This started a number of years ago, in fact about 14 years ago if I remember right.  My dad had found this cherry condition 1986 XR600 locally, and when I say cherry, this thing has hardly had the paint worn off the frame by the footpegs, and the header paint was still all black.  He picked up the bike, but since it was a little too big for him, he didn't want to keep it, so he sold it to a family friend of ours.

This friend has had the bike stored in his barn for the last 14 years.  He rode it occasionally for the first 4 years or so he had it, then ran the carbs out of gas, cleaned it, and put it up on a stump in his barn, where it would stay until today.  He partially disassembled the bike; plastics off, airbox out, wheel off, etc., so in order for me to pick it up, I had to put part of it back together in his barn.  I had to remount the tire on the rim, replace the tube, which I pinched and patched three times trying to get the tire spooned back on ...  Anyway, I got the tire mounted, and rolled the bike out, to find out the front disc brake had seized too, so I had to take off the caliper to roll it out.  The bike was covered in the typical dust and dirt from setting in a barn for a long time.

Brought it back to my folks' place, and continued reassembly of the bike; plastics back on, dump the varnished gas, and put new stuff in.  It took me a while to figure out where everything went, like a giant puzzle, but I eventually got it all back together.  I pulled the bike out to start it, cycled it through a few times with the compression release, bumped past TDC, and kicked...............  BOOM!!! Fired right up first kick; I was impressed.

For those of you who have not had the privaledge of riding a dual-carbed XR600, it really is like no other XR600.  When that secondary carb opens up, the thing just pulls.  My main ride is my XR650R, which has a LOT of stuff done to it.  And while the old 600 doesn't have the mid to upper end my 650R does, I would venture to say the 600 is as strong or stronger off the bottom than my 650R, and thats saying something.  Plus that distinctive cam/whine sound that the old RFVC heads make has a very unique sound that the newer thumpers just do not have.

Since the bike has made it through all these years without getting thrashed, I would like to keep it in stock running condition, and I don't want to subject it to the tortures of the off-road that I put my 650R through.  And in my third picture, you'll also see why else I don't want to subject it to anymore thrashings.  However, I do want to ride and enjoy the bike.  I want to dual sport the bike, and make it into a supermoto.  Washington state changed its laws about making strictly off-road bikes street legal this last January, and since then I've gone dual sporting crazy; converted two bikes so far, and about to do two more.  And this old XR in supermoto trim would be a SWEET bike to carve around the hills on.

Anyway, here's a few pics.  Haven't cleaned it yet; wanted to get it put back together and running before I start digging into it again.  I'll post some better pics after she's cleaned up...





And for those who really know a rare XR item when they see it, check this out!!!!

Edited by Thumpmeister, 20 July 2012 - 10:03 PM.

Very Cool!

Looks like an awesome project bike.  It'll be nice to start from a clean slate with that thing in completely stock trim.

Update!  Cleaned up the bike, added the street tires, and added the dual sport kit.

The street tires are temporary so that I can get it plated, as I need them to do that.  In the mean time, I'll figure out what I want to do; supermoto setup on stock hubs?  Not quite sure yet.

The dual sport kit is a Baja Designs one I picked up used.  It took some figuring out as to how I wanted it to work, and to get all the wiring correctly, but thankfully the kit also came with a wiring diagram so that I was able to splice it into the stock harness.  The downside; the stock stator doesn't quite put out enough power to power everything.

I dual sported my 650R with a Tusk kit from Rockymountainmc.com, and that kit actually works much better than the Baja Designs one, mostly because with the LED signals, it uses very little power to operate.  Plus, I also installed a high output stator, so power isn't nearly the issue.

Looking back on both conversions, I wish I had done the Tusk conversion on the 600, mostly because the stock stator on the 600 doesn't seem to even be as potent as the stock stator on the 650R.  It WORKS, but to make all the lighting work correctly, you cannot be at idle.  However, I picked up the used Baja Designs kit for $50, and only had to add a tail light (WPS style, I love the factory look on the XR's), brake light switch, and a mirror perch on the left side; all the electronics were pretty much there, including battery and rectifier.

Inspection will probably occur later this week, and I can't wait to get this thing out in the corners to rip it up!