Kaff's XBR (now sold to.... "don't worry, I've got this covered!" - ylisuuta

[guest1130]

Project: exhaust.

This morning I woke up at 7 and took an 80 km ride on the XBR to a friend's garage to start making the custom exhaust on the bike. The plan was to get the pipe tacked together and finish off the welds later. We ended up finishing the system in a single day - a bit unpolished but functional. My friend TJV is an excellent welder and my role was his handyman, involved in the grindings, fittings and planning - the project was a success thanks to him.

The basic idea was to make a short, 2-in-1 all stainless all free flowing exhaust. I had previously turned two stainless header outlets on the lathe and acquired a miscellaneous selection of stainless pipes, cones and angles. The muffler I bought was a 2" free flowing car muffler, so it was expected to be loud. Here's where we started:


First we made the header section, which was to be connected to the muffler via v-band because I wanted the option to easily change the muffler without taking the whole system off the bike. The header section consisted of two 29,7 mm inner diameter tubes that would join together into a 2" diameter single tube. The tricky part was to make the diameter transition seamless for best flow characteristics. We ended up doing the 2-in-1 piece using stainless cones.




The muffler section has .. well .. the muffler with a short outlet angle on one end and a v-band flange on the other. Tightened everything up and fired the bike up. It was awesome. But LOUD - the "muffler" is a completely free flowing 2" pipe with limited noise insulation . My friend fabricated a removable inner tube inside the muffler to help reduce some of the noise and also create a little back pressure which made the exhaust sound a little more neighborhood friendly - don't get me wrong, it's still loud. The end result:


I'm loving the compact look of the system, it totally changed the whole appearance of the bike. The new system weighs way less than the original too, which is always a good thing. I have yet to decide wether to polish the pipes, wrap 'em in some black Thermo-Tec or sand-blast and paint them black. Time will tell. After riding the XBR back from the garage, the header section has a golden color due to heat - it looks pretty cool, would look way cooler if it was polished. The bike is considerably louder and probably in need of re-jetting but all in all, I'm super happy with the exhaust.

[JOOLZ]

Nice set of down pipes, they should flow well

[guest1130]

F*** OFF TRANSLA!!!!

Plus 1

Don't get it? (maybe a brit thing?)

Aaanyhows, the bike is now resting at my sisters garage for the winter. It has new additions: a fist size dent in the gas tank, a broken mirror and a cracked speedometer case .. A dude tipped it over with his car while parking.. still waiting for the insurance amount.

I've also started to look at other bikes. I've really started riding more and am looking for a more comfortable, reliable and overall more carefree motorcycle experience.. The bike has had a ton of problems during this summer, electrical and mechanical (all my fault since I've put it together ), and my current address doesn't support my need to fix the bike every weekend.

[Steve H]

F*** OFF TRANSLA!!!!

Plus 1

Don't get it? (maybe a brit thing?)

It was in response to a spam post which has been removed

[guest1130]

Hey guys, been a while.

I'm sad to report that the XBR has been sold to a new home  . I found myself out of time or the means to keep maintaining and improving the bike the way it deserved. I feel like the project got about halfway through (well.. they never truly get finished, do they?), and I think it has a great base for its next incarnation. The guy who bought the bike has been racing Honda XL / XR-bikes for ages and knows the technique of the XBR by heart. He is planning on taking the bike to a more "Street tracker" direction, which I kind of like! Anyways, I feel sad to let it go.

I'm not going to stop the hobby, but rather move on to riding instead of maintenance, due to my current situation in life. I'm looking for a bit more modern naked bike with a lot of torque to blast through city traffic. I'm currently eyeballing Buell XB9S 's, Ducati Monsters and Triumph Street Triples.

Thanks to everyone who supported me with my first bike, it will be missed!

[J.Y.Kelly]

Buy another thumper. Modern sports bikes have no soul.

[guest564]

That's a shame, I enjoyed reading your posts. Will the new owner be joining the forum?

[guest1130]

That's a shame, I enjoyed reading your posts. Will the new owner be joining the forum?

Not sure, I told him this is the place to look for advice on an XBR.. It would be great to see the direction he takes it tho, so hopefully he'll keep a diary about it somewhere.

As for my next bike, I've been looking for all kinds of alternatives and right now I'm most drawn to a brand spankin' new Yamaha MT-07. But we'll see..

[guest1796]

Hello all experts

I am a new owner of Kaff's XBR and will continue the project to the little bit different direction. I am used to keep some kind of diary of my projects, so it would be a good idea to keep it in here...
My background with motorbikes is quite long... Most of the days I drive enduro as my main hobby and also participate national competitions when ever I have change. Current bike is KTM XC250 2013 with all fine tunes for rocks and mud. I also make some booring helmet cam videos of my stuff and those can be found from here: www.youtube.com/ylisuutari

I have made so many project that it is quite hard to even count those all. I work mainly with computers and that is the reason why have continous need to mess my mahds with oil and dirt... I also have some kind of a need to see the results of my work... I think you all know what I mean
Here are few of my projects I have done during past years:
- rebuild crashed buell cityX (bike was not an oldie but it was so fun to ride, policeman has different opinion about that)
- Ducati monster 600ss 1995 totally rebuild
- Honda XL600R 1985 restoration (got familiar with the RFVC engine at this point)
- Honda VR750 Magna (partly rebuild)
- H-D Sportster Evo with small frame mods and engine work
- maby half a dozen different kind of dirt bikes (some of those turned to supermoto and also driven SM)

Also owned some bikes without any specific building... like CBR1000Fireblade, CX550C, CBR600R

About XBR. It is very nice to continue from this point when almost all "dirty" works are already done. Most propably I will take closer look to the engine as well and make sure everything is as it should.

I also have couple of questions to get my project started:

- Dirt tracker style needs more rough tires... plan is to put there Brigestone TW42 or pirelly scoprpio A/T wheels. My question is, how big tires can be fitted? How about if I put 120/90 to the both ends or should I go with something like 140/80 to rear and 120/80 to the front. I hope someone have experience about this. I would not like to order a new tires and after that notice that those will not fit.
- Cas tank and seat will be changed to the smaller one. Seat will be self made, but any suggestions what tank can be easily fitted? I have in mynd Harley XR750 Flat track tank but it can be difficult to find with reasonable prize. Other options is to go with old XL125 tank (must be really old one). I would prefer tank to be as small as possible can be easilly fitted.

More pictures and stories will follow..

[J.Y.Kelly]

I hope your project goes well. I too have an XBR that I am planning on doing 'something different' with, but I don't know what just yet.
I have been riding motorcycles since I was 16, and I'm now nearly 62. Of all the machines I have owned, the XBR has given me the most pleasure, not just riding, but tinkering as well.

[guest1130]

I'll be following this closely!! - changed the title to a more appropriate one  .

[guest1796]

Hello,

So, today I finally got the bike to my carage. After about two hours it looks like this
Front fork needs new seals.. little bit problems with opening bottom bolts, but I will find out something tomorrow. Do someone know it there is a similar seals and dust covers in another Honda models? Need to find parts from Finnland.

I have one very tricky question... is it possible to change gear map? On XBR gear pedal is heading to back and if I make a flat tracker, I must turn it heading to front. After that whole gear map will be opposite.. one up and all down.

If someone needs XBR original tank and seat, please let me know.

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[guest564]

On my old race bike I fabricated a linkage to correct the gear pattern after I fitted rearsets. If I can find it I'll take some pictures, otherwise its possible to use XL600 parts in the gearbox.

[guest1796]

Hi again. Short update.

Front forks dissambled to peaces. Oil was like old, dirty, black water 
I am an offroad dude and normally I will change front fork oils after 20h of hard racing. At this forum we are not talking about offroad bikes but please remember to change fork oils at least once a year. After oil looses all lubrication features, there is only metal against metal. I still need to check all tolerances and I hope that this fork will still work. At this case I know that Kaff has changed oils but I think there was water also mixed to the oil. There was an oil leak on pipes so that might be the reason.

I managed to find a beautifull new tank for the bike. Need to be fitted but not very hard job to complete. Totally original Kawasaki retro tank from '70 which I found from local junk yard for 50€!!
I think the tank is taken from Kawasaki KH125.

Old Pirelli sport diamod tires will be removed today from the rims. I will polish outer rims and new Pirelli Scorpio MT90 A/T tires will be installed after huge amount of autosol and polishing.
My very first idea was to pulver coat rims to black, but when I saw all bolts, nuts etc. details I decided just to polish them partly. Powder coating is not an option at this case. We will see how it will look... need to find black spoked wheels if result is not as goos as I expect.

Rhinoman: Please send pictures from your linkage if possible. Most propably I will need to relocate footpegs.

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[guest1796]

Hmm... wheels seems to be anodized, so must stay as is, no polishing.
Anyone have spoked wheels, I could be insterested to buy

Next thing is the handlebar... Need to hunt suitable risers.