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u/Apprehensive-Song378

▲ 2 r/XR650L

Best possible MPG?

I know we should ride bikes for smiles per gallon not miles per gallon. BUT that said, I need to be practical because I'm not a man of means. It matters when gas is 4 per gallon if I'm using it as a daily to and from work and then on weekends in the mountains (hour away to get there then ride all day then home). Mostly pavement but some mild offroad.

So what's the best mpg I can expect with pretty gentle riding on an XR? I'm reading 40-50 is what to expect at best. Current bike gets 70, but would like something with more power.

Any easy mods to up the mpg on XRs? I know to lighten the bike up with a lithium battery and maybe change the gearing? What says reddit?

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u/Apprehensive-Song378 — 18 hours ago
▲ 7 r/Dualsport

Newbie lesson and rant just to vent it out

Long rant to vent and lesson to pure newbies like I was:

Got into motorcycling at a late age after going to Asia and deciding I want to retire there but will need a motorcycle license as it's the main mode of local transport.

Came back to the USA and went to the shop and picked out a Honda XR150L and had delivered.

Taught myself to ride in my neighborhood, took the tests, got my license. Loved that Honda. Smooth and easy. Slow but practical. My first bike so had nothing to compare to.

3k miles into riding decided to sell and get something slightly faster. Got the KLX230. It's fun, it's faster, but found out now there is nowhere near the aftermarket support as Honda.

For maintenance, figured I'd learn basics like oil changes and air filter changes, etc. At 8k miles on the Kawi the books said time to look at valves. Bike was running fine, starts good when hot and making no tapping noise when running. I shouldn't have touched it.

To my surprise, unlike with that little Honda, Kawi has exactly zero YouTube tutorial vids on how to do valve checks.

Tried it myself based on the service manual I got. I broke it all down and got the valve covers off. Thought I had it TDC (per the service manual but still guessing). Intake was fine. Exhaust felt tight but was hard to get the feeler in due to angle so maybe it was ok? I loosened a hair. Put it all back together, and now bike is click n clacking sound at idle. Shit, now too loose. Must have fucked it up.

Ok I said - I took a stab. Now I'll take to a shop where a pro can do it right. I was just guessing. Called on Monday and he said "bring it on Thursday" so I did. Figured he would let it get cold and look and fix and I'd be good. He said on the phone it wouldn't take an hour. But when I dropped it off, he said "won't be today". Figured Friday. Friday came and went. Then Saturday, no call. So I called twice, no answer. Closed Sunday. Called on Monday around noon, and he says "he just put it on the rack and is gonna piddle with it, call ya when ready". Piddle? WTF, I'm paying by the hour. Whatever, figured later he'd have it ready. Nope. Tuesday (today) rolls around, still no call.. WTF!!

So basically I'm at his mercy. He can keep the bike as long as he wants and charge whatever he wants. I don't know mechanics and got no support videos to teach me on this bike. Pure guess work and learn from screw ups.

MORAL OF THE STORY FOR A NEWBIE: Buy a simple bike with tons of online support. I should have kept my XR150L and used it to learn with because there are shit tons of online vids showing literally anything you could ever do to it. If I really wanted more power, should have got either XR650L or DR650 = TONS OF SUPPORT!

Other point is in this country - you have to be a DIY mechanic or be at the mercy of idiots and scam shops and hand them your credit card. In Asia and other moto culture countries - shops on every corner and they would fix valves as you wait for 25 bucks. But this the USA - NOT a moto country at all. So message to newbies on a budget: buy something you can learn to work on which means simple and a lot of support otherwise just be loaded with money and not care about getting ripped off and at the mercy of these fucking jackwad shops.

Rant over - but when I get the bike back I'm selling and getting something with good support. XR150L again (frankly thats enough for what I do) or the big XR or DR if any hot deals show up because that power would be nice sometimes (not needed but nice). AIR COOLED SIMPLE CARBED ANALOG and lots of support vids!

If interested see attached vid where I showed what I did.

https://imgur.com/a/J0tLkgB

u/Apprehensive-Song378 — 3 days ago
▲ 4 r/KLX230+1 crossposts

Tapping valves?

My bike was running fine, no odd noise and no difficulty starting when hot, but since the book said check the valves, figured I'd go ahead and do it. I'm at 8k'ish miles. As best I could tell, intake valve was fine so didn't do anything to it. But exhaust felt tight so loosened it a hair. Really hard angle to get to it with a feeler though, so maybe I was wrong. Put it all back together, and now bike is making a tapping sound. Kawasaki really made these theoretically simple valves hard to deal with. Poor design. Anyone else had this happen?

https://reddit.com/link/1t8c059/video/p7bwi6mth50h1/player

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u/Apprehensive-Song378 — 13 days ago