XR650R's Fate and Replacement?

[XTwarrior]

If anyone is having a complaint about kickstarting any bike, you haven't owned an XT550 with auto-decomp. Nothing like putting all of your weight on the kicker, having it go halfway down then catching putting all the strain on one knee.... tons of fun

I don't own an XRR but I want one. Looking around for a street tard project/bike and it really seems the XRR is the best choice for us less than rich folk who still want good HP and torque in a relatively lightweight bike. I've trail ridden with my XT which is the same wet weight as the XRR and had no issues, God forbid you have to use some muscle on occassion

[kjazz]

Hey Deminimis,

I met the guy that did most of Pink Floyd's album art a couple of months ago in Seal Beach CA. He lives across the street from a friend of mine. He has a bunch of the original artwork hanging in his house for PF, The Eagles and others. Really cool stuff. Back in the day when you had to airbrush for real to make it in that field.

[deminimis]

Originally Posted by kjazz

Hey Deminimis,

I met the guy that did most of Pink Floyd's album art a couple of months ago in Seal Beach CA. He lives across the street from a friend of mine. He has a bunch of the original artwork hanging in his house for PF, The Eagles and others. Really cool stuff. Back in the day when you had to airbrush for real to make it in that field.

I can't even write legibly, so I'm always impressed with someone that can paint. That must have been some cool stuff to see.

Hey XTW, I had a XT500 back in high school. Of my found former bike memories, that is one of my fondest. I loved that bike. I crashed it a lot (well, I crash everything a lot still), but loved it. You could go down, wipe yourself off, and be on your way and the bike looked none the worse for wear.

[Zapp22]

ah, maybe not. I loved my XRR, but I like the DR better. Which is why I sold the XRR. For about the same money, you get a lot more versatile machine that is more of an "ADV" bike out of the box.
But I still have a great admiration for the mighty BRP.
If Honda were on their game, they'd...... oh never mind

Originally Posted by Off the grid

If "pointing out serious flaws based on personal experience" makes me an XRR "basher" than so be it.

Brand loyalty is a funny thing to observe. With XRR riders it's like a mob of angry Muslims trying to decapitate a cartoonist who drew a picture of Mohamed.

[XTwarrior]

Originally Posted by deminimis

Hey XTW, I had a XT500 back in high school. Of my found former bike memories, that is one of my fondest. I loved that bike. I crashed it a lot (well, I crash everything a lot still), but loved it. You could go down, wipe yourself off, and be on your way and the bike looked none the worse for wear.

Ya, I love this bike but I converted it to a street tard after all of our local trails got shut down I used to have hill climbs, tight technical and rocky terrain to ride on but thanks to local farmland being developed it is no more.

As a street tard it does ok but spaghetti forks and general age are rearing their ugly heads.

[deminimis]

Well folks, I'm off to get a new chain for my trials bike (none you have kicked started a bike until you've kick started a 11:4-1 smoker with the kick start on the left side ). Clearly Honda did not build a replacement and that's pretty much that. I think its time for this old thread be allowed to return to its blissful slumber.

[Garthe]

Cmayer31, one of the best features of this web site it the IGNORE button. OTG is one of two Inmates that I use it on. VERY bitter person who has NOTHING better to do that chime in on EVERY XRR tread to spread his poison...Whatever the BIG RED PIG did to him, it must of HURT.

Now where were we...

Originally Posted by Cmayer31

What serious flaws?

Kick start? Hundreds of thousands of people learned how to kick start bikes and rode them for decades before a magic start. Lack of E-start is not really a flaw, just a luxury that is indeed missing. I'm sorry you couldn't start the BRP, maybe the bike was out of whack, or you just had issues with it.

Weight? Sure it's heavy, but it's lighter than many other bikes as well.

Funny thing about brand loyalty...I have none.

The following are currently in my garage:

2007 Yamaha FZ6 - I love it

2001 KTM 400 EXC bored to 450 - CA plated. Great bike, not a fan of the maintenance schedule, but the bike is a blast and has the magic button.

2000 Honda XRR - CA plated. Great bike, ridden hard, put away dirty. Starts every time

1999 Yamaha WR400R - CA plated. Talk about a riot, light weight set up like a MX bike, and always puts a smile on my face.

I'm not brand loyal and I'm very open minded with bikes. Re-read my post in this thread, I stated quite simply that the XRR will not have a replacement and other brands stepped up to the plate to make better bikes.

[kjazz]

long live the pig.

[Kiko]

Does anyone out there make a 650 water cooled dirt bike that can be plated?

Dual sported?

Weighs under 175 lbs?

Still get around 48 hp easily uncorked?

And did I mention have tons of torque?

Japanese reliability and low maintenance schedule?

Large aftermarket parts availabilty?

Won every Baja race it ever entered?

People who complain about the kick start or the weight of the XR650R have far too much time on their hands.

[XTwarrior]

*cough* 275 lbs. *cough*

But yes, exactly. Well said.

[Kiko]

whoops too much coffee, I meant 275 lbs!!

[LukasM]

Originally Posted by Kiko

Weighs under 175 lbs?

Good luck with that....

Originally Posted by Kiko

People who complain about the kick start or the weight of the XR650R have far too much time on their hands.

Or they simply get to enjoy much more diverse terrain than you do, ever thought about that? Like you know, mountains, and mud, and tight technical woods, and....

Of course is doesn't matter as much on a desert bike (even though kick start will still tire you out much more on a long day) but if you are telling me that in the above situations an e-start is not preferably then you are quite frankly in denial or .


That's one thing I value in my EXC over the other bikes, it has an e-start that will work 99.9% of the time, yet if you manage to drain the battery for some reason, you still got a back-up kick starter.

[XTwarrior]

Electric start is nice, and I can't say I wouldn't like it but it isn't a deal breaker for some like me. As long as kicking it over doesn't require the legs of Zeus, it should be fine. I've been on the sides of steep inclines and managed a kick over, though it is a tad scary.

[hrdrckclmr]

Ok as a new XRR owner and the fact that I just came off a KLR please inlighten me as to why its called a PIG I thought it handled well ran great wasn't hard to start (hot or cold) and I had a blast on it at the SLAP rally last weekend

[XTwarrior]

Originally Posted by hrdrckclmr

Ok as a new XRR owner and the fact that I just came off a KLR please inlighten me as to why its called a PIG I thought it handled well ran great wasn't hard to start (hot or cold) and I had a blast on it at the SLAP rally last weekend

I am no expert, but I'd imagine it's sort of a joke seeing as how big it is, and it's a tad more portly both in size and weight to more trail oriented bikes like the CRF, WR/YZ, etc...