Winter? Oh, that cold stuff some of ya'll deal with. You have a bunch more stuff headed your way!!!! I ordered a new Scott's damper, one on each bike. You will have a stainless rear sprocket and a Galfer wave rear disk and stainless rear brakeline. Man you get to have all the fun putting this together... Maybe I should fly up and lend a hand!!! Oh wait, we started this with "Winter" and I saw some white stuff in the pictures....Eeewwww
Indeed!!!!! Got to add a few wraps of copper wire in there. Heated grips, heated seat, Halogen headlight, GPS... I need to see what all of that draws Good call!
oh my... is that your pooch? That is just wrong! Good luck digging out! You are welcome down here anytime! We will put you up and show some good ole southern hospitality.
Any guesses on what your fuel mileage will be with the big bore? My bike needs a top end job because it sat for several years before I got it. At least that's what I think caused the oil usage issue. Sure, I'd like more power but not at the cost of fuel mileage or reliability. I want this bike to last a long time and only need routine maintenance. BTW, it's a '94 650L that I have with just over 5K on the clock. What brand of piston, gasket & other parts are the best value with my criteria in mind? My buget is really tight right now but I don't want to go cheap just to save a little but sacrifice longevity.
I have never checked mileage before.... I am not a good source for mileage comparisons, but will definitely see what kind of mileage this one gets. The desire for reliability has made the choices I have described. I have always bought my stuff from XR's Only or Thumper Racing. I don't think any reliability is lost until you go really high compression with a radical cam and scream the bike in the upper rev's. I am guessing that a big bore, with a stock or non-radical cam would provide long life and reliability. Good luck with the build!!!
Wattner thanks for taking the time to share your build project. I'm looking at getting either a 650L, DR650, or DRZ400s for d/s use. This thread has me looking at the "L" again.
http://www.xrsonly.com/parts-catego...ikuni-pumper-carburetor-42mm-kit-honda-xr650l I know some people have commented negatively about XR's Only, but they have treated me great, for many, many years They are even stoked about this build. Freddy has built many motors/bikes for me and he is excited about this one! I/We may need to go ahead and send the head off for big fins, unless CW is feeling "Weldy"???? Hint You have to know what tank will be going on the bike to notch the fins for petcock clearance
I spent a lot of time looking into the purpose for a bike... The DRZ is a great bike but limited for long distance duties... While it may be modified to work better, it still would not fill the bill to ride across a state or multi-days with a lot of street duty as good as the "L". Many people have built them and are way happy with them, and it was a very much considered mount, but the "L" got the nod. The Suzuki 650 looks like a better street only in stock form platform, but once you actually DO get offroad, there simply is no comparison with the "L" and the suspension we are going with. The DR 650 once again has it's place, but I cannot see it blasting through whoops nearly as good as the "L" and marginally if better on the street... And still, the XR with the exhaust, bigbore, cam, etc has the throaty sound that the DR can't touch (in my opinion...)
A few updates: After thinking about it for awhile, I am going to go with the big fins and an XR-400 oil cooler. I have run the fins on all of my bikes, and they really seem to help in cooling. I have rarely seen temps above 215F. there is a concern that with big fins and a Jagg cooler that a proper operating temp may not be achieved. The fins/XR400 cooler seem to be about the right combination, the cooler will be protected a little better and just plain looks cool! The frame has not been painted yet, so CW will weld on nuts to the frame to mount the cooler. Also, we have spoken and have decided to install a couple of elbows on the frame and will install some heavy duty clear braided line to inspect the oil without having to remove the dipstick. This will be WAY cool, especially with the Damper mount in the way of the oil filler. I will still have to open it to add oil, but not to check it, and I can monitor oil color as well. Also decided to go with a new stator off of a VF700 to get from 186 watts to 330 to power up accessories. The powdercoating so far will be the Jet Hot aluminum on the frame and a matte black for the skidplate, kickstand, footpeg bracket, etc. to try and match the finish on the headlight frame. We need a color for the sidecases, might as well paint them now too. I am considering a color that looks like Titanium with a clearcoat for ease of cleaning and longevity... Baked on dirt looks pretty rough after awhile, so I hope this helps? Suggestions appreciated! The roller rockers are still being worked on, but CW said that all of the companies that handled his casting duties have moved on, thanks to the billet age, if you will, so CW's son is at the CAD platform seeing what can be had..Once again update to follow once we know.
WTF..........put Marks cooler on....... and get this.......... What you are worried about is the oil not coming up to temperature.........as well as it getting too hot ....right Well this bypass turns off the flow of oil to the cooler when it`s cold........back on when it`s hot....just like the thermostat in a cars cooling system...this valve also cannot restrict oil in any way if it fails,it is completely failsafe........ This gives you the benifits of having a cooler without the downside of oil not coming up too temperature to burn off moisture and also not letting the engine heat up quickly......... here it is at work......... Marks cooler has more cooling capacity than the xr400 cooler.and gets more airflow.....so if you are running in a hot climate.tight low speed trails.or flyin down the slab.loaded up for the weekend campin and with a 105-106mm slug in the cylinder......you are going to need all the help you can get... or not............your choice B
