Got Noise?

Guest Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:16 am

I just finished three days of riding in the Ozark Nat Forest in Arkansas. The XR650R behaved admirably. Roosting, geysers on stream crossings, chugging up hills etc. and doing 75 - 80mph on the highways (really surprised a few guys on street bikes in the corners!!)

It did burp up some coolant while we were checking maps and while it got a little too hot sitting still. I figure that's why folks put fans on em. I started just killing it when the maps came out.

By the end of the trip, I started noticing a bit more of a knocking noise coming from the motor. It ran smooth, no leaks, no smoke, no loss of power. Just seems noisy to me, but this was my first time out on it. Are XR650R's normally pretty noisy motors up top?

Also, I figure I was getting around 35 mpg. Is that piss poor? or typical for an uncorked XR being ridden hard?

Thanks,
Kerry

Guest Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:58 am

I'd say your mileage is about correct if you are on and off the throttle a lot.

Try Evans NPG-R for your coolant. That should solve your kettle problem. :~)

Any photos?

Guest Mon Apr 06, 2009 6:24 am

kjazz wrote:I just finished three days of riding in the Ozark Nat Forest in Arkansas. The XR650R behaved admirably. Roosting, geysers on stream crossings, chugging up hills etc. and doing 75 - 80mph on the highways (really surprised a few guys on street bikes in the corners!!)

It did burp up some coolant while we were checking maps and while it got a little too hot sitting still. I figure that's why folks put fans on em. I started just killing it when the maps came out.

By the end of the trip, I started noticing a bit more of a knocking noise coming from the motor. It ran smooth, no leaks, no smoke, no loss of power. Just seems noisy to me, but this was my first time out on it. Are XR650R's normally pretty noisy motors up top?

Also, I figure I was getting around 35 mpg. Is that piss poor? or typical for an uncorked XR being ridden hard?

Thanks,
Kerry

Kerry:

My knowledge is limited, but for what it's worth, all of my thumpers have made "interesting" engine sounds, over their lives.

My '86 KLR600 certainly did, as did both of my '97 XR600Rs. My '02 XR650R makes the most noise of all of them, especially if the idle is set too low. She runs like a champ, and my mechanic recently gave the engine a clean bill of health.

Mine's uncorked, running a bit on the rich side, probably has ~12K-15K miles and gets about 32MPG with moderate to heavy throttle usage.

I hope this helps!

Dave

Guest Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:10 am

kjazz wrote:I just finished three days of riding in the Ozark Nat Forest in Arkansas. The XR650R behaved admirably. Roosting, geysers on stream crossings, chugging up hills etc. and doing 75 - 80mph on the highways (really surprised a few guys on street bikes in the corners!!)

It did burp up some coolant while we were checking maps and while it got a little too hot sitting still. I figure that's why folks put fans on em. I started just killing it when the maps came out.

By the end of the trip, I started noticing a bit more of a knocking noise coming from the motor. It ran smooth, no leaks, no smoke, no loss of power. Just seems noisy to me, but this was my first time out on it. Are XR650R's normally pretty noisy motors up top?

Also, I figure I was getting around 35 mpg. Is that piss poor? or typical for an uncorked XR being ridden hard?

Thanks,
Kerry

That sounds about right to me. Last summer my week long ride came with worse results. Mostly hill climbing on a trail with a BRP that didnt like the temp outside or the jets and carb settings.

Guest Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:53 pm

Thanks gentlemen. It's sounds like everything is AOK to me. I like it when I can put something to "bed" and let it go. The noise was definitely not catastrophic like, just noisier/different than I'm used to with my air cooled XT550 or the XR400.

And about the mpg.....well...I told my fellow riders....that's maybe why they call it a PIG!!!! It wasn't the handling! Cause it would stay up with the guy on the KTM 530 EXC that was doing some major ass hauling (ex woods racer).

What really blew me away, not to mention some street riders, was the way the Dunlop 606s and the 650R motor felt on the twisted pavement. It lives to eat up turns posted at 35 - 45 mph. It'll soar through those at 65 - 75 and feel like it's on a rail.

me likey.

Guest Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:06 am

Kerry:

Have you tried the D606 tires off-road? If so, how do you like them?

I was super impressed with them on the slab (for knobs), as well.

Dave

Guest Tue Apr 07, 2009 5:03 pm

Dave,

they worked fine for me. But I cant say that my opinion carries much weight as this is the first trip on this bike. The roads and trails we were on in AR vary from hard packed, to loose pack, to heavy gravel, to bare rocky unimproved trails, to mud, etc. I always felt in control. I could have stopped a couple of times to let air out, but then 10 minutes later I'd have had to stop and put it back in. So all in all, I'm not fussy and they worked well for me.

but I was really surprised about the tarmac performance. They didn't let go once under reasonable use. I got the feeling I was leaning a bit far once as the front end slid just a touch, but it was a slip in feel, not a butt puckering slide and I really had it healed over then.

Highly recommend.

Guest Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:07 am

Lol! Yeah, pick a psi and go with it!

My last 606 (front) provided plenty of pucker factor for me off-road, but it could have been the stock suspension (XR600R) and my "less than perfect" riding style contributing, as well. Shocked

Congrats on your first trip!

Guest Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:02 pm

Bump wrote:I'd say your mileage is about correct if you are on and off the throttle a lot.

Try Evans NPG-R for your coolant. That should solve your kettle problem. :~)

Any photos?

Got Noise? 2870_1130944558977_1388146580_30335731_7599354_n

Got Noise? 2870_1130937598803_1388146580_30335715_6170399_n

Got Noise? 2870_1130941998913_1388146580_30335719_2470801_n

Guest Thu Apr 09, 2009 10:35 pm

Is that in texas?

Guest Fri Apr 10, 2009 4:12 am

Arkansas, we were in Clarksville/Oark/etc. this past weekend. There were a bunch of ADVs up in Eureka Springs too.

Guest Fri Apr 10, 2009 4:17 am

Alright!

Nice scenery.

Of course, I'm a sucker for any shot with WATER in it! Very Happy

Guest Fri Apr 10, 2009 3:34 pm

Then you woulda had a blast. We had about 20 or 30 water crossings. Some were a challenge, as in 75 yrds across, water moving rapidly, totally unsure about the depth. These were definitely vehicle crossing areas, but the bottoms in most cases are totally unimproved (i.e. boulders the size of bowling balls). Pretty difficult to stick those landings!!!

The rest were just 25ft across and you could just smash em with you front wheel lifted a bit and roost!!! Major geysers, major fun.

Guest Sat Apr 11, 2009 2:42 am

I just like looking at water. My last major water crossing turned into a submarine ride. Shocked

Eight oil changes later, I was back on the trails. BRP smile

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Great looking terrain

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