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- Joined
- Mar 25, 2007
- Messages
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- Location
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- First Name
- jason
- Last Name
- bohac
This year I picked up a 1998 XR400 and decided to get it plated. Not wanting to spend the $400+ for a DS kit out of the box I decided to make my own.
First thing, find out what is the minimum requirements for your state. In my case, Texas.
Texas' minimum requirements are:
Headlight with high / low beam, and high beam indicator
Horn
Brake / tail light (only has to be actuated off one brake: front or rear, not both)
Mirror (only one required)
DOT tires (though many inspection stations won't check)
Other notable items:
Texas does not require speedometer or odometer
Turn signals are also not required, however if you have them they must work.
The Headlight:
The stock head light for the XR400 is a single filament bulb, however it can be converted to a dual filament (high/low beam), with a trip to the autoparts store and just a few bucks.
I purchased a bulb to fit the stock housing that had a dual filament. I also bought a generic bulb socket for a dual filament. I gutted both the stock and generic bulb sockets and replaced the single filament wiring, with that dual filament wiring out of the generic socket.
(I took some pics of this, but not sure if I deleted them or not)
Now I have dual filament, but I need a switch and an indicator. For this one I decided to spend a little bit of money, $60 IIRC, and picked up a universal handlebar switch. IIRC I bought mine from Dennis Kirk, but you can find them several places.
This one is handy as it has a horn button, turn signals (I didn't use) and high / low beam switch with an LED indicator on it.
(you can see the LED light in the pic on the top, just above the switch)
The Horn:
This was the easy part.
I picked up a cheap generic 12v horn from Dennis Kirk, for $8. The XR400 being kick start and no battery puts out AC power, and I've read that these horns don't like AC power at all. However I wired mine up to a 9v battery, and through the handlebar switch. The battery is zip-tied in the headlight housing.
For mounting, I put the horn being the headlight / number plate. I mounted it to the triple tree, with the factory odometer.
Brake / Tail Light:
For the brake light to work you first need a brake switch, I went with a hydraulic type one. IIRC I bought mine from Baja Designs. These install pretty easy, it just replaces the banjo bolt on the brake lever or pedal. I installed mine on the rear brake.
I originally rewired the stock tail light as a brake light, but I found a good look MX style rear fender for the XR400 and was able to use the Baja Designs LED brake / tail light with license plate holder. I like this look much better.
These wired up pretty easily, using the stock tail light wiring and running the wiring for the switch.
Note: The XR only put outs DC power, but it wasn't a problem for the LED tail light, as the Baja Designs unit come with a built in rectifier.
Mirror:
I just went with a cheese $9 universal handlebar mount mirror. Its pretty much worthless, but passed inspection.
Even though a speedometer isn't required, it is nice to know close to how fast you're going. I installed a $10 bicycle speedo that works with in a few miles.
I'll post some pics of the finished product and any pics I can find of the rewiring of the stock headlight unit.
I hope this helps someone.
First thing, find out what is the minimum requirements for your state. In my case, Texas.
Texas' minimum requirements are:
Headlight with high / low beam, and high beam indicator
Horn
Brake / tail light (only has to be actuated off one brake: front or rear, not both)
Mirror (only one required)
DOT tires (though many inspection stations won't check)
Other notable items:
Texas does not require speedometer or odometer
Turn signals are also not required, however if you have them they must work.
The Headlight:
The stock head light for the XR400 is a single filament bulb, however it can be converted to a dual filament (high/low beam), with a trip to the autoparts store and just a few bucks.
I purchased a bulb to fit the stock housing that had a dual filament. I also bought a generic bulb socket for a dual filament. I gutted both the stock and generic bulb sockets and replaced the single filament wiring, with that dual filament wiring out of the generic socket.
(I took some pics of this, but not sure if I deleted them or not)
Now I have dual filament, but I need a switch and an indicator. For this one I decided to spend a little bit of money, $60 IIRC, and picked up a universal handlebar switch. IIRC I bought mine from Dennis Kirk, but you can find them several places.
This one is handy as it has a horn button, turn signals (I didn't use) and high / low beam switch with an LED indicator on it.
(you can see the LED light in the pic on the top, just above the switch)
The Horn:
This was the easy part.
I picked up a cheap generic 12v horn from Dennis Kirk, for $8. The XR400 being kick start and no battery puts out AC power, and I've read that these horns don't like AC power at all. However I wired mine up to a 9v battery, and through the handlebar switch. The battery is zip-tied in the headlight housing.
For mounting, I put the horn being the headlight / number plate. I mounted it to the triple tree, with the factory odometer.
Brake / Tail Light:
For the brake light to work you first need a brake switch, I went with a hydraulic type one. IIRC I bought mine from Baja Designs. These install pretty easy, it just replaces the banjo bolt on the brake lever or pedal. I installed mine on the rear brake.
I originally rewired the stock tail light as a brake light, but I found a good look MX style rear fender for the XR400 and was able to use the Baja Designs LED brake / tail light with license plate holder. I like this look much better.
These wired up pretty easily, using the stock tail light wiring and running the wiring for the switch.
Note: The XR only put outs DC power, but it wasn't a problem for the LED tail light, as the Baja Designs unit come with a built in rectifier.
Mirror:
I just went with a cheese $9 universal handlebar mount mirror. Its pretty much worthless, but passed inspection.
Even though a speedometer isn't required, it is nice to know close to how fast you're going. I installed a $10 bicycle speedo that works with in a few miles.
I'll post some pics of the finished product and any pics I can find of the rewiring of the stock headlight unit.
I hope this helps someone.