new XR650L owner

[mangler]

Hello guys, Just found this site fantastic resource!

Well one day I was driving past my Honda dealer a few weeks back, and I just fell in love with the 05 XR650L. It took a bit of prodding my wife, but she let me do it. So last weekend I bought it. They gave me a great price of 4899.00 I looked up the retail which was like 5599.00 so I figured that was a good deal.

Also bought a CRF50F for my 7 yr old son, hes used to riding in the yard on his pocketbike, so i figure with the suspension of the honda, he will do that much better.

It's too cold here in Chicago to ride for now, so I have the Honda dealer storing it for me for the next few weeks until I can get a trailer.

Are there any Mods that are needed out of the box?

I think I will be ordering the Corbin seat, that looks nice Im a big guy and cant see me riding on the dirtbike style stock seat for long.

Everyone keeps talking about uncorking but I can't find a good thread that explains really what it is.

Last I need to find a nice sized tailbag, so I can take my son for rides and he will have a little back rest, and advise there?

Thanks alot in advance!

Gregg

[babbs]

Just expand the parameter of your archive search to all the posts within the last 12-18 months, and then you will find out exactly what needs to be done. The mods that must be done are actually fairly cheap. Do those first, then start spending the money on exhausts if you really want more.

Remove snorkel

re-jet (and drill slide)

uni-filter

+/- remove smog stuff (no real performance gains, but looks nicer)

Babbs

[1biglung]

Hey Mangler,

Congrats on the new bike !!

Just a couple of notes. The corbin seat is great but if you are big and tall (I'm 6'1 and 260-270) the seat is a bit shorter so your legs are at a steeper angle when sitting up in front. The back side will thank you but your quads won't. I have been switching back and forth trying to decide which seat to keep. A Corbin at stock height would be the ticket for me.

Change the front sprocket from 15t to 14t nice difference and do the mandatory uncorking, jetting and air filter.

Here's a link to the carb mods. for the XR650L

Carb Mods

[Dual_Dog]

Hard to beat the versatility of the XRL. One of the biggest reasons it's still a strong seller even without any real changes in the last 13 years. Huge aftermarket available for the XRL, too.

Pick up a Service Manual, either the Honda or Clymer, if you plan on doing any maintenance or modification work yourself. Invaluable tool for doing it right the first time.

As far as a "back rest" is concerned, look into installing a rear fender rack so you can fashion some type of support or so you can put on a rear bag as you mentioned, using that as a secure platform.

Have fun & keep the rubber side down. ?

[mangler]

Thanks for the reponses guys!

1biglung

I am 5'11 about 270. So lowering a bit would be great as it is I can only touch the balls of my feet to the ground.

Can someone direct me to a known good online vendor for after market parts? like the "rear fendor rack"?

I'll keep searching the mods ?

Thanks much guys!

Gregg

[XR Dude]

I've got a happy trails tail rack on mine and I like it alot. It doesn't have a backrest however. I didn't see alot of variety when I looked for a rack for my bike out there. Promotobillet makes a nice rack but you have to take your tool pouch off for it to mount, unacceptable for me. Both are in the $150 dollar range. I like mine because it mounts the blinkers on the rack itself because it uses the original blinker mounting holes for the rack. This puts my blinkers out of the way of my e series s bend pipe which tries to melt my right blinker off without the correct shield. There web address is www.happy-trails.com/ they sell saddlebags as well as other options. Hope this helps.

[mangler]

Thanks for the info XR

I like the base rack they got there, the one without the side guards. That might be the ticket. Then I can just mount whatever I need to use for a back-rest for my son ther.e

Is that the one you got? This will be a brand new bike, so I really dont want to be drilling holes to get an aftermarket to work. is it a drop in fit?

http://www.happy-trail.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=30&categoryid=12&startpage=1

Only bummer is it doesnt work with the Corbin seat? ?

Thanks in advance!

Gregg

[jlpskydive]

One thing to keep in mind the rear sub-frames are not made to support a ton of weight.

[XR Dude]

Yes this is the exact one I have. Mines an 05 650L as well. It is a drop in fit and I love it. I have heard that it doesn't work on a corbin seat from them as well however I don't know why. The blinkers need to be removed as well and remounted to the rack without their original mounting brackets, I think this makes them look actually better. The rack is a little higher than the tool pouch so if you have a bigger area item to carry like my lunch box it will sit over the tool pouch. jlpskydive is correct they don't recommend carrying alot of weight on them but I plan to reinforce my sub frame anyway as I had the same problem (cracking subframe) with my xr600r(basic same frame). The directions are so-so, I removed my tool pouch for installation ease then remounted it as the rack uses some of the same holes. No redrilling required and you can see what you have to do so its an easy install. Any questions I'll be glad to help. Good luck.

[mangler]

Sounds great. Thanks alot for the info.

Now only if I can understand why it wont work with the Corbin seat and see if there is a way around it not working together without spending 250.00 on the seat and 150.00 on the rack only to find they "will not work at all together". That Corbin seat and rack are exactly what im looking for.

I wasnt planning on putting alot of weight on the rack, just a small bag or whatever maybe a helmet bag. Enough to provide a little back support for my 7yr old son.

Now I just need to it warm up enough so I can pull my boat out of the garage and then I'll take delivery of the bikes. can't wait!

Thanks!

Gregg

[mangler]

Took delivery! the snow is melting! hell yes the excitement grows!

What a nice looking machine, and with my sons matching CRF50, they look like twins ?

Now I just gotta wait for the DMV to start the cycle tests and i am all set. Got my permit though.

Hey the stock seat is not as bad as I remember when i bought it, i think I may put the corbin on the back-burner until i get out to the riding parks to test it.

I keep see'ing posts of what people are paying for it, make sure you guys walk into the Honda dealer with a quote from kawasaki, they can drop the price of the L quite a bit. dont pay over 5k for a new one, they can beat that.