Any Thoughts On Xr650R

[bjorge]

I have a dream of building my own bike: A lightweight, quick one for the ultimate back road trips. The XR650R ticks tve boxes but I also think it may be a handfull maintenance wise.



One showed up in the ads a few days ago, so I got started again... needs a smaller front tyre, tighter & less travel suspension and replace the ugly parts. I really hate the looks of offroad bikes.



Waddyathink? Anyone tried one?
...it even has a leccy starter...😱

[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

[wicklamulla]

i oft thought a KLE 500 would be a good boike to fettle for adv riding.  A Suzuki GS500 with it's air/oil cooled enjun would be even better if it was in an adv style chassis as they are robust and simple akin to meself.

[Pedro]

I had a 2001 NX650 Dommie a few  years ago and it took me everywhere. From an 800km motorway round trip to Valencia Motogp, Morocco, to spending a whole day following a group of enduros on a cross-country event. The XR 650 would be my choice if I was to build a bike for proper adventure trips. The Dommie is in essence, an air cooled, soft and gay XR but can still kick you in the nuts as well as give you a good time.   A few things I would do to an XR though is change the rear wheel or at least the hub to something with a cush drive (XR650L?), and also a bigger oil cooler. I think XR's have a small oil cooler (the early ones anyway) mounted on the headstock but not good enough if you're in a hot climate and giving it some beans. That was the first mod I did on my Dommie as being air cooled and living in a hot climate, in the summer, anymore than a few minutes stuck in traffic and the engine would start sounding like a 5 yr old on a xylophone. It's such a straight forward, easy job to install an oil cooler, I don't know whay Honda didn't do it in the first place. (Yes I do, cost). I still have a hankering for a build the same as what your thinking. In fact, I have a friend who's got an XR (although a 600) ready for me to buy when ever the funds permit. Go for it and post up some pics.

 

P.S.

Gratuitous photos of my Dommie enclosed for no other reason than your post made me think about that bike. I regretted selling it ever since.