Hondazuki XLRM250 Trans-America Hell Ride

Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

XL/RM mockup

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Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

Mono is correct i guess but two shocker for the frame would be cool also... isthe swinger steel or ally?
 
Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

Tune-A-Fish said:
Mono is correct i guess but two shocker for the frame would be cool also... isthe swinger steel or ally?
This swinger is off a 1984 XL250. It's an early steel Pro Link. The frame is 1973 XL175. The stock XL swinger is too short for the new suspension geometry, so I need to find an alternative no matter what. The first pic is the 84 XL front end (33") and the second is the RM (36"). Stock XL175 is 26". Having done real trail riding on the 175, one thing is certain- the suspension sucks. All in all, nothing on this bike will be "correct" per se. HAHA
 
Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

deviant said:
This swinger is off a 1984 XL250. It's an early steel Pro Link. The frame is 1973 XL175. The stock XL swinger is too short for the new suspension geometry, so I need to find an alternative no matter what. The first pic is the 84 XL front end (33") and the second is the RM (36"). Stock XL175 is 26". Having done real trail riding on the 175, one thing is certain- the suspension sucks. All in all, nothing on this bike will be "correct" per se. HAHA

Correct as in compatable with the usd long travel front suspension.

With steel you could weld on some mounts and add some of XB's fox shocks super easy then get the front setup however you like it... however you go it will be way better than what you had.

Old meets new :eek:
 

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Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

Ahhh. Gotcha. I misunderstood. There is an exercise in mono shocking in store here for sure. I don't want twin shocks on this bike. I'm testing out the RM rear end next. It's longer, though.
 
Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

keep an eye on your steering head angle eric if its 1-2 degrees too far out it will suck dirtty dog dicks ,throw you down in any slick corner .the steer head angle it matters more than anything else ,you have to measure it.accurately .the bike perfectly level,suspension gently topped out
its got to be right not just "look right"

the issue is the steering head of the older frame is too low for long forks
use the entire rm frame,modified to fit xl
also dont just look for "shorter" forks you need to have a balance front to back of suspension travel each end close to the same, head angle no more than 28 27 is right in the sweet spot the honda xr's were always playing close to head shake at 26 or so
and back to the balance having 12" in the front and 8 in the back wont work and vice versa
 
Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

Alright, so this is where I'm at with the RM front and XL250r rear...

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Looks right at 29.5 degrees. I'll see where the RM rear puts me.


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Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

as long as the level is accurate..
is the bike level? actually it doesn't have to be level you can burn however many degrees of level it is
be careful where you plant the trunion of the level the steer head housing is not always an accurate trunion bed
you can plant it on a fork tube as long as the wheels are inline and the trunion is dead center of and looking straight ahead
 
Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

It's accurate. Here's the XL frame with total RM suspension front and rear. The gauge sits at 28 degrees.

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Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

but you got crazy too much swingarm drop so that rear suspension geometry is all wrong ...you will have to...start over
 
XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

:( im'a go back to XL250 suspension and see where it's at.

Also thought to put a cradle in the XL250 frame. The 73 motor does not fit in an 84 frame in no kinda way without some chopping.
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Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

set the suspension back up on the rm frame what you must do is observe the swingarm pivot ,c/s and rear axle
you will need to take the spring off the shock which was the very first thing you should have done
withn the spring off the shock you can observe plot and mimick the rm suzukis geometry
the chain tight point i call it ,the straight line of the 3 axis
this straight line will occur somewhere in wheel travel usually about middle of
that all needs to be done and duplicated on the donor frame before head angle can be set
 
Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

observing and documenting the rm's original rear suspension geometry(including chain tight point and c/s location) is also how you determine where the xl's c/s is located
what try for is as close as you can get it
why ? because then you automatically have the best channce of the least chain slack variation and rub issues along with, what suzuki felt was ideal ,for the effect of power delivery on the suspension ,the location of the chain tight point in wheel travel ,squat anti-squat one or both motogp bikes are extremely sensitive to this you would be too if you wieghed 350 and had 300 hp
but it also makes a huge dif with 10hp trying to claw that last way up that slippery steep trail littered with greased bowling balls
and its fun observing the geometry and plotting
 
XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

Alright, a little research. This bike is intended to be an enduro with as much off road capability as I can muster. At the same time, it will get me from Augusta, GA to the NW Georgia Mountains, the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway this summer.

1975 XL250

rake 32°
trail 5.5 in

CR250m

rake 32°
trail 5.7 in

2003 RM125

rake 27º 30′
trail 4.53 in
clearance 13.8"

c4a896906fc2ead8857d1850f28f3bdd.jpg


This

Rake 31°
Trail 5.6 in
Clearance 13.8 in
Top tube height 32.5 in
 
Re: XL250 Trans-America Hell Ride

the longer the travel is the tighter the head angle must be pulled in
its the........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SpihGKmYgY
 
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