Every cloud has a silver lining

[Tom]

After a recent accident that wrote off a beautiful XR400 motard and left me a little bruised and battered (understatement!), i have found the silver lining around the cloud in the form of an XR650 motard :D

My question now is. . . What do you do to an XR650r to make it rip (even more than it already does) without going to the expense of a new exhaust and carby. I have already pulled out the carby and ordered new jets and competition only needle etc, and drilled out the exhaust baffle, removed air box restrictors etc. I need to know any other tricks that might not be public knowledge. I heard that you can use CBR600RR brake master cylinder? is this true? any other tips greatly appreciated.

Out with the old. . .

http://show.imagehosting.us/show/510782/0/nouser_510/T0_-1_510782.JPG (http://www.imagehosting.us/index.php?action=show&ident=510782)

And in with the new :D . . .

http://show.imagehosting.us/show/510773/0/nouser_510/T0_-1_510773.jpg (http://www.imagehosting.us/index.php?action=show&ident=510773)



Tom.

[Wobbly]

Nice work there mate :up:

I'm assuming you've got the basic unplugging taken care of. Antti has one of these beasties as well and reported good gains by drilling out the airbox side as long as you stick in a larger main jet (I think he went with a 180 main?) and raise the needle by dropping the clip down one possie.

Next on the list would likey be a hotcams camshaft - just a single on these ohc jiggers and i think they're around the $200 AU mark shipped from the US (check out ebay 8) ). But you'll likely need to give the exhaust some lovin at some point, as the standard headers appear a bit miniscule, at least to my untrained eye ;)

[Muzzard]

Nice one Tom,
Have a peek into the Honda Album in the Gallery there are some sweet 650's in there for inspiration... 8)

[Tom]

Just got an offer of an HRC power up kit for $1800, which sounds good since i thought they were over $2500. Worth doing? includes high compression piston, rings, gaskets, lumpy cam, clutch springs, cam chain etc. Sounds like a lot of work though.

However i did get a significant pay raise today, so the scope for modified parts has just been radically improved. I think i may have to get that carbie and exhaust that i previously ruled out :D

Might be worth getting the power up kit and just holding onto it til i could be bothered pulling the engine down and doing all that bloody work.

Hmmmm. . . decisions decisions.

[jakestein]

That HRC kit will be the 60ish HP one yeah? Go for it :twisted:

[Muzzard]

Fit up that HRC kit Tom and you have a weapon.
A mate in Wagga has one done for Desert Racing that is a friggin' handful...

[Tom]

Hehehe, bought the power up kit :up: .

So it looks like i'm in for a fair few weekends slaving away in the garage.
A mate at work (bloody harley rider) reckons that i have to do the bottom end bearings whenever you do the top end or i'll blow something up. Is this true? It turns a one weekend job into much more if i have to pull the bottom apart too. The bike has done 16,000k's so it probably wouldn't hurt but if i don't have too i probably won't do it.

Also ordering a fork brace and trick lights all round, she's gonna be a ripper compared to the old 400 :supz:

The guy at the local bike tyre shop (also a motard rider) told me to run race slicks on the road, he reckons that if you put cuts in them then they're legal. Has anyone tried slicks on the road? if so, any comments?

Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated.

Tom.

P.S. i have a ballards exhaust baffle, clymer workshop manual and some stock bits (original bash plate, couple of indicators, disc guard, chain guard etc) left over from the XR400 if anyone wants them. They're not in the best nick so you can have them for nothing (pay for postage though).

[Wobbly]

I'm calling BS on that one ... I'd check the big end freeplay for sure with that mileage, but as long as its within spec then just bolt it up and go I reckon. Personally I wouldn't go slicks myself, but some have with varying results. Ash can probably comment more specifically on them as he has had a crack.

If you can get them ultra cheap then they're probably worth it, but if you're paying full price then you'd be better off getting sticky DOT type tyres. And even if you groove them they're not strictly road legal (they have "not for highway use" stamped on the side of them :lol2: ) but in reality you wouldn't be likely to get pulled up with them...

[Flash]

I'm of the oppinion that if you are half pulling the engine down you may as well do the lot!!

As far as slicks go I really liked them on the road. I could ride the bike hanging the bike right out at 100+km's no problems, but my tyre was very old and not in the best condition. If you had a new tyre I think it would be OK but the important thing to remember is """THEY HAVE NO NO GRIP WHEN THEY ARE COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!"" get it....
I can't emphasize this enough. But I used to love riding with a could slick it was fun. from a realistic point of view, if something happend when the tyre was cold (fuckwit cut me off etc) it would have all turned to shit.
I recommend these Distanzias over any other tyre. they grip very well, they are predictable and they are fucking brilliant in the wet. Plus, of all the road tyres they will handle the dirt the best (except the 17"continental knobbies)
If you decide to run grooved slicks DO NOT get a used slick only a new one (so you know it's history and age)and DO NOT put a slick on the front for road use. Get a full wet. It will stick like shit to a blanket and wont say bye when it's cold. Don't worry they wear fine on the front. Steve has the same set up on his bike still(wet front and slick rear) and the back is still wearing worse that the front even with a track day on them.
That's my 2cent worth.

[Muzzard]

As there will be no more stock available for the Distanzias we have grown to love...
How about we get it together now for some buying power seeing the weathers getting better by the time they land, and get a substantial order into Rick.
This will see our tyres off the rack more readily, as it is at present pot luck from the warehouse after the container lands.
Lets be prepared for the summer, and a Motard Muster maybe Nov...

And Tom,
Sam my mate put his wheels into his early XR 600 last night, so you aint alone in the XR stakes with Rookie now..
His is a 98 aircooled model, nice custom mods too, Would fit into the Singapore scene with Rookie pretty easily... 8)

[Tom]

It's like christmas in July here :mrgreen:

Got my Power up kit last night and i'm well chuffed with the components.
I'd like to have the bottom end bearings done with the installation of the kit and after a quick skim of the workshop manual i think this is beyond my mediocre grease monkey skills, i also don't have half the tools required. So, can anyone recommend a good mechanic in Sydney to do the job? pretty silly asking this on a Victorian web site but worth a go i reckon.

Power Up kit:
http://show.imagehosting.us/show/533475/0/nouser_533/T0_-1_533475.JPG (http://www.imagehosting.us/index.php?action=show&ident=533475)

The reports seem mixed on the slicks, i think i'll wear my current tyres down to the steel then make a decision on replacing with slicks or not.

Glad to hear i'm not the only one stupid enough to motard an XR too. I think they're great, maybe not the fastest bikes in the world but low maintenance and cheap purchase has to be worth something too.

[Wobbly]

Mmmmmm, shiiinnnnyyyyy :)

Ah, go on mate, give it a crack yourself ... that's all I ever did, you generally just unbolt stuff and probably need to get someone to press in and out the crank perhaps. The key to it all is a clean workspace and plenty of organisation. :-"

[Muzzard]

Mmmm, Power up kit.... :twisted:

[Flash]

mmmmmmmmmmmm turbo Husky.

[Wobbly]

Less mmmmm'ing, more wrenching :D

[duke66]

There is an ad in SIdetrack for an xr650 hot up kit (pipe etc) from white bros. for around $500. i don't know anything about them, but the ad has beenther for a few issues. I have an xr650r that i would like to motard. I have headt that cr500 hubs go straight in, they have very similar part numbers. Does anyone know about this? I want to keep a set of dirt wheels, so I like the idea of lacing ip to Honda hubs from the wrecker. I don't like the idea of spending $3000 plus on bling wheels/tyres when it was a fairly cheap bike to begin with. Like everybody I have a budget, but my bike would be a lot better with 17 inch wheels!

[Wobbly]

Now, dont take this to the bank, but I do believe that the XR650R hubs are the same as later model XR600 hubs? If that's true then you should be able to find them as dime a dozen in the dirt bike wreckers and lace up some new rims to them on the cheap 8)

[Muzzard]

And I can help you with the cheap rims, What colour you wish for? ;)

[duke66]

When I get some hubs I'll come looking for some rims Muzzard. A Honda dealer told me that the xr600 hubs would need a spacer/adaptor (maybe not the front, but definitely the rear) but that cr hubs are the go. It seems that the 650 has a thicker rear axle than the 600. New hubs from honda are around $450 each, so billet ones would be a better buy I would think. I'm going to ring a few wreckers. Might need rims soon (I hope).

[Wobbly]

Getting spacers made up is no biggy. And if your axel sizes are similar you can usualy get way with around a 2mm difference with different bearings (ie. find some with the same sized OD with a larger ID). Should be able to do it for cheaper than bling bling billet hubs anyway ;)

[Tom]

Duke66,

Noticed in ebay today a set of 17inch CBR wheels set up for an XR650R. Going for less than a grand i think.