xr 650L to go on a diet

[pierre3737]

A new ktm is too expensive now, so it's time to put the pig on a diet.

Any idea where to start since mine is apart now?

Thanks

[scalejockey]

Put on a kickstart, dump the battery & starter,also put on a aftermarket pipe to loose at least 25 lbs.

or,even better....remove the gas cap....put it on a 650R.?

[ThumpNRed]

If you dump the starter and battery, you can lose about four pounds of flywheel while you are at it by installing an XR600 flywheel as you will no longer need the starter gear on the XRL lardowheel.

[drtlvr]

do not ditch the e start, for the little weight it saves you it would not be worth it.

the convenience of having the button is worth more,I ride single track with mine and if you ever stall it on a off camber hill or just a hill you will be happy you can just push the button and go,I stripped pretty much everything possible off my xr to shave weight ,don't really know if it made it any faster,heavy is heavy ,remove the rear sub frame,remove the whole instrument cluster and its over engineered metal bracket,get a plastic tank,I was thinking of doing the battery mod also...good luck,you could always sell the e start to the 650r guys .....lol

[n16ht5]

spud mods and n16ht5 mods.

shorai battery under seat, ditch subframe under fender, ditch the whale tail lights, mini turn signals, ditch headlight, ignition, brackets, battery trunk, smogtopus, get a plastic tank, aluminum bars, remove pull cable on Carb, get FMF Q exhaust, and so on.

what you get is this

[ThumpNRed]

do not ditch the e start, for the little weight it saves you it would not be worth it.

the convenience of having the button is worth more,I ride single track with mine and if you ever stall it on a off camber hill or just a hill you will be happy you can just push the button and go,I stripped pretty much everything possible off my xr to shave weight ,don't really know if it made it any faster,heavy is heavy ,remove the rear sub frame,remove the whole instrument cluster and its over engineered metal bracket,get a plastic tank,I was thinking of doing the battery mod also...good luck,you could always sell the e start to the 650r guys .....lol

Don't get me wrong... I wasnt suggesting that I would dump the e start on my bike. Just saying that if you are going to go that route you can save several pounds by running an XR600 flywheel.

[n16ht5]

when I rebuild my bike I might keep the e start. if it were my main trail bike I would ditch it, but I already have an xr250. I haven't tried kicking a 650 over after riding all day

[brianhare]

Pull the 650 lump........put in a bored 250 2 smoke........50 pounds off right there....

Orrrrrrrrrrrr let CW port the head,put in a HRC clone cam,KibbleWhites......102mm JE 10.5-1.....and the extra

power may actually push this whale down the trail properly..

?

B

[ThumpNRed]

I think you can get the pig down to around 300 pounds, but anything below that is a challenge. The motor by itself weighs a #$%ing TON! If you ever have to pull it out and wrestle it up on the bench:foul:

The things that I found that really make the bike "feel" heavy are the wallowy suspension and anemic powerplant. Once you get the suspension firmed up and the motor perked up, the bike actually feels like an honest to gosh trail whore:ride:

Of course.... all of that euphoria evaporates as soon as you overshoot a corner and find yourself off in the brush and have to wrestle the old girl back up on the trail (dont ask!)

[zx12r]

A new ktm is too expensive now, so it's time to put the pig on a diet.

Any idea where to start since mine is apart now?

Thanks

The shorai battery relocation and removing the suit case and rear fender sub-frame should be good for 10lbs or more of up high weight. Heres a couple threads.

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=875273&highlight=weight

http://www.dirtrodders.com/xr650l/diet.html

[SpudRider]

The single biggest weight loss you can make for the XR650L is the Shorai battery relocation. This modification will allow you drop 9 pounds from the bike. ?

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=666195

Spud

[SpudRider]

I weighed the items I removed from my XR650L. However, I have not weighed the items I added to my bike. Therefore, my final, weight reduction figure is an estimate, but I believe it is a fairly accurate estimate. Without further ado, here are my calculations.

Weight of items removed from my XR650L:

Stock Battery & Battery “Suitcase”: 10.25 Lb

Stock Fuel Tank: 7.0 Lb

Stock Exhaust Header, minus heat shield: 3.0 Lb

Stock Headlight and Bracket: 3.0 Lb

SMOG Pump, Hoses, and associated hardware: 2.0 Lb

Stock Tail Light & License Plate Holder: 2.0 Lb

Passenger Foot Pegs: 1.5 Lb

Fuel Tank "Elephant Ears": 1.0 Lb

Engine Guard: 1.0 Lb

Total Weight Removed: 30.75 Lbs

Weight of items added to my XR650L:

Clarke 4.7-gallon Fuel Tank: 3.5 Lbs (estimate)

FMF Hi-Flo Header: 2.5 Lbs (estimate)

Baja Designs Headlight: 2.0 Lbs

Shorai Battery & foam: 1.25 Lbs

WPS Tail Light: 0.5 Lbs (estimate)

Total Weight Added: 9.75 Lbs

Net Weight Loss: 21.0 Lbs

Most of this removed weight was highly placed on the motorcycle. Here are my weight reduction modifications, listed in order of weight removed.

Net Weight Loss Figures

1) Shorai battery relocation: 9.0 Lbs

2) Clarke 4.7-gallon fuel tank replacing the stock fuel tank and air scoops: 4.5 Lbs

3) Removing SMOG pump and associated hardware: 2.0 Lbs

4) Removing Passenger Foot Pegs: 1.5 Lbs

4) WPS tail light replacing the stock tail light and license plate holder: 1.5 Lbs

5) Removing Engine guard: 1.0 Lbs

6) Baja Designs headlight replacing stock headlight and bracket: 1.0 Lbs

7) FMF Hi-Flo Header replacing stock header: 0.5 Lbs

You can probably remove 1.5 pounds with an aftermarket muffer. You can also lose another 1.0 pounds by removing the fender subframe. I kept the oil separator on my bike; you might lose 0.25 pounds by removing it. You might lose 1.0 pounds by replacing the stock dashboard and speedometer cable with a Trail Tech Vapor computer. Perhaps you would lose 1.0 pound with aluminum handlebars. You can certainly lose significant weight by carefully choosing your tires.

I did not set out with the intention to remove a large amount of weight from my motorcycle. I realized the XR650L is fundamentally a heavy motorcycle, and I didn't think I could "make a silk purse from a sow's ear. " Therefore, I have made all my modifications for performance, appearance, and maintenance reasons. ? However, I am very glad I removed the 21 pounds of highly placed weight from my XR650L. My bike feels more nimble after the weight reduction.

P.S. If you examine my figures, you will note almost half of the total weight loss from my bike resulted from my Shorai battery relocation.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=666195

Spud ?

[pierre3737]

Thanks guys, can't wait to get going on these.

Is there any lighter rims and brake components?

How about the forks, which model would be best?

Thanks

[Kenzo]

the XR650L'z...iz wut thay iz

here'z mine before I sold it...i tried turn'n it into a dirtbike...

...about 312lbs before fuel...get rid of the tools, bark busters and skid plate, maybe 305lbs...if you want to go crazy, lose the estart and add a kicker and maybe 300ish...

...so ur talk'n ~315s w/fuel minimum and the bike carries it very high...great for a dual sport but for hare scrambles, enduros and serious offroad...fugetit.

I sold my L for $2900 two years ago and purchased a low hour used 06 400 EXC for $2900 and I ain't look'n back. ?

here it is currently w/ $250 worth of new plastics a graphics...

?

[pierre3737]

The desert racers must have had a bunch of lightweigth goodies also?

Thanks

[Kenzo]

The desert racers must have had a bunch of lightweigth goodies also?

Thanks

Ur talk'n about the R with desert racers...different animal.?

Plus w/ the R and desert racing, strength is probably more important than weight reduction. R's can be 300ish w/ fuel but they carry their weight lower and feel much lighter than the L

Even with trimming the L down to ~320lbs with fuel it didn't feel that much lighter and wud flat wear ur azz out on tight trails compaired to a true offroad bike.

[tough-nuts]

Liking the inverted forks!