With the addition of the Husqvarna 701 Enduro to my stable I decided to sell my beloved Honda XR650L. Goodbye you big red pig – you were a great bike.
Tag Archives: Honda
Yes, that’s a public road
Many of the counties in the western half of the Texas hill country are sparsely populated, which means the counties don’t have a very large tax base. Consequently, many county roads are not only dirt, but are only sporadically maintained. It’s … Continue reading →
The Return of TAR
It has been a few years since the last Texas Adventure Ride (TAR) in Junction, TX. With the formation of the Texas Adventure Riders Association in January 2017, I added TAR back to the event calendar for this year. About … Continue reading →
Honda XR650L – a better countershaft sprocket
Like all motorcycles, the Honda XR650L has some known weak points. One of which is the countershaft / front sprocket contact area. There are issues with the OEM sprocket that XRL owners have been using workarounds to solve since Big … Continue reading →
Battle of the Bikes: Husqvarna TE610 versus Honda XR650L
The Husky TE610/630 are the finest 6xx class dual sport motorcycles ever produced. Unfortunately, Husky discontinued the TEs in 2012, with no replacement in sight. However, the Honda XR650L is still available and it is a surprisingly good platform for a … Continue reading →
A Game Changer?
“Get Ready for True Adventure Some bikes are total game changers. And that’s the perfect description of Honda’s all-new Africa Twin®. … Continue reading →
The Verdict
Project XR650L Adventure is complete. Was it successful? With all the changes I made Is Big Red a better dual sport adventure bike? Read the verdict here. … Continue reading →
Final Touches
I have recently completed the final upgrades and modifications to my XR650L. You can read about them here. … Continue reading →
Ready for Mexico
I finished Project XR650L Adventure just in time for a 7 day, 1400 mile recon of the mountains in Mexico south of Ciudad Victoria. Here is Big Red, packed and ready to go. … Continue reading →
Hot Rod Honda
One of my goals for Big Red (my Honda XR650L) was to get a little more power out of the engine and to improve the transmission. When I bought the bike it was pretty slow – probably from 22,000 miles of engine wear leading … Continue reading →