1981 Honda XR500R

[2manyrides]

Reportedly the worst song ever heard...

I guess I should have made the warning in larger letters!
Sorry 'bout that.

[brucifer]

22many- I hope I didn't come across as abrasive; I was smiling as I wrote that post. It does make me want to stick pencils in my ears though.

I went ahead and installed the 36 Mikuni this morning. It bolted up with no mods to the intake or air filter boots. It is a tight fit though--it just touches on one side of the frame.
I don't have any cables or throttle tube assembly so a call to Motion Pro is in order.
I filled the float bowl with gas and kicked it 3 times and it lit right off and idled perfect! It probably would have started on the first kick if I'd have had the idle set properly.
I'll post some pics when I figure out why my camera now refuses to download to my computer.

[2manyrides]

I'm right there with you Bruce
That's enough to drive anyone batty. So bad it's... shall we say...?..........

Well, noteworthy bad.

[lilsmokey]

Originally Posted by Ghost_Mutant

I don't know, it sometime feels like I need to start a thread just for the 83-84 models. I keep finding out how different my bikes are from everyone else.

Go for it!!! I will possibly buy a 83 xr5 to go with my 84 so I will definitely subscribe to it!


But that is a good looking bike. It's always glad to hear when someone Adopts a new xr500. It's a pretty good looking bike!!! My dads first bike was a 1984 xr500 so when I bought mine my dad became a kid again. For the first few weeks he rode it more than I did. (mostly because I was riding his xr600) good luck with the bike man!!!

[Ghost_Mutant]

In hindsight, I should have put together my own build thread. When I started the process I was under the mistaken impression that the XL600s and 83/4 XR500s shared more parts than they actually do. There were already enough build threads for the XL6s.

Live and learn.

I will promise to start a separate thread if I every get to my RFVC engine monitoring and oil cooler mods. Which is actually something I'm glad I haven't jumped into yet. My ideas have had time to mature over the last year. So I think my end results will be much better than they would have been otherwise.

[Switchblade315]

i have a XR400 oil cooler I'm going to add to my 82 XL500. the xr400 front end swap went wonderfully, and I have a rear shock off a 82 XR500 to slap on it this week. Going to look at putting the XR4's swingarm on it as well I know it's a XL and this is a XR thread but back then they shared a lot of parts.

[brucifer]

Pics of the TM36 installed.

[izom]

-hi bruce-

nice new carb!- why you changed it??

im not so lucky- i mounted a new dellorto phf 36 - new sparkcable, sparkshoe, plug etc. new gas-

the beast want run!!?? :-/ ill kick my butt off - but nothing!? only thing it does it kicks BACK so hard that i sometimes thing it breaks my leg...!?

on the weekend i check the valves remove the airfilter (which looks good) and try it again!

i mean even if the jetting on this carb is bad/wrong in the chokephase it has to start or cuff some times right??

can it be a problem with timing/ignition??

gettin frustrating little bit....

greets peter/europe

[2manyrides]

OK so I sold my 82 to a friend.
Since then there's a realizeation for him even that these days you need a "street legal" dirt bike.
That's the very reason I sold it. OHV= very hard to or never can be plated.

That said, he's now picked up a somewhat junky 82 xl500. Plan was to make the best of the xl useing the xr. Man, that's two different bikes!
That must be why I chose the xr at the bike shop when I bought new.
Even though in 82 I could forsee the future of dirt riding...I got the beefier XR.

OK now, He calls me and says he found another 82 XR500R that's almost new for 250! It's been sitting for all this time and isn't faded out because some one broke off the kickstarter shaft!!!
How in the hell?

Anyway, he has 3 now. He's probaly going to leave my X xr alone and wants to cheat to get a plated bike out of the other 2.
I gotta go over there and check the newest one, but I got some shots of the xl500 basket when we mocked it up together.





Sorry 'bout the blur in the photo's.
The P/O had pulled the XL apart and never put it back together, but said it runs and wheelies.

He was fixing the normal leak spot between the rocker cover and found the top motor mount busted off the rocker. He put it back together with a replacement cover. There's no mechanizm for compression release?

There's an open spot with no cover at the end of the cam.
This bike has current reg!

[brucifer]

Originally Posted by izom

-hi bruce-

nice new carb!- why you changed it??

im not so lucky- i mounted a new dellorto phf 36 - new sparkcable, sparkshoe, plug etc. new gas-

the beast want run!!?? :-/ ill kick my butt off - but nothing!? only thing it does it kicks BACK so hard that i sometimes thing it breaks my leg...!?

on the weekend i check the valves remove the airfilter (which looks good) and try it again!

i mean even if the jetting on this carb is bad/wrong in the chokephase it has to start or cuff some times right??

can it be a problem with timing/ignition??

gettin frustrating little bit....

greets peter/europe

Hi Peter. Did you ever get your bike running?

Originally Posted by 22manyrides

OK so I sold my 82 to a friend.
Since then there's a realizeation for him even that these days you need a "street legal" dirt bike.
That's the very reason I sold it. OHV= very hard to or never can be plated.

That said, he's now picked up a somewhat junky 82 xl500. Plan was to make the best of the xl useing the xr. Man, that's two different bikes!
That must be why I chose the xr at the bike shop when I bought new.
Even though in 82 I could forsee the future of dirt riding...I got the beefier XR.

OK now, He calls me and says he found another 82 XR500R that's almost new for 250! It's been sitting for all this time and isn't faded out because some one broke off the kickstarter shaft!!!
How in the hell?

Anyway, he has 3 now. He's probaly going to leave my X xr alone and wants to cheat to get a plated bike out of the other 2.
I gotta go over there and check the newest one, but I got some shots of the xl500 basket when we mocked it up together.





Sorry 'bout the blur in the photo's.
The P/O had pulled the XL apart and never put it back together, but said it runs and wheelies.

He was fixing the normal leak spot between the rocker cover and found the top motor mount busted off the rocker. He put it back together with a replacement cover. There's no mechanizm for compression release?

There's an open spot with no cover at the end of the cam.
This bike has current reg! He says he can switcho changeo the id plate and grind/file/restamp the newest XR with those #'s....oh boy...!

Would be the cheapest way to go if ya never get looked at.

Hi 22many. Be carefull what information ya give out on these here interwebz. You never know who might be reading.

I'm kinda turning my XL600 into a plated dirt bike. Been gathering some odds and ends to try and update the suspension a bit.
If it turns out how I'm hoping, it'll be pretty trick.

[2manyrides]

Originally Posted by brucifer

Hi 22many. Be carefull what information ya give out on these here interwebz. You never know who might be reading.

OK, you're right....

Fixed

[izom]

hi brucifer-

NO- the kickstarter BREAKS after thousands of tries...

so i have to put the engine apart to change this part

and while doin this i will check the timing spark advancer (?) cause i think theres the problem.... this will take some time/months i think :-/

BUT i bought a second one and completed it with the parts from the first one (there were many parts missing like airbox etc.) - its really difficult to get parts here in europe!- put some new plastics, stickers, work on the exhaust etc. and beast nr.2 is alive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp8QS6C4PYI

yeah i love to ride this bike- its SOO different to the heavy adventure its really fun ....

[brucifer]

Well, that sucks about the broken kickstart shaft but awesome you got another XR500R! Congratulations!

On XR #1, the more I think about your problem the more it sounds like a faulty pulse generator or maybe the CDI unit taking a dump.
I wonder if somehow the pulse generator wires have gotten switched? Or maybe shorted?

[Eric318]

Hello all, just discovered this discussion and I LOVE it!

I bought a XR500R new in 1981 and I still have it.

Here it is way back then, when I was a young lad.



Couple of years ago I bought another as a wreck but that was equipped with a few interesting mods.... I will let you figure out what they are on the photos ;) It is now back on the road as it deserved.






Brucifer, the reed box replacement bit you are looking for is this. I got one, but I am keeping it sorry.





It should be possible to make a mold from the cylinderhead innards and DYI one with melted aluminum. Heavy duty DIY,...

Also, FYI, I am rebuilding 2 earlier XR500 in C&J frrames, but this will be for another time...

[brucifer]

Eric you dog! Tease me with your reed block replacement like that!

That's so cool you still have the bike you bought new after all these years. I wish I would have kept my '82.

Okay, mods on the other bike.
White Brothers swingarm
Aftermarket shock
Aftermarket header with Supertrapp ISDE muffler
Uuhh, what else, what did I miss?