Honda XR650R Shock rebuild - Making the XR650R ride right! 

HOME This page was put together to help the Owner of his wild bucking Oinker, to make BRP (Big Red Pig) into a lean smooth running squealer! Some like to do the work on their Bike to make it more theirs...Others to save Money or can't afford the killer prices of suspension shops...Some for the challenge.....this is a page to help you gather more info that you might not find in your Service Manuel (On Line Service Manuel) Or can't figure out Looking at the Parts Fiche (On Line Parts Fiche)

  Start Here At This Page ->  Shocks 101  and Here-> KYB & Showa

Good pages to show how to take the shock apart and back together !!!!

Suspension setup Links: Part One Part Two

 I weigh 190 pounds                                             I jump on a regular basis

       Video   

and run the whoops as fast as I can till I can’t hold on any longer and fly off.

Special needs I have; My Left wrist has been shattered. I have had five surgeries on it. The wrist corporal bones are fused and there is a screw through the wrist. The Ulna bone has been cut in the clear, leaving the wrist connected to the other bone only. X So, the wrist free floats about an inch. This left me wanting a plush suspension to handle this. I want a pillow soft landing when coming off the 60’ table tops. The Whoops gave me fits no matter what I set the adjusters to at speeds any more then 30mph. I thought this bike was suppose to just fly through the whoops? They make it look so easy when to BRP is flying along the BAJA 1000! My bike has to be able to do that! I also don’t want to feel the 5’ drop offs when dropping off the side of a wash. The flash floods of the desert leave wide trenches that have 4~ 8’ walls that sneak up on you when your flying across where there are no trails. I have done my best to fix the twisting and yanking that goes on when fighting the rocks. This is very painful for the bad wrist. I have a Scotts steering Dampener and a Super Brace fork brace. I still hate the rocks. (The jagged 2’ ones that are all bunched together, the round ones are ok)

Start Here At This Page ->  Shocks 101  and Here-> KYB & Showa

Good pages to show how to take the shock apart and back together !!!!

.  I am using RaceTech Ultra Slick Suspension fluid ($24 a qt) right now but, I like the Maxima Light 75-390 3wt better for the money($8 a qt). It feels much plusher then stock and is 1/3^rd the cost of RaceTech Ultra Slick.

Let all the Nitrogen out and remove bladder

Two of the picture on getting the cap off and removing the bumper/ seal body didn’t turn out. Here are some more picture and when I get the rest I’ll put more of this together.

You need to drill a bleeder hole in the bumper/seal assembly. This part is talked about in the links above and here are some pictures.

Seal Head                                 Shaft Seal

I put notches for the air to go to the hole. I drill the hole in the grove that the washer goes in. Chamfer the hole inside and outside. I put Synthetic grease on both sides of the base washer (real thin) and the lip of the seal. (inside and out)   

Filling the shock with oil and getting all the air out can be a big messy job. I have a submersion tank but, that costs a lot of money to fill with oil for just one shock. My small tank has 4 gallons in it and at $10 a quart that is major $$$. I found an cheaper way for just doing your own shock. Use a traffic cone. Just cut the lip off the top of the cone and then again (real straight) about 12" down. Throw the bottom away. Now when you are ready to put the shock together slide the 12" of cone (small side first) on to the shock. I used a flat screw driver to help it on, it should be real tight. I used a zip ty to make sure the oil would not leak out. It should look like this:

Make sure it's the right height to still work - zip ty is just for looks you don't need it if you have a tight fit. Fill the shock with oil till it's about 3" over full. Put the shaft in and work the air out of the valve. Let it sit and do it again many times till you are sure you have all the air out. To go a step further, if you do not think you got all the air out. After you have put the shock back together, you can turn the shock over and at a little of an angle, remove the damper adjuster (compression adjuster) from the shock. At this point you can let it sit a while to let any trapped air out. You have to make sure that you keep it at an angle that doesn't let air into the reservoir or the shock body, make sure you fill it with oil, screw the damper adjuster back in till it stops (where the peen mark line up). This part is in the manual. 

Start Here At This Page ->  Shocks 101  and Here-> KYB & Showa

Good pages to show how to take the shock apart and back together !!!!

I get my shims from here:  Race Tech or MX-Tech.com

All are 12mm Shims

(# of shims this size) Thickness X Outside diameter                   

 With the lighter fluid most riders Should start with the adjusters set at Compression 16 and rebound 11~12 clicks out. 

Shock Shim Setups for 9.3kg/mm thru 10.5kg/mm springs, more rebound control could be needed for 11 thru 12kg/mm springs. Go not drill out the shock valve thinking you will make it like a Gold valve. It is not needed or wanted here!

* Notice that the .25mm X 34mm shim is removed from all the compression stacks and used in the rebound stack.

** Or use the stock >25mm X 21mm

*** You can use one of the .70mm X 19mm spacer shims from just below the shaft nut. Chuck the other two. 

The most important thing that helps is to see what shims do what and where you can compromise for your riding style. Your not using many different shims, some are just moved to a new place. 

The nut that holds the shim/valve assembly onto the shaft must have a torque setting of  25 pounds ~ 30 pounds.   Make sure to use a small amount of Locktite and don't let it weep into the shim stack. Then stake the nut. 

Over the years from before the first 2000 XR650R hit the show room floor the ultimate suspension for the XR650R has been sot after. The first for the Late 1999 Baja Race had major dollar Titanium parts and special fork tubes, in the end most of it wasn't needed for the money it cost. Most technology was from KX500 and XR626~XR640cc 600's suspension and the slow growth away from that thinking to fit the new bike on the block. The weight being centered different and the slight different rake and tail, with the higher speeds through bigger, bad whoops made it apparent that "last years thinking" wasn't going to work. Killer Trophy trucks making mountainous whoops was killing the average Baja racer. Some haven't moved head fast enough or thinking, "good enough, is good enough" for the average Joe. Making it hard for the beginner Baja/desert racer get up to speed. Most of my first XR650R Suspensions were close to what I was thought for XR600's. Then I concentrated on the compression slow stack, not giving enough attention to the rebound. Clearing 60~70 feet was an issue, and the desire to clear the water at the Adelanto Grand Prix was a dream of mine. Seeing some XR650R with Barnum's and Baja Designs suspension setup for trail riders, totally suck in the whoops North of San Felipe made me try to tune closer to the real world needs of Baja Racing, again, still a little to stiff for most riders but, getting real close to what works in the high speed, haze of anything can happen. Coming back to the direction Precision concepts was going and going further away from XR's only and Barnum, I think I now have a suspension that can do most everything you can throw at it. The Baja 1000 setup has it's limits of extreme air time. Much more responsive to taming the rough chatter, and jagged rocks. Baja 500 setup is closer to a very aggressive race setup for the Baja 500 and Baja 250. The Baja 250 setup is a little to stiff to Race a long desert race and is made more for the guy that wants to jump his bike on the MX track now and then or out back with his friends and still do long hard trail rides. The desert setup is just that and is the best all around setup with my bike being a stiffer version of that. The Trail riding setups are for those that want the best ride possible being able to handle up to 4' drop offs, some small jumping, basically a plush ride that can do more then stock setup could ever dream of doing. I am sold on the thinner fluid that PC uses, I just use a different brand. 

Cutting Stock Springs To Make them Stiffer! Click Here->Stiffer Springs

I buy my springs at Lindemann Engineering: (408)371-6151 520 McGlincey Ln. #3 Campbell, CA http://www.le-suspension.com/

They are fast and Honest about having the spring or not! I have found Some of the others are not or they rely on what the computer tells them and they don't have it.....then starts the three month wait! 

Spring rates are for the rider without riding gear. Spring rates are for a bike full of fuel. If you have a bigger fuel tank you add half of the added fuel in gallons X eight pounds. So, if you go to a tank that holds two extra gallons you would add 8 pounds (I round off to 10) to your spring weight. If you carry a tool bag on the front fender you add all the weight to the fork spring rate, on the back to the shock spring rate, Backpack is added to your weight for both. The spring rates are for desert riding, not racing. 10kg/mm shock spring and .45kg/mm fork springs are for a trail/desert rider that weighs 200~220 pounds. Racing that would be 180~200 pounds and would be a little light on the fork springs as you get more fuel tools, race light and closer to the 200 pound rider weight. The chart is a guide and the stiffer the springs the more of the hits are translated to the rider. If you are not bottoming the bike I would adjust the control of the rebound to make the bike handle the extra weight and call it good. You can adjust the compression to stop the bottoming to a point, (about 10 clicks out is my limit) after that you are just compromising and stiffer springs are needed to make the bike handle the weight as it should. Jumping and running MX My bike does fine with the compression cranked us to eight clicks out and rebound at 11 clicks out front and back but, this is only with the Baja or Desert valving. Stacks a little in the jagged long whoops section but, I am old and am just glad to stop the swapping and bucking completely.....I need all the help I can get!
It is true that RaceTech and Lindemann Engineering push way to stiff springs for most guys over 30 that are not racing. Racetech has backed there computer program way back and closer to the charts that are on my web site. Lindermann pushes their .475KG/MM springs because that is what they make.....Makes sense if those are the springs you make money on, everyone need those. Baja desiegns, Barnum's Pro, XR's Only's, Percission Concepts all use the Chart that are on this site. Racing will change it of course but, in the end you want the least amount of hits translated back to your body. Stiffer springs more comes back to the rider. 

Just an idea of some other setups that are running in my friends shocks, all are running adjustment close to 11~12 rebound and 16 compression. 200psi nitrogen. Some ride sitting alot while others are off the back of the seat. 

Other shops shocks I have taken apart. Just to share the shim stacks and a Gold Valve setup. Some of these shim setups are found in shocks that were taken apart from "Big Name Suspension Shops".  

The main thing when making a XR/CR hybrid is you use the XR shaft, XR shim stacks and the spring from the XR. There is more to it then that but, that is the quick overview.
You need a CR500R (96~2002) shock body, 46mm Gold valve with 38mm compression shim side and 34mm rebound shim side, CR500R shaft seal / bulk head assembly, Spacer that sits on the bumper to make the shock only open the same as the XR650R (I don't use this), XR650R shaft assembly and XR650R shim stack for your weight and riding style. I need to add a page about making a hybrid CR500R/XR650R shock. The 2000+ have more adjustment giving you more leeway in your how your shim stack is built. The big reason for the CR500R/XR650R hybrid is that the CR500R shock body holds a little more fluid (stays cooler longer to reduce fade) and has the high speed adjustment. Other then that there is no reason to spend all the money. If you want to make the bike taller with more travel would be another reason. I am going to finally go inverted forks.....CR500R forks.

 My favorite fluid is Golden Spectro Ultra Lite Suspension fluid (2.5wt) at $16 a quart. I also like the RaceTech Ultra Slick Suspension fluid US-0 is awesome and US-1 is real nice also but, at $24 a qt it's a lot of money. I like the Maxima Light 75-390 3wt better for the money ( only $9 a qt). It feels much plusher then stock and is 1/3^rd the cost of RaceTech Ultra Slick. As quite a few others have I have also had problems with Bell Ray making the seals leak. It seems to have mineral oil in it to make the seals swell. Over time they get brittle and start to leak. 

Click on chart below to see it better.

   www.borynack.com/XR650R    www.borynack.com/xr650r.htm 

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XR650R Honda