xr650L clarifications wanted pls.

[stormsearcher]

fer the last few months been lookin fer the perfect overlander and think the 650l is ons of the choices i have narrowed down to. cant seem to find a tenere 3aj.anyway they r too old.i commute 170kms daily on a cbr1000f. my second bike say the xr650l can be commuter?i dont ride in city but outskitrs and speed limits are from 80kmph to 110 in somew places. can the xr650l handle such rides?if its an overlander it should nt have any hazzles is my guess. i will be riding the outbacks sometime and i suppose it can handle the dirt to a fair extent i suppose? clarifications wanted pls.

[RichLees]

the XRL will handle pretty much anything. I wouldn't say commuting in London is too much fun, but if you've got some rough roads, too, it'll soak up the bumps. it'll handle serious overlanding too - I road 35000km in Africa last year. that said, there are other bikes like the Transalp and Africa Twin that can do easy off-roading. some people use them for really ragged stuff, but that's where the XRL comes in. on a scale from commuting to rallying, with overlanding in between, I'd rank them: Africa Twin, Transalp, XRL, XRR.

[stormsearcher]

actually before relocating to oz i was thinkin klr650. seems bulletproof in usa etc, but was told no go in oz.and even the transalp. those bikes popular in other countries dont seem to have much of a following in oz, there r only a handfulla africa twins.tenere, bmw, xr seems to be the flavour here.

[EL LOCO DE LA MOTO]

I HAD A '93 XR 650L AND NOW I HAVE A '04 AND I LOVE IT MORE AND MORE, THEY RUN FOR EVER, AND IT WILL TAKE YOU ANYWHERE. YOU CAN GO 75MPH (120 KM/H) NO PROBLEM, IT CAN GO 100 MPH BUT IT MOVES AND IT IS TO HARD ON THE MOTOR.
IT IS CHEAP AND SIMPLE TO WORK ON IT.
I DO HATE THE SEAT, BUT YOU CAN GET A NICE ONE AFTERMARKET.

[RichLees]

I imported my XRL from Oz so at least they are available there when you relocate. they are horribly restricted new and you'll have to remove the big washer from the inlet to the silencer (not the downpipe). you might have to put it back in when you take the bike back to Oz ...

[MJC]

Hiya

ive got a XR650L now in namibia so 28000kms trough africa, stripped the weight in the desert around Chinguetti and its very capable offroad machine, was riding with a chap on a KTM adventurer at the time, did everything I asked of it and more, in my opinion its the perfect overlanding bike for africa. It can cruise at a 100kmh no probs but i stick to around 90kmh, never know whats gonna run out in front of you in africa..haha

Wouldnt change it for the world. Listen to Richlees about the mods, he knows his stuff.

safe travels

[scooter1100]

XRL is fine offroader but has a small tank oem. any single buzzes at hiway speeds, any more than 2 hrs and you'll need a good stretch. I have a corbin and a gel seat pad on my 97, helps but still not great for touring. Offroad, it'll do anything you want as long as you can touch the ground. There's lots of parts oem and jobber available.

[This message has been edited by scooter1100 (edited 25 August 2004).]

[jim stanley]

I generally cruise between 105-120kph on my 650L. No problems. Also raced it in the national rally of Ecuador and rode it like a 125 at redline for 2000km. They are tough.

See my site sopgear.com for mods I did before South America. Not included is that you need to re-inforce the subframe for heavy loads and hard pounding

------------------
Back on the road again.

sopgear.com

[RichLees]

just to be childish for a moment, I've had 160kmh on the road and 145kmh off road with full luggage and those are GPS speeds. I also got a reading of 661kmh once, but figure that was GPS error as I was leaning over the bars ...
bad seat? bollox! you get used to it after 800km in a day. actually, Ernie's steel rack was a blessing and the panniers were the right height to rest a leg/butt cheek on

[tarisius]

Hi there

I would like some ideas on how to reinforce the rear frame. Mine broke twice, the fist time in Mauri but got to italy and got it. Now between Nigerian and Cameroon it happened again, I have been using a tail rack from happy trails (the side racks were discarded long ago)Max weigth on it 15 kg.
I am in Nigeria and to find good welding is difficult but hopefully I will manage.
Is it possible to have a complete rack from Ernie and if yes how I get in touch with him?
thanks in advance for any help

[RichLees]

Ernie is at www.overland-solutions.com
I don´t think he could do you a rack without the bike as he welds bits to the frame
you need to get a good welder (go see the oil pipeline people!) to put gussets in at the bottom and top of the sub-frame

fyi - I carried up to 100kg on Ernie´s rack without any structural damage: all my gear and a 60kg stone rose for a mate who had bust his leg