The Donor

After spending several months browsing various classifieds I found an interesting donor bike for sale in the picturesque town of Knysna. Initially I was planning on doing a Cafe Racer build and was in the market for something like a Honda CB 750. Due to the Cafe Racer craze that has spread world-wide I found CB's to be rather scarce and the few that made it into my view were over-priced. After considerably less inspection and wisdom than what was required I settled on a 1985  Honda XL 600.

Knysna, Eastern Cape, South Africa

1985 Honda XL 600

I have never been fond of motorcycles with 'idiot lights' and always felt that if you need a gauge to tell you how much fuel you have left you shouldn't be riding a motorcycle.

Having driven down to Knysna from Port Elizabeth in my girlfriend's car I decided the thumper was in reasonably good enough condition to ride back home. When stopping for refreshments at Storms River I eyeballed the fuel I had in the tank and decided I would continue without a top-up.
Later, just past Humansdorp, I ran out of fuel. While my girlfriend drove 40km's for fuel the thumper and I shared the heat of the sun on the side of the N2 highway.

Two hours later and I was able to peel myself off the bike and onto the couch. The XL's cooling engine creaking away while I nursed my sunburned skin.

Like a boy with a new toy I was anxious to jump back on the bike again but by now the sunburn had turned into sun-stroke and I moped around the house wincing and whinging instead of riding. A discomfort that could have been avoided had I monitored my fuel level. Idiot lights are perfect if, like me, you're an idiot.

But back to the build:

Why the XL 600?

These bikes are legendary. Don't legends deserve to be remembered? My plan for this build is to pay tribute to the XL's and XR's of the past but with a re-energized version of the original desert trooper. This bike is too bulky to compete with modern day dirt bikes and too inconvenient for a GS adventure rider to consider stomping down a valley with their partner on the back. So I thought why not a street-tracker? A lean and mean thumper that CAN do the ton, in any jungle; urban or bush.

The goal? Something like 66 Motorcycles X-ON:

Just look at her!

This means a lot of shedding which I will detail in the teardown post. There are also a few repairs and replacement parts necessary as I discovered during riding the bike around town for a few months. Often I would find myself stranded with no spark. After replacing the stators the bike was fine for awhile and then the issue returned. Time to rewire this machine. Other problems was a bit of smoking, evident by the use of oil and the blackened exhaust can. So the motor is going in for surgery. While attempting to wheelie, something I have not done on a motorcycle for a near 15 years, I noticed squishy rear brakes and decided to return the front wheel to its post and keep my back safely away from the tarmac. So new shoes are due for the rear drum brakes. I've noticed that the builders I've seen with the XL/XR projects have elected to install disc brakes at the rear but with my budget I will most likely keep the stock drums.

Aesthetically I'll have the frame sandblasted and powder coated, and the motor sandblasted and painted. Both frame and motor will be black while I pay attention to the small details and expose the silver to the cooling fins and valve adjuster caps on the top of the motor. The rest of the parts will be cleaned and painted where required. All the bushes, bolts and nuts will be replaced. I've purchased a CD200 tank to replace the angled original XL tank and the seat will be fabricated and covered in a tan leather. All the original side covers, fenders and head lamp to be removed. Airbox is coming out and filters will be replaced with cone/pod filters. Lights and flickers will be replaced with new, modern tracker units. Everything else is spit and polish.

The replacement tank from a Honda CD 200 (Roadmaster)

Onward to the workshop!