kynar shrinking tube on any soldering connection I made.

Some usefull tips for extending/routing the wires:

Wires coming from the H4 coupler (inserted into H4 socket): solder the new extension to the side of the H4 coupler plug. Pull this through the frame, starting from outside the frame into the frame, following the original wires.
If you got these wires routed to the tank, route them towards the sidepod and solder to the other end of the wiring coming from the relay.

High voltage wires: Connect the extension cable onto the ballast under the tank, route the extension cable - following the original wiring harness - alongside the airbox, through the frame.
Outside the frame, solder the wires to the D2S to AMP connector.

Solenoid wires: These you can do either way you want..

Battery cables: I've extended the positive and negative wires, to get them directly onto the battery.
Extend them and route them following the wiring harness on the left side of the airbox to the battery and connect.



Now it's time to remount your headlight:
Plug the solenoid connector in.
Plug the D2S connector onto the HID bulb (twist to lock). Note: As you are mounting the HID cable to the headlight, make sure the wire runs horizontally (when looking at the back of the headlight; to the right). When you run the wire vertically (so the wire going down), it will touch the frame when turning the front wheel outer left to outer right, which possibly could lead to some excessive wear.
Place the dustcap firmly onto the headlight housing. Make sure the solenoid wire is fully underneath the dustcap.
Mount the headlight and bolt the 4 allen bolts. Don't forget to use Loctite!!


Put down your tools, step back 10-15 steps and admire what you have accomplished....


You're done!!

 

[degake]

Before you all start to ask about the difference in light output of the standard halogen H4 and the Morimoto Mini D2S, I've put up a little comparitive pictures. :flip:

As you can see, the stock halogen lighting isn't worth very much.
The light is spread everywhere. It looks almost like the engineers hoped it will give you at least some usable light somewhere.
This is partly due to the rather shallow design of the reflector...



After retrofitting the projector, this is what the low beam looks like:

Note that the projector is aimed a bit too high in this picture. In the following pictures the projector has been aligned at the same height as the halogen bulb was.

And here is some real life footage...


If you flip the high beam switch you will feel like it's instant daylight...
I've never thought the projector would be such a big upgrade!!

The construction is rock solid as well (including the spacers) and have allready been tested to +200kph :spank: (On a closed course naturally )

I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!!


For those of you who want to read the whole thing in bed (if you really don't have anything better to do :scared: :ban or any other place without a direct access to the forum, I've included a PDF tutorial...
View attachment 40152
The PDF has no Hi Res images (to keep the file size down ), but includes the links to download the Hi Res images .

For those of you who just want the Hi Res Images
Here you go:
Part 1
Part 2
Download both parts and extract the archive using WinRar or equivalent.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!


Grtz,


Degake

 

[callmegandhi]

What was more work? The headlight mod or writing this post? Awesome job!

 

[spock]

Awesome job man.

Thanks a lot for sharing.

something more I want for my beautiful naked beast :spank:

 

[degake]

What was more work? The headlight mod or writing this post? Awesome job!

Writing this manual was indeed the hardest work :BLAA:
But it was fun to do so, and if it can help someone out, why not??

Grtz,


Degake

 

[boars]

Awesome work and very comprehensive - nicely done :thumbup:

Looks like a solid improvement for light output and looks great to boot!

Thanks for sharing :cheer:

 

[pascal1973]

Nice work, thanx for sharing!

 

[degake]

Awesome work and very comprehensive - nicely done :thumbup:

Looks like a solid improvement for light output and looks great to boot!

Thanks for sharing :cheer:

Your Ducati front end will look sweet as well when finished
If you need any help/guidance... give me a shout!! :BLAA:

Grtz,


Degake

 

[skyworm]

Long waited and satisfying to the top.My friend,you need an award for so detailed instruction :bow::bow::bow::bow::bow::bow:.Can i have your permission to print it and add it to mine service manual folder ?

 

[degake]

Long waited and satisfying to the top.My friend,you need an award for so detailed instruction :bow::bow::bow::bow::bow::bow:.Can i have your permission to print it and add it to mine service manual folder ?

I was going to put it all in a PDF file, including all high res pictures as well
But if you want to print it as is, be my guest

Grtz,


Degake

 

[dxh24]

Great write up, Very detailed install! Thanks a bunch!:thumbup:

 

[skyworm]

Best of all: it costed only €103 (134 uSD). (And it even included an Angel eye + converter, which I didn't use in the end )

So the definate list became:

1 Morimoto Mini D2S projector
1 D2S bulb (4300K)
1 slimline AMP ballast (with CanBus warning canceller, which really isn't needed on our bikes )
1 (slim) H4 bi-xenon harness
1 D2S to AMP converter (to connect the D2S bulb to the AMP connectors of the ballast)
1 HID (AMP) extension cable (note: you need to get an extension cord of at least 80cm (31.5"). I got a 120cm (47.2") cord)
1 GTI-R projector shroud (complete with shroud centric rings)

The price is for this list?

P.S.: Will wait for pdf,i want high res pics

 

[degake]

The price is for this list?

P.S.: Will wait for pdf,i want high res pics

Indeed; the price is for everything concerning the retrofit, except the extra stuff to extend the wires (high temp resistant wiring, insulating hoses, kynar shrinking tube + led parking bulb was about €30 )

I'm currently working on the pdf Stay tuned!!

Grtz,


Degake

 

[FIZZER6]

Nice work! That was a lot more difficult than my dual FX-35 projector retrofit on my FZ6-S! It is a HUGE increase in performance. My FZ6 has more intense headlights than 99.5% of cars on the road. :rockon:

 

[degake]

Nice work! That was a lot more difficult than my dual FX-35 projector retrofit on my FZ6-S! It is a HUGE increase in performance. My FZ6 has more intense headlights than 99.5% of cars on the road. :rockon:

Indeed, with the xenon projectors on the bike, there is an immense light ouput!! :rockon:
When I rode to my parents at night (I just wanted an excuse to test the lights ), my dad said "If people don't see you know with that search light... "
That was, 5 minutes after I got there, because he didn't know who it was, because he wanted to look *directly* into my high beam :ban:

Grtz,


Degake

 

[degake]

For those interested in the PDF tutorial or the Hi Res images, I added the PDF and links to [post=459866]post #5[/post].

Grtz,


Degake

 

[DeusEx]

Nice work there degake! Looks clean and neat!
I ordered a simple bi-xenon hid kit from ebay without the projector, and I wondered how and where exactly did you place the ballast and the ignitor?
Did you remove the airbox? How did you fixed them in place?
If you have more photos please post them in order to get a picture what to expect!
Any tips will be also greatly appreciated!
TIA