I bought a 1982 XL185S for next to nothing. That's where the good news ends.:crazy:
I was going to lace an aluminum rim to the front hub (and do the same to the rear later) and bought an XR200 wheel for the rim swap. This morning I noticed that the hub currently on the bike is not an XR piece. It appears to be from an earlier model SL/CB, although the brake backing plate is black.
I confirmed that the hub is not an XL by looking at pics on the 'net. :thumbsdn: So now I'm wondering if the whole front end is OEM or not.:foul: :foul:
I measured the fork tube diameter at 31mm, and the fork legs appear to be appropriate for the XL185. Can anyone here confirm the fork tube size for me?
My final question is this: Does anyone know of a direct bolt-on front end (forks, trees, etc) that I can put on this jewel?
I sincerely appreciate your help and suggestions.
Jim

For what it's worth: my '74 XL100 fork tubes measure 31.24mm. I think the same forks were used on several models by just changing spring weight. XL's all use a polished hub I think.

It's a common trick on the XL100's to change from 17" rear and 19" front to 18" rear and 21" front, so possibly someone did something similar on yours, just swapping the wheel for some reason? May have even bent a rim and swapped it for something else.

What size is the wheel, and is that the stock size? Also I think XL100-XL125 use an 11mm front axle.

Thanks for your reply XL-erate.
My 185 currently has an 18" rear and a 21" front, both on steel rims.
The color pic below is my actual bike and the b&w pic is one I got off the net.
All the pics I've seen of XL185s have a black conical hub on the front and a black hub on the rear. The XR200 wheel I purchased has the black conical hub and appears it will bolt right up after a good cleaning.

Well, it looks like a real nice little bike that you can get a whole bunch of enjoyment out of. I've been trying to identify a wheel with a black conical hub in 21", with an alloy rim. Does yours have like a 6 or 8 pointed star shaped metal piece where hub mounts to frame?

I have a set of forks and wheele [alu rim] off of a XR 200 that had the four valve head , I think it was a 84. The forks are 36mm, axel is 15mm.
The brake hub has the tab broke off that the cable goes through. Black
conical hub. The axel on my 75 XL 125 is 10mm near as I can tell.I can take a picture of it tomorrow. fwiw

That last question I asked above was pretty ignoramus, sorry, tired hah!

What I meant to say is does your XR or XL hub have a steel insert, sort of a 9 pointed star, that is riveted to aluminum hub on the side opposite brake shoes? Trying to identify an aluminum conical hub 21" wheel I have here and so far no luck. Also on the brake shoe side there's a rubber plug in a hole, with the words 'Check Lining' cast into hub. Thanks for any tips.