1984 Honda XL600R Dual Sport

This is an old bike and I love it! I took it for a ride and appears to be something special. It has 24K miles on it, a new clutch and an extra 3 gallon plastic tank as shown in the pic. The original tank is in very nice shape except for a small dent. It has an engine oil reservoir built inside the frame...found that interesting. I remember these but never rode one or collected info on them. I can't seem to find much on the net about it and must be using the wrong key words or something. I can buy this bike today and am first in line. I was just wondering if any of you had any info or comments about this thing before I blow my money on it. I think that they are getting a bit rare these days but the guy wants $1400 for it and I just think he is asking too much. I made an offer of $1100 and he said that he will think about it and call me today before lunch. Me thinks the offer was too much also but it is a duel sport...a 600...R....and I want it bad! :twisted:

 

I've seen these thing go for about $1,500 up here, but not in apparently as good shape as that one. You guys get 'em cheaper than we do, anyway.

Those thumpers get great reviews everywhere I've read (Was thinking about one of those before I bought the Maxim)

 

Well, the temptation was too much for me to resist and it's now sitting behind the house. It ran great on the way home and I can't wait to dig in and do the deed to it. I am one happy camper!

 

Don't try too much "off road" top heavy likes to fall over and hates to start hot! As a road bike that likes gravel roads they are OK.

Never was a Honda fan though did have a XR500RC which was OK, always had Suzuki trail bikes in the 250 class. My TS250XE Suzuki 2/stroke would whip my mates XL600 too!

 

Thanks Kiwi I had a Honda MT250 Enduro as a teen and this bike reminds me of it except maybe being better in some ways. In the few things that I was able to read while browsing the net, an article mentioned them being top heavy also. I will be on the road 90% of the time so heavy trail riding won't be an issue. The bike grunts out quite a bit of power and pulls like a train on the road with it's in-line 2 cylinder engine. It cruised back home at 70mph with no strain at all on it. I have all the plastic and the tank off checking it out now and will spend a few days getting it ready to ride. I'll ride this bike while my XJ is down and waiting for parts and such. It's hard to beat those 2 strokes in the dirt. When I had my 250 as a teen, a good friend of mine had a Honda Elsinore CR125 that was awesome and kicked my butt easy. I forgot what exactly my other friend had but it was a Kawasaki 2 stroke that he raced and it scared me when he let me ride it...I was soooo glad to get off that bike and put my feet on the ground.

 

its a single cylender

 

Now I'm confused Old-Grunt, it has one spark plug but 2 exhaust pipes and 2 carbs? :?

 

Single, 4 valves with two inlets and two exhaust valves, each "carb" feeds each inlet valve, each header exhausts each exhaust valve. 8O

Common for 4 stroke singles to have 2 headers.

Those Honda "twin" carbs can be "fun".

Quote Aussie Dirt Bike, waddles round the bush like a top heavy pregnant duck!

 

Hear I go again with the learning stuff because of the more than one carb thing, it's a good that the bike came with a Clymer manual or I would be in big trouble.

 

Is that what that magazine said...can't be the same bike I rode home.

 

scrape check here for answers to your questions about your new bike http://www.thumpertalk.com/ I dont know much about the honda's I know some models and years used 2 carbs, some XT yamahas also used 2 carbs,from what I gather it works untill it gives a problem then can be a royall pain.
I't seams that they are a pretty popular and bulletproof dual sport,I'm sure it will give several years of great riding.
congrats on the bike

 

Thanks for the link and info Old Grunt...especially the good wishes. The bike is a blast to ride and appears to be built rather well. I'll just deal with the carbs when the time comes but for the present I'll just do all my checks and maintenance to get it back on the road while I learn more about it.

 

Been looking for an on/off road bike myself. Used to have a Yami IT175 (2 stroke) which was really more of an enduro/off road bike that happened to have lights/signals. The XL600 is pretty much the opposite, better on the road than the dirt. As for price, they seem to go for higher prices than expected (at auction), so you would seem to have gotten yourself a helluva deal. Should be a load of fun...enjoy!

 

I think its a great old bike, i bet its got lotsa life left in it, i had a klr650 a while back and while not great on or off road it was a darn good compromise...

 

not trying to be a smart a#% but the IT was offroad,the DT was the street legal model,the IT had head and tail lights only from factory,at least the ones sold in USA,realy not trying to be smart a#%

 

Thanks! I agree with the fact of bikes compromise to an extent when applied to more diverse environments instead of specialization to either dirt or the road. I am a big Yamaha fan but every bike has special things about it that I find desirable. I liked Yamaha's as a kid but when I searched out to purchase my bikes, I kind of fell into Triumph and Honda but experienced great pleasure of ownership anyway. Today, I have my XJ, XT225 and now this new bike. I love my XT but I need more power and a bigger bike in scale, so it has to go. I was wanting to lean over to dirt more and get a KLX250 (would go faster on the road than the XT also) but I decided to get a heavier but more road worthy bike and spotted this one. The price was better than the newer KLX250's and has some nostalgic value also. I have to admit that the DRZ400 is probably the best dual sport to satisfy both road and dirt well....that's if you don't mind riding on a seat that will torture your hinny. When I ride this XL, it feels like a big dog dirt bike and acts like one too. I can bet that this big thing will tear up the woods, and with a little extra muscle and coordination applied, won't be a push over and bullied by other bikes either. This big bike really loves the road but looks like it loves the dirt more...and I like that!

 

I haven't been around for a while because I was working feverishly on this bike. Well, I'm done and it's on the road to enjoy....have to get back to my XJ now! I think that I will put a hold on wrenching over the holiday to enjoy riding and to rest up. Here's some pics of the old beast, now I own two vintage bikes.

 

Nice, I want one!

 

Beautiful bike, Scrape!

Having cut my teeth on smaller Honda thumpers (XL70 ("thumpalina"?) and XL125) I can tell you that they are pretty much bullet-proof and will run forever. That's probably why most of the MSF classes use them.

(I also had an MT125 two-stroke, which spent as much time in the shop as on the trail. Some electrical gremlin...)

Anyway, she's a real beauty. Many happy years and miles to you!

Herb

 

I seriously considered a dual sport honda 500 years ago. It was early 80's model in mint shape. I had too much trouble trying to keep the front tire on the road though, a little blip on the throttle and I was doing a wheelie!

Great bike you have there, good score for sure.