So a mate of mine has this XR650R. its a 2000 model with about 35k kilos on the clock. I am keen on the 650R as my next bike and have considered buying his. But here is the thing. Its never been registered. There is no paperwork for it at all. I know this can be a mission to get sorted but am unsure of the actual procedure to get it through COR from its current paperless state. Any tips?? And it hasnt been ridden in over a year and has been standing. I am now doing a "few repairs" to get it going again
The other thing is the bike itself, in that it is not what I would call, in its prime. This bike has been ridden as it should be and still goes very well. My mate trailered it to my house after it sat for over a year gathering dust, having no time to ride. The bike has never been able to idle in all the years that he has owned it. So when it came to my garage, I took it as a bit of a challenge to sort out, as its been to a few "bike mechanics" over the years.
SoI started off with giving it a basic service, cleaned the carb a few times to get all the gunk out. tried carb settings to get it to idle, with no luck. Tried a heap of other things and in the end I just adjusted the tappets, which were so tight you could not fit a 0,05 feeler guage in the gap. after the adjustment, it idles perfectly :ricky: basic stuff really. Anyway, i rode it for a day or two to work, which is only 10 kms away. And on the way back home the front brake siezed on. I was very lucky to be going slowly at the time cause I had to jump off and drag it off the road. the brake was on full lock and I could not turn the wheel by hand at all. trying to turn it with the motor either lifted the wheel off the ground or just pushed it as it was. turns out the return valve was blocked.
While sitting on the side of the road waiting for tools to arrive from home, I noticed a small water leak between the head and the barrell, and that the rear wheel was loose(bearings knackered kind of loose). I managed to limp the bike back home and its been here ever since.
what have I done so far to the bike??....
pulled apart the front and rear brakes-cleaned and new fluid
cleaned and lubed all the cables
fitted a rear tyre(about 50% tread left)
pulled the head off
leak test showed leaking valves
lapped the valves by hand- kak job :eek7:
reassembled the head - still leaky valves
new inlet valves cut and seated
exhaust valves reseated
replaced the base gasket
new head gasket
new camshaft bearings
motor reassembled
stripped the rear suspension linkages
cleaned and regreased all bearings.
It needs new tyres and a chain and sprocket kit as well.
At this point I hit a snag. to get the one linkage out, you have to remove the kickstand bracket. And as my luck would have it, the lower bolt is siezed solid in the frame. :angry5: I tried all sorts of tricks to get it out, with no luck. :cussing:
So now I have pulled the motor out, taken the front end off, only to find that the steering head bearings are poked as well. the bike is down to a bare frame, with all the bits on my workshop bench.
And the saga continues. After taking off the rear wheel, I saw that the inside of the hub has been chowed by a collapsed bearing. some of the ball bearings have come out the cage and got caught up in the hub. the inner spacer is totally f#cked, and the inside of the hub is no better. So now I am hunting for a new wheel as well.
I dont mind doing the work on the bike at all, kind of my relaxing time i guess. But my initial keeness for this bike has paled somewhat, in that each time I look at it, there seems to be something that needs fixing. And I have my limits at the moment to what I am willing to spend my free time fixing.
So after all that long winded crap, my question is this. What do you think a bike like this is actually worth. The owner is paying for all the spares, and wants to pay me for my time on the repairs. Yet i am still undecided. What to accept as a reasonable price to pay for a bike that I have basically stripped to the ground, fixed more than a few essential issues, and know that once its assembled, it will have been done properly. ( I always take my time and triple check everything. ) on one hand I feel that I have a stake in the bike already, what with the hours I have spent on it so far. And on the other hand i hesitate, wondering if there is a better bike with zero issues to fix, yet within what I can afford.
Do any of you 650R fundis have a thought on the matter??
The other thing is the bike itself, in that it is not what I would call, in its prime. This bike has been ridden as it should be and still goes very well. My mate trailered it to my house after it sat for over a year gathering dust, having no time to ride. The bike has never been able to idle in all the years that he has owned it. So when it came to my garage, I took it as a bit of a challenge to sort out, as its been to a few "bike mechanics" over the years.
SoI started off with giving it a basic service, cleaned the carb a few times to get all the gunk out. tried carb settings to get it to idle, with no luck. Tried a heap of other things and in the end I just adjusted the tappets, which were so tight you could not fit a 0,05 feeler guage in the gap. after the adjustment, it idles perfectly :ricky: basic stuff really. Anyway, i rode it for a day or two to work, which is only 10 kms away. And on the way back home the front brake siezed on. I was very lucky to be going slowly at the time cause I had to jump off and drag it off the road. the brake was on full lock and I could not turn the wheel by hand at all. trying to turn it with the motor either lifted the wheel off the ground or just pushed it as it was. turns out the return valve was blocked.
While sitting on the side of the road waiting for tools to arrive from home, I noticed a small water leak between the head and the barrell, and that the rear wheel was loose(bearings knackered kind of loose). I managed to limp the bike back home and its been here ever since.
what have I done so far to the bike??....
pulled apart the front and rear brakes-cleaned and new fluid
cleaned and lubed all the cables
fitted a rear tyre(about 50% tread left)
pulled the head off
leak test showed leaking valves
lapped the valves by hand- kak job :eek7:
reassembled the head - still leaky valves
new inlet valves cut and seated
exhaust valves reseated
replaced the base gasket
new head gasket
new camshaft bearings
motor reassembled
stripped the rear suspension linkages
cleaned and regreased all bearings.
It needs new tyres and a chain and sprocket kit as well.
At this point I hit a snag. to get the one linkage out, you have to remove the kickstand bracket. And as my luck would have it, the lower bolt is siezed solid in the frame. :angry5: I tried all sorts of tricks to get it out, with no luck. :cussing:
So now I have pulled the motor out, taken the front end off, only to find that the steering head bearings are poked as well. the bike is down to a bare frame, with all the bits on my workshop bench.
And the saga continues. After taking off the rear wheel, I saw that the inside of the hub has been chowed by a collapsed bearing. some of the ball bearings have come out the cage and got caught up in the hub. the inner spacer is totally f#cked, and the inside of the hub is no better. So now I am hunting for a new wheel as well.
I dont mind doing the work on the bike at all, kind of my relaxing time i guess. But my initial keeness for this bike has paled somewhat, in that each time I look at it, there seems to be something that needs fixing. And I have my limits at the moment to what I am willing to spend my free time fixing.
So after all that long winded crap, my question is this. What do you think a bike like this is actually worth. The owner is paying for all the spares, and wants to pay me for my time on the repairs. Yet i am still undecided. What to accept as a reasonable price to pay for a bike that I have basically stripped to the ground, fixed more than a few essential issues, and know that once its assembled, it will have been done properly. ( I always take my time and triple check everything. ) on one hand I feel that I have a stake in the bike already, what with the hours I have spent on it so far. And on the other hand i hesitate, wondering if there is a better bike with zero issues to fix, yet within what I can afford.
Do any of you 650R fundis have a thought on the matter??
