Topic: New Bike! XR650L

[jakec]

I actually had an XR a few years ago, I believe it was around an '05 model. It was given to me when my uncle died. However I was only into vintage Hondas at the time and felt the bike wasn't practical for me. Well here I am about 8 years later and I've bought another one, this time a '97. I am more a fan of the styling from this era. I was lucky enough to find a a great deal ($2,300). And I'm selling my current "dual sport" a 1970 CL350 that I've been riding on trails all over the state in those past 8 years.

I'm currently waiting for tires and oil change things to come in. The tires the bike came with were actually brand new but they were way too dirt oriented for the 95% street riding I'm going to do. So I am putting on Shinko 244's which I've used on my 350's for years. Oil should be about 5 years old according to the previous owner.

In the mean time I've removed a few aftermarket and worn items. I removed the Acerbis plastic tank (not pictured) and installed the original, removed brush guards (too small and wrong color) and installed the dinky factory originals. I will probably get another set of real brush guards in an appropriate size one day. I flushed the brakes as the fluid was a dark reddish brown color. Since I was able to sell my CL350 yesterday for a great price, I decided to spring for the racks I wanted, and ordered them from dirtracks.

[Tim2005]

How are you getting on with this, have you had a chance to ride it much yet? How do you find the motor and performance compared to your 400f?

I've been keeping an eye out for a variant of this model for a while, an NX650 Dominator, although they seem pretty rare around here I'd like to try one sometime.

[BenelliSEI]

Very neat bike. I miss my KLR650.

[jakec]

I  would have considered getting an NX650. Although they are pretty rare. I actually really wanted an AX (JDM version) and I looked into buying all the parts to convert an NX into an AX. I also talked to an importer once that had an AX-1 250, but he wanted over $4000 for it I believe.

This bike has been great so far. I've been riding it to work every day and have had it on the trails once so far. It's certainly an upgrade from my CL350 which I was riding on trails for about 5 years. I did many miles offroad on that 350. I've put about 300 miles on the XR so far. I also bought some nice quality racks for it. My buddy who was looking to buy a dual sport, he recently got his tax return (late filing) and I convince him to pick up a 2007. He also found a solid deal. So we will be out riding them on the trails soon hopefully.

And speaking of the 400, I'm actually planning on selling it soon. I have cleaned it up and detailed it and I'm adding the last little finishing touches to it now.

[BenelliSEI]

There is a guy around here with a ‘86 Trans Alp for sale. Will have a look next week.