Nephew bought a $3000 headache...

[exdirtbiker]

Nephew went to look at a XR650L dual sport... and bought it.
New overbore, HotCam, FCR carb, WB exhaust, etc. OK, not bad.
Ran for 1 mile. He layed it down at 10 mph, then the pig started to smoke. Bad. Then died, he had to push it home.
Nephew thought he just wasted 3 grand ...
We dove in today and found the shop that did the work forgot to tighten the head bolts. All of them. Yes, they popped off with a twist of my (weak) wrist. Edit - loose bolts not the real problem. see below-
I can't find anything else to complain about. Nothing warped. SO he's out $100 worth of OEM gaskets, and he learned a lot.


Not much of a question for you guys, I just needed to vent. Thanks for listening

[GS1150Pilot]

Those motors are bulletproof.

[Nessism]

If crap aftermarket gaskets were used the head torque may be due to gasket compression. Better recheck torque to make sure it doesn't loosen again

[Carter Turk]

I got to ride this thing over the weekend. It's 2004 XR 650 SM bored to 675, 41mm FCR carb, custom headers.
Puts about 60 HP to rear wheel. A real treat to ride on tight twisty roads and not bad on bigger sweepers either.

[850 Combat]

Those motors are bulletproof.

Well, my personal experience is different from that. The 500 Ascot that I bought for my brother got a whole top end on warranty after a tour up the coast through Yosemite, then down 395 back to Orange County. They will overheat and warp cylinders and heads if run too hard. Honda knew what they were doing when they gave the Ascot a 6 month warranty. That said, it was hot, there was a headwind, and I didn't know that he was flat out basically from Bishop to Mojave. I was cruising 75 on the Commando, and he was keeping up.

Also, in the first year of the La Carerra road race between SanFilepe, in 1986 accross the Baja Peninsula between the Gulf of California (or Sea of Cortes, if you like), no Hondas in the singles class finished. In '87, when I rode down there and entered on my street bike, a Ducati 450 Jupiter from the 70s won the Singles class, because David Roper didn't show up on his IOM winning '63 Matchless G50.

[exdirtbiker]

After more thought, and a return to ThumperTalk forum, I now realize the true problem was the wrong head gasket installed. I believe they used an XR600 gasket.
The exhaust ports have no gasket around them, so they were blowing exhaust out through the gap, as if the gasket was blown out. It wasn't blown, just the wrong one.
The holes are related to the smog pump that was removed by PO.
IMG_5255.jpg

[exdirtbiker]

I got to ride this thing over the weekend. It's 2004 XR 650 SM bored to 675, 41mm FCR carb, custom headers.
Puts about 60 HP to rear wheel. A real treat to ride on tight twisty roads and not bad on bigger sweepers either.

I love that bike !
I spy oversize rotors, Excel rims / hubs, steering damper, and those beautiful pipes with carbon cans. They go together into one can or 2 separate cans?
Someone has $$$ and time to play. Aaah, to be young again ...

[Carter Turk]

Well the guy who owns it is 66, said it was like surfing, you need the right tool for the conditions.
The exhaust has dual carbon cans out the back with some dinky led turn signals and brake light on top of the license plate.
Dangui or some such name on the back of cans.

[exdirtbiker]

And the hits keep coming... they put the cam chain tensioner in wrong, too. It rode the cam chain instead of pushing on the back of the guide.
IMG_5364[1].jpg

[GS1150Pilot]

Harry Potter and the Cursed XR.

[limeex2]

Personally, Seeing the issues you are experiencing, I would park the bike, find a good COMPETENT mechanic and have the motor put together properly. I would rather have a $4500 gem I enjoy than a $3000 worthless pile of parts. If your capable of doing the motor work, even better.

[exdirtbiker]

Just as a follow-up:
It's everything I remember about an XR...
First gear waaay too fast for anything you would call "woods".
Bike way too tall
Wheelies at 40 mph by mistake
goofy handling over 60

I don't want to give it back.