How To: KLX450R Headlight H7 Conversion

Slick_Nick · Post by **Slick_Nick** » 02:01 pm May 08 2012

Thought I'd share my experience in retrofiting a (replica) KLX450R headlight onto my KDX, and swapping to an H7 55W automotive bulb. This should work for any bike however.

Before you swap in a bulb of that magnitude, make sure your stator can support it. My rewound stator tested to 103W. The thread on that can be found here: http://www.thumperta...r-rewind-how-to

I bought a replica KLX450R headlight from eBay. I really liked the look of it, and at $40 it's about 1/4 the cost of the actual Kawasaki unit, and it has rubber mounting straps which are much more forgiving than the Kawasaki bolt on type. It includes a dual filament 35W bulb (useless) and a 194 peanut bulb "parking light" (also useless.) I decided to get green, and paint the "number plate" area rather than have an all white housing.

I used to use white vinyl to make my number plates, but I switched to paint awhile back when my pressure washer kept stripping the decals right off. Here you can see the headlight masked, sanded, and ready for adhesion promotor and plastic paint:

Painted light:

Next up was to ditch the factory 35W useless bulb and gut the housing.

I cut down an H7 to H4 bulb adapter (reason for this explained later) and cut down the stock bulb socket.

Next, you'll need to use an OLD soldering iron, and "plastic weld" the two pieces together. Get the iron hot, and make sure to get good penetration for a strong bond. It may not look pretty, but you can see the good "mix" of plastics which ensures a strong bond:

After joining the pieces strongly on both sides, we now have a socket that will fit the housing, and hold an H7 bulb:

Installed:

Slick_Nick · Post by **Slick_Nick** » 02:02 pm May 08 2012

Now, why did we use the "H4 to H7 adapter"? H4 plugs can be found at MANY auto parts stores with pigtails, which you can easily splice into your stock harness. The H7 to H4 adapter we cut down is easily found as well for a few dollars.

Take the rubber cover from the headlight, slip it over the wire harness, and attach your plug:

By now, the housing was dry, so I unmasked it:

And then screwed the light into place:

Now its time to mount it to the bike. This is self explanitory. Simply plug it in, and seal it all up with the You can see I snipped the wires to the useless 194 parking light:

Slick_Nick · Post by **Slick_Nick** » 02:02 pm May 08 2012

The finished unit:

Fired the bike up, and all 55W shone bright. A VAST improvement over both the stock light, and the one included with this housing. The beam pattern is great, and the new light looks much "meaner" than the UFO "Ghbili" (KDX style) that I had before.

Good luck with your conversion!

Post by **scheckaet** » 02:16 pm May 08 2012

nice write up.

cragwl · Post by **cragwl** » 02:27 pm May 08 2012

That looks sweet! How many MGD's did it take? I have no sense of time but I do like to know how many beers things take.

Post by **Varmint** » 02:56 pm May 08 2012

Awesome looking. Nice job.

How did you score the replica headlight on ebay? What did you search for?

Is it this one? I thought these were for mini/pit bikes.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dirt-bike-Motor ... 091wt_1115

Slick_Nick · Post by **Slick_Nick** » 03:12 pm May 08 2012

Just search "KLX Headlight"

Mine was from Pazmoto iirc

This was a 2 beer adventure.

Slick_Nick · Post by **Slick_Nick** » 04:33 pm May 08 2012

Varmint wrote:Awesome looking. Nice job.

How did you score the replica headlight on ebay? What did you search for?

Is it this one? I thought these were for mini/pit bikes.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dirt-bike-Motor ... 091wt_1115

That looks identical to the one I have.

Post by **Julien D** » 04:59 pm May 08 2012

Looks great, thanks for the write-up!

rbates9 · Post by **rbates9** » 08:22 pm May 08 2012

Great write up as always!

Two beers? Some of us take two beers just to get the box open that the parts come in.

Post by **Julien D** » 09:12 pm May 08 2012

rbates9 wrote:Great write up as always!

Two beers? Some of us take two beers just to get the box open that the parts come in.

Lol, this!

cragwl · Post by **cragwl** » 09:35 pm May 08 2012

I admire people like slick nick. To make the mods to make things work and look like that, at a 2 beer time. I am not gifted that way, It would take me too many beers. I'd get to drunk and solder my kips shut and pass out in the garage.

rbates9 · Post by **rbates9** » 09:43 pm May 08 2012

I have looked at those lights and not cared for the all white as well. I like what you did with the green! It is some times hard to tell from pictures but did the green match well to the Kawasaki green?

Slick_Nick · Post by **Slick_Nick** » 10:00 pm May 08 2012

rbates9 wrote:I have looked at those lights and not cared for the all white as well. I like what you did with the green! It is some times hard to tell from pictures but did the green match well to the Kawasaki green?

It's not perfect, but it's close enough that no one would ever notie unless you pointed it out. It's just a dirtbike...

rbates9 · Post by **rbates9** » 10:07 pm May 08 2012

Thanks

B737driver · Post by **B737driver** » 07:31 am May 09 2012

Nice job Slick. Excellent write-up as well. Let me know if you find a way to eliminate the residual light at the back of the unit. I get a lot of light from the top and sides behind the assembly. Distracting when riding at night. The OEM unit appears to have some kind of covers that prevent this from happening, at least that's the way it appears on microfiche.

Post by **dfeckel** » 07:46 am May 09 2012

Very cool project, Nick. I do have a question about the H7-H4 conversion. Is the new bulb held in well enough that it won't vibrate out of its socket? The reason I ask is that automotive applications usually have a spring-loaded mechanism to clip it into place once it's plugged in. I hope you don't have problems with it working its way loose.

Slick_Nick · Post by **Slick_Nick** » 08:39 am May 09 2012

I noticed the "residual light" issue last night while riding. I'm going to paint the bak of the light with a high solids flat black. Should keep any bleed through from happening.

The H7 bulb is held just fine by the socket. I ran the H7 in my old stock KDX style light for over 2 years without the bulb coming loose whatsoever. Last nights ride was about as bumpy as it can get (whoops, rocky sections, bottomed out the forks about 4 times) and the bulb is still secure.

Post by **scheckaet** » 09:17 am May 09 2012

Slick_Nick wrote:
rbates9 wrote:I have looked at those lights and not cared for the all white as well. I like what you did with the green! It is some times hard to tell from pictures but did the green match well to the Kawasaki green?
It's not perfect, but it's close enough that no one would ever notie unless you pointed it out. It's just a dirtbike...

"just" a dirtbike!!!???!!!

blasphemy!

B737driver · Post by **B737driver** » 10:58 am May 09 2012

Hey Slick,

Is this the way yours looks from above, installed? My issue is not with light coming back through the plastic, but that the light assembly seems to sit too far back in the housing.

Thx,
Don

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