XR500--Holy Lord!!

Traded an old zero-turn commercial lawn mower that was on its last leg for an 82 XR500. Needed a couple of small parts to get it running.

Now, I had an 84 XR200 when I was 14. I rode countless miles and countless hours on that bike and was forced to sell it to get my first car (74 Monte Carlo). I thought that bike was fun.

NOW there's THIS bike.... It's heavy as E36 M3, old as hell but it's still composed and pulls like a freight train. Initial rides indicate it to be the right combination of docile and "I'll rip your face off."

I'm in L-U-V love. If only it weighed half as much and was almost brand new and on and on and on.....

Awesome!

Enjoy it. I doubt that the other side of the trade is writing on a grass cutters forum saying "traded an old XR500 motorcycle that was on it's last leg for this zero-turn mower that has the right combination of docile and "I'll rip your face off". Because if you really mess up, the lawnmower actually COULD rip your face off.

My XR600R was brutal. Awesome.

I had a CR480. Every now and then on the ride home when I was tired I would get careless with the throttle and I would go straight over backwards.

Dood, if you think that thing is bad, go ride a CR500. That thing will scare the schitt out of you. Then go throw a leg over a YZ450. Be sure you lean WAY forward. For comparison, my WR400 would stay with a CR500 out of the hole, then the CR would finally pull away on top end.

Yeah go ride a 1985 CR500R, and bring an extra pair of underwear and make sure you are in riding gear. Do it somewhere soft, with no trees.

It was the meanest and most uncontrolable of the bunch. Honda started detuning after that year to stop hurting people.

Went from 69hp down to 58 @8500 rpm. over it's life (although you can do somethings to get the power back) and weighed 225 lbs. For comparison a 2008 GSXR 750 has a 133hp at 446 lbs. Thats 3.26 lbs/hp to 3.35 lbs/hp!!!! For a 27 year old dirt bike to compete against a modern 3/4 liter street racer is quite the accomplishment. The thing is the CR left room on the table for more.

It is a violent bike.

You should love it!

The CR500 is no longer in production, a victim of the shrinking market for Open class 2 strokes. Honda never did upgrade the frame to the twin spar perimeter frame used with the CR250, but that didn't stop Service Honda.

http://www.servicehonda.com/cr500af05.html Basically they buy a brand new CR250, source a CR500 motor (sometimes they buy a whole bike for the motor) recondition the motor and then start swappin'. I rode one of these things. Talk about a BEAST.

I really want a KX or CR500 to convert to a motard. We had a perfect '92 KX500 in the shop to consign a few years back - the thing was totally mental*. Being a big single, it actually produced a good amount of torque down low, but when it came on the pipe, you better be pointed straight and holding on. Take your choice between wheelspin or a wheelie.

With sticky tires and big brakes for the street, I don't think you could possibly have more fun with your pants on.

*For reference, my daily rider was an un-neutered '97 TL1000-S streetfighter with no steering damper, so I know from mental bikes.

There was a dual sported CR500 tooling around Charleston. It seemed he was always going the other way whenever I saw him.

I have a friend with a street legal KX500 in his shop. Its a fun commuting toy.

I've heard tales of the CR500. Don't think I need complete insanity in a bike. I'd be hurt badly in short order.

Which is all kinda what makes the old XR (and XL) so nice. They just thump and run. Loads of mellow torque. Fast their not (by todays standards), but darn they are fun and easy to ride.

yeah, the thread got hijacked, but does anybody know about putting lights on either of those oil burners???

wheelsmithy wrote: yeah, the thread got hijacked, but does anybody know about putting lights on either of those oil burners???

You can get the generator parts from the XR bike and they will bolt right in I'm pretty sure. Thats what my friend with the KX did. Except he used KLR parts. If you street legal it you need a battery.

An 82 XR500 has the older 6 volt charging system. It is not actually the same as the 81 XL500, though it looks it at first glance. It's lighter and produces even less charge, and does not have the headlight charging circuit in it that the XL has.

There are various bandied about things on the web, and most of them are wrong I've learned (having a 6 volt XL myself).

Because of the differences in flywheels, ignitor boxes and other things, your best and most effective aproach is to find a parts bike that will have all the parts you are looking for. Be it an XL, XR, CR or even FT Ascot (which could allow for electric start). Then swap the parts.

I suspect, though am not certain, that you can change the armature to the 12 volt design by including the adapter bracket that Honda used. This should/could allow it to be mounted to the cover you have.

People sell the individual parts on ebay as if they are made of gold. They list for absurd prices, and do sometimes sell for them. Beware of completeness, and look at the money you will spend getting all the parts. Then contrast that against a complete parts bike. True, parts bikes are kinda hard to find. But it looks to be quite worthwhile should you locate one. I'm personally watching for a parts bike myself, preferably an FT Ascot.

Sorry for the threadjack. :embarrassed: If you want to go 12V for decent lighting, you can have the stator rewound. But: you'll either have to find 12V ignition stuff or have the stator wound to produce both 6V and 12V. That will mean a bit of wiring.

http://www.bajadesigns.com/products/motorcycle-products/stators-flywheels/motorcycle-stator-rewinding

It's possible to rewind a stator yourself but you'll need to get better information than I have stashed in my head.

I too apologize for contributing to the two stroke threadjack and would like to state for the record that I approve of all things Honda thumper. Furthermore, I hope to replace my overly-complicated and significantly too-stupid-fast TL with an XR600/650 motard.

And maybe an open class two smoke motard...

Is it wrong to want to do this to a healthy 2 stroke of some kind?

Problem with rewinding is the type of stator he should have on that bike. If he's got what I think he's got, it's this type:

It's real crude, with two (or maybe three) separate circuits (ignition, everything else, and maybe headlight) and no one seems to touch them any more. Heck, I can't find hardly any information on how they are actually wound (which coil contains what).

That's why going to the later spoke type stator probably is a better way to go. But again, information is sketchy, contradictory, and frequently just plain wrong.

Honda doesn't help matters by making so many similarly coded bikes, but having goofy and contradictory factory information as well. Such as XL500R, not to be confused with the XR500 or the XR500R, or the XR500L. They all may or may not exist, depending on country and literature you look at. And all have different stators, with different part numbers, unless you look in a book that shows similar or identical part numbers.

Dunno if it helps, but there's a good bit of info on the XS650 charging system, how to change it to a PMA (Permanent Magnet Alternator) system, also known as the 'Banshee swap'.

http://www.xs650chopper.com/2011/01/xs650-banshee-charging-system-swap/

I'm sure something Honda could be used as well. It would mean going to a bike boneyard, digging through a pile of stators till you find something suitable, then make an aluminum adapter plate etc. All depends on how bad you want 12V lights.

Appleseed wrote: Is it wrong to want to do this to a healthy 2 stroke of some kind?

No, that is very, very right. Looks like a Roland Sands creation - I love the dirtbike-to-race/cafe thing he's been doing lately, and I really hope it catches on.

i have a 1990 xr250 and love it, but the converted cafe racer looks awesome.

Chris

If I remember correct, Sands only had about $2000 into that build, bike and all. Most of the budget was spent on lowering the forks and having them re-tuned.

This thread makes me think about my old TT500