Finally

First job is to replace that head light. Got another shipment from Black Dog Cycle Works:

This is the European headlamp. Unlike the USA one, it has seperate bulbs for the high and low beams (the USA spec has a single H4 halogen and the European has an H7 low beam and H3 high beam)

However, I am replacing those halogens with High Intensity Discharge (HID) units:

Once again, I have to tear it down. Lots of parts off this time:

Here is the old USA spec lamp assembly (left) next to the new Euro one. You can see in the reflector design how the USA design was basically one big headlamp and how the Euro looks like two. At the end of this section I will compare the differences in light intensity.

I removed the wiring harness from the Euro assembly (the USA one is, in essense, discarded):

A quick test for functionality shows both HID assemblies as working OK:

Time to start cutting! First off is to remove the halogen sockets:

A hole is cut in the rubber cap to fit the HID's grommet:

The HID bulbs are installed (the H7 is not seated correctly in this photo). I also snipped off the nipples for the old cable pass-through and sealed the hole with black silicone.

Using some double-sided tape to hold it in place during testing, I tried out different locations for the HID's voltage regulators. I had to find a location to put them where they would not interfere with the travel of the handlebars/forks. The ignition switch prevented most of the mounting locations. Man, I thought it was hard to find space to mount things in the Tundra!

Finally, I found two surfaces to mount the VRs:

Connections between the HIDs and the wire harness are made with solder and heat shrink and all the cabling is ty-wrapped into place:

Again, another quick check for functionality and the bike is reassembled.

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