Honda XR650L

Me and the XR650L are mates. I knew I'd like the somewhat old fashioned looking XR from the moment I thumbed the button and the air-cooled engine burst into life. The engine felt snappy on the throttle and the bark from the exhaust promised tail sliding, front wheel lifting fun both on and off-road. So far the XR hasn't disappointed.

The electric start Dominator-based engine is a tried and tested piece of architecture - dropped into the XR600 rolling chassis it's ideally suited to its dual-purpose role. Although the real performance of the unit is stifled by the restrictor washer in the exhaust and excessively lean settings, the thing that has really impressed me about the unit has been its ability to roll along in the meaty low and mid-range and make a damn good fist of just about anything that's asked of it.

Now I'm the first to admit I'm an off-road gumby. Personally I like exploring dirt roads and fire trails just to see where they go. Sometimes I admit, I like to ride knackers on the tank fast, chucking the odd mono and generally playing the fool, but mostly I'm playing to an audience of one and in truth it's a fairly sedate affair. In my book the definition of off-roading is all about enjoying life and finding the answer to "I wonder what's over that hill?"

Within the parameters of my definition the XR handles everything I can throw at it. At low-speed the steering is definitely on the lazy but reassuring side. With a bit more pace and plenty of weight on the tank the front stays planted while the somewhat long wheelbase waves about but keeps things controllable. The suspension has remained on stock settings because they seem to work fine and messing for the sake of it seems pointless.

Having said that, if you want a genuine off-road tool that's capable of doing an Australian Safari as Pete MacDonald who came ninth outright this year did, but has the ability to hack it on the highway, ride to work, and even achieve silly angles of lean on its Dunlop D605 tyres, then the XR is a willing accomplice.

Which brings us into the XR as a road bike. The reality is that at 940mm the XR is very tall in the saddle. Those with an inside leg of under 940mm are going to find things a bit of a stretch climbing aboard. However once mounted on the fairly broad and comfy seat the suspension compresses enough to get both feet in touch with the planet.

While on the subject of things to get used to, the D605 intermediate knobby tyres took a fair bit of softening up and the sensation of running on the edge of the knobs took a leap of faith to trust, especially on wet bitumen. At this point, with a couple of thousand kliks under them, the rubber has noticeably softened and grip on the bitumen is good enough to instil more confidence than might be expected.

From the tyres to the brakes. Any more power would probably overcome the amount of traction available from the tyres.

The XR pulls up reasonably well and scores highly in the feedback department, which was especially welcome when feeling for the limits of the tyres on the aforementioned slick roads.

Handling on the road, as you'd expect, is soft and mushy. It never really feels wallowy but once you start to push things a little the suspension works in concert with the weight and the tyres, and the XR starts to get vague. Not surprising really and it's a tribute to the basic integrity of the chassis that you can get away with the antics that you can.

What I didn't like? The spitting and banging on the over-run caused by running ridiculously lean to suit the American market drove me insane, but could be easily fixed. The stratospheric seat height, it really is too tall for what I need and I'd happily trade a bit of the ground clearance to get my feet on the ground more easily. Lastly, the fake radiator 'love handles' either side of the tank are simply ridiculous, who are they trying to kid?

The XR is a great dual-purpose tool that is brilliant for on and off road exploring. Despite the 147kg (dry) weight, you can do serious stuff with it and the chassis and suspension have the pedigree to cope. Its simple, reliable and the finish looks long-term good. Best of all the XR650L hugely entertaining in just about any arena and thanks to the electric start is easy to live with. Frankly I'll be sorry to see it go.