⌛ Honda XLR/XR200 owners or buyers

Hi all Honda XLR/XR200 owners or buyers
Buying
I bought my white XLR200 in 99' as one of the last in Oktober, 2000 saw the arrival of the gungray/light/red XLR, in 2004 it was then the XR, in 2007 it was gungray/black, the ones available now are silver/red+white.
I bought mine from DuEKSam but if you intend to buy one you should (like with any other Big item) go and canvas for the best prize.
The buying is not a big deal if you are paying Cash, one important thing is the "Registration" of the Bike, usualy the first year Registration and Insurance are included in the buying price. (it is advisable to choose a different Insurance for the following year) The Registration is not yet registered with the LTO when you drive the Bike from the Shop! despite the assurance of the Sales Staff that, this is not a problem, (which it is not, for Pinoy buyers!) you can insist on a temporary Registration which is valid for 6 Days for a specific Route. (from your Home to the Town and back)
Service
Your brandnew XR200 comes with a one Year warranty and a nice looking Manual, Tools and a "Service Coupon Booklet", now, the Shop where you buy the Bike might or might not have a Workshop. DuEkSam for example has one in the back of the Sales aera past the Spare parts counter.
Let's have a look, it's a well lit Workshop but if you want to see anything bring your own Flashlight! they have two Bike Lift's, they will last forever because they only have to carry the stuff the Workers have but on them. so that they(the Workers)have more space on the Floor where they prefer to work.
I was unknowing when i brought (I had Bikes all my live in the CH) my XLR for the first Check-up and was holding onto my "Service Coupon Booklet" with all the positions to be inspected, i was told to buy the Engine oil and it was changed, the Mechanic told me that's it and i said, what's with the
"Service Coupon Booklet", he kicked the Tires and told me everything is fine!
There are only two recently opened new Shops with a realy good Workshop, one is the Brandnew SUZUKI WORLD with Chiefmechanic "Milan" opposing St.Pauls College and the other is YAHMAHA on the corner St.Rosa/Perdisses.
I then deceided to do it myself, over the last 11 years came together a lot of information, tools and tricks to make the XLR/XR200 a reliable and cheap to run bike that will go anywhere.
I intend to keep this tread going and make it into a valuable information source.
Have a good time everybody...

 

Honda XLR/XR200

My XLR200 after the make over ihn 06'

 

Thanks, Victor!

Larry

 

Great info! Thanks!

 

Periodic Maintenance Service by a dealer in PH

Hi, what you wrote about the way a mechanical is doing the maintenance in the workshop on your Honda bike, sounds rather familiar to me. Bought a brand new Yamaha Mio (125cc scooter model) @ a Yamaha dealer in Dipolog City (Norkis, which also has a branch here). Despite of a full check list to go through as printed in the owner's Manual, the only thing that was done so far is changing oil & oil filter, that's it. So better do it yourself if you have the knowledge.
Another question, when you bought your Honda, did you have the opportunity to make a testdrive, assuming you bought it in The PH? I am seriously considering to buy an off the road machine such as the Honda XR200 or the Kawasaki KLX150S or as an alternative the Yamaha 125YBR. But the biggest problem, neither the dealers or distributors do have a showmodel for that purpose.
Cheers,
RR_biker

 

Maybe you'll enjoy this pictorial I did in Pampanga, Philippines. Norkis Yamaha is opposite Pure Gold on MacArthur Highway. It's the local dealership here that sells/services (cough) Yamahas

I bought a Yamaha Nuovo from them before and I now own a Yamaha Tmax which I bought elsewhere. When buying a new bike they don't even have facilities to wash it and deliver it to you clean. They take the plastic off the seat, screw the mirrors on, install the batteyr and off you drive with a dusty new bike. Very classy...

Norkis is three smaller shopfronts with two that are combined to make the GRAND SHOWROOM. Here's the showroom:


with a desk to arrange payments at:


And that's the showroom guys...in it's entirety!

Next to the showroom is a small shopfront that's the "service area". They have NO oil, No inter-tubes, NO tires, NO filters, etc... I asked why and they said "cause you can buy them all outside" referring to local auto shops with knockoff parts and non OEM junk.

The 3 quarts of oil sitting on the ground next to my bike, i brought it with me. Again, they have NO OIL.

In fact, they don't even have a funnel. They do have an old plastic bottle thats got a piece of hose taped to the end that they use as a funnel


The service area is basically just a place to house overstock for new bikes that they are selling. Look to the left and you will see the "parts case"


Obviously carefully inventoried and cataloged.


BTW, when they drain the oil is gets proper disposal...alongside the building in the dirt


And while your bike is being carefully pampered, enjoy the customer lounge


Welcome to Norkis Yamaha, a Dealership as only you will find here in the Philippines

Mark

 

lmao!!! :d

 

I had a local XLR 200 for many years, they're seriously reliable and easy to fix bikes. But......
The rear suspension is HARD AS A ROCK!
I have a feeling the reason for that is they expect 3+ passengers to ride on the bikes here, and they've over sprung the Bejesus out of it.

If you can get the shock/spring off of the CRF 230 that they sell in the US/EUROPE, you will have a fine riding bike.
Otherwise, extra-pad that seat! You're going to need it.

Here's a pic of my current ride....



Cheers,
Manzanita

 

Honda XLR/XR200

Some things to consider when buying the Bike, it is obvious that they are "Dirt Bikes" in Street
dressings and so their Enviroment is off or on bad Roads.
Most buyers use them on the Road and don't change much on the Bikes, besides adding useless
loud "Sports Mufflers" (Pinoy's like "Home Made" Rear Disk Brakes) and maybe some Lights and a Carrier.
This Bikes are not made to carry heavy loads, a maximum of 150Kg. is OK on good Roads
but off the Tarmac you should Ride it alone if you want to drive ambigious.
Said that, I drove mine several times up to "Japaneese Shrine" on the "Back-Road" with my
Wife and the Bike had no problem at all.
We also Raced them up to Puerto Galera on the Island of Mindoro in Rain and Storm at full Speed ( up to 120 km/h) for long Runs and they just shrugged it of, mine has now 46'000km on and still pulls very strong.
Also to consider is that they are pretty high, you should be at least 5'8" or 170cm and not more than 90kg of weight, to control it safely off the Road.
This Bikes are very though but they have some problems which are not design but Owner related, the BIGGEST wrong you can do, is to "Pressure Wash" it or let the "Bike Washers" do it for you.
This Bikes are a "Pain in the***" to keep clean but it has to be done by Hand or you will see such things as "Frozen Rear Suspension", hard to solve Electrical problems, rusted Frame, corrodet Rims and stuck Rear Breaks.
The other mayor "Killer" is low Oil, to avoid this, it is advised to change the Oil the first time after 2-300km, then again after 1000km and thereafter every 3000km, if the Bike has no technical problem there should be no Oil lose between changes.
Then comes the most disliked and neglected thing involving Chain driven Bikes, the "Chain Lubrication" the XLR/XR are equip with O-Ring Chains without Chainlocks, that means that the Chain has an initial Lubrication packed between the linkage and is OK as long as you don't remove it with the "Pressure Washer" it will keep the Chain going with only some occasional Greasing, as the Chain lenghtens during it's Livespan, there comes the time where you run out of Tensioner adjustement and some People then decide to shorten the Chain, this is not my Choice,
I change to a new Chain and Front and Rear Sprocket at this point, you can either buy the same Chain again (4-5000 peso) or buy a non O-Ring Chain (DID Japan 850 peso), which involves a much more time consuming Chain Care in order to get a long Live out of it.
Early on in my ownership of my XLR200 i noticed a "Pinging" when driving long steep
Roads and that the Engine became very hot, i went to GUD (another Bike Shop) and asked
about the symptoms and the "Mechanic" told me a long story about the "Chamshaft Chain Tensioner" being faulty on my Bike and offered to "Repair" it for a couple hundred Pesos...
I went home and with my sssslllloooowwww Internet i started to search for information,
ThumperTalk is a Forum for four stroke Dirt Bikes that was very helpfull with answering a lot of general questions about Dirt Bike problems.
I found that my Bike was jetted to lean and that the Gasoline (that was back in 2000) was not high
enough Oktan, I replaced the original 102 Main jet with a 105 and that resulted in a much cooler Engine and no "Pinging" anymore, I now only use "Petron XCS" which gave me no problem so far.
Later i changed the Rear Sprocket from 42 to 46 teeth to give me more low speed climbing bite, it also helps to reduce Gear changing while driving steep uphill sections and in faster acceleration, the Topspeed is unaffected by this.
I also did some "Packing" on the Front Fork and changed the Forkoil to get better handling.
To make it more Off-Road capable I removed the Indicators and the large Taillight, by now I have also changed the very heavy original Muffler with a "Home Made" one, made from a discarged
YAMAHA TT600 Muffler, the Airfilter was also modified with the help of an KIA Car Airfilter, the flimsy and useless Handguards I also changed for stronger ones.

More next time

Everybody have a good time

I never heard of any Dealer offering a Test Drive on a new Bike!

 

How much do you weigh? There is no adjustability (preload setting) for the rear spring?