New Owner Looking to Make A Solid Track Bike

As an update to myself about this bike, it absolutely cannot handle a full throttle 3-5 gr pull without losing the handlebars like an earthquake.

So this is how I have been handling the fight.

1.) At about 104 happy smiles per thump it loses it's sh**
2a.) Shut off gas to happy valve, bike returns stable
2b) If I'm turning I actually push AGAINST the turn to stabilize the front wheel (reverse of pushing left bar to go left)
3.) Bike will stabilize at high speed While pushing against turn (ie. right hand pressure in a left hand sweeper)
5.) Accelerate hard full throttle now that it's stable
6.) While pushing FORWARD on handlebars as if to stabilize them, the bike does indeed stabilize..


SO I suspect this bike needs the downtube looked at as well as the front/rear motor mounts., and swing arm bearings.


I also did a mockup of the go pro on a backpack strap... it's horrible. If you look at the view it's basically 45 degrees. The helmet strap could be the best option in the future so I will make do for now.

I will post a ride thread soon though and try and take some nice data points. If anyone has anything to look for I'm all ears.

You said in an earlier post it sounded like the motor was hitting the frame. Have you checked all the links between the motor and the frame? There is 3. 2 on the down tubes and one under the swingarm. Is the rear wheel centered and in line with the front? Until you replace the California rolls HD uses for isolators you can expect just what you are getting though. Then you can start looking for a “problem”. I think you are flogging a tired horse and she’ll repay you in kind. Folks who ride hard have been complaining about instability since the bikes inception. It’s the nature of the design. It’s a compromise between comfort, ride-ability actually, and stiffness. If you watch videos of the V&H series you’ll see those guys all over the place. With semi solid mounted engines and steering dampers. I hope you find harmony in your set up.

Phaedrus said:

That looks like an XR750 kit. It would take a lot of modding to make it work on the XR1200.

If your front motor mounts are shot, then the rear certainly must be - and your engine stability and rear wheel control comes mostly from the rear mounts.

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Yeah I have the front and rear drag specialties coming in this week, hopefully. I have been researching a solid propylene one like they used in the Vance and Hines series, but it looks like I have to deal with sourcing one and I don't know exactly how hard on the chassis/frame/linkages all the vibration. I personally don't care about vibration as long as the bike doesn't rattle to pieces.

ytman said:

There is so much fun to be had with the XR before that point. I would definitely start inside and work my way out to the fairing. That Shaw’s bike is a builder’s showcase that shows what can be done, not what needs to be done. Haha

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Fairing is definitely one of the last mods but it's nice to find a blueprint and source parts. The next "major" mod might be a Power Commander for an XR1200 that is for sale near me, $300.


I will see if it's possible he's willing to go lower because I don't know the condition and it's almost 10 years old.

I still need to swap the handlebars to something narrower, contemplating clip-ons, but I enjoy the current riding stance. The stock bars are just too wide for traffic. The sportster drag bars look good, but they are still a little wide, although they're like 3" shorter than the stock bars.

These are P/N: 55800035A
Tip-to-Tip: 29.38
Pullback: 4.0
Base Width: 9.0



Looking at some old threads the 48" bars looks kinda nice but I just want to make sure whatever bar I get makes splitting lanes much easier in traffic on the fwy or coming up to lights.

Maintenance wise there is a lot I want to do:

• motor mounts
• rear brake pad? / braided brake lines?
• new (performance?) clutch

I have been researching if they need a valve lash check but what I've seen says these engines don't need that 0_o? I'm honestly in the boonies trying to get a handle on what maintenance to do besides oil change and now check for loose bolts like my shifter bolt 😄

I do plan to put the bike up for a little bit while I work on the motor mounts and wonder if I should do the clutch, bars, and brakes at the same time to avoid the hassle.

TheCaliKid said:

Slowmo, I had the same problem with wobble when I first got my XR. It was perfectly fine until about 50mph and then it would just wobble for no reason. Long story short it turned out to be the rear shocks. Not only were they not set for my weight they were also jacked up really high with the the sato rear ride height adjuster installed. It all came down to the load that was being placed on the front wheel. I had the suspension checked and removed the ride height adjusters and it went away. Now the XR is as solid as can be.

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I also still need to go through the suspension on the front and rear to get those tuned up for my weight, I honestly have no idea what it's set to right now.