1982 XR200R dual sport conversion?

[nobade]

As with all old motorcycles......nothing is simple. LOL!

Isn't that why we play with them? Otherwise just write a check for a new one and be done with it. But where is the fun in that?

[Bruce1]

Absolutely!

[mcdirtclod]

18 hours ago, Daniel627 said:

How is the fit and durability on the tank cover? Does it look as good in person as it does in pics?

All I can find on eBay are tank covers from Argentina, and they're listed for xr400 and xr600. I messaged them to see if they had anything for the XR200R.

As for seat covers, I remember looking about a year ago and found a guy here in the states that offered a nice seat cover but haven't come across his stuff since. Wish I had gotten it when I saw cuz he offered choice of colors as well as gripper. Now all I can find are the "pit replica" or whatever they are from China 

I've had several, and some fit better than others.  Durability has been great, and it's a terrific way to cover up an old beat up plastic tank that graphics won't stick too...  Here's a couple more pics, but on my XR400.  After they stopped listing for XR200, I contacted them directly and they made me just what I wanted.  Good luck!

[Daniel627]

Mcdirtclod, that's pretty sweet! 

Since the plastic tank is red, that definitely limits the options in good color combinations or being able to change up to totally different colors. I hadn't really thought of using a tank cover for that purpose. 

I emailed the company from Argentina that I found on eBay, and they wrote back, nothing for the XR200R. I'll have to keep searching. 

I still plan on sanding my tank down to get rid of all the oxidation and polish it to bring the color back to life, but I think I'll definitely try finding a tank cover 

[chadzu]

It would be nice to have a good looking cover available.  I restored the 84 tank on my project and it looks pretty good, but my knee braces are hard on the unprotected plastic.  I have been running bubbly graphics which look bad just for the protection they give the tank.

[Daniel627]

Mcdirtclod, 

Any chance you could look back into your back purchases and see who the seller of your tank covers was? 

Pleeeeeease? Lol

[Bruce1]

Not to be perceived as being pissy but you guys hijacked my thread. It would be nice if I could keep the thread pure to it's original question. I hope everyone is OK with that.

[mcdirtclod]

On 12/8/2017 at 5:07 PM, Bruce1 said:

Not to be perceived as being pissy but you guys hijacked my thread. It would be nice if I could keep the thread pure to it's original question. I hope everyone is OK with that.

Shame on us for trying to help.  Ummmm, slightly pissy, but a common beginner error...  You'll get better, more direct answers when you keep your topics more focused.  Your original thread touched on no less than 6 separate topics, so a bit confusing for some.  Good luck with the project!

[Daniel627]

On 12/8/2017 at 7:07 PM, Bruce1 said:

Not to be perceived as being pissy but you guys hijacked my thread. It would be nice if I could keep the thread pure to it's original question. I hope everyone is OK with that.

So rather than being pissy, how about just bringing the subject of the thread back into focus?

Your thread wasn't intentionally "hijacked". It's a message forum, secondary conversation happens, often. 

[chadzu]

Bruce what still needs to be discussed? It doesn’t sound like you really want do a full DS conversion. Are there specific areas of the conversion that you still need suggestions with?

[reinigef]

What about the stator from a Honda Reflex? They had basically the same motor with a smaller carb and clutch cover. They were street legal trials bikes. I removed the battery, turn signals and tail light and still had a working hi/lo beam headlight (when running of course).

[Bruce1]

10 hours ago, Daniel627 said:

So rather than being pissy, how about just bringing the subject of the thread back into focus?

Your thread wasn't intentionally "hijacked". It's a message forum, secondary conversation happens, often. 

I thought using the preface "not to be perceived as being pissy" was enough to show that I wasn't intending to actually BE pissy. I made this comment only in the spirit of keeping the thread on track. Please do whatever you want, perceive me however you want, it is your right. 

[Daniel627]

23 minutes ago, Bruce1 said:

I thought using the preface "not to be perceived as being pissy" was enough to show that I wasn't intending to actually BE pissy. I made this comment only in the spirit of keeping the thread on track. Please do whatever you want, perceive me however you want, it is your right. 

All I'm saying is,

rather than making a passive aggressive statement/question and pretty much killing the thread by making others uncomfortable and not wanna bother with it,,, just bring the original subject back with questions about whatever you're still unsure about. 

Your questions were answered and suggestions given, if you still didn't understand or would've liked more information all you had to do was ask.

I think we've all started a thread and had it go other directions, it's just part of it.

Moving on........

[Bruce1]

Message recieved

[cycletrader2]

On 12/6/2017 at 11:41 PM, Bruce1 said:

Hello all. I have been looking at a small light dual sport bike mainly to ride gravel and from trail head to trail head. No real extended black top work. I was thinking of the Kawasaki KLX250/Yamaha WR250R/Suzuki DR400/Yamaha XT250 bikes but honestly, after riding my 1982 XR200R next to my friends 2016 W250R I came away very impressed with how good this little old bike is. I'm 61yrs old now and 6'1" 190 lbs. I ain't as fast as I used to be but I still like a good thrash now and then. One thing I don't like is how hard it's getting digging my bike out of the muskeg and sand that seems to be everywhere up here in central Alberta, Canada. I can't imagine digging out a DRZ 4 or 5 times a day. So instead of selling the XR I started thinking about keeping it and converting it to dual sport mode. I have done some re-valuing to the rear shock which has transformed the rear end. Gold valves are available for the front forks. I already have it insured and registered for street use so it really only needs proper lighting, mirror and a horn so it can bear up under scrutiny in the field. I was thinking of a Baja designs kit but none is offered for the '82. Has anyone had experience fitting an '82 with this kit? It would be one hell of a lot cheaper than buying a manufactured dual sport and probably, at around 200 lbs. the lightest bike of the bunch. One other question. It seems that after market exhausts are only made for the '85 and later bikes. Don't they use the same motor as mine? Wasn't it only '83 and '85 that had the twin carb engines? Couldn't the '85 exhausts be adapted to my frame with a little bending and re-positioning of mounting tabs? Thanks for all of your input in advance!

 

[cycletrader2]

Great story from another Honda XR believer.  It is just a super little bike that will do everything called upon, albeit a lot slower.  I rode one for years in our Colorado trail adventures, simple and bulletproof.  I took an Honda XL185 out to Colorado last  year as a backup to my DRZ400.  I had to ride the Honda back out when the rider got hurt, and once again realized how great a bike it was. I didn't even have to rejet it at 11,000 feet.  Now now I  have its successor a street legal CRF230L.  Forks and Shocks are not as good as my old XR200, (I am looking for a turn key suspension place to send the forks) but the magic button street legal personna is everything this 68 year old guy could want.    David   www.classicjapanesemotorcycles.com 

[rmhrc630]

On 12/8/2017 at 12:29 AM, chadzu said:

The biggest problem I ran into with my '82 was with the stator power.  The '81-'83 bikes used a very small stator that puts out such a small amount of power it was always a struggle to keep all the street equipment up and running.  I ended up using a pedal bike type electronic horn which actually works pretty well.  I used a reg/rec   so  I go all LED for the lighting and installed a Lithium Ion battery.  It worked pretty well, but it  seemed to drag  the battery voltage down over time.

I found a couple of ways around this.  The most elegant solution is to find the elusive xl200r stator and stator cover.  There is one year, I think '83-'84ish that had the correct looking cover and also had the newer style stator.  Getting to the newer style stator opens up some options on producing more electrical power.  You can also use the '86+ 200r stator and cover, but the cover is shaped slightly different.

You can also go "total loss" with the street equipment.  Just install a small LI battery and run the signals and such from it.  You will need to pull the battery and charge it once in a while, but it works fairly well.

My final solution was to use the XL cover and stator, rewound to use all 6 poles "I cant remember is the XL stator was fully wound or if I had to do it" Then run it into the Trail Tech reg/rec.  I added a battery to finish off the system.  The TT reg/rec has a timed power output lead so you can hook all of your loads to it and not need to have a secondary power switch which helps to keep you from running the battery down by mistake.  I have the same set up on my 230 powered bike and the electrical system has proven to be robust and problem free.

Hi mate

With specific reference to the XL200R stator did you have to use the XL flywheel?

[chadzu]

17 hours ago, rmhrc630 said:

Hi mate

With specific reference to the XL200R stator did you have to use the XL flywheel?

I have no experience with the XL stator, so I don’t know 

[rmhrc630]

5 minutes ago, chadzu said:

I have no experience with the XL stator, so I don’t know 

But you said you fitted the xl200r stator in your comment above?

Confused 

[Chuck.]

Hope this helps, I got this from a Clymers Manual so the data is suspect because the XRs only had a 35watt head lights and a tail light. The XLs had  an AC output for the head light and a battery for turn signals with another output for a  DC charging circuit:

Model………….. Volt…. Rated output
XR185/200……... 6v…. 45w/5000rpm (not all XR200s have a lighting coil)
XL185S (83)………6v….. 108w/5000rpm
XL200R (83-84)… 12v.. 196w/5000rpm
XR200R (81-83) ... 6v… 50w/5000rpm
XR200R (86-88) .. 12v.. 108w/5000rpm
XR200R (90-02) .. 12v.. 108w/5000rpm
TLR200….….…... 12v.. 156w/5000rpm

The problem with the TLR system is the taper on the rotor is different from the XR/XL185/200s.