Any Thoughts On Xr650R

[James]

I have an XL600R, the engine is exactly the same RFVC mill, just a shorter stroke (75mm against 83mm), the bore is the same - 100mm. The compression ratio of the XR650 is a a little higher than the XL600R - 10:1 as opposed to 9.00:1. There’ll be other differences I’m sure, but most parts are interchangeable. 

 

It’s very light - mine weighs less than 140kgs fuelled and you can really chuck ‘em around on or off-road. It’s got a reasonably comfortable seat (obviously this is subjective) and the whole package is a hoot to ride, especially when that second carb kicks in.

 

They are very simple motorcycles that don’t have any particular quirks and they’re certainly not any more maintenance intensive than any other 80’s/90’s motorcycle. Valve adjustment is an easy 10 minute job, all consumable parts are readily available and the service intervals are mileage-based rather than hours-based. 

 

The kick start puts most people off but it’s just having the right technique to avoid the chance kick back. The electric starter on the later models is an obvious improvement but adds some weight and a slightly more complex wiring system, but at the end of the day they are still very simple motorcycles. Electric start models share many components with the XR650L and the Dominator (the XR650L is a Domi motor in an XR frame). 

 

I basically built my 600 from boxes of incomplete parts, destroyed the engine a couple of years later (entirely my fault) and had to rebuild it again. In the UK parts are very hard to come by, more plentiful in Europe (which is where most of the bits I bought came from). There are loads of them in the US.

 

It sounds like Brucifer on ADVrider has been building the very bike you’re looking for. ‘leccy start XR650L motor with an XL head to retain two carbs, all in an XL600R frame, CR front end,  17” wheels, sticky rubber, lots of trick bits, etc. Have a look here … https://advrider.com/f/threads/1984-xl60...78/page-13