Xr650

XR650

Big Red finally delivers

JIMMY LEWIS

IF YOU WERE WAITING FOR HONDA to deliver a Yamaha YZ400F-beater, your wait isn’t over yet. Never mind the rumors, the new-for-the-millennium, liquid-cooled, aluminum-framed XR650R is a direct replacement for the tried-and-true XR600R.

Why didn’t Honda go after Yamaha and the Euro-brands and build an ultra-lightweight four-stroke motocrosser? Sales. Dealers sell every XR600 they can get;

heck, it’s the only Japanese bike in its class since the Kawasaki KLX650 disappeared. And 600 buyers traditionally have been content to settle for bold new graphics, or else they step down to one of those “little” 400s. Even so, it was past due for something new.

Horsepower: That’s the biggest attraction of the XR650. Add durability, comfort, simplicity and a competitive price, and you can see why Honda took so long to get it right. The XR650 is envisioned as a highperformance off-road bike, with the added agenda of winning in Baja and on the Grand National Cross-Country scene.

Forget about the aluminum frame, the biggest change here is liquid cooling. With the race team hitting the horsepower ceiling and running into durability and overheating problems with the old, air-cooled motor, water was the obvious solution. Buyers will reap the rewards with 42 horsepower in asdelivered, EPA-legal form, and around 55 bhp with the Power-Up competition kit installed. That’s an increase of 10 bhp from the old motor in both configurations, and even better than some of the hopped-up 628cc Baja racers.

Everything in the engine is brand-new, all 88 pounds of it, compared to the 98 pounds of the old 600. But weight isn’t the only thing the engineers shed; they also did away with the long-standing RFVC (Radial FourValve Combustion) cylinder-head design in favor of conventional paired 37mm intake and 32mm exhaust valves. The compact head employs a clever, three-lobe cam with a single large intake lobe located between twin exhaust lobes.

Another innovative feature in the drysump engine is a reed valve meant to keep oil from splashing the spinning crank and robbing horsepower. On a similar note, the ignition system is no longer bathed in oil, the pickup sensor having been relocated from the clutch side to the flywheel/generator side of the engine. As before, engine oil is stored in the frame backbone and downtube, and the level is checked via a dipstick behind the steering stem.

The 40mm Keihin carb is now made from aluminum instead of the usual pot-metal, and the exhaust employs stainless-steel header pipes joined to a steel tailpipe capped off by a large-capacity, spark arrester-equipped muffler.

Kick starting is eased by both manual and automatic decompression systems, plus a re-ratioed lever that gets the motor spinning faster. Why no electric starter? A Honda spokesperson answered that question with a question: “It starts so easily, why add cost and weight?”

As for the aluminum frame, the XR’s design differs greatly from that of the pioneering CRs.

Instead of the CR’s twin spars, the XR relies on a single large backbone that continues rearward to the shock tower, then pitch-forks off into forged, webbed lowers. The swingarm pivots in these, as well as the engine cases, offering a stiffer, more compact arrangement. A new aluminum subframe detaches to ease shock access.

The suspension is still conventional, but it includes some significant solutions to past problems. The fully adjustable KYB shock is longer, with a 110mm stroke (up 27mm from the

600’s Showa damper), which should result in less fade and better control. Up front, a conventional fork was chosen to give the chassis the right amount of flex. The damping-adjustable, 46mm KYB setup also has less underhang below the axle than the old 600, whose sliders tended to get hung up in ruts and rocks.

The wheels didn’t go unnoticed,' either, especially the rear, which now rides on a larger-diameter (20mm), hollow rear axle. The front wheel now has a

beefier hub with widerspaced bearings for better steering precision. The

brakes were upgraded, too, with a CR250 master cylinder and a kevlar-wrapped brake line up front, and a larger-diameter rotor out back.

The $5699 XR650R truly will be in a class of its own when it hits dealer showrooms in December, a relatively heavy (claimed dry weight is 277 pounds) off-road Thumper in a world of lightweight, four-stroke MXers. The question is, is it already outdated?

Well, every time we included the old, XR600 in an off-road comparison test, it came out on top by virtue of its userfriendliness and near-indestructibility. The XR650R should provide more of the same. O

First Ride!

Racebike or trailbike?

Being slated to co-ride Honda's new XR650R at the Vegas-to-Reno off-road race has its advantages-like a quick day of testing on a pre-pre-production XR to give some feedback for the racebike.

And...?

None too shabby. This new XR is all about power. It’s no lightweight, nimble, two-stroke-like Thumper. No, the XR650R is a big-bore, earth-chucking, hillclimbing, ride-it-a-gear-too-high kind of four-stroke. The snappy XR power character of old is there right off idle, but then the liquid-cooled motor pulls through in a tenor of revs. Grab a handful of throttle at 80 mph and you’ll literally spin the knobs right off the rear tire. We’ll be gearing up for the Nevada desert. Stock, the 650 should be good for 100 mph on top.

So, what about the all-new aluminum frame? All good, with a handling precision that the big XR has been lacking. Blessed with newfound suspension control, this bike is ready to pick up where the old 600 left off. For myself and partner Johnny Campbell, let’s hope that’s winning the V-to-R.

Jimmy Lewis