Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Impression: Honda XR200R Not ·ust for fun a ,more By Dan McCauley In the last year H o nda 's XR200R h as becom e a p o p u lar bike, wi th Honda reporting sales of over 5,000 in '81. Owners of the XR200R fall in to a wide ran ge of ridin g ability. The doci lity o f th e four-strok e XR makes it a n id eal first motorcv. hi li 'd d .e . but ItS t~acta I ~ty an n imble handling traits also 22 ma ke it a favori te a mong serious co m pe ti to rs. As it ha s been to ld time a nd time aga in in o the r tes ts. th e XR200R is th e perfect p la ybike. It will sa tisfy th e g uy or ga l who enjoys bl astin g down th e trail s w ith h is/her buddies witho u t spe ndi ng a bunch o f time and / or m one v o n m aint enan ce. Other s have p u t th e bike th rough its paces a nd found it ca pa bleof winn in g a t cnd u ro s o r hare scr ambl es . In add itio n to th e 200cc A a nd B classes. th e X R is a fa vorite o f sen io r, women a nd novi ce r id er s. We found th e X R to be m ore than a pl a ybike: it 's read y to win it s cl ass when ever you a re. Onl y minor refinem ents were made for '82. As wi th th e s uccessfu l previou s model. th e ne w X R features H onda 's Pro-L ink rear su spensi on a nd Showa forks. Th e bu ll et proof four-stroke engine is unch anged from th e '81 m od el. Wit h a sea t height o f on y 35 in ch es. th e XR is an id eal cho ice for short p eople or rid er s who just lik e to be able to get th eir feet o n th e ground . Styling is appealing a nd basi call y functi on al. Att ention has been paid to de tail. a n d qu al i ty is evide nt th rou gh ou t. Ou r XR 200R has bee n put to th e test in both co m petition a nd thro ug h m an y m i les o f casua l tr a il rid in g. The cycle wa s raced in th ree ha re scra m bles last in g two hours each. a n d was r idden to a cl ass win in a SE&T R A end uro. T he o n ly rnodifica lion we m ade was to cu t the handl eb ars d own to 29l> in ch es from th eir orig i na l width o f 32 inch es, a nd to change tir es to th o se of o u r preferen ce. It usuallv takes a bo u t tw o ki ck s to br in g th e XR 's engine to life. Massive horsepower isn ' t o ne of th e tra its th e XR is noted for, with H onda c1aim ing 19 a t 9,000 rpm . One m ust rern ernher ther e are o the r tra its j us t as importaru as raw power. The X R produces m ore torque th an a ny ot he r bik e in its cl ass. The power th e thumper does m ak e is useab le a n d co nt ro ll a ble, and it 's not as if the ride r mu st wait fo r it. T he re is littl e hesita ti on wi th th e XR . Ju st g ra b so me thro tt le and you' ll go . The XR has th e a bi lity to m a ke mol ehills o u t o f m oun tains. It will sto p o n a gnarl y uphill a nd th en co n tinue upwa rd if th e clut ch a nd throttie a rc used skillf u lly. Ada p ti ng to th e XR will take time if co m ing off a tw o-st rok e' en d u ro 01 ~'IX m a chin e . Concentrati on o n clutch ing and sh ift ing is im porta n t. es pecia ll y in tight wo ods. The X R wi ll ski p between tre es w it h ease. C lu tch pull is e x tre me ly li ght, o n ly o ne fin ge r is needed . T h e cl ut ch requires occa s io n a l a dj u s t me n t, whi ch is normal. As wi th m o st end u ro bikes, th e XR ha s a wide rat io six speed co n sta nt m esh transmission. Dropping int o first gear o fte n requires a sh arp j ab a n d leav es a litt le to be desir ed . All ot her gea rs flow to gether. The s h ifte r has a folding tip whi ch is just one o f th e m an y n ice little d etail s. T he a l u mi n u m a lloy ski d pl at e mu st be remov ed to c ha nge o il, but it 's a rath er sim p le chore . The oi l drain plug a nd kick st and a re both o n th e sa me side. Aft er th e d rain p lug has been remov ed . lean ing the bik e o ver o n th e sta nd will let th e o il flow o u t fr eel y. T he XR is unl ik e m an y bik es which must be kept verti cal in o rder Ior rhe o il to run o u t. 1.2 quarts o f SAE IOw40 is recomm ended for th e bott om end . Th e bik e's cl ean running cha rac ter isti cs ca n be parti all y a ttri buted to th e tiny 26mm Kei h in ca rbu re to r. Wit h sto ck j etting th e X R ran slig h tly lea n . Bo th temperature a n d a lt i tud e wi ll affec t the bike's perform ance. A fatter 243 m ain je t was su bsti tuted fo r th e origi na l j et. T he needl e cli p wa s also lowered o ne not ch to the bottom groov e. R cj ert i n g t h e ca r b u re to r brou ght ou t t he tr ue po tenti a l o f the X R 's engine . Th e ca rb u re to r suc ks cl ean air t hrough a u niqu e fi lter. T he inn er .p a r t o f th e filt er is made o f met a l screen whi c h lo o ks sim ila r to a kit che n scouring pad, whi ch is covered with a sock type foam filt er. G etti ng . to th e a ir filt er is m ore involved th a n it s hou ld be. T he left number p la te must be removed in o rde r to remove t he five bolts w hi ch ho ld everyth in g in pl ace. T he desig n of the box keeps wa ter o u t fairl y we ll. H o n d a ' s Pro -L ink progressive linka ge rear su spe ns io n o n th e X R us es a sing le Showa shock with a forged a luminum reservoi r. T he result is 9.7 in ch es of s moo th tr av el. Damping characte ristics have been improved by sw itc h ing from a " blo w o ff" type damping va lve to a " fla p pe r" typ e val ve. A click o f th e kn ob loc at ed a t th e bottom o f th e s hock body co ntrols rebound a n io n . Four settings are a va ila ble. with th e rebound se t o n th e "2 po si ti on when we received th e bik e. After ex pe r iment ing with the vari ou s reb ound setti ngs, th e #3 posi rion see med to work fairl y well. slo wing th e rebound ac tio n, but th e original #2 se tt in g provided th e best results. Last yea r 's shock ca me with 285 po unds of nitrogen pr essure, a nd the updated un it requires 300 p .s.i. for optimum perf ormance. A softer ride ca n be gained , but we recommend droppi ng the pressure by no more tha n 20 pounds. The shock pressure shou ld be chec ked periodica ll y. A ni trogen tank and an acc ura te h igh p ress ure ga uge ar e necessa ry. If you don ' t ha ve th ese ite ms don' t despa ir; your H on da dealer w il l adj ust the sh oc k's pressure for a m inimum nurnber o f greenbacks. As wit h a n y linka ge rear suspension , it s ho u ld be disassembled, cl eaned , in sp ect ed and lubed o n a reg u la r ba sis, T he H onda linka ge has · three zerk Iiui ugs so a shot o f

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