How do I tell if a used XRR is a good one?

Hi, I've bought several used street bikes. I can generally tell if they are tight.

I have located a 2000 XRR. It's been uncorked, owned by three different people, has White Brothers Suspension, steel disc and motor guards, some other less important upgrades. Seller does not know the hours of course.

With no odometer, I'm not confident I can tell if it's worn out, tired, or great. I rode a used 2003 at the dealer, seemed fine, but I didn't get the feeling "this feels tight" or "this feels loose and worn". I can't tell.

I will make a very long drive (6 hrs) to pick up the XRR (it's in a state where it can be titled for the street).

Any help on knowing what to look for to determine condition, esp in the motor, would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

Did you search?

river wrote:Hi, I've bought several used street bikes. I can generally tell if they are tight.

I have located a 2000 XRR. It's been uncorked, owned by three different people, has White Brothers Suspension, steel disc and motor guards, some other less important upgrades. Seller does not know the hours of course.

With no odometer, I'm not confident I can tell if it's worn out, tired, or great. I rode a used 2003 at the dealer, seemed fine, but I didn't get the feeling "this feels tight" or "this feels loose and worn". I can't tell.

I will make a very long drive (6 hrs) to pick up the XRR (it's in a state where it can be titled for the street).

Any help on knowing what to look for to determine condition, esp in the motor, would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

I would ask when were the valves adjusted/checked last? Pull the side cover and look in the air box with a flash light is it clean? It is hard to tell but if they keep up with the maintenance the owner will know the answers. I think the maintenance up keep is the key. I ride mine pretty hard but I still say it is in good shape because I do the maintenance and up keep. Might also ask if the fork oil has been changed (when) and when was the last time all the suspension linkage was greased. One more thing to check is the chain adjusters. The Xr will lock up if not cleaned and lubed with anti sieze. I would pull the rear wheel and make sure the adjusters are not frozen. Can be a pain to fix. This is just a few simple ones. Some times I will ask the owner what oil they use and bring some with me and change it just to get a look at the oil. Needless to say it is always a gamble. I also look around at the owners other rigs, house, garage etc. seeing if they are maintained or neglected. Good luck. Shoot me a PM if you want I will give you some other things to look for.

Thanks, mamacone, big help. I'll shoot you a PM too. I want to distinguish between things that may have really hurt the bike, and just dirty stuff that can be repaired by replacing a sprocket and chain, stuff like that.

Also, how much does a fresh top end on these things cost if I pull it myself?

Jim

If you need a top end, or are really worried about it and don't have the tools for a leak down test, then find a great bike shop to drop it off at. The owner shouldn't balk. Give him a deposit first. That's reasonable. At today's BRP prices a new engine is worth more than a whole bike. So you are forewarned! If that fails you then ride it and wind it up in 2nd gear and back
completely off the throttle. Compression braking should be pretty
strong. If not then you have a problem.

You know how they say don't go grocery shopping when you are hungry? It's the same for buying other stuff too. Have a strong incentive not to buy the bike. Be nice but pay attention to your desire to purchase and keep it in check.

Look at the stuff the seller isn't expecting you to look at. Do you see pride of ownership at his place? Everything doesn't have to be gold plated and high dollar. But it doesn't cost anything to clean your tools after you use them And a man is only as good as his tools.

Does the seller look like a guy who makes smart decisions? Or does he fix stuff only when it breaks? Rather than asking him when he changed the oil last ask him what oil he recommends. If he says it doesn't matter that's a red flag. If he suggest diesel motor oil, that's a red flag.

Is it a guy with a bike for sale or do you get the feeling he is selling you? Does he hate to see the bike go? You'll notice it in his mannerisms and so forth.

I can't find my long post on this, sorry. But here's a few things;
Rims true?
Spokes replaced?
Plastic all new? If so, then why?
If it's been ridden up there where all the rain seems to fall I'd be very concerned about water in the swingarm and swingarm bolts.
If it has the stock triple tree then it may have never been really lubed-a know problem on Japanese bikes.

Here's from another post I did on this:
By that I mean the stuff that tells me what sort of maintenance person
the owner is. So I tend to look at cables, spokes, I ask about power
washing (I would rather it not have happened), inquire about extra air
filters to see if they use spares, I like to only buy from guys who use
OEM filters too, and so forth. I look for any sort of marks to the
bottom of the frame and on any sort of area the suspension might mark
if it bottoms out. I look at the rest of the seller's setup. If he has
the cheapest gear and tools money can buy, he likely ain't splurging on
maintaining his scoot. Fasteners will sometimes show this as well. Does
he use pliers when a wrench is called for?
Look in the air box. Clean and oily, or dirty and oily?

I rode with a guy for 20 years who does this:
He buys a new bike
He removes all the OEM plastic and stickers very carefully.
He puts on the cheapest UFO plastic he can find
He puts protectors on places that will show wear like frame guards, clutch guards and so forth
He rides the hell out of it, races it, generally abuses it
Then
when the next year's model comes out he puts all the OEM stuff back on,
adds new tires, strips off all the good stuff he's added like triple
clamps, damper, pipe, etc., sells all the parts on eBay, and sells the
scoot as gently used and fanatically maintained
He's got two bikes on ADV now that way.

I
don't believe anything that doesn't show receipts. For example, if the
seller claims his pig has Precision Concepts suspension, I say and
mean, "Great, let's take it there right now so I can have the
suspension freshened up and verify the PC stuff. They are friends of
mine!)

Mostly I kinda go on gut feel. Like this guys says: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
by Malcolm Gladwell If the guy seems like he maintains all his stuff
properly then he's likely a good seller. Unless of course he does sales
for a living... Some of those guys fit the old George Burns quotation:
"Sincerity
is key. Once you can fake that you've got it made." Though there are
about 10 versions of that line attributed to 10 different people.

KTM265 had his to say in a followup post:
I just did a trade for a 2001 XR. Some things I looked for was how were
the upgrades completed, craftmanship goes a long way in telling if the
bike was taken care of. In this case, I looked closesly at the
electrical upgrades. The previous owner added a cooling fan, DOT
lights...etc...The connections had shrink wrap on them, wire ties
around the wire loom covers to keep them tight and from rubbing against
other parts. I also took it for a short ride around a paved parking
lot...I could hear if anything was loose or not normal in the motor.
Also on level ground you can tell if the suspension or frame is tweaked
because the bike will want to lean to go straight...etc...This one I
found turned out to be a good find. It was clean, good craftmanship on
the mods and he produced a manual with dirty pages showing it was
opened and used...

The only thing I found wrong...the coolant level was just a little low.

Also, how much does a fresh top end on these things cost if I pull it myself?

Jim[/quote]

Bump, jeez, how am I going to thank you for a post like that? Lots of wisdom in there. Think we'd enjoy hanging out. I talked more with the seller. He recently got the bike to go to baja with his buddies on Rs instead of KLRs this year, one of whom is a Honda rep, who went completely through the bike, removing carb, tank, wheels, checking it out, checking frame, did proper uncork with stock exhaust, jets, airbox, replace a rubber seal on the ??? countershaft ??? that is a common weakness. I'm thinking it's going to be a good bike, but of course he could be making this all up. If it seems right, and the situation and seller seem right ala your discussion, I think I'll get it. It's street plated, so I know I can probably get 1500 back out of it here in NM where you can not street plate an R bought new in NM. Hope I can get insurance.

Thanks for all your advice. More questions coming in the future. Will have to do more to get it plated here, want to see if I can roll my own dual sport changes, instead of buying the $500 kit, $150 stator rewind, $80 speedo sold by Baja Designs. But may have to go that route, don't know.

Thanks,
Jim

There are a couple of other guys on here from NM as well. They might know a friendly place to get your bike plated.

Are you posting over on TT also? I saw a similar post there.

I think the countershaft seal was a problem with some early bikes. The serials numbers are written down somewhere. Mostly or all 2000s.

What exactly is required for plating your bike varies from state to state and from examiner to examiner. My guess is the more rural area you go to the better your chances. I hope I don't step on any toes there...

Find out what exactly is needed. And what exactly they say isn't allowed. If there is a sticker on your bike that says "For Offhighway Racing Use Only" I'd remove it. I'd ask around for the friendliest place in the state. You might even call around. If it's a long ways away then tell them you are leaving it at your brother/father/inlaws/whatever place to ride with them when you come out. Get that person's name and only deal with them. Then do exactly what they say.

Therea re some tricky things like does the light have to be on when the bike is off? You don't need the BD kit. But if youa re patient you can find them used for cheap. But you can do it all yourself with some help from the Highwaydirtbikes.com guy. Then just use some cheap stuff like any Honda odometer off eBay for a same size front wheel. Blinkers are cheap now on eBay. The dirt bike season in California is just heating up but it's closing down in the rest of the country. You can rewire the stator yourself. There are guys parting out XRLs all the time on Advrider. I think that stuff fits. A speedo for $15 is much more to my liking! But in reality, any sppedo will work because they won't be riding the bike to check it. They will check horn, blinkers, headlight becasue they can do that without riding it. If they aren't looking for DOT approved stuff then you can really go cheap.

Did I mention always use Evans coolant and Honda oil and filters? http://www.evanscooling.com/coolants/ R is made for bikes with small radiator passages. It will have a lifetiem warranty once it finishes its five year test.

You are gonna have to get into that head stock and the swing arm looking for corrosiion and re-greaseing.

Get the carb sorted out first. It should start 2nd time always. It should start after crashing if you kick it through ten tiems with the compression release it to clean out any flooding of the carb from gravity still working even though the carb has been realigned with the Earth. If you aren't goinf to ride it in the next three days then drain the carb.

You owe me nothing. But someday Dave from Tucson, Q from Colorado, and I are coming out there to ride and we'd sure like it if you joined us with AtomicXR. Think of something funny to do to us. You can't go into a rural diner with Billy Bob teeth and 2" thick glasses on and ask for a spoon full of caramel for breakfast because I've already done that.

river wrote:Bump, jeez, how am I going to thank you for a post like that? Lots of wisdom in there. Think we'd enjoy hanging out. I talked more with the seller. He recently got the bike to go to baja with his buddies on Rs instead of KLRs this year, one of whom is a Honda rep, who went completely through the bike, removing carb, tank, wheels, checking it out, checking frame, did proper uncork with stock exhaust, jets, airbox, replace a rubber seal on the ??? countershaft ??? that is a common weakness. I'm thinking it's going to be a good bike, but of course he could be making this all up. If it seems right, and the situation and seller seem right ala your discussion, I think I'll get it. It's street plated, so I know I can probably get 1500 back out of it here in NM where you can not street plate an R bought new in NM. Hope I can get insurance.

Thanks for all your advice. More questions coming in the future. Will have to do more to get it plated here, want to see if I can roll my own dual sport changes, instead of buying the $500 kit, $150 stator rewind, $80 speedo sold by Baja Designs. But may have to go that route, don't know.

Thanks,
Jim

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda-XR650R-Swingarm-Tool-07KMA-KAB0100-XR650_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem1c0d3c1820QQitemZ120481126432QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda-XR650R-XR-650-R-xr650r-xr-650-r-Air-Intake-Kit_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3a5360397dQQitemZ250506918269QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

For things you want to do I suggest you make a list. Prioritize it. The watch some places for used like Advrider. Run the list by the group for any advice or suggestions. Adv is also a good place to get tools. Get yourself a copy of Dust to Glory for rainy weekends!!!

I used these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/rear-Signal-mounts-dualsport-Honda-XR-650-XR650-XR650R_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2c515b9341QQitemZ190343516993QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
to mount my turn signals off my BD race light. Before that I just drilled a clean hole in my OEM fairing and mounted them there. Q has that fairing on his very clean and fast scoot now. I did the same with the BD LED turn signals on my rear fender. The same guy makes a few other mounts as well.

Don't get a rear rack.

Ya need to get the foot peg fix immediately on an older bike if it ain't done. No use crippling yourself my Dr always says. Are you aware of that? IMHO, get new. Don't use the biolt thingy that's cheaper. Use the one Team Honda used.

Thanks Bump and everyone. I heard the right peg cracks the frame, you mean that? I will get the new fix. I forgot to look for that. I hope it's OK. I will check out your other links.

Yeah, if you guys head this way and don't look me up, don't let me find out about it :-).

I brought it home from Phoenix today. The bike was clearly well used. Boot wear on the side cases reveal quite a lot of use. The plastic has scratches, though no cracks, missing parts, etc. The bike wasn't horrible but disappointingly not cleaned up. The seller's story is this bunch of guys buy bikes to go on rides together etc. and a couple of them are good mechanics and do his wrenching. Didn't know much detail himself. I didn't properly check the oil level but the oil and coolant were like new. Tail light and hour (?) gauge don't work. It has been tagged for street so when I bring it back to New Mexico I can street it, unlike any R sold here. In the end, despite reservations, I got the bike. It cost me about 150 in gas to go there, and precious time. The motor seemed solid, no smoke, compression on accel and decel seemed good. Clearly faster than the used stock 06 R I rode at the dealer, the uncorking I guess. It does have White Brothers suspension (or at least the decals on forks and reservoir, supposedly set up for my 225 lbs), good strong aluminum motor and brake and hand guards, stock uncorked exhaust, and brand new Pro Taper fat bars/clamps. Has Excel front wheel. I noted a flatish spot or two on the front and back rims but it didn't seem to affect them. So today I brought it home. Hope I don't regret it. I wish it were squeaky clean and pretty like my street bikes, but it felt good, and apparently very cheap for what's included.

I hope I don't figure out tomorrow it needs engine work. I will do a compression test tomorrow. The cosmetics don't bother me too much really, and I won't sweat my own scratches and dings (I'm too fanatical on my street bikes, I spent a couple months studying how to polish and buff paint when I got them).

Hi Bump, I looked at where the right peg attaches to the frame and it seems fine. would there be an obvious crack if a problem exists?

Thanks.

Everyone has to do it. It's a known problem. You'll likely learn it's cracked when you run over your foot after the peg breaks. You'll know it's broken because if you notice the exact position of your broken, nay, crushed, right ankle after you've fallen it always points back to where the broken peg is laying in the dirt. Usually just past some impact or jump... Your transportation and hospital bill will be thou$ands.

read these posts:
http://www.xr650rforum.com/brp-introductions-f13/new-brp-owner-in-savannah-ga-t610.htm
and
http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-300962.html

Here's the fix.
http://www.animalhousedesigns.net/products.htm

river wrote:Hi Bump, I looked at where the right peg attaches to the frame and it seems fine. would there be an obvious crack if a problem exists?

Thanks.

Bump wrote:Everyone has to do it. It's a known problem. You'll likely learn it's cracked when you run over your foot after the peg breaks. You'll know it's broken because if you notice the exact position of your broken, nay, crushed, right ankle after you've fallen it always points back to where the broken peg is laying in the dirt. Usually just past some impact or jump... Your transportation and hospital bill will be thou$ands.

read these posts:
http://www.xr650rforum.com/brp-introductions-f13/new-brp-owner-in-savannah-ga-t610.htm
and
http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-300962.html

Here's the fix.
http://www.animalhousedesigns.net/products.htm

river wrote:Hi Bump, I looked at where the right peg attaches to the frame and it seems fine. would there be an obvious crack if a problem exists?

Thanks.

OK, then I don't think it's been done. On my list.

River,
Definitely put it on your "to do" list.

My XRR came with the Precision Concepts foot peg mount......



It's expensive at $180, but a nice piece. http://www.precisionconcepts.net/productdetail.htm?productId=-135353

The website says left footpeg mod, but it's clearly for the right side.....

If I didn't already have the fix on mine, I wouldn't hesitate to go with Kris' (Kritter) mount from Animal House Designs - $75 with exchange.

Good luck on the new .........

Looks great. Yep, don't want my foot hitting the ground at speed.

Bump wrote:
to mount my turn signals off my BD race light. Before that I just drilled a clean hole in my OEM fairing and mounted them there. Q has that fairing on his very clean and fast scoot now. I did the same with the BD LED turn signals on my rear fender. The same guy makes a few other mounts as well.

Bump, which BD race light do you mean? They sell the 35w incandescent that goes in the replacement fairing, or can put an HID in there for a couple hundred more (and stator upgrade). They also sell HIDs, Fuego (4" ?), and some big 8" racing HIDs, from what I see on their site now.

If you don't mean their replacement fairing, how did you mount your headlight?

Thanks.

And don't get teh Ti foot pegs. The Team Honda bikes broke the Ti pegs so they used the SS ones.

Backwoods Boogie wrote:River,
Definitely put it on your "to do" list.

My XRR came with the Precision Concepts foot peg mount......



It's expensive at $180, but a nice piece. http://www.precisionconcepts.net/productdetail.htm?productId=-135353

The website says left footpeg mod, but it's clearly for the right side.....

If I didn't already have the fix on mine, I wouldn't hesitate to go with Kris' (Kritter) mount from Animal House Designs - $75 with exchange.

Good luck on the new .........

I've gone through a few lights. Right now I have a single 8" HID light in the Moly cage. However, I'm not real fond of that HID light. So I'm casually looking for a single and double Halogen setup. Also, Hengeveld said that Halogen throws much more usable shadows and so that is what he races with. On the side of the light there are pivot bolts for the light. I got longer bolts and then put one of the mounts I linked to on here (he makes more than one mount) and attached my blinkers to that light.
Here's what the front looks like:


Here is what the rear looks like:


Before that I had mounted the blinkers on the side of the OEM fairing. That is on Q's bike now and perhaps he has a photo on here.

What my wandering message was getting at also was, what are the laws in your state regarding the headlight? Is a hi/low required? On when bike off? And so forth. Just do the minimum until you get to know your bike and what will perform best for you. For example, my bike came with that real nice billet rear rack you see most places. I really like the idea of it. Then i used it and hated it. Always in the way so it got removed. Also, if you go down that thing gets bent. So tear up a C note replacing the mounting arms...
I popped for the BD HID because I got a smokin deal on it. Now, I'll lilely sell it at some point. I bought a BD 8" halogen for $50 new several months ago but it is for a Truck/buggy. So I can swap the lights. Or I can save it until I get another one cheap and put them on my truck. Eventually i'll find a halogen setup for cheap. I only need the light and Moly cage and not the mounts or anything so those are around from time to time. Especially with the So Cal desert season heating up this month.

The HID lights are too bright and hot of a color. So I can't see anything out there with any detail. The Halogens are better IMHO and cheaper.

The race lighs mount completly different as you can see in the photos.

You'll need to sort out the intake first. Go through it all. No leaks, everything done team Honda style.

river wrote:

Bump wrote:
to mount my turn signals off my BD race light. Before that I just drilled a clean hole in my OEM fairing and mounted them there. Q has that fairing on his very clean and fast scoot now. I did the same with the BD LED turn signals on my rear fender. The same guy makes a few other mounts as well.

Bump, which BD race light do you mean? They sell the 35w incandescent that goes in the replacement fairing, or can put an HID in there for a couple hundred more (and stator upgrade). They also sell HIDs, Fuego (4" ?), and some big 8" racing HIDs, from what I see on their site now.

If you don't mean their replacement fairing, how did you mount your headlight?

Thanks.

I also don't like the mirrors everyone else seems to have without problems. I have the KTM style on a brake perch mount. But I break them ridiculously easy. Seriously, like a buddy walked by my bike on a trailer and hit the mirror and broke it. So I recently got some of the DualStar mirrors and will be installing them soon.
http://www.dual-star.com/index2/Equipment/adjustable_mirror1.htm
They may work slightly less well but they aren't in the way and never break. The wait to get them is huge so order now for spring. They can't make them fast enough.

I have installed a wired power to a 2nd techmounts for my mini-roadbook and will post pics when I can finish all that.

Here's a short ad to the point post on TT about lights and stators. I've never had a Ricky Stator but have heard the quality ain't great. These guys seem to have first hand knowledge of that...
http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=826862

Also, you can apparently get a bulb for the OEM light that will covert it to HID if that's your preference.
"You can also get a HID retrofit kit with the H6M bulb style that should fit the stock light. The light pattern is not as good, but it will save you about $250."

And there's some more about winding your own stator:
"Two choices:

1. BD
   
2. DIY
   

I like cleonard's suggestion of tailoring it to suit your specific wants/needs.

I am going with #2.

I will not do Moose or RS or any other Chinese chit for American
dollars. At best, I'd give $5 or $10 for the Chinese crap, and just use
the carcass for a self rewind."

Bump wrote:I've gone through a few lights. Right now I have a single 8" HID light in the Moly cage. However, I'm not real fond of that HID light. So I'm casually looking for a single and double Halogen setup. Also, Hengeveld said that Halogen throws much more usable shadows and so that is what he races with. On the side of the light there are pivot bolts for the light. I got longer bolts and then put one of the mounts I linked to on here (he makes more than one mount) and attached my blinkers to that light.
Here's what the front looks like:

Is that black thing you see above (and behind) the blinker the frame for the headlight, from Baja Designs? Does it mount to the forks using the hose clamp? Man the 8" lights are expensive, but another question is if you aren't using the Baja Deisgns dual sport headlight fairing, where do you mount all your electronics? I see your horn. Looks like something electric in that round rubber covered pipe-looking thing.

The HID lights are too bright and hot of a color. So I can't see anything out there with any detail. The Halogens are better IMHO and cheaper.

Well this is interesting, as I had been talking with BD about putting the HID Diablo in mine, and they would make the connector to the balast also connect to a light bulb, so I could take the HID bulb out, put a Halogen bulb in, and get legal, then switch back to the HID. So maybe I'm better off with the halogen 55w they will send and shouldn't get the HID? One thing, you are talking about those big race lights whereas I'm talking about the XRL sized headlights in the kit. I wonder if the HID-Halogen comparison is still true at that level?

You'll need to sort out the intake first. Go through it all. No leaks, everything done team Honda style.

You mean the motor intake, so how do I check for leaks other than listen? I am going to rent a compression tester and see how the motor does next. Leak test sounds in line. Can't believe my peg area is not hurt, the bike has obviously been well thrashed. The wheel rims have lots of little nicks etc. but it's the couple of flat spots that bother me more. They are noticeable til you try but I hope they don't cause leaks, the front tire keeps going down. Will fix that soon, what do you use for tire irons?

Thanks again again...

river wrote:

Bump wrote:I've gone through a few lights. Right now I have a single 8" HID light in the Moly cage. However, I'm not real fond of that HID light. So I'm casually looking for a single and double Halogen setup. Also, Hengeveld said that Halogen throws much more usable shadows and so that is what he races with. On the side of the light there are pivot bolts for the light. I got longer bolts and then put one of the mounts I linked to on here (he makes more than one mount) and attached my blinkers to that light.
Here's what the front looks like:

Is that black thing you see above (and behind) the blinker the frame for the headlight, from Baja Designs? Does it mount to the forks using the hose clamp? Man the 8" lights are expensive, but another question is if you aren't using the Baja Deisgns dual sport headlight fairing, where do you mount all your electronics? I see your horn. Looks like something electric in that round rubber covered pipe-looking thing.

Yes, that whole setup is the light. it's two pieces in a sense. The part of the system that hose clamps to the fork tubes. And the light cage that drops into the receiver on the fork tubes. These pictures were taken when I was sorting all this out about a year ago. The horn is actually just dangling there because the BD horn is a joke. I've been asking around and the consensus seems to be getting a horn of a late model Honda sportbike. They are about $10 off eBay.
Once I got it all wired up and moved around and kinda permament I cleaned up the wiring and used a high quality spiral cable wrap to organize it all. Once I get it all sorted out and permanent i'm going to build a dash and create a fuse block within the dash with the computer on top of the dash box. I bought a carbon fiber fly (fishing) box to use for the dash box. Then I'll rewire the whole bike so everything that could require attention is right there. There's a guy in LA who does something similar for MX bikes minus the dash.


The HID lights are too bright and hot of a color. So I can't see anything out there with any detail. The Halogens are better IMHO and cheaper.

Well this is interesting, as I had been talking with BD about putting the HID Diablo in mine, and they would make the connector to the balast also connect to a light bulb, so I could take the HID bulb out, put a Halogen bulb in, and get legal, then switch back to the HID. So maybe I'm better off with the halogen 55w they will send and shouldn't get the HID? One thing, you are talking about those big race lights whereas I'm talking about the XRL sized headlights in the kit. I wonder if the HID-Halogen comparison is still true at that level?

The Diablo is a great setup. I don't hear any complaints about it. If it was me I'd consider a helmet mounted system unless you are really haulin the mail. Upgrade the OEM light and then use a helmet system. The helmet system can be battery or bike powered. And it gives you a lot of flexibility. The light goes wherever you look which great when you are looking around for stuff-like a trail! If you aren't racing, then IMHO night riding is best planned for full moon weekends. So between the moon, your hopped up headlight, and a helmet torch, you are gonna be fine. Severall hours out there in the dark really wears your eyes out anyway. Velco some bicycle LED strobes to yourself and your scoot in case you have a sudden yard sale, crap and nap. They'll find you easier and quicker.

You'll need to sort out the intake first. Go through it all. No leaks, everything done team Honda style.

You mean the motor intake, so how do I check for leaks other than listen? I am going to rent a compression tester and see how the motor does next. Leak test sounds in line. Can't believe my peg area is not hurt, the bike has obviously been well thrashed. The wheel rims have lots of little nicks etc. but it's the couple of flat spots that bother me more. They are noticeable til you try but I hope they don't cause leaks, the front tire keeps going down. Will fix that soon, what do you use for tire irons?

Thanks again again...

take the whole intake apart all the way out to the filter panel. Clean it all. Put it together outside the bike and check it all for fit. If you start seeing a lot of stuff down stream from the filter start to be concerned and dig deep to figure out why and what is the result. This is a good time to install those extensions that allow you to adjust the carb without needing a screw driver. You know, what's done is done. The bike ain't virgin. Neither was mine. But you can stop the problems now if they are there.

Check the swing arm for water. If you live in a wet area then just go ahead and do the weep hole as others do. You're gonna have to check that swingarm bolt too.

The only fastener the team every hit with any goo was the front fender fasteners and they used RV silicone for those.

The best tire irons by far IMHO, and I've bent several , are from this guy: http://www.sopgear.com/new_page_4.htm His name is Jim. Super guy too. You get two tire irons and two axle wrenches so that four tools in two. Because they are Ti it's really four tools for the size of two and the weight of one. Plus, at $30 each they are about the same price as steel and half the price of other Ti stuff. Jim also has a complete set of Ti wrenches coming. Not on his web site yet but he's got them. He does this stuff on the side so it's just for fun and a little money. His ice ax is the shit! Go ahead and get the Buddy he sells. It makes work a lot easier. Or use something else. I have an odd wrench I found at a garage sale years ago that is pipe wrench on one end and tire spoon on the other. Sounds crazy I know but it's tough and small (3-4 inches) and pretty handy. Not on its pedigree but it's also been used as a hammer, a pry bar, and clamp, and a bottle opener.
Somewhere else on this site I posted Johnny Campbell's race pack kit for prerunning the 1000.
If you call Jim tell him Pat Martin said Hello.
There is a company outb there that makes a little light that replaces the one in the rear fender and it is a functioning brake light. So you don't need the whole BD rear light setup. It's cheap too. Like really cheap. I'll look for it if you want.
One nice thing about the Team Honda setup is that Johnny Campbell has broken his left wrist twice. So they really tried to make the bike's ride kinda plush to balance it's tendency to plow through stuff. I have nothing in common with Campbell, well, he lives about 5 miles away and I too have broken my left wrist twice, but I really did notice how easy the bike was to ride after PC worked the suspension.

Good stuff...


And great advice when night riding.

Bump wrote:Velco some bicycle LED strobes to yourself and your scoot in case you have a sudden yard sale, crap and nap. They'll find you easier and quicker.

I just remembered that last year at this time I saw bags of those LED blinker/strobes for nothing at a lot of stores for kids to wear trick or treating. Seriously they were like 2 for a dollar or less. Those $.99 stores oughta have that stuff.

Cuz you sure don't want to be this guy: http://nightstalkerwhips.com/

Backwoods Boogie wrote:Good stuff...


And great advice when night riding.

Bump wrote:Velco some bicycle LED strobes to yourself and your scoot in case you have a sudden yard sale, crap and nap. They'll find you easier and quicker.

Bump wrote:There is a company out there that makes a little light that replaces the one in the rear fender and it is a functioning brake light. So you don't need the whole BD rear light setup. It's cheap too. Like really cheap. I'll look for it if you want.

DRC Moto LED Inner Tail Light Kit

Langston Racing sells it. Part # D45-19-011

http://www.langstonracing.com/eshopprod_cat_2442-19634_product_239414.Tail_Light_Inner_Kit.htm

Thanks very much, ordered one today. I need to get the brake light switch thing sorted out. People reference and "oil pressure switch." What's with that, what does oil pressure have to do with brake lights? Anyway I think I have one, there is a switch near right rear motor area sticking up with two wires, seller said it was banjo switch for brake light. But how do you make the front brake lever trigger the brake light?

Thanks.