XR650R Tire hits exhaust pipe

[djwebb]

I just purchased a slightly used 00 xr650r and noticed that the tire(110/100-18) had worn on the exhaust pipe as well as on the right side fender plastic. I thought not a big deal at purchase time, but have been out riding twice and notice the wear is much worse. Is the subframe bent?... there sure isn't any visible signs of damage on the bike.. When I compress the rear suspension by hand I have about a 1/2inch clearance. Does anyone know what gives?... ?

[loufish]

Is it a stock pipe? is the rear wheel lined up correctly? I'd check the rear wheel, if it's crooked, it will also wear out chains.

[TT650R]

With the spring at the rear shock set slightly spongier than factory settings mine will rub when my buddy(about 230 lbs)rides it,I weigh 195 and it does not..How much do you weigh and Have you tried cranking down on the spring or any other rear shock adjustments?By the way my bike has a D207 160 17 on it that is much shorter than stock tire,are you running knobbies or other?When mine done it I just assumed it was another quirk I had to live with(or not let larger people on it)...Good luck.........N.T.

[djwebb]

Loufish,

Yes it is a stockpipe, remember it is wearing on the plastic too. I double checked the wheel it is in line and just to be sure I measured each side from the front of the swingarm. Thanks anyway.

TT650R,

I thought you might be onto something there so I went out and checked the compression dampening and rebound settings, they are factory according to the manual. When I got the bike I checked the preload on the spring cause it was very soft, and I tightened it back to factory settings. I weigh 185. I am thinking it must be the subframe that is bent, although I don't know how I will be able to tell for sure, I can't see any signs of any bending. Thanks for the input though!

Any other Ideas?....Anybody.....

[lkr]

If the bike has ever been laid down on the right side the muffler takes most of the abuse. Look at the muffler for signs of this. If it has, the muffler mount could be bent letting the mufflet rub on the tire. My sons xr70 has done this many times. Also check for play in the swingarm bearings or swingarm bolt torque settings. If there is any wear in this area the swingarm can flex when riding enough to rub the muffler. I suspect that your swingarm may also be bent if the tire is getting into the platic.

[qadsan]

I've seen plenty of what I thought were bent subframes on XR650R's in the past, noted by the rear fender being slightly catywampus when you look at it straight on from the rear. I always thought the inertia from the weight of the exhaust/silencer causes the subframe to slightly bend in one direction (from jumping, whoops, etc.), causing the rear fender to appear canted when you look at it from the backside. I've never given it much thought, but I know I've seen more than a dozen XR650R's with rear fenders all bent to the same side. Perhaps you can use a Texas-Do-All to bend it back if that's really your problem.

[HOOLPE]

Try measuring from the floor to the tip of each

side of the subframe and check those dimensions

against a new bike at the dealer. My fender has

been slightly tweaked towards the exhaust side

since day one.

[billyj7175]

hmmmmmmm....mine cants towards the left.....it did the day I picked it up...

[Portland_650R]

Mine did that from the day I got it; also rubs the white plastic mudflap on occasion. I run 8 psi out here in the woods... may have something to do with it.

[djwebb]

Thanks for all the input guys,and I think I got the problem solved, not in a way you might think though. I put the bike on the stand took the exhaust and fender off then hung a plumb from the inside of the subframe down and have about 1mm (less than 1/16th)and thats without the plastic fender mounted. So I tried torquing the subframe over (couldn't find a "Texas do all") with a 2X4 and measured again, I gained myself about an 1/8". Now I wanted to test it out so I went to the mx track close to home (I know the bike is not made for this kind of riding, but it has been a lousy spring and there is still lots of snow out in the bush, I'm in Canada eh!) I was feeling good doing some doubles, clearing a table top that up until then had me worried. It was all feeling really good, except for the dreaded woops. On about the 10th lap the bike got away on me, stood up on the back end, I had no choice but to bail. when I caught up to my poor brp the exhaust was folded under the fender like a piece of cardboard you crumple up for the garbage, and the left side handlebar was snapped off..... On the bright side I don't have to worry about that tire hitting the exhaust anymore. Ouch that hurt,.. not me,... the poor brp!!. Now I need some good advice on a new exhaust, maybe thats another topic though.

[qadsan]

So sorry to hear about getting off the bike the hard way. I really like the stock exhaust with the HRC tip and if it were me, I think I'd find someone who bought a new exhaust and offer them a little cash for their stock system. I recently talked to a guy who had a complete XR650R exhaust system for sale from header to silencer with the stock tip and he wanted $50 for the whole thing. I called him back two weeks later because I wanted to make him an offer to buy it as a spare and he said he threw it away because nobody made him any offers and his wife wanted the garage cleaned up. If you don't like the stock exhaust, this is a great time to upgrade to something lighter that looks nicer like a White Brothers E-Series silencer.

[J-KTM]

Hey sorry to hear about that!!!

[pwisz]

Hey dude, maybe its time to get a real bike like your neighbor Jeff or his good buddy Pete. Just kiddin'. Jeff told me about your high speed get off. I think quadsan is right. I did quite a bit of research on the 650R exhaust before I traded mine and it looked like the E-series was the right way to go. I also think that the Honda power up kit was pretty good too. Part of it was to change out the exit point on the factory muffler, handled by your new one now. The other is to open up the restriction on your intake. It was a new part but I think you can modify your existing with a Dremel or something. There are a couple of panels to remove in the airbox. You have to change out the mainjet. You'd have to buy a new one. There is also a new needle but I've got that one for ya. Give me a call and we'll get ya rollin. I'd print my number but I've probably pissed off all the XR folk with my earlier comments. Hope the knee feels better.