1986 XR600R Basket case - Hope to revive!

It is number 6 and/or 7 depending... Since I don't have it I don't know which version I had, but I'm assuming they're

interchangeable?

am I allowed to use a copyrighted picture? never even thought of that... sorry...

It's part #7

I think # 6 is for the oil line and #7 keeps the crank position pickup coil off the hot exhaust. That's the one that has somewhat of a length of a protective sleeve built in. The other one just has a simple rounded loop shape built in to go around the oil line. No wait, I have one that does both of those jobs and has both features. I could guess it to be #7. I just took it out of the box. Yours cheap or for the cost of shipping. You wouldn't happen to have a cam in ok shape would you?

I PM'd you about the bracket...

Oh, the muffler I have is this: Honkcy0400 which translates to 1996-2004 XR400R.
I actually might make it work if I modify the bracket that attaches it to the frame toward the back.

It will work for now anyway.

Might attempt a start tonight? at least for a moment, w/o chain on it etc.

Tonight I went out and dumped some 92 octane in the fuel tank. I kicked it quite a few times with various choke combinations. It actually put put putted a few times, but nothing consistent. Maybe a little cold still with the thicker oil, carbs have been dry for a long time and may be cruddy. 'course I could have the dreaded failing stator, but I did pull the plug and have a decent looking blue spark. (The plug looked dry too, so that could be an indication of lack of fuel rather than lack of spark). The compression feels very good as well. I can pretty much stand on the starter when it gets to the the compression stroke. I don't have a manual compression release lever, so am relying on the automatic one to work, so there may be an issue with that too. Anyway, the few times it chugged over I felt encouraged. Tomorrow night I'll try again and see what happens.:)

Turn your idle up a half turn first. Kick it through with the compression lever in and the throttle open 5-6 times. Then, give it a go. My 86 is cranky when cold, as well. Hot, it's money, but cold, not so much.

got my ebay decompression lever installed as well as my chain link installed. Found out that the two bolts that hold on the drive sprocket retainer are missing. figure a trip to the hardware store tomorrow and that will take care of it.

Lessee, adapting the wrong muffler, although I think it will work, install the shift lever, install front sprocket guide/protector, install the skid plate, tighten up the seat, install right plastic side cover, and I may be able to get this beast out of the garage for a startup tomorrow!

It started! I finally sprayed a little starting fluid in and it fired right up. After the initial start, it started better and better each time I kicked it. Finally, it would start very nicely first kick every time. Idle was smooth, and ran through the gears no probs! Scary fast! But very smooth feeling. Engine sounds good, doesn't smoke, no weirdness although has a kind of whine to it? Maybe this is normal? I dunno, didn't sound quite the same as my DR350 did.

Here is what I have left as far as I know:

Muffler - adapt and the baffle. I need a baffle that would fit a 400 muffler
headlight (bulb is burned out)
bend brake lever straight or get new one
chain adjust nuts (little nuts hold the adjusters tight)
change oil and filter 1 more time
tighten shift lever (a little wobbly on the shaft, may have to cut the lever slit a little wider)
grease suspension
tail light? doesn't have one...
seat cover
fuel line and tank overflow line - crappy and missing
oil and adjust chain
tires: 5.30-17 and 3.0-21 (both worn but hold air)
reinstall right plastic cover
clean and oil air filter (or buy a new one)

That's my bike! Now all the details to get it ready for next spring and the highways and biways of Oregon.

pics and a vid of it running! sorry its required

congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL I'll get'r done ASAP

Yo-ho!
Accept my congratulations!!
Sounds just great!!

Thanks! Now I can work on the details, make it look better, get seat covered, etc. But I think I have a solid engine/bike!

big congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 awesome

you asked about that engine whine, a couple of posts back and all I can say is that Ive heard a bunch of xl600r and dual carb xr600 do them more than single carb or later year model xr´s dont know what it is...maybe its the fatter cam chain or something like that...

its just something that I have noticed

to me it sounds great!

The whine is most likely the single gear counter balancer. The later bikes came with a split gear, spring loaded gear to keep constant pressure on the drive/crank gear.

I had a 1998 XR engine in my XL and though it had the single-gear balancer, once I changed the top end back to the old style with the wider cam chain, I noticed much more whine. It's a combination of the two. A lot of it does come from that balancer gear though, so it's a combination. I thought I would get the full-on whine I used to get from the '83 XL engine (which I love!) but not quite.

P.S. look at my sig line. I can recover your seat or make a new one if you send me the old one by mail. Foam looks like it could use a new layer on top at least.

thank you! I will consider that - have a few things on Craigslist to repopulate the $$ in the wallet! I also want to clean the paint off the tank (how?) and that side cover. The headlight cover and the left cover came out very clean using WD-40, but the other two items are a different kind of paint. A few more things like that and the bike will look pretty good.

as far as engine whine goes, it caught me by surprise. I don't remember that on my DR350 at all... But yeah, sounds like they are sort of prone to that... I almost think mine has the split gear in it? But I don't remember... It did have the extra wide timing chain tho.

So, away we go to Thanksgiving! Tomorrow will be eating Turkey dinner and will certainly be thanking God for all of our blessings (the least of them being a running XR600, LOL).

Carburetor cleaner is a good spraypaint stripper.