2014 450 EXC lighting upgrade

[Losttheplot]

Good evening all,


So about 9 months ago i bought a 450 exc on a whim for weekends trail riding in Wales. i'd been looking around for a while, but couldn't find a 2 stroke in good condition from a trustworthy source, and the same went for a 500 exc. In fact the 450 was my absolute last choice as srevious 450's i'd ridden had been so potent they were on the verge of being unrideable.

Anyway, after 9 months with the 450 its really grown on me, and may well be a long term prospect. The only issue i have with it is the standard headlight is absolutely dire.

Whats the best way of improving over the standard unit? I've seen to "drop in" LED units, but as far as i know these are only flood/spot type, with no dipped option.

Any ideas what output can be reliably obtained from the standard stator?

Nathan

 

[Losttheplot]

So i've done some further digging, and found a chap in Wales producing these units, which come highly recommended:

Enduro Lights Wales

5200 lumens, and they have a dipped option as well. Just need to convert the lighting circuit to DC.

I remember a company called trail tech used to supply regulator rectifiers and other useful stuff like uprated stators etc, but a quick Google would suggest they have really scaled things down. Any other recommendations for DC conversion kits?

 

[Rasher]

Who rides trails in the dark

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Who rides trails in the dark

Quite a few
Seems popular with the Welsh
Only did it once in 1995 with standard enduro lights in Wales , in the Valleys near Merthyr
It was scary not being able to see anything …and cold

 

[PitaNaanRoti]

Loads. Plus many Welsh trails are dark in the day due to where they sit in the landscape.
ive spoken to the Welsh lights guy. He hasn’t got a proper dipped solution as yet.
there are proper ones out there.
Denali now do one specifically for the KTM/HQ Using the datadim D4/7.

 

[Losttheplot]

Who rides trails in the dark

Most of the dakar guys will be riding in the dark at some point over the next few weeks, as well as the entrants to the Hardalpitour (last time i ride this we started at 10.00pm on friday night, and rode through until sunday lunchtime to cover the 600 mile route.)

In my case i just want a decent dipped beam so i can see on the road ride home after playing on the trails..

 

[Losttheplot]

Loads. Plus many Welsh trails are dark in the day due to where they sit in the landscape.
ive spoken to the Welsh lights guy. He hasn’t got a proper dipped solution as yet.
there are proper ones out there.
Denali now do one specifically for the KTM/HQ Using the datadim D4/7

LSK (the people that make the lights for the Rade garage rally fairings here ) do a nice CE marked dipped LED headlight unit, but they have a minimum order value thats about 10 euros more than the headlight unit, so you end up having to buy 2, or some other item from their website that won't get used. Either way you're back to spending £250-£300 again. Then there is the garage time involved in making them fit.

The Denali units look good quality and seem to have a good following on here, but after trawling the internet i hadn't found the datadim offering listed above.

Another unit that caught my eye were Colights: here . Looking at the youtube videos these look ideal- excellent performance related to cost, and for the money i may still give them a go at a later date.

Another option was to use one of Hella 60mm LED projector dipped beam, here . I've fitted one of these into the rally raid fairing on the front of my 690 (the rally raid kit is fantastic, just thoroughly let down by really shit lights!). The Hella unit is a CE marked unit so no issues with MOT. The only downside is the £130 cost to the unit, and thats before fitting. I may run a test alongside the welsh unit once fitted...

 

[Losttheplot]

Update:

Its finally fitted! the Welsh unit arrived between Christmas and New year, along with a few rectifiers etc. Initial investigation suggested the headlight feed was AC, so i planned appropriately for it.

Went to fit the light yesterday, and casually set the meter up on the headlight plug to work out which terminals i needed to utilise, and in the process discovered a healthy DC output! Happy days! this made the unit almost plug and play (once i'd worked out which terminals in the plug i needed to connect the wires to).

The light unit itself sits in a 3D printed mask, and i found the mask wasn't the best in terms of shape fitment, but for the cost and the performance of the light unit i'm not complaining.

 

[Losttheplot]

Unit fitted and angled so I'm not dazzling squirrels

 

[Losttheplot]

Hella's 60mm LED projector under the Baja Squadron. A nice compact CE marked unit.

Loads. Plus many Welsh trails are dark in the day due to where they sit in the landscape.
ive spoken to the Welsh lights guy. He hasn’t got a proper dipped solution as yet.
there are proper ones out there.
Denali now do one specifically for the KTM/HQ Using the datadim D4/7.

 

[Pukmeister]

My 450EXC was a pig of a thing.

Sold it on here cheap to Phil Reynolds then got a letter about a year later from Plod in Halifax asking if I had ever restricted it (I hadn’t).

It had found its way to some kid in Yorkshire, who didn’t restrict it and got killed on it.

 

[2gses]

Good evening all,


So about 9 months ago i bought a 450 exc on a whim for weekends trail riding in Wales. i'd been looking around for a while, but couldn't find a 2 stroke in good condition from a trustworthy source, and the same went for a 500 exc. In fact the 450 was my absolute last choice as srevious 450's i'd ridden had been so potent they were on the verge of being unrideable.

Anyway, after 9 months with the 450 its really grown on me, and may well be a long term prospect. The only issue i have with it is the standard headlight is absolutely dire.

Whats the best way of improving over the standard unit? I've seen to "drop in" LED units, but as far as i know these are only flood/spot type, with no dipped option.

Any ideas what output can be reliably obtained from the standard stator?

Nathan

Is it a halogen bulb in your 450? Mines a 450 and the headlamp is fine

 

[Losttheplot]

Is it a halogen bulb in your 450? Mines a 450 and the headlamp is fine

Yes, it was the original halogen light. It was OK unless there was oncoming traffic, then it just couldn't compete against the average car head light, essentially leaving me blind..

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Yes, it was the original halogen light. It was OK unless there was oncoming traffic, then it just couldn't compete against the average car head light, essentially leaving me blind..

Who makes the webbing pull strap on your forks (sorry for the thread deviation )

 

[Losttheplot]

Who makes the webbing pull strap on your forks (sorry for the thread deviation )

It's marked "enduro world", but was already on the bike when I bought it

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

View attachment 298858
It's marked "enduro world", but was already on the bike when I bought it

Cheers
Looks a good one, found it

ENDURO FRONT PULL LIFT STRAP AJUSTABLE BLACK NEW IN PACK | eBay

Every enduro rider eventually finds them selves in! Easily slip it under your triple clamp for a secure mounting! To help pull you from a difficult situation.

www.ebay.co.uk

or they do this one

ENDURO WORLD XTREME FRONT PULL LIFT STRAP NEW IN PACK | eBay

Every enduro rider eventually finds them selves in! To help pull you from a difficult situation. Made from 25mm wide nylon webbing & double stitched nylon thread.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Losttheplot]

First un-planned ride in the dark last night- a significant improvement on the original!