Here is my '82XL500R that I am upgrading the suspension on. I am grafting on the front end from a '90 CR250R. I pushed the steering stems out of both and compared them. The XL and the CR's stem are the same length but the bottom bearing of the CR has a 30mm i.d. and the XL's is 26mm. The top bearings are the same part number. I considered having the stem of the CR turned down to 26mm but rejected that since the it is made of aluminum and the XL's is steel. I wasn't willing to give up the strength so I decided to bush the XL's stem to fit the CR's lower triple clamp. I found some 2mm steel and rolled it to make a shim for between the clamp and stem. I pushed them together and started assembly. After installing the forks and wheels I started making brackets for the headlight idiot lights and key. I deleted the speedo since I no longer have a drive for it and am eventually going to use a Trail Tech Vapor electronic speedo. Making brackets took 10 times as long as the fork swap.
I needed a shock to increase the rear ride height to make up the 1 1/4 inches that the forks added but I couldn't find one the correct length. I ended up taking apart one I had bought that didn't work and using the clevis which was longer on the stock shock. The linkage ratio made it all work out to the correct height.
I also swapped in the footpegs off of the CR250 donor bike. I cut the bushing that the pivot pin goes through out of the Xl500 footpeg. I cut the rubber doughnut off of the bushing. I bored out the CR footpeg to the size of the bushing O.D. I installed the peg, the spring and a couple of washers on the bushing next to the peg to hold the peg to the top. I put the assy back into the bracket, installed the pin, washer and cotter pin. They look great.
I have modified the seat. I took the cover off of the XL seat and cut it down to accept the foam from the CR which I had cut down from underneath. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to cut down the XL foam smooth enough that it would look good when covered. I cut the front of the plastic seat base from the CR to fit onto the front of the XL seat base and riveted it in place. I then glued the foam down to the base and the two foams together. I tried to cut the XL foam so that when I put on the CR foam it would look like it was all on piece when I covered it. The hardest part was finding a stapler that would penetrate the seat base. I finally found an electric one at work and made good use of it. The second hardest part was figuring out what pattern to use to stretch the vinyl to get it to lay down. Heat gun helped too. I am pretty happy with the results.
The headlight bracket that I had made wasn't nearly beefy enough, so I had to add some side support.
Here it is after a ride. It worked and rode really good, but the motor was seizing when it'd get hot on the pull up the back side of Mission Creek to #2 Canyon. It was weird because it would release within a couple minutes and I could make it the rest of the way up the hill.
I have 3 XL500 motors so I took the top end off all of them and ended up using the Wiseco piston and cylinder and bottom end off one and the head off another. I installed new valve seals,shaft seals, piston ring and clips and gaskets. It started right up. I had an oil leak to fix under the right case cover, but that was no big deal. I also swapped out chain and sprockets and modified and installed a chain guide off of an XR600R.
The last bit to be installed was a Leo Vince X3 slip on for a CRf450. I found it on Ebay at Leo Vince's outlet store. I paid $150 to my door, brand new. I had to cut 3 1/4" off the pipe, pound out the flattened section, cut and stop drill the clamping area cuts and slip it on. The mounting bung on the pipe lined up with the appropriate tab on the frame and I made a bracket to mount the silencer strap to the seat bolt. It looks and sounds really good. It even has a spark arrestor. I am really happy with the way it has turned out and am looking to put some miles on it with you guys. Troy341