Up next in 10
Honda XR650R Front Sprocket on a Honda XR650L | How Bad is the Chain Misalignment?
Nov 15, 2022
I recently replaced my stock 8.5mm 15t counter shaft sprocket on my Honda XR650L with a 13.5mm 14t CS sprocket from a Honda XR650R (Big Red Pig). In this video I show you how far out the alignment of the chain is. #HondaXR650L #XR650L #XR650R Link to suppliers of aftermarket counter shaft sprockets for the Honda XR: FritzCo Inc sprockets: https://procycle.us/index.php/product/2025 FirtzCo on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-XR650L-15T-MAXIMUM-SPLINE-CONTACT-DOUBLE-LIFE-FRONT-SPROCKET/333760584741 SuperPinion by KK Bike: https://www.kkbike.it/en/sprockets/172-honda-xr650l-fsprocket-superpinion-8053830250147.html Honda XR650R sprocket by BPR: https://www.raceparts.co.za/sprockets/2615-213-f-2099-pbr-front-sprocket-xr650r.html For a comparison of the 11 most popular dual sport motorcycles, check out https://adventurebiketroop.com/dualsport Video equipment: DJI Osmo Action (for B-roll footage): https://amzn.to/3nWTIQX Canon 60D (latest is the 90D): https://amzn.to/3nPNd2s Rode Video Mic Go: https://amzn.to/39blepT
View Video Transcript
0:00
Is it possible to fit the Honda XR 650R counter shaft sprocket to the Honda XR 650L
0:08
In this video I chat about my experience with the XRR sprocket on the XRL and the
0:14
sprocket is from BPR. Stay tuned. Hi I'm Francia from Adventurebike Troop.com where we chat about bike riding, maintenance, travel
0:23
tips and more. Please subscribe and hit that like button. No seriously please subscribe now thank you now when I bought this bike I read up on it and I always try to find out what are the main issues to sort out that will cause issues down the line and the biggest thing on the Honda XR 650 is this counter shafts
0:46
sprocket it's very thin it's 8.5 mm-thens thin the contact area of the sprocket on the spline of the counter shaft so on many
0:57
many riders report that it wears the shaft prematurely and quite quickly for some people
1:04
because it's so thin now there are other reasons as well the bike doesn't have a kush drive
1:09
so there's more strain on the drive train a lot of people run the chains too tight it's quite a
1:14
long travel suspension so it's easy to over tighten the chain when the suspension travels
1:20
this bike had only 108 links instead of 110 links in the chain so the guy shortened the
1:25
chain the previous owner it had two master links in it so I was worried that
1:30
the counter shaft already had damaged now some riders report serious damage on
1:34
the counter shaft splines from as little as 5,000 miles now I've got about
1:40
8,000 miles on this bike and there is a little bit of where which I'll show you
1:44
in a moment now some I've heard of one rider that did 74,000 kilometers on
1:54
the original not the original single sprocket but the stock sprocket so replacing with the stock sprockets so if you do
2:01
maintain the drive-threat properly and tension the chain and lubricated then it is possible to
2:07
last the life of the bike the counter shop otherwise Honda would have fixed the problem but you have to keep your eye on it and I don like that I rather
2:17
upgrade to something that's more reliable and durable in the long run now there
2:22
are a couple of options aftermarket options and one of the most well-known is the
2:27
Fritsco front sprocket you can get it on eBay there's a link in the description
2:31
and this is a much wider contact area with the splines for counter shaft and it's a
2:37
aligned properly so that the chain is exactly the same alignment as the stock sprocket
2:44
So I've ordered one, it's quite a weight here where we are with shipping and with coronavirus
2:53
so there aren't any frisco sprockets locally available at the moment. The other option is soup opinion from KK Bike, I heard only good things about it
3:02
but that is again very, very thick that contacts the whole spline
3:07
But the problem is again it's super expensive and with shipping it'll cost more than $100 for a sprocket that is a wear item
3:14
So I have to replace it anyway. So and if you want two different gearing, so I've got a 14 tooth on here now, I add a 15 tooth that's original
3:23
Then it becomes really expensive to have to get the super pinions sprocket
3:28
So what I ended up doing just for now until I get my Fritzko from the supplier is I got an XR 650R sprockets
3:37
So that's the other option, a cheaper option that many riders do and I was interested to find out how easy it is to fit it onto the XR 650 L
3:46
So when I got the XR 650 R sprocket because I'm waiting for the Fritzco and this is just a temporary fix for now
3:53
I also replaced the chain with the new one with the proper 110 links
3:57
Anyways I went for a 14 tooth just to check The what it does to the gearing use the second gear is quite tall. It's very wide. Why
4:07
wide apart from the first gear and the gearing is awesome now the amount of torque that it has low down
4:12
so this is a 14 tooth there also less noise because the 15 tooth results in the chain grinding away at the chain or the sprocket guard here that sprocket cover So it removed now just to see you can see there And I also wanted to see whether the noise has gone
4:33
But anyways, the 14 tooth, definitely there's more space here with the 15. It's actually difficult to get this the sprocket cover on because it actually touches
4:41
And that's the stock size sprocket. Anyways, I went for the 14 tooth
4:45
Awesome difference. But it's so easy to swap out. So when I get the 15 tooth, for it's just to swap out
4:49
to Fritsco I'll just take both with me and swap them as needed now I think and I might be
4:57
Incorrect so please comment below if you have more accurate information but I think you can fit the XR 600 r sprocket
5:04
Straight onto the XR 650 L I got went for the 650 R's rocket
5:10
You have to swap it over or turn it around so the flat face faces out from the engine and that's the opposite way from how the 650 R is
5:19
runs it that misalines the chain and at the end I'll show you what the chain
5:23
looks like from the rear and how out of alignment it is anyways to fit this
5:29
sprocket I turned it over and it wouldn't go on the splines and I think it's
5:33
because they were somewhere on it I initially thought it's got the wrong tooth pattern on the splines but I found the supplier he said no you have to
5:42
lightly tap it with hammer and I've seen that online as well and I mean it just
5:48
sounds wrong to tap on the counter shaft that goes into the gear box. But anyways
5:53
with lots of oil and very light tapping, I managed to get it onto the splines and it was
5:58
just from the slight wear pattern from the original sprocket. But eventually, as it started
6:02
moving, it went on quite easily, but I couldn't get the retaining plate on into the groove
6:09
The sprocket is too thick. So I took it to a friend that has a lathe and he removed about a
6:15
millimeter from the inside that goes to the crankcase side and he put the bevel back in
6:27
so the slight inward edge thing I'm sure there's a better name for that bevel cut but
6:32
anyways so he put that ground that back in and and after that first few taps the first time it went on and off quite easily
6:44
So I put some grease in there. A lot of people say you need to use molly grease
6:48
I'm not an engineer. I just use copper compound. I hope that's fine
6:52
Again, comment if that was the wrong grease to use. So let's have a look after about 100 kilometers with this sprocket
7:00
what the wear pattern looks like and whether or the wear pattern looks like, like and whether it actually comes off the splines again. So remove the master link
7:08
took out the chain, under the bolts I used blue loptite on it so it came out easily
7:14
As I took off the sprocket it came off very easily because I used grease the previous time
7:21
You can see on the inside, the crankcase side, the wear pattern you can see where the chain
7:28
started eating away at the sprocket. And on the outside, the crankcase side, the wear pattern, you can see where the chain started eating away at the sprocket
7:31
sprocket and on the other side it's completely clean so there is definitely
7:34
some misalignment because the sprocket is further out from the crank case
7:39
than the stock sprocket anyways it doesn't look too bad so I put it back in
7:44
the cleaned everything out greased it again with the copper compound some blue
7:48
lactite on the bolts put the chain back on and if you look at it from the
7:53
rear on the chain the misalignment with the naked eye it's almost impossible to
7:58
see any misalignment it looks perfectly straight but from the wear pattern on the sprocket you can see there is
8:04
somewhere and I'm interested to see what it looks like after a thousand or
8:08
two thousand kilometers and so I'll report back if you have any experience with
8:14
XR 650 L sprocket and counter shaft spline where and which aftermarket
8:21
sprockets you use there's many available you can even get some I think from
8:27
Amazon there's a make that sells there So please let me know if you want links to the Fritzko or the Superpinion, you can check in the description
8:36
And please subscribe to this channel and give it a thumbs up. And I'd love to hear from your experience with this issue on the Honda XR 650
8:44
Thank you for joining us and see you next week
#Motorcycles
#Vehicle Modification & Tuning
#Vehicle Parts & Accessories