I'd only say they should have been brought back to the US to compete against the BMW/KLR crowd and a few more watts of electricity for toyz.

 

Very trick....

 

2 x 5 gal fuel bladders, re-engineered caps with powerboat self sealing fuel fittings gravity feed into the fuel system, 15 gallons trip total. 2 camp chairs, tent, sleeping bag, axe, 250' 3/8 double braid, pulleys and rigging for just in case, 10x12 tarp, tools, chain/sprockets, lashing and electrical wire, zip ties, chain lube and about 90 pounds of other stuff. Welcome to the wilderness.

 

Nice!

You look like you are on ADVrider too

I bought a couple of 650's as well - although Kawasaki's. (I have since bored them out to 685 tho...)
Here they are in Baja (with one of my buddies)


Not much beats a big single off-road!
I like your fuel setup, very neat. How many miles you get out of it? What are the subframes like on the Dominator, any concerns putting that weight so far back?
90lbs is a LOT!

 

The NX has a subframe built by a bridge designer. Its very stout and heavily gusseted, No signs of flex even with a load in excess of 100 lbs and a hammering off road ride. Well, running hard I can only get about 40 mpg, so a little over 400 miles with a bit of reserve.

 

Cool.
Honda's always make really stout bikes. Is it the same engine/trans in the XR650? Does it share any other parts with them?

40mpg off-road with that weight isn't too bad.
I usually get 50-55mpg empty on my KLR's. 45-50 if its sand.

What is your username on advrider? (Mine is "Flys Lo")

 

Same engine as the XR650 and allegedly, a side case change might allow a kicker to be fitted. Most of the suspension bits are tamed down from the XR, more streetable and less dirt but folks have swapped bits around Hammering up along the road to Goose bay was a lot of fun! Folks said 'watch out for trucks, they'll run right up behind you and pass without warning' my finding was that of the few trucks I passed, they all waved.

fast*st over there. FTE didn't like *

 

I know the XR650L (I think) that isn't fitted with a kicker can have the side case replaced by the XR650R which has it fitted.

I was thinking of doing that to my KLR's (can just get an older KLR side case), but I always ride with both my bikes, and have created jumper leads that run to the cigarette sockets I put on both bikes.Nice, I have heard there is great riding up that way. If I wasn't steering the handlebars in the other direction, I would love to come up and check it out

 

Spot on.

One of the more interesting things to do is use an XR/XL600 cam in the 650 engine, after checking valve clearances of course, and come up with a pretty hot 650. The compression though, leaves something to be desired.

I had an '83 XL600, and it would run rings around my '89 NX650. The NX just doesn't have the upper RPM power the XL did. I could pull 120+MPH with the XL, the NX was lucky it got past 85MPH, and that was mostly because it just wouldn't rev high enough with the gearing it had.

I later regeared it for even more low-end grunt, and it tops out around 70-75 I think.

One of these days, it'll get the makeover it deserves

 

I have heard the cam swap from the XL600 but would love to see the dyno results, what does it do to the delightful awesomness of the just above idle ability to climb up a cliff face. Cams can add some horsepower yes but my thoughts have been torque is limited by how much air/fuel you can ram into the chambers. Cams seem to move the torque/horsepower around.

 

I had an '83 XL600, and believe me, it had gobs of low-end-torque.

It also had two carbs, one per intake valve, where one would open first, and the second only after being way WAY into the throttle.

My NX650 has a variable-venturi type carb going to both valves, so I bet there would be a bit of a loss at low-end because of the port velocity difference.