Honda XR600R - what to look for?

Well I rode up north on the GSXR to an off road dealer who had ten XR600Rs in stock, he talked me through them all, their good and bad points which was quite good I thought, he was very open on any bad points.

After picking out a likely specimen I took it for a quick test ride, quite a gigggle and a lot different to the GSXR.

I then bit the bullet and handed over a deposit for this 1993 air cooled beauty (ok may be I'm exagerating a little) :











The pictures make it look a little cleaner than it is, but it appears to be a nice bike.

It's got road biased tyres which will need changing soon after getting used to the bike on back roads. The bike started second kick with no smoke, although when I tried I was less successful, there is definitely a knack to starting a 600 thumper! The brakes aren't quite GSXR sharp but it seemed great fun around the industrial estate, I had a huge grin It's like a two wheeled tractor :thumb:

I can't wait to get it picked up this week, I know what I'm doing next Saturday!

[the_lone_wolf]

You're going to be riding that to Bavaria in January???

That what the road tyres are for, go hard or go home!

Just got to learn how to kick the bu9ger now

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by Tim in Belgium

Just got to learn how to kick the bu9ger now

Does it have a manual decompression lever?

Yep.

Is that good, bad or indifferent?

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by Tim in Belgium

Is that good, bad or indifferent?

Switch the fuel tap on (if it has one)
Pull decomp in and kick it a few times to get the fuel moving
Release decomp and push the kick start slowly lever until you get solid resistance at TDC
Pull in decomp and juuuuuust push the kick start lever past TDC
Release decomp, allow kick start to return to top and give one full stroke

Or see this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ftGHfl_PQs


Never failed on my 560, you know your valves are going south when the bike won't start

Yep, the dealer filled me in on all that, just a little practice required/manning up on the kick front.

He started it from stone cold on 2nd kick, then started on first kick when warm, so I think it's me not the bike!

You'll have to get out on it a bit more before I ask you what you think of the upright experience. I'd love a dirtbike just to take out on the NYM during the cold months

I'll let you know how it goes.