Any Honda Dominator NX650 owners out there ?

Just picked a 1994 NX650 up in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Looking forward to exploring the area with it! 20,000 km on the clock right now.

Nice man and welcome to cult!

Errrrr I mean club!

What 2 into 1 header pipe is a direct fit on the 88-89 NX650?

Not sure there was one? The SuperTrapp on my '88 was 2 into 1 on the muffler-side, using the stock headers. If I understand your question.

My NX currently has exhaust headers that are stainless steel and joint together into one pipe so I am running a single XR650 muffler.

I just don't know who made this pipe and I am wanting to find a source for a similar single exhaust pipe. I'm hoping someone says a XR650 or XL600 or something like will fit correctly.

I would say a XR650l header will fit as the engines are pretty much the same thing.

XR600 header would fit, and they're pretty cheap.
The minor issue is the tail part of the header (that one with larger diameter, that goes to muffler) will interfere with the NX rear-right part of the frame (a bit), so the header should be cut and/or bent properly in that part.

This is the video of Yamaha R1 exhaust with XR600 2-in-1 header set to my NX650. Just a test set-up to see how and if it would work. Pretty rude, but gives some understanding:

<iframe src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2_RCsi9CP_0?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>

Don't mention ticking sound, that's because of poor exhaust gaskets all the way from cylinder head to muffler, plus worn cam-chain (been replaced that winter) and loose valves.

The minor issue is the tail part of the header (that one with larger diameter, that goes to muffler) will interfere with the NX rear-right part of the frame (a bit), so the header should be cut and/or bent properly in that part.



That is the issue I have with my current 2 in 1 pipe, I just am not crazy about the pipe direction and minor frame contact.

Steve, thanks for your input, the XR650L is not stainless steel is it?

Not stainless

I have a possible buy on a 1988. Don't know much about them other than they are basically an xr650l engine and if treated decently they last 40-60k before major overhaul with street duty? I've got a 1997 xr600 which I love, hoping this bike is just. Mo' bettah for the street as well. I'd like to put the nx650 to use doing some commuter duty at 65-70 mph with a n occasional 75 mph. Like to use it on tight, scenic country roads like Palomar, rides to Borrego, stuff like that and have some minimal dirt capacity. if the deal works out, great. If not I may press my xr600 into some commute duty or someday pick up a cheap xr650l.

I understand the suspension is pretty weak, like a f650 Dakar. (had one years ago) Are there any easy upgrades for the suspension? I understand the forks can have emulators stuffed in 'em. Shock looks pretty weak as well, no reservoir . Has anyone upgraded xr250r forx for this? Any. Swaps that work still keeping the plastic and instruments? Any suspension tips to get cartridge performance on square edged hits?

Also does the bike do sand ok? Assuming very heavy up front. Street a real leaner in the corners, or unsettled?

Thanks,

Chuck

I just test rode one of these, 1996, 38,000 on the clock, only noticeable problems were rubbing brakes and blowing exhaust, along with cosmetics (broken off lever ends, bent indicators, etc.) I'm in two minds as to wether to buy it. On the one hand it's only £500, AND the owner said he'd be happy for me to pay in installments, on the other hand it has no MOT, could have any amount of unknown problems, and the killer - it'd cost about £750 a year for me to insure

What a lovely bike though - I've wanted something like this (I was hoping KLR650 or my 'dream bike' the KLR600) since I had to sell my KLR250.

Ahh what to do

Anyone have a front hub they'd like to get shed of?

yes, me. Actually it is an entire front wheel but the rim is dented a little.

The NX engines were based on the XR600, they share a lot of parts and are very similar, and then the same engine was used in the XR650L which is basically identical other than a couple of the gears (NX has better gearing so they say).... Same as your XR600, they have a long life as long as you keep the oil up to them and do oil changes every 2000 miles...

In my opinion the standard suspension isn't bad, it's just too soft in the rear if you want to carry a decent load (yourself and 100+ pounds)... Being an early adventure bike it's not GREAT at anything, but it's good for everything.... It's not a hard core offroader (like your XR600), but it will happily go almost anywhere you want to take it..

I can't really comment about it's sand handling but on the road it is very good for a dual-sport bike, you can ride it like a road bike... The mini fairing-screen is great IMO, it keep the wind off your body and makes hwy riding a lot more comfortable than a bare DS bike like your XR....

A couple of videos of the NX doing what it loves, they're fairly tame, I always ride solo so I cant really afford to take risks, and I'm a bit of a noob....
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/b5WAtF-xnUU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

There's a bit of clunking in the front end through this one due to a fork seal letting go and all the oil pumping out into the boot...
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/I-oPghx9pic" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

There's stacks of other videos on my Youtube... much the same as above, all pretty tame, nothing extreme.....

Good luck with it

Went and took a look at it. Nice little bike, very '80's. Good pep. We were going to be far apart on price. What the owner wanted I could get a new lower mileage xr650l for. Neat bike tho.

I've had my 1988 NX650 for about a year now, and I love it. Smoother than my KLRs were and better hanling on the highway. But I've not been able to solve a problem with the engine idle. The engine always starts immediately - choke on and at fast idle. Once the engine is warmed and off choke - usually after 10 minutes or so of riding - when I come to a stop the idle drops off to nil and engine will kill. I have to blip the throttle or pull out the choke a bit to keep from stalling. Once underway, all seems ok. I've tried adjusting the idle with the Throttle Stop Screw, but that hasn't solved the problem. So, what should I try next?

The stalling issue is common with this engine (same as the XR650L).
The fix is to do Daves mods, which make a big difference to the idling.
http://www.4strokes.com/tech/honda/xr650lcarbmods/

Thanks for the lead. I'll give it a try.

Pull the carb and clean the pilot jet.

My bike has the same problem. I have found that if I keep the choke out about 1/4 of the way after the engine has warmed up, it usually wont stall when stopped.
I have been putting SeaFoam in with my gas lately, and it seems to help sometimes.