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The XR650R is dead according to Dealer

By Old_Man_Time,
in XR600R & XR650R/L

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Grand Master

Old_Man_Time

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Last week I stopped by the Honda shop in Wenatchee, Washington to see if they might have some stock XR650R suspension parts on hand. They did not have the parts and the counter man told me the XR650R is a dead model and even though it's still in production they don't carry it anymore.

That statement saddened me cause I really like the bike. I have owned one since they hit the showroom floor in Feb. of 2000.

Then I thought about the Honda dealer in my home town of Quincy, Washington. I bought both my XR650R's new from him. They no longer carry it either, even though it is still in production. Yet my local dealer had on his shipping dock 3 XR650L's still in the crates that he just ordered in. He told me he cannot keep the XR650L's on the floor they sell very well. He said they cannot move the XR650R's.

I wish Honda would just do the only thing that makes sense. Make the XR650R into a dual sport and drop the L model cause it would not be competitive against a factory dual sported R model. Obviously it would sell like hot cakes. As it is, if the dealers will not even stock the R models, it is a dead bike. :banghead:

But you know something? There is no real incentive for them to make a dual sport R. Why go through all the trouble of tooling up for a new dual sport model when they can sell all the 650L's they make?

I suppose I will end up buying an 06 model out of a warehouse a year after they quit making them. Meaning in 07. I will get an awesome price on the most durable bike still in production.

Long live the R.

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Grand Master

Old_Man_Time

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Someone is pulling someone elses leg..I just saw them at the Honda convention in Las Vegas. They just haven't changed.

No they are not pulling my leg. I know Honda still makes them but there are two dealers in my area who do not put them on their showroom floors. In fact they do not even stock the bike. Sure I could order one from either of these dealers if I were looking for a new one right now but I'm not. By the time I am looking for a new one they will be out of production. I suspect Honda will no longer produce them in 07. The fact that dealers won't stock them cause they can't move them is a sign of the bikes demise sometime soon. :banghead:

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Experienced

Supplicate

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the dealership I bought mine from keeps one on the showroom floor, and thats it.

If it sells, they don't put another one out there. I happened to come in the day after they sold the floor model talking to them about it, they will special order them in though at a good price too.

But, like you said, there were four or five L's sitting there because they sell the hell out of htem.

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Thumpmeister

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Hey, your in my area, slightly. I was just up at Westside Motorsports in Spokane, and lo and behold, they had a beatiful brand new XR 650 R sitting on their showroom floor. From what I've been told, I don't think the BRP is going to be gone until they have something better to replace it with.

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Grand Master

Motosprtman

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when I bought my new XR650L the dealer in Everett, Washington said the same thing about the 650R - they don't sell nearly as many as they od of the L's - and in fact they sell thier allotment of L's every year and ask Honda for more and the answer is no. Maybe it is a regional thing, that is, the R does not sell as well as the L in Washington for some reason. Both have thier purposes as we allknow and they have tremndous differences. I agree that IF the R became a XR650RL it would sell well - to a distinctive crowd of the more hard core off roaders / racers. The L has a dedicated following and it what it is. Honda loves em as they are one of, if not the best selling bike they make.

Honda could do alot with the off raod line in my opinion and make a street legal version of almost everyone of em...and they would sell em! CRF450X (L) XR400RL, etc .... just imagine the possibilities.

The XR650L is one of the greatest (albeit now dated) bikes that Honda has ever made, in bone stock form - it is extremely reliable and durable, capable of the off road logging road or trail riding trek on the weekend to the week day commute on the freeway. It can be highly modified or pretty much left alone, depends on the rider and his / her desires. It is the "just right" bike for alot of outdoor enthusiasts etc -

Honda has the capability to make more "racer" technologically advanced bikes like the CRF's and R's into street legal dualsports - but I think they like ot leave that up to you .... and after market parts to make em that way. This way they escape liability and also do not have ot re-tool a production line and or meet EPArequirements etc, and after all they have the XR650L it brings them $$$$ daily, year after year...

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Grand Master

EM_rider

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...meanwhile Honda is looking at the new street legal Husqvarna 510 and 610 while they are developing the CRF600X...question is will it have a license plate?

I wonder about this too. Husky's strategy makes a lot of sense to me. They make the TEs so that they meet all 50 state requirements (EPA and state requirements if relevant) for street legality, but except for the 610 they are not factory street legal. Customers who want a DS, can plate the bike because it meets all the legal requirements. But at the same time, Husky minimizes the hassle they face associated with making a factory street legal bike. I can't see any downside for Honda and others in following a similar strategy. Make a crf600x that meets the legal requirements for a plate in all 50 states, and then let customers decide if they want to proceed with the DS conversion.

R

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Grand Master

Old_Man_Time

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I wonder about this too. Husky's strategy makes a lot of sense to me. They make the TEs so that they meet all 50 state requirements (EPA and state requirements if relevant) for street legality, but except for the 610 they are not factory street legal. Customers who want a DS, can plate the bike because it meets all the legal requirements. But at the same time, Husky minimizes the hassle they face associated with making a factory street legal bike. I can't see any downside for Honda and others in following a similar strategy. Make a crf600x that meets the legal requirements for a plate in all 50 states, and then let customers decide if they want to proceed with the DS conversion.

R

Sounds like a good plan but here in Washington if the manufacturer does not make it street legal they will not plate them. They used to plate the Euro models but the state is quickly becoming wise to that too. It will not be long before it just is not possible in Washington.

The manufacturers that will not listen to us are going to lose our buisness.

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