Honda XR650L: Sprockets, Gearing and Fuel Consumption on the Highway 

What an awesome video man, very rare I find a video that is EXACTLY what I was curious about!

You make good videos, Keep them coming 👍

I have a 2016 XR650L. Threw away the factory sprocket at 6K miles, went with 14t sprocket as I live in California & ride the Sierra mountains. I feel you nailed it good on the description. I go back to 15t easily when I ride the valley floor. After listening to your homework I think I’ll try a 16t as well.Thank you for taking the time to make these. Very informative.

Thanks for the effort that is valuable info. And yeah the 3 options are 15 14 and 13. The aftermarket cover from Hemisphere has a little more space but that's not the engine case ne!? Here's a top secret. Lol. 15 with 46 is right where you want these BRPs geared. Translates to instead of 110 kmph it's 105. Around a 2.5% difference all round so imo almost where the 14 tooth is at. 13 if you're 80% off road otherwise overworks the motor for highway. Prefect for short track supermoto! 14 imo is for those who want to get out of first in a hurry to mostly lug second. Low rpm in second gear causes a jerk jerk result on both sprockets instead of a steady pull. So 15 drive and 46 or 47 final drive is the answer to it all for anyone doing 35 to 45% or more on hard top getting to off road locations. Again my opinion but I'm sticking to it lol. With those ratios the bike still has that long fifth gear that can cruise at 64kmph and get to 110 in a hurry without changing down if there's road ahead. The dyno tests prove this. Most of us are Dakar Baja wannbes and even those of us who are intermediate and even pro aren't rolling 300 plus pound bikes around on any off road surface at 85 or more. Ry lekker meneer. Your passion is obvious.

You are a true bokman Francois! Awesome video. Look forward to the acceleration test vid.

Were I live "SIERRA FOOTHILLS NOR-CAL "the stock 15 - 44 is excellent for paved and most of the dirt roads and trails ,but on the HIGHWAY were the speed limit is 65 it a little high in the R's , I use my bike to travel fairly long distances this is kind of off subject but I have SUPER MOTO wheels with 15-40 and it will pull 80+mph up to 116 . 15tooth in the front, the stock one is sloppy , I definitely going with the Fritz 15 for all around both sets of wheels!!!!! THANK'S from NOR-CAL!!!!!

I run a 14/48 and I love it in the dirt.

Thanks for your video.. So... we all know what the 15 tooth Gear can do, if we own one. But the 16 tooth gear will give you more speed for less fuel consumption, you'll go faster down the street, with less effort. But take off slower, And you should use less fuel. But the 14 tooth gear will make you clime a hill easier but with more effort, it will run at a high rpm on a street, but get lousy milage, And it will eventually wear out the mechine. So... the 16 tooth will have higher speed on the road with less rpms = savings. Cool👍, stay safe brothers.

Wish he would come back to you tube ,enjoyed his XR videos

Thanks for this video. That 13T is insane.

When I tried to fit a 16t on mine, the only thing the chain was rubbing was a little rubber boot for what I believe is the Neutral Position Sensor. I've considered deleting this sensor, but for now I'll just not run the 16t. My original plan was to run 16/48 and end up with the same ratio as stock, and swap to a 14t front for offroad adventures.

Very interesting have thought about changing the gearing on my 85 xr250r she can do 100+ but feels like I'm pushing her to hard feels more comfortable at 80-90 k's I prefer sticking to dirt roads I run a more aggressive knobby so I avoid tarmac as much as I can so I'm probably better of with the stock gearing great video btw can't wait to watch you go on a adventure mate 👍.

Oh yeah excellent video. THANK'S from NOR-CAL Again!!!!!!!

I have the 16t sprocket. Plus the 2nd and 5th gear mods. No special chain. I've ran a standard o-ring chain and z-ring chain. I would suggest getting a KK sprocket to save your counter shaft.

I cut my cover back i ride with it the bike is a dog i have daves mod jets yoshi slip on sutton cycles oil cooler Fridays the bomb air fuel mixture knob . I have a 42 tooth rear sprocket i can send you to try the fuel milage. I used it for less then 100 miles! Love the video.

Nice vid!, A little explanation on the important Fritzco sprockets would be nice though, further i think it mostly depends on how you use the bike, the 14 teeth is more fun but on longer distances the 15 is better! Fuel consumption should only matter then. Ps did you ever tried a XR600R or 650R before?? 😁

Your best video yet my man👍🌲

Take it to the trails and get it up in the air Bro. It goes up quite high and is such a blast, on mine I was drifting shear drop-offs at 70 mph in the hills chasing deer 🦌 , its the best all around bike for dependability and endurance, and its geometry is the best anywere, and patented as such. Transalp to an XR? XR IS FUN AND AGILE, SO IS THE TRANSALP WITH MORE. THATS WHY THEY MADE THE AFRICAN TWIN. Hey, peace. 🤪👍

The 13 causes premature wear on the swing arm chain guide (front one that wraps the spring arm). 14 front and 48 rear is a great combination. To really wake that bike up, do the 2nd and 5th gear swaps. It makes that bike incredible.

Nice review mate :) I own NX 650 which shares same engine. It would be nice to do temperature test with those sprockets, on summer days riding on highways 120kmh the bike's temperature is between 120-130 (that was with 10w50 full synthetic oil) degrees celsius with 15-47 sprockets. Also oil density play a big role, so if you change the density check the difference. Cheers mate 👍

Thanks for sharing, very informative.

very good info the best for sure

I have a similar bike, the Yamaha XT 600 version. The torque curve on all these old style bikes is similar and starts at 3,000 RPM. I don't see the need to have it spinning past 4000 on the highway, it's annoying and vibrates more. I went from the stock 15/42 2A 16/42 and it's much better and comfortable up to 65 mph, and off-road in the desert Southwest even with the passenger first gear is still too low. So I'm going to also change the rear and go with 16/39.

Good info. Thank you.

It seems like that 42mpg gas mileage is really bad. I get that with my Buell 1200cc xb12x Ulysses around town. I also recently completed and 81 mile trip on my thirty-eight-year-old Yamaha XT 600 with 16/42 gears, with a passenger, about 35 miles off-road and the remainder both Highway and stop and go where I got every single red light. Filled it up when I got back and it used 1.25 gallons which was about 64 miles per gallon with a passenger including off-road and on-road. Pretty impressive. And I feel the gearing is still too low for the highway and freeways, if you're not doing at least 70 it feels dangerous like people are going to run you over And first gear is still fine in fact it could be even taller and it wouldn't bother me. Even off road

Good video, are you getting another XR?

Checked out your link to the website for more info and this is definitely a test I wanted to see someone do! When you tried the 16 and encountered fitment issues was your sprocket cover off (that's what some people have to do apparently)?

on my wrr changing the sprockets resulted in a speedometer being completely off - how did you make sure that the speed you used for testing was indeed the same with different sprocket sizes ?

In the United States of America the factory counter shaft sprocket of the Honda xr 650L is 14 teeth.

You don't need a wider countershaft sprocket, just use a moly grease 2-3 times per year. Reduces wear 99%. Save your money.

Thank you for posting this video. I've ridden an XR650L a little (friends got one as a spare) and was wondering what its highway mileage could be. Wonder if anyone has tried the Lectron carb and what their results were. Otherwise it's hard to find a bike that does both highway and dirt and is light enough for me to pick up.

can anybody confirm that the numbers on Gearcommander are correct?? have a 87 XL600RM (Norway) and according to the table i should have 3200rpm@80km/t, mine is more like close to 4500rpm@80km/t.

Try 14/47. I watched a couple of videos and a lot of people run that configuration

15t x 38t sprockets please

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YOU TALK TOO MUCH, PLEASE GET TO THE POINT!!!!