Company Story

The Scientists of Lighting

In 1992, Baja Designs was founded in San Diego, California with a passion and thirst for off-road. Performance-driven and race-proven – Baja Designs engineers and manufacturers using only the best components available on the market today. Since the beginning, we have engineered revolutionary ways to stay at the forefront of motorcycle and automotive lighting.

The first product developed was a Dual Sport kit that made pure off-road motorcycles minimally street-legal. Our intimate knowledge of motorcycle electrical capabilities eventually led us to engineer the first HID motorcycle race light.  Founder Alan Roach, an avid Baja 1000 motorcycle racer, was able to fine-tune a motorcycle’s limited light optics to maximize rider comfort, speed, and safety. As a result, BD Lights has won every professional and amateur motorcycle and ATV Baja 1000 class for over 15 years.

As our engineers and racers advanced to truck and buggy racing, the next evolution began.  The engineers quickly adapted their race-winning HID motorcycle lights to their new race vehicles.  With amazing speed, BD HID lights were adopted by the vehicle race community and could be found on the majority of Baja 1000 winning vehicles.  In the process, BD engineers became well known as “The Scientists of Lighting” and were sought out by professional race teams to develop and aim their vehicle lighting.

Alan Roach - Founder

LED lights were the next natural evolution of lighting and BD was the first company to develop a forward-projecting LED light bar which was introduced and raced in the 2005 Baja 1000. That original LED light bar has evolved into a line of the highest-performing and race-winning LED auxiliary lights on the market.

Revolutionizing industry-leading lights is not just a job at BD, but a lifelong passion for both the owners and employees.  The BD product line is dedicated to being BRIGHTER, BOLDER, and BETTER, which is why we truly are “The Scientists of Lighting”.