Hangers XR650R – Rebuild

[HamishMember]

G’day all, I thought I’d track the rebuild of my recently acquired 2000 XR650R.

I purchased the bike 2 weeks ago for $3300, it came off a farm in country Victoria. It came fitted with some handy extras:
-full rear cargo rack with pannier frame (incl sub frame brace)
-bash plate
-fat bars with risers
-TM40 pumper carb
-WB pipe (turned out to be stuffed – had to do a temp repair and replace the rivets where the mid pipe joins the back of the pipe)
– Box of spares including rear wheel with new AC10 tyre

Bike was quite dirty but has cleaned up well with a few can of degreaser and some elbow grease.

The rear shock is leaking so has been pulled out for a rebuild / revalve and spring.

I found a snapped bolt in the frame, the small bolt that locates the LH foot peg, that came out with little fuss.

Rear shock link has been pulled apart and greased, only bearing that needs replacing is the lower shock bearing. I’m in need of the special tool to removal / install the swingarm, if anyone has one they could loan I would be very grateful.

I’m considering having the headers Jet Coated, but have seen the price of new FMF headers and wonder if it’s worth the hassle? any suggestions on this one? I have heard the OEM headers are great. Jet Coating will set me back $120 odd and the FMF headers are $220 + postage…..

Anyway, will post some pics of the works in progress. Just taking my time and enjoying the shed time

[michael matthewsMember]

hi there hangerdale i’ll be watching your rebuild as i have the same model as you what are you going to set it up for ?
i want to set my up for adventure riding as well as trail , what brand is the rack and panniers im looking to fit one to my bike

baggy britches

[Nick JacksonMember]

Looks like you scored a good deal their Hanger , I’m looking forward to seeing this rebuild , thanks for sharing !!

I’m sure TB and Micknmeld will be a big help with any questions as they are the xr650 site gurus !!

Are you setting it up for trail or Adv riding or both ??

Nick

[HamishMember]

The rack is a Borrego rack that has been modified to include pannier frames. It’s very solid (comes with a decent aluminum sub frame strengthening bracket . I’ll post some pics of it shortly.

The bikes main use with be ADV riding (riding from Broome to Cairns – May 2013 with my brother who also owns an XR650R). But I’m going down the path of having the suspension tuned for trail riding so it performs best in this role. I have gone this way because when I’m fully loaded with gear and fuel I’m not going to be racing or jumping just traveling on well formed dirt roads. May take a side track here and there but nothing major.

[Nick JacksonMember]

I did a similar thing with a Drz and set the suspension up with heavier springs and improved valveing for harder trailer riding and the result was perfect for Adv riding too. Tekniks did a top job of getting it spot on for both sports.

Nick

[HamishMember]

Here is the only ‘before’ picture I have. I think it was in the garage for less than 10 mins before I started stripping it down.

[attachment=3147]406420_10150742103298238_778133237_12409791_144463454_n_2012-02-12.jpg[/attachment]

[HamishMember]

G’day all, a little action in the shed has seen me come across re-fitting the swingarm. I replaced the bearings, on fitting the swingarm I don’t have the special tools to torque the pre-load nut on the right hand side. I have tightened the nut using to what I can feel is suitable going of the manual specs. On installation of the main swingarm bolt and nut , when I apply the 80ft/lb the swingarm is very stiff in range of motion. Any ideas on where I’ve gone wrong?

Cheers,

Hamish

[Mick DMember]

Sounds like you may have too much preload on the bearing? I just nipped up the castlated nut with the home made tool I fabricated out of a 19mm impact socket, so that there was no sideways movement on the swing arm then put the swingarm pivot bolt in. Have you tried backing off the swingarm bolt to see if that stops the binding?

[HamishMember]

Hi Mick,

Yeah, I’ve backed the swingarm bolt off and the swingarm frees up and feels normal but I think there would only be 40ft/lb on the nut. I will try backing off the preload as you have described.

Waiting on a clutch centre after I snapped a pressure plate spigot with a home made clutch tool. I’ve got the new part # clutch bushing ready to go on with some HD clutch springs.

Thanks for the reply.

Hamish

[Mick DMember]

I didn’t have a book to follow. I dunno how many ft/lb I did the nut up at, I just used intuition and all seems good. 80ft/lb does sound pretty freaking tight though. :S

[GregMember]

I have a manual and can look the specs up if you want? I also have a factory preload tool if you wish to borrow it I could send it down. If the bearings are installed incorrectly it will lock the swing arm up. The preload has to be spot on because the correct tension sets it all, locitie nut. If the nut isn’t tight enough it comes loose and you chase a handling problem eh Mick :laugh: Let me know if you need the tool. I will find the link to the manual if you want

TB

[HamishMember]

Thanks TB, I backed of the pre lead and tried again. This time got to around 60ft/lb before it started to bind.

I have a downloaded copy of the workshop manual, I’m sure it states 80ft/lb for the swingarm nut…. correct me if I’m wrong as this could solve my problems.

I found that manual hard to understand when installing the swinarm bearings!!!! What depth should the inside and outside needle roller bearing sit from the outside of the swingarm? Are there a gap between the 2 bearings once installed? I think this is where the problem may lie as TB pointed out.

Teknic have finished the rear shock and is in the mail

TB, I would be very greatful for the loan of the OEM preload tool and will cover all postage costs.

Cheers. HD

[GregMember]

Yeah 80ftb, you must have done something wrong unstalling the bearings.

Here is the depth that the bearings go in the swingarm

More info

TB

[GregMember]

hangerdale wrote:

What depth should the inside and outside needle roller bearing sit from the outside of the swingarm? See the above the pics

Are there a gap between the 2 bearings once installed? I think this is where the problem may lie as TB pointed out.
When I installed mine I left whatever gap is there after you set their depths from the outside

Cheers. HD

[HamishMember]

Thanks TB, looks like the swingarm is getting removed again!

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