93,94,95,96,97,98 ........How are these older WHITE 650L's holding up?

[Huffa 2]

Got a few ?'s actually.

Engine wise, does any one know if from 93-98 they are identical parts wise or Honda made some minor improvements thru the years?

You guys with the real early ones 93,4,5.........any major problems?

What shoud I expect to pay for a 94 that is very close to immaculate condition with a bit less then 5000 miles on it?

93 was the 1st year of the 650L, is that correct?

Mind telling me what year you have, what you paid for it, how many miles on it and what condition it was in?

Thanks!

[Beyond The Pale]

50,000 is a lot of miles. It may be ready for some engine work. The valves usually are the first thing to need attention. The rings also wear out. Normally neither stops the bike, but they do reduce power. It happens very slowly so you don't really notice it.

Another expensive wear spot is the countershaft. The front sprocket can wear off the splines on the countershaft. It is expensive to replace because the engine cases need to be split to get to it.

93 is the first year and very little changed over the years. The engine design is older still.

[Huffa 2]

50,000 is a lot of miles. It may be ready for some engine work. The valves usually are the first thing to need attention. The rings also wear out. Normally neither stops the bike, but they do reduce power. It happens very slowly so you don't really notice it.

Another expensive wear spot is the countershaft. The front sprocket can wear off the splines on the countershaft. It is expensive to replace because the engine cases need to be split to get to it.

93 is the first year and very little changed over the years. The engine design is older still.

?OOOOPS, I met 5000 ! I'll change that.

"engine design older still" .........so your saying it's quite simular to the 600 motor?

[Beyond The Pale]

?OOOOPS, I met 5000 ! I'll change that.

"engine design older still" .........so your saying it's quite simular to the 600 motor?

5000 miles is nothing. No worries there.

Yes, the engine is a modified XR600. The crank is different for the electric start and is stroked 2mm. The combustion chamber is a little larger for lower compression. The gears in the trans are different, but the complete trans is swappable to the XR600. The kickstarter was deleted from the 650L. There were a few changes over the years, but the basic design first appeared in the 1983 XR500R and XL600R. Can you say time proven design?

[Huffa 2]

Well thats good to know:thumbsup:

They did change them to a simpler single carb also. I keep reading that some say the duels were better, some say the single.

I'll take the simplicity of the single, even if the duelies were better.

I do remember test riding a freinds 650 many years ago and my 1st thought were : "My old 600 would smoke this thing, it's a dog!"

I guess that is more due to the polution junk (I know you can take off) then it having a single carb though?

[Beyond The Pale]

The 650L engine is de-tuned for longevity. The 650L is only 8.6 to 1 compression where the 600 is 9 to 1. The CV carb is also not the best on a dirt bike. Look for Dave's mods which fix most of the worst problems with the stock carb setup. It really helps the bike run right.

The dual carbs were good for power, but not so good for setup and tuning. The starting and low throttle operation issues forced Honds to drop the dual carb setup. The top end power went down by about 10%.

[martinfan30]

alot of the lower power on the "L" has to do with the ignition curve of the xrl cdi unit. much milder in advance than the 600r.

[jaredc28]

I have a 93' in very good condition. Bought it in October with 18,000 plus miles on it, paid $2,000 for it. It had a big bore (675cc), larger header pipe, supertrapp exhaust, clarke 4.7 L tank, and excel rims.

I just did Dave's mods, and upped the jetting. It now has over 19,000 miles and it pulls hard. I get some spark knock when it is very hot and it is under a load. I expect it to run for at least 3 more years to work and back every day (35 miles) and trail riding on the weekends.

?

[Huffa 2]

I have a 93' in very good condition. Bought it in October with 18,000 plus miles on it, paid $2,000 for it. It had a big bore (675cc), larger header pipe, supertrapp exhaust, clarke 4.7 L tank, and excel rims.

I just did Dave's mods, and upped the jetting. It now has over 19,000 miles and it pulls hard. I get some spark knock when it is very hot and it is under a load. I expect it to run for at least 3 more years to work and back every day (35 miles) and trail riding on the weekends.

?

Thanks for that info!

Tune me in with "Daves Mods" I keep hearing mentioned, is there a seperate link to read all these mods or what? I have not looked around here in a while, so excuse me if it's "right around the corner" from here .

[jaredc28]

Thanks for that info!

Tune me in with "Daves Mods" I keep hearing mentioned, is there a seperate link to read all these mods or what? I have not looked around here in a while, so excuse me if it's "right around the corner" from here .

Here is the write up on the subject: http://www.4strokes.com/tech/honda/xr650lcarbmods/

...and here is the link to the video: http://www.violetinfo.com/davesmods.wmv

P.S. In the video he doesn't show the part about drilling the slide (very important) read the written instructions for this part!

GOOD LUCK!?

[AlbinoPig]

I have 2 '93 XR650L's. One has 13,000 miles. The other has 18,700 miles. Both are still going strong and work just like a brand new one (except mine are better because they have been de-smogged). I just happen to prefer the white bikes. The one in my avatar is the 18,700 mile bike.