XL 185
Eric Schaumburg
Such as:
How high the seat is?
How fast it can go?
Does it have a lot of torque, like start out fast and stuff?
Does it have good suspension?
What is it made for, such as dirt or motocross?
And what are your opinions on it?
Thanks!!!
KawBoy
>Does anyone have some specs to the 1985 Honda XL185?
>Such as:
>
>How high the seat is?
The seat is around 28-30" high (rough guess).
>How fast it can go?
Not very. It's a four stroke, and was not made with the intentions of
breaking any land speed records : )
>Does it have a lot of torque, like start out fast and stuff?
A fair amount. I don't know what sort of bikes you've ridden on in
the past, so comparing torque to other bikes is mute... It has
enough torque to pull a wheelie in first gear and more than enough
power to do some serious trail riding.
>Does it have good suspension?
Good suspension, well... maybe, depending on your skill level. The
XL185 utilizes dual shocks in the rear and smallish forks on the
front. Roger Decoster and Malcolm Smith used to FLY on bikes with
tiny forks and dual shocks.... don't let that arrangement spoil your
good time.
>What is it made for, such as dirt or motocross?
The Honda XL series was made for light street and off-road duty.
Like most dual-purpose motorcycles of the early eighties, it was made
for trail riding and an occasional trip to the local quick-mart.
>And what are your opinions on it?
If money were no object I would opt to buy a 2000 KX500 and have a
hade-made aluminum frame built for it, but that's neither here nor
there... If you are interested in getting a bike to go trail riding
with your freinds - I'd go have a look at it and see how it runs.
This isn't the kind of bike where you would want to do monster jumping
or other antics; it *is* a great way to get out and enjoy the outdoors
on a motorcycle.
>Thanks!!!
No problem. Good luck!
In Black and Gold,
- Michael Stembridge
Hoyt McKagen
>
> >Does anyone have some specs to the 1985 Honda XL185?
> >Such as:
I've been buidling and racing Honda 185-200 for over 15 years now and
they work fine in all applications. They're derived from the earlier
100-125 CB motors and hence are fairly light for the power. They have
electronic iggies and a strong and reliable 5-speed. Cranks, clutches and
trannies are seldom an issue and top ends and valve gear will endure as
long as they have oil. Can be made quite fast with nothing other than a
free-flowing exhaust system and don't lose much if any reliability when
hot-rodded. I carb them up all the time too but for ordinary riding it's
not necessary.
Cams and big-bore kits are offered by Powroll, Mega-Cycle, LA Sleeve and
others. I big-bore all the motors in this style using Honda pistons, and
there's a chart of the displacements available and piston combos on my
site, under the 'Cylinders' page.
I've had several of these as bikes too, aside from using the motors in my
racers. They're not far beyond ordinary and do have one fatal flaw: the
frame has no lower loop, so the entire load from rear end of bike is
carried into the motor mounts. Hard riding and especually crashing can
over-stress these and crack them, and I've seen them broken clean out. If
you're a beginner and don't have hard use in mind that's no objection,
but be sure to inspect any of these you may buy ... specifically, the
upper rear MM lug on the motor has a web cast into it to connect it to
the crankcase proper, and that web is the starting place for cracks. You
may have to take off the sprocket cover to see it. HTH!!
Best wishes,
Hoyt McKagen
Belfab CNC - http://www.freeyellow.com/members/belfab/belfab.html
Best MC Repair - http://www.freeyellow.com/members/batwings/best.html
Camping/Caving - http://www.freeyellow.com/members/batwings/caving.html
Great men talk ideas, lesser men about things, and fools about people!!