Holy cr*p it's a 1976 Honda CXRL650R street-tracking dirt-jumper! (and beer)...
- Thread starter osteoderm
- Start date
sleventynineR
Life in slow motion at 110 mph
Looking good
redwillissuperman
Keep it simple- engine, wheels, bars
osteoderm said:
Great looking bike. I'm sure searching for "weird clips" on the Internet is just as eye opening as when I wanted a picture of a "sliding u joint"....
johngofast
Over 1,000 Posts
Dig the headlight. Nice one Sir.
osteoderm
Been Around the Block
It's a bit of a bummer (no pun intended) when your upholsterer procrastinates for almost three weeks before jamming out a rush job in the 11th hour, but hey, a sloppy seat is better is better than no seat at all at this point...
I'm sure the uneven diamonds and puckered topstitching will become less obvious as the seat wears in... but at least the pattern looks good with the grips!
Haters will hate on the usual seat-to-tank interface gap... I'd hoped for better; I'll just have to find a sewing machine andtry do it myself next time.
Fuck it. Let's ride!
I'm sure the uneven diamonds and puckered topstitching will become less obvious as the seat wears in... but at least the pattern looks good with the grips!
Haters will hate on the usual seat-to-tank interface gap... I'd hoped for better; I'll just have to find a sewing machine and
Fuck it. Let's ride!
redwillissuperman
Keep it simple- engine, wheels, bars
So cool.
sleventynineR
Life in slow motion at 110 mph
That seat looks cool. Like the matching diamond pattern.
osteoderm
Been Around the Block
General impressions after 3 days and 3/4 tank of gas:
The bike is loud. Not "people cover their ears when I drive by" loud, but loud enough that I'm self-conscious about it. Aside from the sheer volume, the sound is frikken awesome. I used a Cone Engineering "Performance" muffler because I liked the additional length aesthetically. The standard core mufflers are 4" shorter. They do make a "Quiet Core" in the longer length, and given the bike's performance, I think I might be okay with potentially sacrificing some (if any) pep for less volume.
Warm starts generally a one-kick affair; no throttle, no choke. Cold starting is more painful... choke on, hold the kill switch and decompression thinger, then kick through several times. Release kill & thinger, wind idle adjustment up 2-3 turns, and 5-17 hard kicks from TDC and it's generally good to go. Let her settle for a moment, then wind idle back down under 2kRPM. Put on my hard hat, and release the choke... certainly cold-blooded. I'm trying for a 1300RPM warm idle, as per the Honda manual. 158 main jet, 45 pilot, NCVT needle @ third clip, mixture 2-3/4 turns out from closed. From the cold-starting behavior and mixture setting, I'm guessing that I could stand to try a larger pilot.
Accelerator pump is an overachiever; timing is okay, but the squirt length is >1.5sec. I have a 55 leak jet, which is almost certainly too small. May also dick around with the "o-ring mod", but I'm a fairly strong believer in optimizing all the jettings and settings provided for by the carb manufacturer before modding anything. The FCR-MX makes all sorts of entertaining whistles and clatters, which the interwebz tell me are A) coming from the air jet and vacuum-release slide, and B) a normal part of the FCR experience, especially without a stock rubber boot/airbox to mute them.
Oh, and that performance: Stock bore/compression (as far as I can tell), 41mm FCR-MX jetted as above, short/wide/streamlined intake with very non-restrictive air filter, FMF PowerBomb exhaust with very non-restrictive muffler, Hot Cams Stage 1 camshaft, Rick's Electric HotShot CDI, 200watt RickyStator, new OEM coil, and NKG DPR8EIX-9 Iridium plug... Just the basic mellow bolt-on mods, but with the stock 14-48 cogs, the bike is just tractor-pull stupid; 3/4-throttle powershifts make for a fight to keep the front wheel down through the first three gears. In more capable hands than mine, this retro-styling exercise would be completely assholic.
The rear shock is charged with 120psi of air, which needs to be replaced with the appropriate ~300psi of Nitrogen asap. Shock could use a turn or two more preload, and none of the damping at either end has been touched (it's all either wound off or in an arbitrary midline setting). Brakes are sufficient, but require some mental technique adjustment after riding my cafe.
The cheapo "I used 'em because I had 'em" bar-end turn-signals are junk; Motogadget is calling... The bike needs a mirror (in the works). XR's Only case-saver is inbound. I really need to try a 44- or 40-tooth chainring. A larger tail-light would probably be advisable (there's a DOT Acerbis one available that bolts into the same pattern under the fender). I'd like to add an additional rear inner fender; I don't intend to ride this bike through tons of muck, but I do want to be able to ride in otherwise shitty weather. Needs a proper decompression activation device (not a lever/cable on the bar, but something better than just twisting the thinger on the cam cover with my thumb). The time-delay reg/rec and the headlight are not agreeing with one another; the LED light only draws 3.7amps, but when switched on, the rec/reg intermittently cuts the charge to the battery... puzzling, but all the electrics are happily under warranty, and answers will be found once tech support(s) open on Monday.
Altogether a very entertaining ride! I'm looking forward to continued testing/tuning/tweaking...
The bike is loud. Not "people cover their ears when I drive by" loud, but loud enough that I'm self-conscious about it. Aside from the sheer volume, the sound is frikken awesome. I used a Cone Engineering "Performance" muffler because I liked the additional length aesthetically. The standard core mufflers are 4" shorter. They do make a "Quiet Core" in the longer length, and given the bike's performance, I think I might be okay with potentially sacrificing some (if any) pep for less volume.
Warm starts generally a one-kick affair; no throttle, no choke. Cold starting is more painful... choke on, hold the kill switch and decompression thinger, then kick through several times. Release kill & thinger, wind idle adjustment up 2-3 turns, and 5-17 hard kicks from TDC and it's generally good to go. Let her settle for a moment, then wind idle back down under 2kRPM. Put on my hard hat, and release the choke... certainly cold-blooded. I'm trying for a 1300RPM warm idle, as per the Honda manual. 158 main jet, 45 pilot, NCVT needle @ third clip, mixture 2-3/4 turns out from closed. From the cold-starting behavior and mixture setting, I'm guessing that I could stand to try a larger pilot.
Accelerator pump is an overachiever; timing is okay, but the squirt length is >1.5sec. I have a 55 leak jet, which is almost certainly too small. May also dick around with the "o-ring mod", but I'm a fairly strong believer in optimizing all the jettings and settings provided for by the carb manufacturer before modding anything. The FCR-MX makes all sorts of entertaining whistles and clatters, which the interwebz tell me are A) coming from the air jet and vacuum-release slide, and B) a normal part of the FCR experience, especially without a stock rubber boot/airbox to mute them.
Oh, and that performance: Stock bore/compression (as far as I can tell), 41mm FCR-MX jetted as above, short/wide/streamlined intake with very non-restrictive air filter, FMF PowerBomb exhaust with very non-restrictive muffler, Hot Cams Stage 1 camshaft, Rick's Electric HotShot CDI, 200watt RickyStator, new OEM coil, and NKG DPR8EIX-9 Iridium plug... Just the basic mellow bolt-on mods, but with the stock 14-48 cogs, the bike is just tractor-pull stupid; 3/4-throttle powershifts make for a fight to keep the front wheel down through the first three gears. In more capable hands than mine, this retro-styling exercise would be completely assholic.
The rear shock is charged with 120psi of air, which needs to be replaced with the appropriate ~300psi of Nitrogen asap. Shock could use a turn or two more preload, and none of the damping at either end has been touched (it's all either wound off or in an arbitrary midline setting). Brakes are sufficient, but require some mental technique adjustment after riding my cafe.
The cheapo "I used 'em because I had 'em" bar-end turn-signals are junk; Motogadget is calling... The bike needs a mirror (in the works). XR's Only case-saver is inbound. I really need to try a 44- or 40-tooth chainring. A larger tail-light would probably be advisable (there's a DOT Acerbis one available that bolts into the same pattern under the fender). I'd like to add an additional rear inner fender; I don't intend to ride this bike through tons of muck, but I do want to be able to ride in otherwise shitty weather. Needs a proper decompression activation device (not a lever/cable on the bar, but something better than just twisting the thinger on the cam cover with my thumb). The time-delay reg/rec and the headlight are not agreeing with one another; the LED light only draws 3.7amps, but when switched on, the rec/reg intermittently cuts the charge to the battery... puzzling, but all the electrics are happily under warranty, and answers will be found once tech support(s) open on Monday.
Altogether a very entertaining ride! I'm looking forward to continued testing/tuning/tweaking...
sleventynineR
Life in slow motion at 110 mph
My RM250 is a hard starter too when it's cold and most RM250 owners will tell you the same thing. The sequence on mine is:
open petcock for about 5 minutes and walk away
come back, tip the bike on it's side to where it is resting on the handle bars on the ground (left side of bike)
this drains the carb
bring up right
turn on choke
'soft' kick 2-3 times to build compression
roll throttle twice
hold throttle wide open
kick hard
works everytime, it was also the sequence given to me by a really old M/X racer
open petcock for about 5 minutes and walk away
come back, tip the bike on it's side to where it is resting on the handle bars on the ground (left side of bike)
this drains the carb
bring up right
turn on choke
'soft' kick 2-3 times to build compression
roll throttle twice
hold throttle wide open
kick hard
works everytime, it was also the sequence given to me by a really old M/X racer
osteoderm
Been Around the Block
Spent some time poking around the shop yesterday evening, brainstorming on ways to quiet down the exhaust a bit, and came up with this:
It's the middle layer from the old FMF canister; a sandwich of coarse knit stainless wire and stainless wool. Originally it fit between the perforated inner core and the outer fiberglass batting. Turns out it's just the exact size/flexibility to press into the length of the Cone Engineering pipe without rattling/shifting or blocking things up too much. When for a burn around town this morning, and it has definitely taken the bite off of the exhaust volume... at least under 1/4 throttle. Whack it open and all bets are off, but at least now I won't cringe while idling past cops...
It's the middle layer from the old FMF canister; a sandwich of coarse knit stainless wire and stainless wool. Originally it fit between the perforated inner core and the outer fiberglass batting. Turns out it's just the exact size/flexibility to press into the length of the Cone Engineering pipe without rattling/shifting or blocking things up too much. When for a burn around town this morning, and it has definitely taken the bite off of the exhaust volume... at least under 1/4 throttle. Whack it open and all bets are off, but at least now I won't cringe while idling past cops...
osteoderm
Been Around the Block
I've been trying to walk the fine line between having a bike that looks like both an old off-road dirt-bike and something that appears able to pass an inspection... While I'm certainly not going to fool anyone who actually knows better, I may yet have a chance at not drawing the attention of the fun-killers cops. First up on my list of legality-enhancers: the taillight.
I used this dodgy Acerbis universal moto taillight because it came with the project... A few days of running, and it's obvious that it had to go. Luckily, Acerbis makes an upgraded DOT-legal model (the X-Led) that picks up the identical mounting holes, and is pretty cheap too... But of course it's all pointy and modern and shit:
At least the plate will cover most of the modern-ness. The difference in lighting is totally worth it. Here's the tail light:
And here's the brake light:
I'd say that's worth it. Next up, replacing the weedy Chinese bar-end blinkers with some serious retina-searing safety-yellow Motogadget madness...
I used this dodgy Acerbis universal moto taillight because it came with the project... A few days of running, and it's obvious that it had to go. Luckily, Acerbis makes an upgraded DOT-legal model (the X-Led) that picks up the identical mounting holes, and is pretty cheap too... But of course it's all pointy and modern and shit:
At least the plate will cover most of the modern-ness. The difference in lighting is totally worth it. Here's the tail light:
And here's the brake light:
I'd say that's worth it. Next up, replacing the weedy Chinese bar-end blinkers with some serious retina-searing safety-yellow Motogadget madness...
osteoderm
Been Around the Block
Taking care of more and more end-of-build details, as the last bits and bobs arrive from whatever various vendors are still able to squeeze a last drop (or pint) of blood from my depleted wallet...
Today it's the XR's Only case saver with a trimmed NOS sprocket cover bolted over top. It's not a graceful look, but it's strong, effective, and yet another bullet-point on the inevitable sales listing.
I scuffed the case-saver with 400-grit, but it's still too shiny...thinking of acid-dipping and/or painting it.
Today it's the XR's Only case saver with a trimmed NOS sprocket cover bolted over top. It's not a graceful look, but it's strong, effective, and yet another bullet-point on the inevitable sales listing.
I scuffed the case-saver with 400-grit, but it's still too shiny...thinking of acid-dipping and/or painting it.
redwillissuperman
Keep it simple- engine, wheels, bars
Now I need some gratuitous wheelie video...
sleventynineR
Life in slow motion at 110 mph
What ever happned to the beer? ;D
