New to XR650R....

Just joined the forum--got a 2000 XR650R today at a really good price, couldn't turn it down. PO is a riding buddy and part of the deal was he would get it plated with street title. That is in the works and is just awaiting issue of the title so I picked it up. Sitting in the garage with my other dual sports--it is the big dog. With 45+ years of riding under my rear end I can understand most of the discussions. Looking forward to a long relationship with the BRP--well at least as long as my right leg holds out

Welcome the decomp lever will help to save your right leg

If you can get the jetting dialed in then it should start very easily. Do whatever you have to do in order to sort out the jetting. For me, I just recreated the Team Honda setup so I could use their jetting.

I actually hated this bike until I had them sort it out for me. I inherited what I call a "tinkerer's setup" from the PO and it was a mess. I could barely start the bike when cold. And sometimes I just couldn't start it. So I ditched the PO's whole setup and bought a T-4 pipe and had PC rebuild and jet my carb and add the HRC cam. Since then I've added one of the Team's ported heads. Next is a milled HRC piston. But the point is that they send me a jet kit for whatever elevation I am at.

The bikes takes a few kicks when cold. But once hot it starts as easy as my 2smokers except for the decomp starting procedure part. I have a BD estarter on it but rarely use it. I installed it when I was having fits starting the damn thing. Then, after getting PC to sort it all out, I started regretting adding the starter. It's heavy and just adds more complexity that I don't want to maintain.

I learned a lot building this bike. I'm thinking of building a 2nd bike that is a lot leaner than the one I ride now. Watch for used parts. I got almost everything on my bike either used, or from some sort of closeout. I got a lot of parts from motard guys on CL who bought stuff and never installed it for some reason.

Mine starts on the 2nd kick every time, even with flip flops. Just "uncork" it and jet it correctly.

Let me correct the first statement: Unless I drop it and it floods.

Welcome mang.

Lilbro wrote:Mine starts on the 2nd kick every time, even with flip flops. Just "uncork" it and jet it correctly.

Let me correct the first statement: Unless I drop it and it floods.

Lol! Ain't that the truth....

I kicked it so hard the valves floated!

Here's some old info I had in a folder I think from the old dirtrodders site:
XR650R STARTING TIPS

Cold starting: The only difference between cold starting and my regular starting procedure is that when the engine hasn’t been running I’ll use the choke. XRs have two different choke positions—all the way up is full choke, and one notch down is half choke. I use full choke when the bike is cold; the bike will let you know when it wants half choke—it will eventually start running roughly in the full choke position. As the bike is warming, I try to keep the choke in the position that allows the bike to run smoothly, which means in just a few moments you go from full choke, to half choke, to no choke.
As for a typical XR (and most other four strokes), here is what I’ve found works. Push the kickstarter down slowly with your foot until you feel a hard spot. The kickstarter will stop (you may feel a bunch of resistance immediately or you may have to run the kickstarter through its range of motion once or twice before you feel that resistance that stops your foot). Next, pull the compression release lever in and push the kickstarter just past the hard spot—moving the kickstarter about an inch or two—then let the kickstarter come back up to it’s resting position. It’s now ready to be kickstarted. You don’t have to snap at the kickstart lever like you would a two stroke. Think of it as using your foot to shove the lever downward; it doesn’t have to be two-stroke quick but you want to put your weight into it, to get that mass of heavy engine parts—piston, crank, flywheel—in motion. To further decrease the amount of effort necessary to get these parts moving quickly, put the bike in neutral. When you give the bike this first real kick it should start.
Starting a flooded bike: After crashing, I pick up my bike, hold the throttle wide open, compression release in, kill button pushed in, then I kick the bike through four or five times. Next, I go through my normal starting procedure (no choke, the bike is warm). If the bike doesn’t start on the first kick, I repeat the flooded procedure.

Racing start: At the beginning of a race, I use the normal starting procedure. Before the flag drops, I have the kickstarter in the ready-to-be-started position. I put the bike in gear and with the clutch in. I roll the bike back and forth just a little until the rear wheel moves freely, this is an indication that the clutch is completely engaged, so the amount of drag on the engine is minimal. If the bike won’t roll freely with the clutch in, it should be adjusted accordingly. You can’t grab a handful of throttle as you start a four-stroke—if you do it will stall. For this reason, I’m not known for great starts because I have to give up a bike length or two waiting for the bike to be running before I start twisting the throttle and dumping the clutch. I start in first gear.

Common mistakes: Most four strokes I’ve ridden, when jetted properly, don’t want any throttle when being started. It’s habit for most two-stroke riders to twist the throttle as they kick. If I’m helping someone start their bike, I’ll first use no throttle. If it doesn’t start I’ll try using just a fraction of throttle. If it comes to life, that generally means the pilot jet or air screw is too lean or the idle is too low and the engine isn’t getting enough fuel. If the bike had not started I would then go through my flooded procedure to see if it might be getting too much gas, meaning the jetting is too rich.

Four strokes don’t foul spark plugs like two strokes, so don’t jump to the conclusion that this is the problem if the bike won’t start. Spark plugs can get a drop of water on the electrode and stop working, so, if the bike has been around a lot of moisture, you might need to pull the plug out and dry it off. When I know my bike is jetted properly and my starting method is correct, the first thing I do if the bike won’t start immediately is drain the carburetor. It’s easy to get some water in fuel, and fuel does go bad when sitting in a carburetor for a while.

Here's what Borynak says:
Starting a flooded bike.

There are two drills to starting a downed pig But, First if you crash...lay it down, fall over (that last one is all the time for me). Make sure you don't have GAS coming out of the air box. This is where most of the argument will come form.

Most will tell you to hold the decompression lever in, while holding the kill button and kicking the bike through 3~5 times, up to ten times to clear out the fuel. Then at times if it was a real good spill there is so much fuel in the cylinder this can still not work and you start all over again.

The Race way:

You pick yourself up off the ground in a daze wondering where the bike is. Find the bike and pick it up. Fight the pain and hope you are pointing the right way. You pull the throttle wide open and grab the front brake! This is important....it stops the throttle from moving while you kick the bike over. Find TDC and kick as hard as you can and go! I have had a few argue with this but, once it is done without the throttle moving it works!

The main thing to know is the bike has way to much fuel in the cylinder to start so, you need to add lot's of air to get the fuel to fire. If you kick the bike over slowly to clear the engine and the spark lights the fuel the bike is on fire! Starting the bike the Race way pulls everything into the cylinder not back firing into the air box.

Some of my good friends that I ride with didn't believe it and it did not work for them. But, once they got the front brake thing down it was almost every time one kick...two at the most....

Hold the throttle wide open, holding the front break.....find Top Dead Center and kick!

Once you use a pumper the stock carburetor just isn't any fun! If you don't mind the trouble of the initial setup (lot's of jets) the Mikuni was two years trouble free for me and it's a better (smoother) carburetor. I have owned and ran all three. I made the stock carburetor work....it can work but, it is nothing like a pumper...If you haven't ridden a BRP balls to the wall, drop offs, popping up and over walls, just looking for the edge, then you might never know the difference. The Edelbrocks biggest fame is how easy it is to tune and its ability to get the Oinker started and keep it running, no matter what! I have my Edelbrock pored out to be a 40mm X 42mm and it rips on my bike. The Mikuni TM40 can be tuned to perfection but, that takes major time and effort but, it is worth it! It is power on everywhere all the time, never lagging always spot on through out the throttle movement. But, a pumper is not needed for the casual weekend warrior or fire road rider but, it still is nice even there!

Dave P wrote:

Lilbro wrote:Mine starts on the 2nd kick every time, even with flip flops. Just "uncork" it and jet it correctly.

Let me correct the first statement: Unless I drop it and it floods.

Lol! Ain't that the truth....

My bike has the Edelbrock carb on it from the day I purchased it, and I have never had a problem starting cold or hot. And for that matter it just doesn't flood even when laid down, so I can't speak for the stock carb or anything else out there, but I must say the Eddie has performed well for me.