It's a big claim. Honda makes great bikes. Iconic bikes, but people are finding out that the big red pig is the best and was ahead of it's time and a reliable classic machine that can tear it up in the streets and under the sheets.
@@jondunham618I read your post and thought my dementia was kicking in for a minute. I'm thinking 🤔, that's not true and I don't remember posting that... 'cuz, I didn't. Looks like we have similar tastes in bikes though. I have my fourth one out there right now. Still my favorite, although I have a KTM 450 sxf now... I miss them long legs, super broad torque band, high speed stability and bulletproof dependability. That bike does EVERYTHING very well.
I had one. Loved it. Best thumper Honda ever made. Still miss it. It was specifically made to win Baja, and it won every year they ran it. It's a classic for a reason.
I don't think the XR650R will come back the way everyone would like it to. 6 speed, electric start and fuel injected and under 320lbs. One of the reason they haven't improved some of these old school one cylinder thumpers is due to emissions and grandfather in, like the DR650 and the XR650L. But a 700 like he said would be ideal for sure. Kind of like the husky 701.
I bought my XR650R in 2000, rode it all over Nevada, California and Baja. 99% off-road , 30,000mi. Not too many bikes could blitz whoops, go 180+miles on fuel(Clark tank), go 100mph(stock engine) and smooth enough to ride 300mi. a day on dirt roads for days and last 20years. I did a top end (piston, rings and intake valves) when the C/S splines wore out on the transmission shaft-required I split the cases at 24k mi. One of the best bikes I've owned. Thankyou Honda, Bruce Ogilvie and Johnny Campbell(JCR).
Man, totally agree with you on how much capable is this thing is offroad. Just coming back from probably the best trail ride in Canary Islands. Got a big smile stuck on my face from ear to ear for 5h and I thought I had to share it! I aslo ride it SM on road and love it but can't keep the bloody front wheel on the tarmac, babylon don't like that... Loads of superlatives on this bike, but she also can flow on narrow twisty corniches. It's all about your clutch control and millimetric gas. cheers mate. Gozalo!
Last April I went to Moab Utah with some friends. They ride 2018 6 day KTM, 300 KTM, and a newer husky. I wa on my 1984 XL600R. What a blast. Had no problem hangin with the new bikes, until we hit the hardtop. I can only squeeze about 70 or so out of the old girl. Any more I’m afraid she’ll come apart. But probably not. Been a great bike for 10 years or so. Before the 600, I had a XL500S. 80 over and lower gears and it was a wild thing. Even raced my brother while I was on the back wheel through the 1/4 mile. Lost by 2 bike lengths. Would like to check out the XR650R, seems to be the holy grail of Honda thumpers.
@Vehicle Hunter I'm all in for a new 650R, but I was very disappointed when they just made the AT bigger not smaller :( Have you got any leads or indications that a new 650R might be coming, or just speculating? Nice review by the way!
I own a Xr650r . I made mine into a dirty adventure bike with a 6 gallon tank . If it’s tuned correctly and you run in the 3000 to 5000 rpm range it will get decent fuel mileage . I have ran over 200 miles on 1 tank in Baja. I did not want a big pig like a klr650 in the dirt . The current crop of mid size adv bike in the 700cc to 800cc range are too heavy compared to the 1000cc bikes . I would go for a 700-800 cc twin if the wet weight was no more than 400-420 lbs.
ive extensively modded the 650r, the stock carb is the reason for bad fuel milage, i would only get 7-8km/l from it, i switched to a keihin fcr 40mm - immediately got over 10km/l, now i have a handmade airbox, bored fcr to 43.5mm, fully ported, hi comp piston, race cam, ov/size vales handmade headers,yet it now delivers 15+km/l
My XR650R after I done some car mods on it it's getting up in the mid '50s per gallon I drilled up draft angles into the emulsion tubes micro drilled the Jets out a little bit And she is a spot on perfection baby pulls like a striped ape and a freight train in unison And on most cold days I don't even have to use the choke first kick My XR650L consistently gets 37 mi per gallon same with my DR 650 guess I got some more carburetor work to do
Love the video. But your wrong if they do bring it back it will be in name only. The new Africa twin. Isn’t in the same League. The XR650r won the baja on many occasions. Competed in the Daker. The Africa twin new version won nothing it a tourer / go to work bike a steel frame road bike engine it’s a pretender just like BMW’s. Don’t get me wrong there okay but not a XR650r anyone saying the 600 is better or 400 is perfect. Your deluded. The XR650r is in a league of is own I’ve rode them in enduro s and on 4 moto GP Circuits round the TT track over 10 years been across Europe and Scotland So I agree it’s probably the best all round motorbike ever built. And one of Honda’s finest moments.
Still own a XR628R and the XR650R...there not that far apart. Agreed the 650 has better geometry for more open tracks or trails. The 628 handles tighter single track trails better. Power is very close...
@@dlrmon1 put a HRC 628cc big bore kit in my xr 600, it really makes more power, so much that the new clutch i put in was slipping, had to put in a few heavier springs
Yes, I ended up putting every other stock clutch spring back on. 3 HD and 3 stock springs. Helped the clutch pull and has work well now for many year’s.
Yes indeed Im not a big fan of Honda cars but I like they're bikes. I had a 98 cr250r that I had gotten rid of all the typical problems they have. It was still a Honda so it was a bit jerky still but never fouled a plug one. It was bored and built wiseco and had it all. Unfortunately it was stolen out of my cousins driveway I still cry about it. But I'm looking at the 650xr's now. Honda makes a great bike. As plain as my shadow was (also stolen) it was still a tank of a bike.
13 or is it 15 Baja 1000 victories! amazes me this machine is not consistently re - reviewed by dirt bike publications! THE finest big bore motorcycle ever made!
Take the plastic umbrella thing out of carb bowl. It slides up around the casting for the main jet. Will start and run much better. They need a pipe and jetting too of course
Picture a new xr690r. Big bore liquid cooled fuel injected. Adventure style bike. With electric and kick. Comes with tubeless wheels that will work with sm tires. And dealer option dirt rims. Key ignition. Powerful stator. Nice cluster with GPS dealer optional. Like the African twin but smaller and more dirtbike.
I enjoy mine. In 2nd gear at low speed (range 5-30mph) you have a brake and power with the throttle, no shifting gears, no hand release, its like an automatic transmission. But you can go 80 mph plus in fifth gear. Its only 300 lbs full of gas. I've modified mine with new electronics, no battery needed!! It rides high, when in a bad situation I gas it and let it go where it wants to go, then deal with it. She's (name withheld) never fail me.
Can't see me ever selling my xr650r or xr600r as they are both in supermoto spec . I use my very rare 2003 yamaha tt600r belgarda for offroad/overlanding but I got a set of sm bling wheels for that aswel which I'm tempted to convert as the tt600r got brembo brakes and ohlins and kyb suspension as standard and it's very similar to the xr600r in performance but better handling and braking and I'm thinking about getting a new T700 tenere to replace the tt600r. I also owned a 2007 honda s2000 and it's one of my favourite cars I've ever owned ....👍
@@xtcrider8270 there's on a hand full of them here in uk as they were available through yamaha as a special order .... there's loads in italy ,Spain, France and Germany Australia and few other countries lol
People say Honda has no soul? Hawk gt/vtr1000/vfr400+750/africa twin/cbr900rr etc etc all have soul ánd reliability! Same goes for suzuki and yamaha,..
Had both the Belgrada was in my living room a freind came round to do some electrical work and bagerd me into selling it to him. He still has it it was mint, kept the XR650R that had 750mls on it another mint bike white bros pipe, edlbrock pumper carb big rads, ignition the guy I bought it off was more anal than me. I don't regret selling the Honda I still recon my old 510 TE would have wiped the floor with it, regret selling my Ttr 600 tho I will never find another unabused one for under 3k
If you do get a 650L.... put a pumper carb on it.... I believe someone makes a conversion kit to use a crf450 pumper carb and it turns the 650L into a MONSTER
If you buy an L don't ride it like the R. I made that mistake and wore the head out after 10k miles. The L has weak head to cam mating. Still a really enjoyable bike for getting around.
Big thing you need to upgrade is an oil cooler, with no radiator keeping it cool is a big deal for the XRL. I do tons of freeway riding at 65-75 with a t16 gear. You notice performance drop on a hot day after some riding. The oil cooler has made a big difference.
