jaypro55

Member
Aug 6, 2001
417
0
Last week I got a 2001 Honda XR 200. It had one owner and looked absolutely mint. Supposedly, the guy never rode it much and after about two months he traded it in for a KX125.

A friend of mine has a 97 XR 200 and I let him ride my bike today. He said it had the same power and speed, but that it wasn't as responsive and quick to hit it's top power when climbing hills. The bike bogged at the top of a hill that he always climbs on his 200 without bogging. It will bog down on me if I'm on a hill but not into the optimum RPM range. Then if I go and try to hit the throttle real quick, it sputters and coughs and bogs more. We both thought that it might be because the bike isn't fully broken in yet. Will my bike start to perform like his older bike?

I mean, it's running excellent, but it doesn't have the same performance as his bike and he has no extras on it. Can someone help me out?
 

Half-Fast

Member
May 7, 2001
6
0
Jay, 1st take off the seat, remove the snorkel in the top of the air box. 2nd remove the center part of the muffler.(remove 2 screws that hold it in place and pull it out.) If it's to loud or you need a spark arrester contact Thumper Racing, they have an insert that fits right in. It is a spark arrester and simi quite muffler. Next buy a counter shaft sprocket one tooth smaller than whats on the bike now. Then go have fun. Rog the old
 

jaypro55

Member
Aug 6, 2001
417
0
I took out my filter today and cleaned and oiled it. I'll see if it feels any different tomorrow. I'm thinking of getting a 50 tooth rear sprocket to replace the 47 tooth one on there now.
 

Brian Grau

Uhhh...
Jun 26, 2001
8
0
my xr200 did that until i learned how to wind out the gears enough. you can hear on mine when it hits its poweban u cant feel it though and it wont bog when it hits that point. hope this helps
 

DualSportr

Member
Aug 22, 2000
527
0
I took out my filter today and cleaned and oiled it. I'll see if it feels any different tomorrow.

I kinda feel like you purchased this bike, and have been riding it without doing any basic maintenance on it.

If that is the case, you should also change the oil - no matter what the last owner said he did, it's just good policy to always do full service on any new (to you) bike.
 

snaggleXR4

Member
Aug 5, 2001
309
0
Hello,
First of all, remove your snorkel under the seat. I also recommend getting
two aftermarket airfilters, UNI is good and affordable. Yes, I said two, so you will always have a clean one ready when cleaning the dirty one. Call Xr's Only (xrsonly.com) and get their Competition Exhaust, and the jetting they recommend for your carb. Your bike will be quite a bit louder, but it will sound
killer and throttle response will be very crisp.
On the gearing, I went up one tooth on the rear, to a 48 tooth. Along with the other mods, my little 200 became a beast. I'm 190 and ride in soft sand here in NW Florida ( I got an XR400 now). The 200 would not pull 3rd in the soft sand without bogging down. After the mods, and gearing change, I can pull 4th and 5th easily. Be easy on the gearing changes, don't go smaller on the front, because a 12 tooth is getting small, and is not so good for your chain. Just try the 48 tooth rear, it made a very noticeable difference, without sacrificing too much top end. Good luck and ride hard.

One more thing start using Pro Honda GN4 4-stroke oil, it does wonder for your tranny, I use it in my 200 and 400 and will never use anything else. Honda HP4 is good too, but just too expensive. CHange your oil, clean your air filter VERY often, and learn to adjust your valves and tighten your cam chain, or get somebody knowledgeable to do them for you. She will run forever if you follow the above maintenance procedures.
 

MxKid512

Member
Feb 10, 2001
141
0
jaypro,
just do like snaggleXR4 says. Clean the filter regularly and change the oil. Make sure the cam chain is right and keep the valves adjusted otherwise the bike will be hard to start. As far as performance goes, I put on an FMF pipe on it and it lets it rev a lot faster and pull a bit longer in each gear. If you really want to get into serious mods, you could look at high compression pistons and race cams, but I wouldn't spend the money. If I had that much, I'd just get a new bike.
 

DualSportr

Member
Aug 22, 2000
527
0
tighten your cam chain

They have an automatic tensioner. There is nothing to tighten.

Regarding the pipe issue - whatever you purchase, make sure it's a complete system, not just a muffler with an extension.

The stock headpipe is way too small, and the improvement you get from just a muffler by itself is minimal (about 5 - 8%), a quality, complete system will give you about a 15% increase in hp.

The Competition Exhaust from XR's Only is just that - a racing system. Last time I checked it's not spark arrested. Which makes it illegal on public lands.

For a quieter system which makes the best power, check out the Supertrapp complete exhaust with 4" aluminum muffler, or the Powroll complete system with 3" Supertrapp. Either of these systems will give you a good boost in power, still be spark arrested, and can be made quiet enough to keep the neighbors happy.
 

jaypro55

Member
Aug 6, 2001
417
0
Hey guys thanks for all the replies. Brian, I did notice that same thing as I get better on the bike. The powerband kicks in at a higher RPM than I was used to with my Foreman. I can feel when I get around 5000 revs. I'm getting used to it now. I still may decided to get an exhaust system for it. What about a new, bigger carb? I saw a 30 mm Mikuni in a Dennis Kirk that looked like it would help out, but I wasn't sure if it would work.
 

DualSportr

Member
Aug 22, 2000
527
0
I saw a 30 mm Mikuni in a Dennis Kirk that looked like it would help out, but I wasn't sure if it would work.

The stock carb on the XR200 may look tiny, but it's more than adequate for the engine.

In fact, you can increase displacement to 240cc's and still run the stock carb.

A 218cc stroker engine only requires a main jet 2 sizes larger than stock - no other changes.
 

Jon K.

~SPONSOR~
Mar 26, 2001
1,354
4
DualSportr; is the automatic chain tensioner something new? Admittedly, I haven't kept up with the 200 engine, but the old one had a manual adjuster.
 

SFO

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Feb 16, 2001
2,001
1
I had a '79 (or was it a 78?) XR185 that had cdi, maybe they went back to points on the 200 for a while.
 

Jon K.

~SPONSOR~
Mar 26, 2001
1,354
4
Nah, the 185 / 200 never had points. The switch in 86? was back to the two-valve engine after a couple of disastrous years of RFVC and dual carbs. I believe the last year for points was 76 or so on the old 125 engine.
But this probably qualifies as a tangent.
The stock 200 engine puts out around 12 hp according to the Powroll people. I bored, stroked, cammmed and carburated one once to produce and arm-stretching 17 ponies! These are rear wheel horses, so don't get your panties in a wad and tell me about your 30 hp Xr200.:)
 

DualSportr

Member
Aug 22, 2000
527
0
Sorry about the CDI tangent - my brain was obviously somewhere else when I answered that!

The XR does have an automatic tensioner though. Once it's set, it adjusts itself.

If you hear timing chain slap from an XR200, then it's time to replace the chain :)
 

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