Best aftermarket stator brands/sources?

[Chuck78]

Does anyone have any experiences on what are the best quality aftermarket replacement lighting stators and more importantly, ignition source coils / stator coils?

Are Ricky Stator and RM Stator the same company? Or do many if these places simply just sell the same coils? The RM, Ricky, and HPI lighting coils all look identical, with Caltric being the only one that looks any different.

Someone was just crying the blues about their nee Caltric complete stator plate assembly frying the ignition stator after a very short time, a few hours. Someone else has pointed out that if you have the coil installed backwards, timing will be off and it can potentially burn up the stator very quickly.

Any further insights on this?

I do know that the cores of the 85W aftermarket stators are thicker than OEM, and you ABSOLUTELY MUST buy longer screws and trim to length, AND use threadlocker on them.... Shop that rebuilt my engine for the previous owner made msny mistakes, including using the now too short OEM screws. I wondered why my newly purchased bike with 3 hours on the engine kept stalling, and then locked up... Darn lighting coil vibrated loose and was destroying my flywheel rotor...

[Slick_Nick]

I'm probably not the right guy to ask, since I rewind my own. Have you considered doing that? It's not too difficult.

[Chuck78]

I'm probably not the right guy to ask, since I rewind my own. Have you considered doing that? It's not too difficult.

You rewind your own ignition stator coils as well? I've read that this wire is very thin/fine and quite delicate vs the lighting stator wire. That worried me a bit and made me steer away from the thought of rewinding my own ignition stator.

[Slick_Nick]

I'm probably not the right guy to ask, since I rewind my own. Have you considered doing that? It's not too difficult.

You rewind your own ignition stator coils as well? I've read that this wire is very thin/fine and quite delicate vs the lighting stator wire. That worried me a bit and made me steer away from the thought of rewinding my own ignition stator.

Yes. No different than a lighting coil. I have an entire thread on it (with photos) on KDX Rider.

[Chuck78]

I found my own post several years later from a Google search....

Ricky Stator sells new stators and are based out of Ialifornia. I was searching trying to find any reference that these are made in China or elsewhere, as well as searching for commentary on their quality. They seem to be one of the top two choices. I couldn't find any direct confirmation of where Ricky Stators are currently made, but most users from other bike and quad platforms state that they are excellent quality, including far better quality than the new KTM 1290 ADV bikes' OEM stators! I did find one KDX page where a few people were saying they went down in quality in recent years, but more recent posts from elsewhere were praising them for being high quality, including many stating they are better than the Rick's Motorsport Electric stator rewinds.

Rick's Motorsport Electric also seems to be one of the top choices, although I did find more negative comments on their products vs Ricky Stator. They rewind stators as well as sell used cores refurbished/rewound, and are based out of New Hampshire. Their lighting stators output 70 Watts roughly, and I believe use the stock cores.

The 85W Ricky Stator lighting coils have a taller core which is not suitable for use with the original mounting screws. The original mounting screws will thread in but do not achieve full thread engagement. I purchased some longer versions at a hardware store and cut them down to length slightly and installed with high strength thread locker as is required for all stator coil mounting.

RMStator is not at all the same company as either of the above separate companies with similar names, and although some people have great luck with these, they are all made offshore, however a few of their products are made in Colorado, primarily regulators or regulator rectifiers. They do get great praise over their warranty claims, though! Replacements sent out with no hassle. That's great warranty service, but the several comments on this make me wonder how many of their stators get warrantied vs the two above brands!

That is what I determined from a quick Google search. The Rick's Motorsport Electric rewinds are fairly pricey, but if they are a quality rewind, this might be the best trusted source for an ignition source stator coil. I think I'll continue to run the Ricky Stator lighting coils due to their higher output and great personal successes through my own experiences running two of them for years with zero issue other than the mounting screw length needing to be slightly longer.

I'm still trying to find out more information on the origin and quality of the ignition source coils from Ricky Stator.
I have had absolutely zero troubles with the 85-watt Ricky Stator lighting coils for our bikes after many years of running them.

[Skoalman]

If you want to upgrade the entire ignition with a new unit consider the HPI ignition or the VAPE ignition. They are both available for KDX H models.
I've used both of them for extensively for vintage bike restorations - Maico, Penton, Montesa, DKW...and have had zero problems with either unit. The VAPE is more expensive but it comes with everything and has more accessories if you wish to equip your bike with a battery. The HPI is less than half the price,I and it comes with all the essential items, but you'll have to provide a new spark plug cap, and sometimes (rarely) you might mod the stator plate (simple filing or dremel of the stator plate), and you might need to get a flywheel puller for the HPI FW.

In the past month, I've installed new HPI ignitions on my 75 Montesa 250 enduro and 77 Penton 250. I paid 208.00 shipped directly from Belgium. Additionally, 24 bucks for the tariff fee. The craziest thing is that I received the ignition in 2-3 days, via FedEx. Easy install, timing, and these bikes are loving it -- LOL!! The HPI includes accessories such as a rectifier, FWW, and pullers (for the HPI units), if requested.

Here's the link: https://www.hpi.be/applist.php?brand=Kawasaki

The VAPE is more expensive, but comes equipped with a FW that usually matches or is close to the weight of the OEM flywheel. Again, it costs more because it comes with more stuff. There are several vendors here in the States to source them from.

For example, here's one that's right down the street from me here in Maryland:https://re-mx.com/vape-ignition-7712799 ... x500-kx250

Dan, the owner of Re-mx, said the VAPE ignition for H models would be available in January 2026, so before ordering, I'd advise reaching out to him first to ensure their availability.

The VAPE has better lighting than the HPI, BUT I think that's because I didn't add the rectifier to my vintage bikes, I just went with the basic unit with the lighting stator.

Hope this is helpful.

[Skoalman]

You can the HPI puller from DC plastics:
https://www.dcvmx.com/Electrical/KTM-c- ... hread.html