XR650L Saga

This is the saga of one 1993 Honda XR650L motorcycle. I was the third owner. The first owner was a older man, he bought it to put on the back of his motorhome. It ended up being too big and heavy for him to handle. The second owner was a student, he was going to use it to commute to college. He ended up not going to school, and selling the bike. When I bought it, it had 500 miles on it. It was all stock except hand guards and a lowering link. I remember how smooth and quiet it was. When I got it home, I couldn't leave it alone. Every time I looked at it, I had to do something to improve it, like rip off the seat strap, unbolt all the little plastic guards from the swingarm and chain. Turning it into the beast it is today. There are many approches to the making of the ideal bike, and the finnished product can only suite the one who built it. Many of the things I did are not appreciated by anybody but me. The story is long and boring, unless you like this kind of thing, so I'll talk about what was done in each differant area and you can focus on what your interests are.

• Tank: Clark 4.7 gallon.

• Bars: Pro-Taper. Honda High Enduro bend. Answer adapters raises bar up 1".

• Seat: High density foam, Devol non-slip cover.

• Wheels: Rim-locks front and rear, balanced.

• Motor: 660 Big-Bore, high compression, cam, 41mm Mikuni.

• Big fin head:

• Lightened flywheel: 1-1/2 pounds removed from flywheel. Seems to rev up a lot easier.

• Sprockets: 13,14,or 15 front. 45, 46, or 47 rear.

• Grips: Dual-sport. Kind of a soft silicone like rubber. A little larger on diameter. Easier to grip.

• Mirrors: Modified stock into fold-down.

• Exhaust: Gutted out stock muffler. Straight though, with a turn down on the end.
• Kickstand: Foot allways caught on kickstand. Moved spring. Cut stop, so arm would swing up farther out of way.
• Electrics: Rewired switches so I could run bike in dirt with only motor, or only motor and headlight. With all other lights off.
• Tailight: Small, snag free, low profile tailight. I'm designing one using light emiting diodes.
• Headlight: 55 watt low beam, 100 watt high beam

• Skidplate: 3/16th aluminum plate. Minimal size.

• Speedometer: Bicycle speedometer. Two of them. Model 800

• Tachometer: Tiny-Tach. Tachometer when motor is running, and hour meter when motor is off.

• Steering Damper: Scotts steeriing damper, shop built mounts.

• Hanguards: Acerbis are poor, I'm replacing with home made.

• Levers: Redrilled hole oversized.

• Hubs: Drilled for zerk fittings.

• Airbox: Snorkle removed from top of air box.

• Drain plug I'm planing to drill it and install a magnet.

• Header pipe: Ground out restrictions where flange is welded to pipe.

• Rear footpegs: Rear pegs were removed for weight. They were saved so they could be put back on for two up dual-sporting.

• Rear fender brace: Removed for weight.

• Oil fill plug: A thermometer was adapted to fit into the oil fill hole using a theaded piece of delrin plastic.

• Forks: Heavier springs and Gold valves.

• Shock: Heavier spring.

• Forkbrace: Home made in shop.

More to come.

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