Are these bikes any good? Can you still get parts for them? I found two for sale,a package deal, both running and on the road. I sold my XT500,dumb mistake. Are these Honda's as reliable and trouble free as the XT's? Any opinions on the would be appreciated.
To bad Mr. Honda passed on, remember those old Honda commercials? If you buy a Honda from me I guarantee you will always be able to get parts for it. Right after he passed the parts dried up.
bullshit. I have a 96 CB1000. The speedo drive thingy stripped. I got the part number on the Interent, went to the dealer and got a new one for five bucks. It came from a warehouse in Atlanta.
The XL350 is a great bike. Check out the XL thread here.... http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=424841 & another XL forum here.... http://forum1.aimoo.com/XLBoard/TodayTopics.html Here's my '73 XL250 still running despite being rode hard & put away wet all her life.
So Cyclewizard,how do you like the '84? Or the bike in general.I have three streetbikes.And I want a bike for some dirt roadand light trail riding.I've thought about a DR650,elec start and all the more modern stuff.I'm afraid if I get the Dr650 I would probably ride it all the time and neglect my other bikes. And if you don't ride them enough they seem to not run as well.
XL350R's are great bikes; made as much or more power than the XL500; nice compromise between good power and (relatively light weight/manageable size). I've got one tagged and titled (awaiting reassembly--new top end, ceramic coated piston, combustion chamber, valve faces, header; XR350R suspension, etc.), 2 parts bikes, and a good bit of an XR350R parts bike. About the only significant parts no longer available are replacement pistons and bodywork. XLintperformance has/had oversize piston/rings kits and aftermarket fenders can be mounted--the side covers are the only things you'll need to find on ebay or the like. Suspension updates range from swapping out forks and shock for XR350R units to (more involved) modern USD fork swaps. Aluminum swingarm from the XL600 will fit up in place of the stock steel XL350 unit--early model donor keeps the drum brake, late model lets you go with rear hydraulic disc.
Great bike, I have one just like it but a 72 model year with 800 miles on her, I bought an oem air cleaner for it the other day.
Speaking of the venerable XL350R. Here is a picture of mine before adding a SuperMoto front fender. Just a quick thought will an XL600 motor fit the mounting points in the XL350R frame? If so, what about the accessories like the Carbs and pipes?!? Is the XL600 a dual carb motor? I do not want to make a major project out of it, but....... if it was more or less an easy swap. Why not build a spare "big bore" motor to drop in from time to time. Just curious. Thanks, Jeff
hey jeff i'm going to say it wont work? i bought a 350 tank for my 600 because it looks identical, but it was too narrow to even fit over the 600's frame backbone. The 600 tank also has bigger cutouts on the bottom to clear the top of the engine. Maybe the actual mounting points would be congruent but i know your tank wont fit over the 600. 600 is dual carb and pipes though. hence, my 350xl tank is for sale http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=742261
Thank you for the info. I think I will do a little research on frame and tank P/Ns. I thought the frame P/Ns were the same, way back when I was looking for an exhaust silencer for my XL350R. Ended up using a Staintune for an XL or XR600. Only minor modification to make it fit.. Thanks again. Jeff
Some parts are discontinued. The XR350R and XL350 are great bikes. I would own one if I could find one. They are not as common as they used to be.
