Basic mods and accessories for Honda XR 200

2009-11-29T17:44:00.000-08:00

Other than just changing tires, you can improve your Honda XR 200's aesthetics and performance with the following basic mods and accessories (locally sourced):

Bodywork/replacement plastics:

You can get stock replacement plastic from your local Honda dealer, or you can get aftermarket plastic from companies like Acerbis, Maier, or IMS. The following is a description of what's generally available and most of the color choices:

1. Acerbis: Lower fork covers (85-98 white), Side panels (96-98 black, white, red), Skid plates (92-97 white), Fork blades (90-98 white), Disc guards (96-98 purple, white, black), Frame guards (92-98 white), Front fenders (90-98 black, red, purple, white, silver), Fuel tanks (88-98 white), Rear fenders (90-98 white, black, red).

2. IMS: Enduro series fuel tanks, 4.9 gallons (84-95 natural, orange, red, white) and their 4.0 gallon tank (84-98 black, blue, natural, orange, red, white).

3. Maier: Front fender (86-98), Rear fender (81-82, 86-95), Disc guard (84-98), Side panels (86-98), Headlight shells w/numberplate (84-95). All Maier plastic is available in black, blue, flash red, green, purple, red, white, yellow.

4. Polisport: Headlights (86-02), Rear fender (86-02), Front Fender (86-02), Handguards.

I don't recommend putting CRF shrouds on XR like the picture shown below. It could only mess up your gas tank, since surgery has to be made inorder to fit the plastics. If you're into off-road adventures, the shrouds in your gas tank could be your achille's heels.

Handlebars/Handguards:

The stock handlebars are good old plain steel, and will hold up for a long time, through many crashes are great when you're learning, but they are pretty heavy. Many companies like Renthal, Answer, Moose, and White Brothers all offer aftermarket bars for the XR that are quite a bit lighter, and in some cases offer better shock absorption. A popular choice for the XRs is an aftermarket bar in the "CR-High" bend style. These bars have a taller rise, and are more comfortable if you're spending a lot of time standing up.

Many companies such as Summers Racing, Maier, and Moose offer guards for the levers and bar ends to fit most any handlebar. Most guards are anodized aluminum, and can be purchased with or without additional plastic shrouds to guard your hands from flying roost. They all generally do a good job of protecting your levers and hands from brush, and the addition of the plastic guards works great for mud. Summers Racing has a different type of inboard mount available that bolts to the top triple clamp, rather than the handlebars, to theoretically allow the bars to flex as designed, without the restriction of bar mounted clamps.

Chains and Sprockets:

The stock chain for mostsmaller XRS is a D.I.D 520 o-ring chain, and holds up quite well if cleaned regularly and kept well lubricated with your favorite chain chemistry. The sprockets seem to wear out a little faster than the aftermarket units, these being available from companies such as Renthal, Answer, and Sprocket Specialists. If you are replacing one sprocket, it is a good idea to replace the other and the chain all at once to promote even wear.

Rear Disc Brake

Smaller XRs like the 200cc comes with a rear drum brake that can be modified into disc brakes through machine shop surgery. Though it seems like the only purpose for this is just to improve the bikes aesthetics (the light weight of the XRs 200 generally does not require any changes in the braking system). You can use a new front disc brake from Honda under bones (wave and xrm) as your bikes rear disc braking system. It’s a lot cheaper compared to buying aftermarket disc brakes for XR or CRF dirtbikes.

Exhaust System

Many aftermarket exhaust pipes and systems are available for the XR, including large diameter head pipes (on the theory that the stock pipe diameter is too small). Most exhaust systems will require carb re-jetting and tuning for best performance, and will also increase the noise coming out the back end. Available pipes for XR200 (locally made):

1. YRS Pipe – Pros: nice sound, performance, lightweight. Cons: the elbow made of lacklustre metal, not made of stainless steel. The canister, though, is aluminium.

2. GCG Pipe – Pros: the looks (pro-circuit replica). Cons: if you are into sound, this pipe is a bit low. Also it did not come with an elbow; you gotta use your rusted stock pipe elbow.

3. Musahshi Pipe – I haven’t got any feedbacks yet but this is how it looks:

Of course, no one can stop you from buying those high-end yoshimora’s or fmf if you’re a rich man’s kids. They just cost too much for a bike like XR, IMHO. Enjoy modding!

XR600 Chronology (Honda)

2009-11-28T05:46:00.000-08:00

by Jeff Deeney

Here's a brief chronology of the big XR's. It seems that they only make significant changes every 3-4 years:

1979 (or '78?) - XR500 introduced. Dual shocks on rear. 7-9" travel
each end. Honda's first pure dirt 4-stroke. Somewhat heavy, but good handling with stiffer springs. Drum brakes at both ends.

Funky 23" front wheel for the first couple of years.

1983 - Single shock rear suspension. Front disk brake. Approx 11" travel both ends. Dual carb setup. I owned a 1983 for about 6 years and really liked it. A little heavy, but stiffer fork springs made it a nice handling bike.

1985 - Displacement increased to 600cc. Little else changed. Bigger displacement added quite a bit more torque. '85/86 models had some problems with 3rd gear breakage.

1988 - Nickasil cylinder, single carb, and stainless steel exhaust. Weight decreased about 10 pounds over the '87. Rear wheel changed from 17" to 18". The decompresion mechanism was changed from a kick starter actuated system to a cam speed actuated system to prevent the nasty kickback of earlier XR's.

1991 - Cartridge front forks (still too soft) and disk rear brake.

1992 - Unchanged except for larger diameter front axle

1993-97, little or no changes.

1998-2009 (added by the blog author), Increased displacement to 650 cc (hence the end of chronology), more street legal features, tank shrouds, electric starter.

XR BASICS

Basic mods and accessories for Honda XR 200

XR600 Chronology (Honda)