KDXRIDER.NET

I am a former MX and Endure rider from the seventies and eighties. After playing soccer for years I have decided to return to off the road riding. Likely I will be doing a few endures and hare scrambles. I found my ride a super clean STOCK 2005 KDX200 and now plan to upgrade it to a more competitive level. I still ride pretty well and am physically fit. My question (finally) is what would you do to get the most out of the bike and in what order would you do the modifications? Best Pipe, bark busters, handlbars etc. I am in the south east and will be in mostly tight woods. Reliability is a huge consideration.
Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

welcome aboard
first things first, have the suspension redone
it is off balance from the factory, with the rear end being soft for most people and the rear end for almost everyone

an FMF woods pipe will wake the bike up very well
a FMF desert pipe will give more top end but im guessing you would be happier with the woods

handle bars depends on how tall you are and how you like to ride

barkbusters I have had very good luck with the 30 dollar Chinese ebay units

Welcome to the forums!

In order, suspension, suspension, other stuff.

Suspension and ergonomics first, IMO

A few tweaks to the motor such as jetting, pipe, head work will easily have it out perform the chassis.

Servicing the shock and the correct spring and possibly a set of KX forks and you've got a fine ride.

There's a free shim stack mod you can do to the front that helps a lot, they say the front is sprung for a 140lber so you may want stiffer springs. Set the sag. As has been said, you probably want the fmf torque pipe, so you will need to reject the carb as well. And have fun!