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I picked up a 2003 KDX 220 four days ago. I want to make it street legal so I can buzz back and forth to work on it. I currently live in Idaho, but will be moving to Utah. So that means I need everything for Utah regulations. (DOT Headlight,tail light, brake light, blinkers, horn, left-hand mirror, DOT tires) I assume that at some point I will need to re-wrap my stator.

My question today is about headlights. I have the stock headlight on. I have no idea how bright it really is since I haven't seen the bike in the dark yet. I won't be doing much night ridding, but I need it bright enough to get me home from work (on the streets) when the sun goes down.

What are some good headlights for the KDX?

Can I modify the stock housing for a Hi/Low beam bulb (for DOT regulations)?

What's better HID, LED, Halogen, or Stock?

What are the aftermarket headlights your recommend/use?

THANKS!

Hi, the stock headlight is fine but the stator is a little wimpy for the job. You can look for the tusk street legal kit. The kit meets all the street legal requirements plus a battery pack for less than $200.

If I re-wrap the stator and keep using the stock headlight, will I blow the bulb by putting too much juice through it with the new stator?

there's a write up on here by Slick Nick on how to rewind ur stator, its actually quite simple. trail tech makes a pretty good voltage regulator for cheap and its easy to wire up, instructions come with it. then you're gonna need a more powerful bulb like a 55w if you plan on running the stock headlight and housing. Im running the UFO twins headlights and love em, each bulb is a 30w so in total its a 60w

morganid wrote:If I re-wrap the stator and keep using the stock headlight, will I blow the bulb by putting too much juice through it with the new stator?

thats why you'll need a voltage regulator, it'll also stop the flickering and dimming of the light. not sure if ur bike already has one, mine is an '89 and never came with one

If you go with a UFO headlight and want to get rid or your stock pm me.

CrashAlonis wrote:If you go with a UFO headlight and want to get rid or your stock pm me.

Ok. I'll keep that in mind. I'm not going to be doing anything immediately. The number plate above the head light is scratched and I think it might be cracked in one spot.

KDXrider1989 wrote:there's a write up on here by Slick Nick on how to rewind ur stator, its actually quite simple. trail tech makes a pretty good voltage regulator for cheap and its easy to wire up, instructions come with it. then you're gonna need a more powerful bulb like a 55w if you plan on running the stock headlight and housing. Im running the UFO twins headlights and love em, each bulb is a 30w so in total its a 60w

Awesome! I think that my bike does have a voltage regulator of some sort. The stock headlight doesn't seem to dim or brighten with the rpm's, it stays bright. Do you think the stock regulator can handle more wattage from a spruced up stator?

I saw SlickNick's post a couple of times. I'm going to be studying that.

I've got (I think) the same headlight on my KX500 with out a voltage regulator. The problem is that it doesn't have a Hi/Low beam. I'm pretty sure I need it to get it plated. Does your headlight have a Hi/Low beam?

OK, so the KDX headlight (and bulb) is High/Low...just isn't wired that way. I used the "bulb plug" from a cheap E-bay POS headlight that came with my bike and simply plugged it into the stock headlight. To use the high beam, you are going to need a high/low switch but you will need that for turn signals and horn anyways. The stock bulb is 35/35 and is barely bright enough for night riding on the street. If you are in a big enough city (for Idaho) and the streets are well lit then it shouldn't be to bad. I can ride home at night, but I wouldn't want to do it in a bust city w/lots of traffic. I also use a 1157 (I think) bulb and harness in the stock tail light housing for tail/stop lights. With all the lighting that is required to be street legal, your stator will not do. If you ran the turn signals off of a battery, it would help, but your still gonna need a rewind. I have a 75w stator and I have to rev the bike to get the turn signals going.....other than that I'm good.

I like the UFO Ghibli headlight....close to stock. Has hi/lo beam, and I use a tusk handlebar switch.

I run a Polisport MMX because it's easy to take on and off. Gives the bike an updated look too.

avgKDXjoe wrote:I run a Polisport MMX because it's easy to take on and off. Gives the bike an updated look too.

That's one I've looked at. How do you like it? Is it bright enough for you? I looked it up on Amazon.com. In the description it says "High/Low 35w bulb and 12w running light". Does that mean that the High beam is the 35w bulb and the Low beam is 12w?

I like it, it's quality. It does have two bulbs in the lamp. I don't ride on the street with it so I couldn't tell you how well it works in that application but with a stock stator I feel it would be a little too dim. Maybe just strap some glowsticks to your spokes.

I spared no expense modifying my 05 Suzuki RM125 and KTM 200 xc-w for street legal and night time riding. For me the best way was to convert from AC to DC in order to charge a battery for blinkers and a horn. The KTM was simple because I bought all the European EXC model parts. Wiring harness, capacitor, handlebar switchs, blinker relay, headlight, tail light, front and rear brake light switches, horn and blinkers. This system work perfectly for street legal but not for night time trail riding because of the headlight not being too bright. So I went with a trail Tech hi output DC stator kit to run a HID X2 Trailtech headlight and a stator powered HID 35 watt Cyclops helmet light. Come to find out the capacitor wasn't strong enough to power the HID's So I installed a battery.But the RM 125,s a different story. I bought the only aftermarket Lighting coil stator available and built my system from scratch. I chose not to install blinkers and a horn on the RM but still converted from AC to DC in order to charge a battery for a bright light at itle. I bought a KTM headlight and front fender, a DRC LED Tail light, DRC Hydraulic brake light switches, Trailtech voltage regulator rectifier, Trail Tech 12 volt NIC? battery and battery mounting bag. I didn't like the aftermarket handlebars switchs available So I went to the Suzuki dealer And searched every motorcycle in the showroom for a handlebar switch with the functions I needed For a more factory look. With Darrell's help from Cyclops Adventure sports I was able to build my wiring
harness from there.

francis wrote:I spared no expense modifying my 05 Suzuki RM125 and KTM 200 xc-w for street legal and night time riding. For me the best way was to convert from AC to DC in order to charge a battery for blinkers and a horn. The KTM was simple because I bought all the European EXC model parts. Wiring harness, capacitor, handlebar switchs, blinker relay, headlight, tail light, front and rear brake light switches, horn and blinkers. This system work perfectly for street legal but not for night time trail riding because of the headlight not being too bright. So I went with a trail Tech hi output DC stator kit to run a HID X2 Trailtech headlight and a stator powered HID 35 watt Cyclops helmet light. Come to find out the capacitor wasn't strong enough to power the HID's So I installed a battery.But the RM 125,s a different story. I bought the only aftermarket Lighting coil stator available and built my system from scratch. I chose not to install blinkers and a horn on the RM but still converted from AC to DC in order to charge a battery for a bright light at itle. I bought a KTM headlight and front fender, a DRC LED Tail light, DRC Hydraulic brake light switches, Trailtech voltage regulator rectifier, Trail Tech 12 volt NIC? battery and battery mounting bag. I didn't like the aftermarket handlebars switchs available So I went to the Suzuki dealer And searched every motorcycle in the showroom for a handlebar switch with the functions I needed For a more factory look. With Darrell's help from Cyclops Adventure sports I was able to build my wiring
harness from there.

Awesome! That's a great idea to go with the European switches. I'll have to look into that to see if it's do-able for my bike. How do you like the HID setup?

My last ride at night on the KTM 200 with the X2 HID Headlight and Cyclops HID helmet light I took a snack break at the halfway point 25 miles into the woods and when I return to riding I forgot to turn on the headlight. With about 10 miles left to go I realized I had run the last 15 miles with just my helmet light so I turn the headlights on and did the remaining ride barely noticing a difference.
I think the most important thing for night riding is it decent helmet light. Mine is ridiculously bright, possibly a little overkill for my needs.
The X2 HID headlight on the street is blinding no matter which bulb you fire (spot or flood). I wire the headlight so the high beam would be the flood light and the low beam would be the spotlight because I quickly realized that both would never be necessary for me. Now that I have a dirt bike gear number plate bag the top spot light is covered which to me is fine.

Since this is a KDX website I have to say that I don't think any type of HID will work with the KDX s low output stator. I don't plan on registering my KDX so I don't think I will ever change the electrical system to DC. I've still yet to hear about a high-powered stator for the KDX. I still would want a brighter headlight on the KDX without mounting LEDs on the handle bar. I don't want to look suspicious on the road with unordinary lights coming from a two stroke

Francis

My first night ride with the RM 125 Was a day ride just to test it to see if my stator would charge the battery So I left with a dead battery And Rode 40 miles with the lights off. With 10 miles remaining I needed to turn on the headlights because it was becoming dark. I rode 5 miles and everything was great with just the headlights. At this point I could've continued home for the last 5 miles of power lines and made it just before complete darkness but instead I decided to wait 45 minutes until it was completely dark and give the RM its true test. I took my helmet light out of my backpack and mounted it on my helmet knowing I didn't charge the battery pack and thought I had at least 20 minutes worth of charge. Now it was time to finish up the last 5 miles. It started out aces, that helmet light brights up the night like day and I can barely notice the headlight. So about 2 minutes into the ride, a 1/2 mile down the trail, the helmet light flickered once and that was it, no more helmet light, dead battery. Now I was relying on the RM's headlight to get home and it was quickly apparent that putting through the woods for 40 miles did not charge the battery and the headlight was barely on at idle. That was the sketchiest 4 miles I ever rode. The headlight wasn't bright enough to leave the trail to find a road. I think I would of even had trouble walking out. At this point I was quite scared and had to blip the throttle every second with the clutch in to see anything. I would have never made it out of the woods with the motorcycle that night had I not been familiar with the trail

Thanks guys for all of your replies. I still am not sure what type of headlight to go with. Would anyone be willing to post pictures of their bikes (KDX or non-KDX) with aftermarket headlights. I'm interested in the functionality (adjustable aim, light distribution) as well as the overall look of the light on the bike (front profile, side profile).

Here's mine. KLX 450R "style". Chinese made and around $30 if I remember right.

And a clean one….

THAT'S AWESOME. Great lookin' bike. Do you remember where you got it? Did you have to upgrade the bulb or anything? How is it for night ridding?