Wally King's XR200 Hopups
The following letter I received from Wally King regarding the modifications
he has performed on his XR200. As you can see, a little determination is all
it takes to highly modify anything!
I have been riding since I was 7 on a 1965 Z50r. A year later the
engine blew, so I saved and got a 1974 XR75 (Bored to 80) After about
three years, I was ready to upgrade and bought a 1989 XR100. This
lasted me a while until my dad bought a brand new 1993 XR200. I liked
it so much that I bought myself a 1990 XR200. (Jeeze, talk about going
through the Honda four stroke lineup!
There were several differences in the suspension and size of our bikes,
it seemed that my bike was made for harder riding boasting better
suspension and components. At the time, I was
fourteen, and around that age I began to ride more competatively,
eventually I discovered your web page (a couple years later). You have
inspired me to modify just about anything and everything on my bike. I
am now 18 yrs old, and about to enter college, so I could not afford a
larger bike; which is why I upgraded instead. Here is a list of my
modifications. (You may feel free to include them in your page if you
wish, since they pertain also to other XR's, otherwise, you may notice
many of them to sound familiar.)
- I removed all unneccessary restrictions in the exhaust and intake
- I replaced the stock baffle with a Thumper insert
- I replaced the stock air filter with a Uni Filter.
- I bored the engine and added a higher compression piston
- I re-jetted the Carburator to make it burn richer
- I replaced the front shocks, triple clamps, brake, (the whole front
end) with one from a 1986 KX125 (46mm forks, disc brakes, the works!)
- I added High profile handlebars, and acerbis rally guards
- I added a headlight (this is a story in itself, since the 200 were'nt
designed for them
- I sent in the rear shock to Thumper, for a super modification
(performs great!)
Anyway, the result was very pleasing. The suspension feels like that of
a motocross bike, the engine purrs with happiness, the thing handles
like a champ, heck, It accelerates harder than my friends XR250 and
handles just as good as the stock bike. My most impressive modification
was the KX front end. I bought the bike (minus the engine) for a mere
100 dollars, and with a couple of spacers, special steering bearings,
this bike had the sturdiest off-road front end for a XR200 than anything
I know of. The rest of the bike I sold for 50 dollars. This made for
an excellent, and cheap upgrade.(A good Idea for anyone who is willing).
Email Wally with questions or comments.