carburetor question 02 XR 650 L
 

Hi freaks,

just bought a 2002 xr 650 l and will ship it to my location in Central America. My question is: the Honda got this damn California thing on about the air gas stuff. What do I have to do with the carburetor (the seller told me about a aftermarket kit with the cover bolts for the cylinder, a different thing to replace in the carb and some items to take out of the muffler. The reason is to get more power.
Anybody can give some advice and contact for the parts???
Thanx in advance
Bikertom

Hiya dude,

Baja Designs do a smog block off kit for around $20.00, is has the plates for the head and block off bits for the carburettor vent hoses and airbox, fairly simple to follow instructions...website is www.bajadesigns.com. Check there may be a washer in your pipe just where the header pipe joins the muffler which you should take out to improve exhaust flow.

Later
Mark

California models can become a huge pain in the BUTT, when it comes to parts.

Not just carbs but, things like exhuasts and many other things can be different.

And believe it or not California isn't the only place on earth. Bottom line , Califonia parts can get scarce.

Good luck.

Thanks,
Todd Bellew

see my website, www.sopgear.com for hopping up XRL on the cheap

And similar re carbing specs at: www.desertriders.co.uk

I've never had a new bike like it that needed so much work out of the crate - (in fact for a while I was not sure which bit was the crate and which bit was the bike ;-) but once tuned, etc, it was the best desert bike I ever used.

Chris S

------------------
Author of Sahara Overland and the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, among other things

http://www.sahara-overland.com and http://www.adventure-motorcycling.com

[This message has been edited by Chris Scott (edited 24 August 2003).]

Hey Chris,

So I'm wondering what you have to say about why you chose the XRL over the KLR, after you spent some time on the KLR in the Yukon. Did you think the XR was just better suited for the desert, or did the KLR leave a bad taste in your mouth? Yeah, I know there's the watercooling issue and the suspension is crap (but that's not too hard to improve), but it seems like there's so much less bodging to do to get it right for adventuring, especially in regards to the tank. I guess that's my biggest concern - how confident were you that you could spend a year riding with that tank setup and not have it fail? And wasn't the weight up REALLY high?

I'm wondering because I'm almost certain that when I do a RTW or 'round Africa, the KLR will be the easiest to set up with a 40L tank and sturdy racks. I'm selling my XRL to spend a couple years getting back into racing on an XRR and save some money for some more trips, and thinking about the future.

I also spent some time recently on an F650GS and really liked it. That's a strong consideration also, but I also like the fact that the KLR is one of the cheapest bikes around, and hopefully makes the carnet less expensive as well.

I still don't have faith that KTMs are reliable enough... they're extremely popular here now, but every owner complains about all the little things that aren't ironed out yet.

hey, Wright. if you fit the tank as you would to an XR600, its spot on. trouble is, you have to modify the tank underside to clear the frame as the XRL is slightly different to the 600. the seat ends up very high AND very crap, but I get 800km from a 43 litre tankful at 100kmh on gravel with Touratech 35 litre boxes and a spare rear - now fitted.
my biggest concern is chain life and that's down to the dust.
how's the racing going?
Rich
PS very glad I did the kickstart mod as I've had to use it 4 times, now. still trying to figure what causes it not to start on the button, but no hurry