Howdy all, So I am taking time off college to ride around south america and back with my girlfriend. Kinda like the last trip we did leaving our jobs in London and riding to Nigeria (http://cameronsmithphoto.blogspot.com/2012/06/what-life-true-life-is-elsewhere-we-are.html) also on an XL600! I am going to do some environmental activism and documentary filmmaking down there. I sold my 450, my 300, and tons of other stuff and then traded an ipad for a 1983 xl600, the bike with the white tank here: This is me thinking, "maybe I should have kept the ipad?" and experimenting with seat configurations. (The yamaha is my girlfriends bike. We have a desert tank for that, and I have another chopper seat (lol), and plenty of other upgrades to do to her bike.) Anyway, I am looking for parts to turn this into a bike that will make it there and back. So far I have: -a salvaged scotts oiler -xr650r forks/clamps -euro xl600rm alloy cush swinger (longer/lighter) -18 inch xrr rim to lace to xl cush hub. -xr600 shock -an acerbis number plate 1 gallon auxillary gas tank to mount to side -gl1000 luggage racks. I need to buy/find: -an xr650r front wheel (I don't have one!) -dual sport tires (21 x 18) -an xl600 parts motor + carbs -some legit japanese seat foam to make my seat wider and taller -a head light- i'm looking for an led one, ideally -a trailtech nimh battery or other sealed battery -a gps or trail tech instruments -an xr400 oil cooler -new steel cs and rear sprocket and fancypants chain -engine rebuild/tuning/prep work -shock rebuild work -ricky stator and new pickup -some soft saddlebags: I like ortliebs. -a really really obnoxious horn -riding gear for somebody 6'7" and 190lb. I would love to have suggestions on awesome places to go/people to meet/things to avoid/places to avoid I took a break from fulltime work to study engineering but I am a photographer and writer and in the past I have worked for the new york times, esquire, harpers bazaar, and many other publications of varying quality and I have already been approached by a couple magazines to write and photograph the trip and will be taking film equipment to shoot a film or two along the way. I say this because I am also young and broke and open to sponsorship for any of the above items, but if you have any stuff for sale, let me know. I'm going to be working on the bike til mid february and then we are leaving. We will be returning at the end of the year. My ethos is to fix things, not be wasteful, travel, experience stuff- which is one of the reasons I want to go on this trip with an xl. Also it looks so beat to shit, nobody will fuck with it. I'm not going to paint it though, It will be my little sleeper... stay tuned for updates. thanks cameron
Yes, the seat was my first performance upgrade. I have highway pegs and I'm getting a pro-model renthal fatbar apehanger for it too! This bike has only had 20,000 hard redneck miles! I'm going to make it look even rougher than it already does; rattlecan slogans, rusty welded frame gussets, mismatched everything. Now I've moved out of my place, I'm already basically on the road, so I'll be working on this at a friends garage until I leave. Does anybody want to help me overhaul the engine for cheap? I am located in Los Angeles! Stay posted!
So Steve in SF itemized a list of things he would upgrade, which I appreciate, (THANKS STEVE!) and for the benefit of others, I have included it here, along with my progress on it. New tires, tubes - coming Install a Ricky Stator - coming (will also replace pickup coil) Chain and sprockets - coming Clarke tank - CHECK! Reinforce subframe, install rack - coming this week. Check, carry spare throttle, clutch cables - I'm friends with eric at sudco and we are looking at carb options (tm34s maybe.) so I will be holding off on the throttle cables until we figure out the design. Bigger foot pegs - I have some wide yz450 pegs that I have used in another XL and they worked perfectly, hopefully these will too Spare air filter, UNI - I have one UNI, will get another Good grips or replace with OE Honda XR grips - coming Replace tail light bulb with LED, carry spare headlight bulb - CHECK! Repack or replace wheel bearings, service swingarm and steering bearings with Bel RTey waterproof grease. Pack 'em full. - coming Pro Taper bars. They don't bend when you do down and you will go down. - CHECK! I have rc high fatbars and oversize clamp adapters Soft luggage, not those big aluminum boxes that can hurt you when you go down - coming. my girlfriend got the ortlieb drybags as a christmas present and they are effing awesome! I'm thinking also: new rings/bore, topend, timing chain, clutch, gaskets, 3 angle valvejob... the list goes on.
Cool. I just sold 1.5 XL600s. I think old bikes are a great way to travel. No commitment to them! Yes. Ortliebs are awesome. A lot tougher than they get credit for.
I'm totally stopping by to check out the XT and your new ride! I can't wait to see all the misadventures you guys get yourselves into.
in addition to your running list..it might not be a bad idea to update/carry as spares..trailtech volt reg and rectifier....a hell of alot cheeper than the originals...and the volt reg is adjustable id consider swapping the headlight to something bigger and brighter...if your going with a ricky stator..why not?..some kind of propper baja lighting! another grease i cant say enuf good about is "bigfoot"..its orange..and for lack of a better description..its slimy snot...you get it on something your NOT getting it off without alot of effort and harsh chemicals...its smooth and fluid and waterproof..and unlike alot of greases it wont dry out or thicken up id replace EVERY cable on the bike as well as rebuild the forks even if your swapping em...may as well make it as new as you can so there is less chance of anything happening...and take alot of pics along the way
I have a variety of XR650R parts including a front wheel if you still need one. I'm in OC CA. Let me know. Dave W. dwrads@aol.com
Also I'm kinda looking for a sweet aftermarket XL/xr header (singular?) and muffler. Reply or pm if you have one or know where one is for trade or sale cheap! Thanks!
much ado about everything... These carbs are making me crazy. This is where the air goes whoosh. http://www.sudco.com/ Motor protective services had to take this away from the Redneck that owned it, but was it too little too late? I got the frame sandblasted at safeway sandblasting in culver city. seriously cheap and quick turnaround and the guys there are riders! They did a proper job of sealing up the sensitive parts. Hey, these mikunis are way off size-wise! What to do? Sounds good to me!
As I have moved out of my home, and stored/liquidated my entire garage, I have been relying on the hospitality of my buddy Mark Engle, a very very precise engine builder ( http://markengle.com/ ) who has taken me under his airfoil and let me work at his machine shop. He has helped me with all kinds of awesome stuff, milling triple clamps and USD conversions and more. If there are any people in west LA that need excellent machining or any kind of precision work done, mark is the man. This afternoon, we started work on the tm34s i got from sudco... Marks idea- make a custom pipe thread tapped expanding mandrel from scratch to hold the valve-side of the carb in the lathe. This took fifteen minutes to make. If anybody ever wants to do this, drill about 5 inches into an aluminum rod the correct size, tap pipe threads into the end of the rod, cut 4 slices into the rod so it can expand, thread a bolt into the threads until it starts to expand, turn down the expander until its the same size as the carb ID again, put on carb, screw bolt in til it expands and grabs the carb, but not so far you explode the carb, unless you want to explode the carb, and then you are ready to lathefy! Body Altered! Thanks to mark! Depending on how these go, I may try to find a pumper body to swap into the primary side. Anybody have a spare tm34 pumper laying around collecting dust, itching to ride to South America? I did some sketchy sketches for the airbox-side of the carbs, which need to be non-concentrically turned down. This will be done with another mandrel and a shim, to relocate the axis. Meanwhile my girlfriend was outside changing her fork oil and re-inventing the wheel... The reason I have time to experiment with carbs is that a forum member XRider concurrently works on my motor, despite mounting evidence that it has been too abused to be used...
No worries, uncle XRider always makes it work. BTW, I have a rear rack for the XL, interested? It's nothing fancy but it's free.
Wow. Just WOW. Working with one of the legendary names in Hot Rodding and racing...I'd (just about) kill for an opportunity like that.....or an opportunity to drop everything and ride around south America shooting photos and films.
Mark is awesome. He is laid back and everything comes naturally to him, due to having grown up in the engle cams machine shop. Natural precision! I've studied machining and welding but am learning a shit ton of new stuff everyday. I am stoked! Yes, leXR, she's tall, but very flexible.