2017/2018 HONDA XR650L
FULL TEST
P64
road-only XR600R, a bike you
wanted to be on in long-distance
off-road races such as Baja, and
even shorter and more techni-
cal ones like GNCC. Although
the XR600R wasn't everyone's
first choice for GNCC racing,
mainly because of its weight,
it worked quite well in the right
hands, such as those of GNCC
superman Scott Summers, who
showed the world what the big
bike was capable of doing on
tight trails and in the woods, and
that was, in his case, winning
five GNCC championships.
Okay, in reality, the XR650L
was no XR600R. To make it
more appealing for roadwork,
the L's air-cooled SOHC, dry-
sump, RFVC single-cylinder
engine was given more dis-
placement (aka more power),
as well as electric starting. (It
needed more power to make
up for emissions.) But rather
than design a whole new engine
for the street-going XR650L,
Honda simply took the XR600R
(Left) Still a looker
after all these
years. The XR650L
is 25 years young,
can you believe it?
(Right) The 650L's
43mm Showa
cartridge forks
were the forks
in their day for
hard-core off-
roading, and
they still perform
surprisingly well.
(Above) The 650L
is still carbureted.
Many XR purists
wouldn't have it any
other way. (Right)
In stock form, the
XR650L is a fun
motorcycle for
casual trail riding
and city commuting.
