XR650L main jet

[breakdirt916]

can the main jet be swapped without pulling the tank/fairings/blah blah tear the thing apart?

just got a 2007 XR650L



has an FMF pipe, and sounds like a machine gun when it accelerates, but WOT at 65-70mph in top gear and the bike starts to cut out a bit...it pops a bit too much too, so I'm guessing a pipe was installed without any re-jetting

I will likely be re-selling it...but the engine bay is tight...so if it's too much of a pita to pull the carb to change a jet, I'll pass on the jetting

I'm surprised...it weighs a lot for a dirt bike, and while it gets to 60mph well, it tapers out of power past 65mph...I guess any bore of thumper on the freeway is just not my thing...gotta have a 75hp+ street bike and separate street plated dirty

[breakdirt916]

well...strange thing - the "cutting out" actually went away after a few tanks...



that should not happen...but I may have been low on fuel at the time and was just starving the engine

either way, it still pops under deceleration and feels a little starved under WOT...

good thing - found a tutorial for removing the carb:

http://www.4strokes.com/tech/honda/xr650lcarbmods/

going to change the oil, try some new jetting, then figure out if I want to pull the tank and check the valves

[breakdirt916]

made progress tonight...

PITA to get out



the tutorial says it'll come out easily from the right side, and that's a lie, lol

external buildup (like most carbs)



oh baby...



simple green (concentrate): water 10:1

my own observation: sludge in the bowl tells you a little bit about if gunk has been getting sucked into the carb/intake



180s cycle, and looking good again





main jet in there was a 158



jet itself looked pretty clear



google said 160 is the hot setup w' an exhaust



onto the pilot jet...do NOT use one of these to take it out



oh no! it's stripping!



luckily I was able to squeeze a bit driver into there with a hand driver to get her out...

hmm...she wasn't clogged...so the popping under deceleration could be the pilot jet size or internal jet ways being clogged



google said a 55 pilot is the hot ticket



parts cleaned up good!





180s cycle for the carb...I was only able to submerge ~80% of it, so I flipped it over halfway through the cycle



loooooking good!



I hand dried the exterior and blew compressed air through all the jet passageways to clear out any residual cleaning solution

time to wrestle her back into the bike

then going to hand clean her, take off the excessive stickers, take pics and list her for sale

[number9]

I was going to ask you if the HF ultrasonic cleaner is any good. And on an unrelated note, can I borrow it?

[ZX-12R]

I was going to ask you if the HF ultrasonic cleaner is any good. And on an unrelated note, can I borrow it?

Quite a few people on this forum have the HF ultrasonic cleaner and I think most agree that it's awesome given the price (especially when you can find a 20-25% off coupon). Mine is the neighborhood whore for cleaning gummed up carbs for all kinds of equipment.

It does have it's limitations with the size of the object you can put in and there have been a few times where I've had to clean things in sections but outside of that it works great. I've slowly been hunting around for a larger and more powerful unit mostly for convenience reasons but I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

[breakdirt916]

yup...it's a good cleaner, the pictures speak for themselves, and the size of the object you're placing in there is the limiting factor

I'm a former nesrian currently in SoCal, so it might be cost inhibitory to mail it to you for borrow...but I'm sure if you throw up a thread there will be a many people who can loan it to you that are closer

------------------------------------------------------------------------
surprisingly, the bike is still behaving the same:
-need to choke to start
-bike idles on choke and will roll on with choke
-turn off choke - bike sputters, pops a lot (indicating a lean burn), eventually dies unless you keep the throttle at half to wide open

this is the classic case of "clogged pilot jet"...so I'm guessing
1.) the ultrasonic cleaning didn't work...and something is REALLY stuck in a passageway...would need to pull carb back off and identify every passage and stick a guitar string if I need to inside
2.) the 55 pilot jet is still too small...I might need a larger one to accommodate the aftermarket exhaust.

But the pilot jets only go up to 60...if the bike won't idle at ALL on a 55, how much different would a 60 be? I figure that's the difference between idling poorly, and idling well...but right now the bike doesn't idle at all, indicating a potentially different problem altogether.

going to check if any local dealer has the 60 jet...I really don't want to take that carb back out...

edit 1: plenty of similar situations on google. Someone suggested the valves (but indicated a worsening of running with temperature...which I do not have), and another suggested vacuum hose leak, another experienced the air/fuel screw falling out (possible...if the previous owner performed "Dave's Mods)...

[breakdirt916]

edit 1: plenty of similar situations on google. Someone ... experienced the air/fuel screw falling out (possible...if the previous owner performed "Dave's Mods)...

bingo



the shaved tab off the carb indicates that the previous owner did, in fact, do Dave's mods.

the only thing he told me when I picked it up is "after it rained one day, it's never been the same...I don't know what's up with it."...when I brought it home, I got it started, but it was always popping under deceleration. My guess is that with the air/fuel hanging on by a thread or two, it was already bleeding in a fair amount of air into the pilot circuit

I remember being out and fooling around with wheelies or curb hopping when it stopped idling on its own, and needed choke to keep going - the air/fuel screw probably fell out this day. Full carb clean was relatively successful, so no need to dig back into the carb to clean it again or stick any wires into the jets...a new air/fule screw will likely fix my issues

oh btw - taking off the seat and tank make it a LOT easier to pull out the carb!

and with the plastics/tank in pieces, it will be easier to clean her up and get her looking new again

[tls25rs]

oh btw - taking off the seat and tank make it a LOT easier to pull out the carb!

Always surprises me how many people out there don't know this type of thing.

So often you see people doing something the "easy" way and not taking things off the bike to get to the parts they are working on. They wind up struggling to get to the part, can't get tools in where they are needed etc. It doesn't take all that long to remove the parts that are in the way and it usually makes your life 100% easier doing the task you are trying to do.

Not directed at you Bhavesh more so a general thought I had when reading your post. Happens all the time at my job.

[nhbubba]

On my DRZ it is also helpful to pull the top bolt connecting the top of the subframe. This lets you move the airbox back a bit. Naturally, this requires the bike be supported from the frame and not on its wheels.. or it has the opposite effect. Maybe there is something similar on that big XR? Also a large screwdriver or pry bar wedged between the frame and the airbox boot lets me compress it enough to move the carb some. Having the bike warmer helps too as the boots are soft and malleable.

I love my HF cleaner.

[breakdirt916]

no offense taken! that's why my first post was to inquire as such...

but to be honest, I just couldn't figure it out at first, hahaha...most dirt bikes have 2 bolts on the side connecting to the subframe, but the XR has 2 bolts on the underside

top bolt is a possibility, but with the tank removed, I can just muscle her in and out...thanks tho!

[markbvt]

Not like pulling the seat and tank on the XRL is any great chore. Takes about 5 minutes. Maybe 7 if you haven't chucked those stupid plastic air scoop things yet.

I can't remember what jet sizes I used in my XRL. But it runs well, especially in cold weather (it LOVES sub-freezing temps). Starts up easily even in single-digit temps (always needs choke though, unless it's like 85 degrees out or it's still warm from running).

The popping on decel is being caused by the anti-smog equipment, if it's still there. It's a secondary air injection system that feeds air into the exhaust gases in order to burn any unburned fuel; this causes combustion in the exhaust header, hence the popping. It's harmless, but can be annoying. And the pump on the left side of the engine is unsightly. Worth getting rid of.

Also worth getting rid of is that miniscule stock gas tank that requires switching to reserve after about 75 miles. I put the Clarke 4.7-gallon tank on mine, and it makes the bike far more usable. Looks better too, IMO.

Here's a picture of it set up to run the Trans-Labrador Highway five years ago. I haven't made any mods to it since then except a new exhaust because the old one rusted out.



--mark

[breakdirt916]

smog equipment sucks, nice bike!

this is a flipper bike for me...just need it to run & look clean, so not going to touch any extra equipment

nobody in CA has the part, lol...had the dealer order it and will be in on Friday during my desert trip...will pick it up next Tuesday and install it

[breakdirt916]

Also worth getting rid of is that miniscule stock gas tank that requires switching to reserve after about 75 miles.

yeah, wtf is that about? big bike, small tank. I figured a street oriented model wouldn't need to save the weight of fuel or need limited range like MX/race applications

and you're right...it does have inherent popping...I can live with it



I wedged an ear plug into the mixture screw hole and voila, she idles just fine!











brakes sort of suck for anything emergency stopping, and it's a bit too wide to be a good lane splitter too...



but what I experienced when the fuel mixture screw fell out was backfiring...that got nasty

will go for sale in SoCal craigslist..."*****2007 HONDA XR650L CA STREET LEGAL DUAL SPORT*****"



took off all the aftermarket stickers...cleaned it up quite nicely

[markbvt]

yeah, wtf is that about? big bike, small tank. I figured a street oriented model wouldn't need to save the weight of fuel or need limited range like MX/race applications

Yeah, that tank is idiotic. Also, they somehow managed to build a 650 single that only makes 35hp and yet still only gets about 40mpg -- compare with BMW's 650 single that makes 53hp and gets around 60mpg, or even KTM's that makes 63hp and gets about 50mpg. The shitty gas mileage makes the tiny tank even stupider.

--mark

[Kurlon]

I don't think you can expect the same perf from an air cooled single vs much more modern liquid cooled lumps...

[markbvt]

I don't think you can expect the same perf from an air cooled single vs much more modern liquid cooled lumps...

That's absolutely true, but you'd at least expect the gas mileage to be a bit better than it is.

For whatever it's worth, Yamaha was getting about 10hp more out of the air-cooled 600 single they put in the XT600 in the '90s. And I've heard it got better gas mileage as well.

--mark

[Kurlon]

Exactly, because the Yammi was setup to breathe a lil deeper, it's milage went up as you didn't have to wring it's neck as much to maintain the same speeds. It's hard to choke down a big motor and expect it to still be efficient, it's hard to breathe through a straw.

[breakdirt916]

SOLD...3 days after posting

@ Mark - I shared your feedback w' the buyer...he is planning on doing long dual sport rides around the desert, so he will def. be ditching the factory air scoops, stock tank, and getting a bigger tank...thanks!

his words: "I saw a cop and immediately felt anxiety...I mean, I was on a dirt bike, so I had an automatic response to feel like I wasn't allowed on the road."

he was so stoked to be able to ride that down the street...he's really going to enjoy the bike!

[Fast_Eddie]

It looks a little like somebody used Yamabond or similar on the float bowl gasket. Be really careful with that as I have had the fuel proof Yamabond melt with pump gas. I'm guessing the people who design sealants never considered that any country would put 10% alcohol in all the gas.