I put a HID on my R1100S, though only on the low beam. It's just a simple H1 bulb, though finding a place for the ballast was a bit of a pain.
I wouldn't recommend one for the high beam as they take a pretty significant time to warm up and come to full brightness. Low beam is pretty awesome though.
I got mine from DealExtreme.com, probably about 3 or 4 years ago. Stay away from the really high color temperature HIDs, you won't like 'em.
I hadn't really thought about the warm up thing for flashing but then I don't remember ever flashing anybody. I put the 6000k HID bulbs on my yammy and they are awesome. Since it has moveable bulbs you don't have to worry about any heating up issues.
Yah, should have thought of those- some that are "dual element" type bulbs have shrouds that change the focus. In looking at HIDs, not every one has this, so you have to look carefully. I've seen a few "H4" bulbs that were low beam only.
How does the focus work on the moveable element bulb? Considering how highly engineered the reflectors are, I wonder what compromises (if any) there are to the beam patterns.
A R1100S has 2 separate bulbs/reflectors and the low beam stays on all the time, so the HID is a great choice (for the low beam).
The bulbs move in and out (close and far from the mirror) and stay on all the time. Mine are H4 bulbs on the FJR. They work great and the distance the bulb travels is identical (as far as I can tell) to the in/out distance between the filliments on a normal H4 bulb.
For the R1100s this is simply not going to work. I'm rethinking the whole affair at this point.
ddmtuning sells the kit for even less. They are all "chinese made" lights as far as I know. If you search DDM HID r1100s it has been done a ton of times on teh pelican parts r1100s tech forum. It is a very straight forward install.
I would not put it on HI beam since you need it for flashing. Not to mention the high light output for high beam is a concern for glaring. Mileage may vary, but I wouldnt put it on the Hi beam on my bike,
I'm not all that concerned about the "flashing" issue. In 45,000 miles of motorcycling in the last few years I've never flashed anybody...at least not on the bike anyways