I'd be interested to hear what they say about the oil burn ... I've had two and I've ridden on long trips with two others. both of mine (but neither of the others) intermittently swigged oil. normally it was about 250ml in 1000km, but once (80kmh) one of them necked 400ml in 500km. as far as I'm aware, I didn't lose compression or power ... it just meant adding oil from time to time.

I rate the TKC80 from continental for durability- I got 10,000 miles out of my rear (80% on road, but 90% of the roads were bad) and even more off the front. This was on a heavily laden 750 V-twin. Never even had a puncture...

Well, the diagnosis is as follows - turns out I have a leaky exhaust valve which is the cause of the majority of the compression loss, although they are going to change the rings too as I'm sure the crank case shouldn't be pressurising as much as it is (even though they 'wet' tested the compression and it didn't seem to pass any oil?), certainly the oil coming out each change is as black and as thin as you like...

Good job the bike came with a 6 month warranty - but admittedly, it is a very rare problem.

They did say that oil consumption is a known trait of that engine at highway speeds, so like you say, I guess you just need to keep an eye on it and top up every so often...

So, fingers crossed I'll be back on (and off) the road in a couple of days...

JennyMo xxx

My XR650R is a 2000 and I do burn about 250ML for 2500 miles ( nothing bad )I live in Florida and the heat ,sand riding and my light weight of 210 pound make the bike work hard sometime .I do not burn as much on road if I stay below 65MPH butif I go over 80MPH the oil loss is about 25ML for 1500 miles.
I am curious to see if you guy did any work on the bike :
_to handle better on road at high speed ( no front fender dancing in the wind)...
_how much weight do you carry for long travel ( thinking about long crossing riding off road)
_I now have a fan (ktm ) does it fit with the safari tank
_Did your bike oer heat in the desert at low speed
_any good idea for prep that you have done yourself and recommande.

lOVE THE BIKE BUT THE SUBRAME IS NOT THE BEST FOR EXTENDED TRIP.
Thanks for any good comments.

Hi HendiKaf - have a look at this thread:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...k-pack-30816-2

for pictures of my XR650R on a recent trip around the western USA - that should answer many of your questions, but here is some more info:

I fitted a low front fender, but mainy because it looks good with the rallye fairing kit x - I'm not sure if the regular high fender would have much effect on handling, unless you were going really really fast - and let's face it, the Baja boys do ok with a high fender x

The one problem with a low fender (as you can see in one of those pictures) is that it can clog up if the ground gets really sticky and muddy. I mounted mine about 2" above the tyre, but it was the sides that jammed up with mud - I had to remove it, rescue the bike, then re-fit it once I'd got to drier ground.

I used an XR's Only billet rack, and that was fine for supporting my tail pack (see the other thread) - I'd say that was 10-15 Kg certainly not has heavy as a 20l can full of fuel. The dry bag with my tent and sleeping kit was on the seat behind me.

I would say there is plenty of room for a fan when the Acerbis tank is fitted - it fits around the smog kit (which is mounted on the right hand radiator tabs on US models). I removed the smog pump asap of course! and had the larger reg/rec mounted there on the bracket originally, although it got a bit hot so I moved it to the front fairing support.

Bike didn't overheat at low speed in the desert, as I wasn't going at low speed in the desert, only fast... ahem x

I'm a total convert to steering dampers off-road now - I have the GPR system with the replacement top triple clamp and fat bar conversion - stops that front end wiggle (that can be so hard to catch, and usually spits you off) and rides like it's on rails...

People say the 650R is a bit under braked (I thought it was fine to be honest), but I still replaced the discs with Breaking Wave rotors, with the oversize 260mm front - the set-up they use on the Baja racers.

I've also fitted the Boechat electric start kit, 250w stator (to charge the battery and run the twin headlights) and a GPS.

Hope that helps...

JennyMo xxx

Hey JennyMo

Who makes the fairing on your mighty XR ?

I've just bought a Supermoto'd XR650R, there is a whole pile of street stuff to rip off and sell before I turn it into a Desert machine and I think the fairing is just what I need - amongst many other things

Can you tell me who makes 'em and if they might ship them to England

cheers

Dick

Great info man, but I am not sure that the electric start is worthit the money , mine start pretty well as it is.

I agree, I was surprised how well the bike started when I got it (very much like my 400 which is no problem) - and yes, the Boechat kit is very expensive... however, it certainly is worth it once you've dropped it, up to your knees in mud, fully loaded with luggage etc etc - on a loaded touring bike I'd say it's invaluable, and means there is no reason to buy a KTM 640 or BMW X-challenge which were the other two contenders I considered... Even with the fairing kit and e-start, the price of the XR650R in the US means it was still less than a KTM 640 would be in the UK...

Dick - the fairing kit is by African Queens - another expensive piece of kit from Europe, but again, I think it looks better than any other out there? No problem shipping to the UK, that's what they did for me...

However, it is not a simple bolt on and ride piece of kit - it needs a fair bit of prep of the gel coat and painting, and you need to use your own bolts/rubber mounts to mount the faring to the headlamp/instrument bracket yourself (once the tank and bracket are fitted) to make sure it all lines up properly. The alloy lamp/fairing brackets they supply are nicely made, and I recommend you get their headstock bracket, although you will need to grind the welds down to make it fit properly.

Hope that helps...

JennyMo xxx