The XL600 thread

[mcma111]

I have a mid 80's XR600 shock laying about that has a remote reservoir and a LE Lindeman Engineering ( http://www.le-suspension.com/ ) sticker on the body so I'm guessing that it has been worked on. PM me if your interested.

[MentalGuru]

Originally Posted by mcma111

I have a mid 80's XR600 shock laying about that has a remote reservoir and a LE Lindeman Engineering ( http://www.le-suspension.com/ ) sticker on the body so I'm guessing that it has been worked on. PM me if your interested.

That should raise the back of the bike about 1.25" from my experence and works great with the 1.5" longer XR cartridge forks.

Night and day difference in handling. Well worth doing.

Since your forks are the early ones with the smaller axle, a fork brace would be a good addition.

With the 17" front wheel it will be a riot to blast around town on.

[Carter Pewterschmidt]

Originally Posted by Moparmanpete

The Cracken has risen!!!!!!!!



Pictures to follow

Nice! Bout time. I hope mine doesn't stay apart that long when I swap the head.

[Carter Pewterschmidt]

Originally Posted by MentalGuru

That should raise the back of the bike about 1.25" from my experence and works great with the 1.5" longer XR cartridge forks.

Night and day difference in handling. Well worth doing.

Since your forks are the early ones with the smaller axle, a fork brace would be a good addition.

With the 17" front wheel it will be a riot to blast around town on.

If an XR rear shock is going to jack up the bike I'm not interested. I'd like to keep it the same height and just lower the front end with the 17" wheel. I guess I'll have to get Works shock sometime.

[MentalGuru]

Originally Posted by Carter Pewterschmidt

If an XR rear shock is going to jack up the bike I'm not interested. I'd like to keep it the same height and just lower the front end with the 17" wheel. I guess I'll have to get Works shock sometime.

In your case the shorter '86-90? XR250R 14.7" shock would work better. It would raise the seat heght about 1/2" but net 10" of travel. With the longer travel you run more sag so the rear end rides at the same hieght with you on it. It has a larger piston then the 15" XR600 shock. Both rebound and compression are adjustable. The XL600 shock is 14.5"

[RFVC600R]

Originally Posted by Zombie_Stomp

SO- since I am getting off-track, can I make you a custom XL600 seat cover on my industrial sewing machine? I have been wanting to get some vinyl screenprinted original graphics on these things one of these days. Someone needs to send me another old XL600 seat cover so I can take it apart and make a pattern again.

I'm actually going to be taking my seat cover off when Ibuy a new one or have my grandma make a new cover for me. I can send you my old seat cover if I do it soon enough for ya, it's got a big whole in the middle, but the main shapes should be good. latest I could get a new one is in two weeks, I can UPS my trashed cover if you want.

Back to my issue on hand, I see fork seals and dust seals online, how do I know which ones are bad and need replacing??

[cynicwanderer]

my rule is to replace fork seals every time I take the fork apart, even if they are not leaking. if one blows/leaks, I replace both sides at the same time. you'll be able to tell if they have blown when you have oil with dirt on the fork legs, assuming there is enough oil in them to start with. it's a good idea to change the oil often. I can always tell a significant improvement with fresh oil in the forks.

Originally Posted by Dracus124

I'm actually going to be taking my seat cover off when Ibuy a new one or have my grandma make a new cover for me. I can send you my old seat cover if I do it soon enough for ya, it's got a big whole in the middle, but the main shapes should be good. latest I could get a new one is in two weeks, I can UPS my trashed cover if you want.

Back to my issue on hand, I see fork seals and dust seals online, how do I know which ones are bad and need replacing??

[brucifer]

And Dracus, if your saying fork seals OR dust seals, replace them all. The factory Honda ones have been the best in my experience.

[crobox]

Howdy all-

While rebuilding / rejuvenating my XL600 I've decided to open up and rebuild the carbs. I've done it before... no big deal. I've ordered the replacement gasket sets already.

I figure this is the right time to look at and possibly replace the jets... but I really don't know too much about it (other than the basics... bigger jets = more fuel = richer mixture = low altitudes, smaller jets = less fuel = leaner mixture = higher altitudes, right??)

I live at 7000 feet altitude, and will ride mostly in that range. I would like to learn more about the topic, though, and be able and prepared to swap jets for different altitudes.

Can anyone recommend the right jets for my altitude? Or even better yet... is there a chart somewhere to consult? Or a discussion on the topic that anyone can point me to? (I've just used the search function and read a few pages here and there within this thread, but there wasn't really a definitive discussion of jets vs. altitude.)

Thanks,
Christian

[Carter Pewterschmidt]

Originally Posted by crobox

Howdy all-

While rebuilding / rejuvenating my XL600 I've decided to open up and rebuild the carbs. I've done it before... no big deal. I've ordered the replacement gasket sets already.

I figure this is the right time to look at and possibly replace the jets... but I really don't know too much about it (other than the basics... bigger jets = more fuel = richer mixture = low altitudes, smaller jets = less fuel = leaner mixture = higher altitudes, right??)

I live at 7000 feet altitude, and will ride mostly in that range. I would like to learn more about the topic, though, and be able and prepared to swap jets for different altitudes.

Can anyone recommend the right jets for my altitude? Or even better yet... is there a chart somewhere to consult? Or a discussion on the topic that anyone can point me to? (I've just used the search function and read a few pages here and there within this thread, but there wasn't really a definitive discussion of jets vs. altitude.)

Thanks,
Christian

This thread has some decent info

http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/172305-xl600r-jetting/

Personally I haven't played with jetting these carbs enough to make a solid determination. The secondary carb throws me off. I've found like everyone else to run a smaller jet in the secondary but I've yet to try tuning it by adjusting needle position. I've just tuned the primary carb and took the stock jet from it and placed it in the secondary, nothing more. It seems to requite a bit of precision to get it right. It's something that I'd like to take the time to figure out though. Might have to make some dirt bike dyno runs this summer.

[cynicwanderer]

one approach to get it right, is to weld on a oxygen sensor bung on the exhaust header after the two ports join up and use a wide ratio oxygen sensor/meter to monitor all jetting adjustments. keep a log. when done, just replace the oxygen sensor with a threated plug. I have been meaning to do this at some point, but there are plenty of other things to fix...

Originally Posted by Carter Pewterschmidt

This thread has some decent info

http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/172305-xl600r-jetting/

Personally I haven't played with jetting these carbs enough to make a solid determination. The secondary carb throws me off. I've found like everyone else to run a smaller jet in the secondary but I've yet to try tuning it by adjusting needle position. I've just tuned the primary carb and took the stock jet from it and placed it in the secondary, nothing more. It seems to requite a bit of precision to get it right. It's something that I'd like to take the time to figure out though. Might have to make some dirt bike dyno runs this summer.

[Carter Pewterschmidt]

Originally Posted by cynicwanderer

one approach to get it right, is to weld on a oxygen sensor bung on the exhaust header after the two ports join up and use a wide ratio oxygen sensor/meter to monitor all jetting adjustments. keep a log. when done, just replace the oxygen sensor with a threated plug. I have been meaning to do this at some point, but there are plenty of other things to fix...

I installed a wideband gauge in my turbo car, it helped but you really needed one that data logged so you could sit down and spend some time going over readouts. Otherwise I was just racing around trying to watch a 2 1/2" gauge at 120 mph and remembering what it read. For the price of a good wideband with a data log you could just buy a few dyno runs. When it comes to running a naturally aspirated engine with an upgraded cam and piston I don't think you need to keep that close of an eye on A/F ratios. I'll notice it running lean before anything melts down.

In the case of a built up turbocharged 4 cylinder making twice it's original horsepower then it's more of a necessity.

[m2h]

Originally Posted by Schrauberklaus

just see your Oil questions . There was a threat about Oil and the Problems of no Oil here
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=552341

How do you check the Oil level ? Do you know how the Oil circulation Work ?
Are all your Oil Filters clean , there are 3 in this Bike

The mechanical Rev Counter or speedometer was Standart on European XL / R .
Try E-Bay Germany

Thanks Klaus. Will check that out

[Carter Pewterschmidt]

Originally Posted by crobox

I figure this is the right time to look at and possibly replace the jets... but I really don't know too much about it (other than the basics... bigger jets = more fuel = richer mixture = low altitudes, smaller jets = less fuel = leaner mixture = higher altitudes, right??)

I live at 7000 feet altitude, and will ride mostly in that range. I would like to learn more about the topic, though, and be able and prepared to swap jets for different altitudes.

Can anyone recommend the right jets for my altitude? Or even better yet... is there a chart somewhere to consult? Or a discussion on the topic that anyone can point me to? (I've just used the search function and read a few pages here and there within this thread, but there wasn't really a definitive discussion of jets vs. altitude.)

Thanks,
Christian

Was reading some 4 barrel carb tune tips and came across this.

Holley carbs are calibrated for sea level operation and an inlet air temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Once you know the correct stock jetting for your particular Holley carb, you can determine whether you live or race at an altitude above sea level. For every 2000 foot increase in altitude, you can reduce the jet size by one size. If you had a carb which has a stock jet size of 80 and you live or race at 2000 feet above sea level, then you would use a #79 Holley jet in the carb. Similarly, a change in the carb's inlet air temperature may require a change in the jet size from the stock calibration. Many racers go a step further by combining all of the weather varibles, temperature, barometric pressure, dewpoint and humidity with the altitude of the track they are racing at to determine the "density altitude". This is a "corrected" altitude above sea level. From there they can determine whether a jet change is necessary to maintain performance or whether to change their "dial in" (if they are bracket drag racers).

http://www.jetsrus.com/FAQs/FAQ_reje...lley_carb.html

Although it's for car carburetors one could still safely assume this would generally apply to motorcycles as well.

[MentalGuru]

Originally Posted by Carter Pewterschmidt

Was reading some 4 barrel carb tune tips and came across this.



http://www.jetsrus.com/FAQs/FAQ_reje...lley_carb.html

Although it's for car carburetors one could still safely assume this would generally apply to motorcycles as well.

Thats good info that kind of explains the progressive twin carb engines.

They are kinda like a staged two barrel carb without an accel pump.

Most people have no idea how to tune one. Once tuned there's no need for an accel pump either.