Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ~ RIDING IMPRESSION 1993 Honda XR650L By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones ~I t was a sad day when Honda announced it had dropped the last surviving XL dual PlJ!POSE! bike from its 1988 line-up to make room for a new line of motorcycles, the NX series. Still considered as on/off-road motorcycles, .... the NXs were more street-oriented than l.!") the XL line, clearly evident by the fair~ ing and low-mounted front fender ~ design, that made a lot of people angry. ~ But not half as angry as the absence of ~ the last XL model - the XL600, which ""J made its debut in 1983. As a result, the NX series never had real success in the U.S., and when Suzuki introduced its "barely street legal" line of DR dual-sport bikes in 1990, it created a renewed interest in dual purpose/dual sport riding and Honda was left in the dust without a true dual sport bike comparable to the hot-selling DRs. However, Honda jumped on the dual sport bandwagon in late 1991 with the introduction of the XR25OL, which closely resembled the off-road-only XR250R. While the XR250L was a big hit and definitely a step in the right direction, the writing was on the wall - when will Honda build a dual sport bike based on one of the company's best-selling models, the more powerful XR600R? The answer is now. The new, highly anticipated and talked about Honda XR650L is here. In fact, according to Honda, the XR650L is the company's most eagerly awaited model in years and the first shipment of XR650Ls was sold out long before the Worth the wait (weight)? 32 first unit was ayailable to the public. Because of its mid-year arrival, Honda calls it a 1993 model, and it is, as a matter of fact, what everyone had hoped for - basically a street-legal XR600R that includes some extra goodies to make it more appealing for dual sport riding, notably an electric starter. The air-cooled, Radial Four-Valve Combustion Chamber (RFVC), single cylinder four-stroke engine is basically. the same engine found in the now defunct NX650, an already proven motor derived from the XR600R engine. As compared to the XR600R, the street-legal XR650L has slightly larger and longer bore & stroke, slightly less compression ratio and a Imm larger carburetor. Both come with five-speed gearboxes, but the overall gearing of the 650 is much taller than that of the 600. Since the 650 is street legal, it must pass tougher emissions standards than the XR600R in order to be sold in the U.S., henc.e the spider web-looking device on the left side of.the cylinder. The ugly unit is an air-pump that directs fresh air from the airbox to the exhaust ports, air which is needed to dilute the exhaust fumes in order to meet emission standards. Not only does the air pump help meet emissions, but it allows the carb to be jetted much richer than normal, according to Honda. What this means is improved throttle response. Other differences include a 40mm CV carb, as compared to a 39mm oval-venturi carb, and a paper filter element rather than foam. However, a stock XR600R filter will bolt right on to the XR650L if so desired. Chassis-wise, the semi-double-cra'dIe with square-section down tube frame is identical to that of the XR600R, except for a couple of tabs. And the (Above) The long-awaited Honda XR650L is finally here, and costs $4399. (Below) The "plumbing" on the left side of the cylinder funnels air from the airbox to the exhaust ports. (Above) Like the long-gone Honda XL600, the new XR650L is an excellent wheelie bike. (Below) The big black box behind the left side panel houses the battery; the air filter element is paper. suspension components are nearly identical as well. Up front, you'll find a top-of-the-line conventional-style, yet hefty 43mm cartridge fork. The air-adjustable leadingaxle fork has eight-position compression damping adjustability and boasts 11.6 inches of wheel travel. The back end features Honda's ProLink single-shock suspension system, again, similar to that of the XR600R. The shock is made by Showa and has 2o-way compression and rebound damping adjustments. Rear wheel travel is 11.0 inches. Except for the bulging left side panel (required to fit the 12-volt battery), airpump, gas tank "wings," taillight, mirrors and blinkers, the XR650L looks almost identical to the all-dirt XR600R. The tank wings, according to Honda, were installed for one reason - the speed limit-less highways of Europe, believe it or not. Apparently, as discovered during testing, when traveling at a high rate of speed for long periods of time, excessive heat would build up around the spark plug area, so more cooling air needed to be funnelled to that area. In

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