| Author | Message | ||
     Scottorious |
ok so until we get a buell dual sport I will settle on a honda xr600r. anyone ever had one? I know its not a dual sport forum or honda forum or thumper only forum but this is the only motorcycle forum that ive been involved with and find it hard to move on to another one. My loyalty remains with buell but I could use some honda advice. | ||
| Etennuly |
I have not had the 600 as of yet. I have had many XL250R's of the mid 80's era. I have one now even. The XR600R is the bike I was on the way to purchase when I found the Honda store was closed on Mondays. I went down the street to a Buell store and fell into a City-X instead. From the reading I have done the top end of the Honda won't make it past about 10,000 without a rebuild. My current XL250 has 14,000 and the cam and followers are shot. I got the new stuff a while back at a cost of nearly $500 to make it go again. In IMHO oiling sucks on these bikes. A little screen is all the older one's have for filtration. They are pricey for parts. | ||
| Strokizator |
Interestingly enough, back in the day you could get a new XR600 for less than the price of an XR400. Same thing for the CR500 vs. the CR250. Two riding buddies ended up with better deals on the larger versions of each. The XR600 is a bit of a slug but you can coax some extra hp out of it. That being said, if the price is right and the machine is in good shape it will be an OK bike. | ||
| Bartimus |
I rode an XR600R for 15 years, raced it about 8 years in Hare scrambles and desert enduros. Never had ANY problems with it. Motor was bullet proof, suspension was adequate, and it was a VERY capable off roader. Last year I bought a DR650 for Adventure riding, commuting, and dirt riding. The DR is heavier, slower, and not as capable as the XR in the dirt. I’ve since replaced the DR with a DRZ and am very happy. The XR is more biased towards the dirt, and will keep you grinning when off road. | ||
| Road_thing |
Here's my '94 XR600R:  Obviously, I've been messing with it. The motor seems to be bulletproof. rt | ||
| Dfishman |
I've got a XR650R with 25,000 + hard miles.As soon as I collect some more parts to fix a bad wheelie I plan on trying to wear it out.It seems bulletproof(barring bad wheelies).I think the XR600 is just as tough. | ||
| Etennuly |
I rode a '79 Yamahammer TT500 for a few years, back in the day. It was an awesome brute that would run 90+ mph down the old rail beds in NW Pa. That thumper was very durable. The only things it had problems with were frequently missing knobs on the rear tire, destroyed chains and sprockets, and breaking of the riders body parts. I loved riding that bike. It could take you to the edge and scare the crap out of you, and still have enough throttle to pull you out of a high speed wreck. I would ride that thing all summer using up three rear tires, one set of sprockets, two chains, and one fairly important body part on average. It only saw road action to get short jaunts to the trails. I lived across the road from a trail entrance. In a lot of off road work through a season it probably only saw 2500 miles, but they were really hard miles.  | ||
| Ltbuell |
..back aways, i had a Dick Mann TT500 that i bought from a guy who use to desert race it.Man that thing was way lighter that the stock TT500.I tore it down to the frame(had a small hairline crack in the upper frame,near the neck,where the oil resides),fixed it,repainted the frame,freshened up the top end(Venolia racing piston,hotter cam).Already had the Simons forks,Fox shocks,Super Trapp pipe and muffler,came with two different tanks(desert and moto) and both were plastic.The thing was way,way fast and a torque monster.Really do miss that bike  | ||
| Etennuly |
I did a lot of hill climbs with my TT500. It was like the thing would just reach up, grab the top of the hill, and pull it down. It never seemed to matter what gear it was in. I don't think I ever had to drop it below third gear on a hill climb, unless I had a reason to slow it down. I do recall wearing an open face helmet with a half shield and glasses. More than once I got so far over the bars that I smacked my face on the front fender while going vertical. Awesome ride. Over thirty years, fifty pounds, and too many injuries make those beastie rides stay in my memories. I wish someone had the sense to carry a camera back then. | ||
| Mikexlr650 |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70jokjTaGT4&feature =youtube_gdata_player Check out the above vid for a good laugh with an XR. Been riding my xr650l since the day I bought it new in 1994. The top end issues come from removing the air deflectors and running hot, and running low on oil( checking the oil requires a small amount of patience). The oil return line to the head is not huge and combine the two above situations and you have issues. Very comfortable all day machine, the KLR is more comfortable but kinda sucks off road and the KTM's are amazing offroad but tend to be very uncomfortable. Whoever designs the 2x4's they call seats is a sadistic bastard! It's a goldie lox thing, the XR is in the middle. Fun, cheap, simple. Mike | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
LOL @2:20 BEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEP! Not bad for something you can drive to work all week. |
