lostxr
Observer
The LOST XR
I am an old guy and I have heard stories all my life that start like this. “Hey, I know a guy that told me that a friend has a 1969 Corvette with only 1500 miles on it and it is for sale.” Could I ever find that ‘69 Vette? Of course not… those old stories never pan out. Well, Expedition Portal was looking for a Honda XR in good shape we could use as a test mule so we started spreading the word. In no time at all we had someone telling us they knew of a brand new 2009 XR 650L with only 830 miles on it and it was for sale. Right… here we go again. The guys took off with a truck and I really did not expect to see anything at all when they pulled back to the shop. After a couple of days on the road they returned with a nice XR with brand new factor plastic, 830 miles and it really was a 2009. Wow! I guess a blind hog does find an acorn every now and then. The Lost XR had been sitting in a warehouse for a couple of years but other than some heavy dust it was still a brand new bike. This would be a perfect test mule for us. Our plan was to build up the XR like the average person would and use it a lot. Is the XR the most perfect bike for everyone? No. Is it the perfect off road bike? No. And of course it is not the perfect road bike for dang sure. There are tons of great bikes on the market today but the ole XR is like a Swiss army knife. After some tire testing and a few other runs the XR got lost the second time in the back of the shop because of the heavy schedule the crew has to keep to get The Overland Journal out in time. Believe me everyone works their butts off here and it is not just fun and games. I would see the Lost XR every day and tell myself it needed to be ridden. After months of not doing anything about it I took a stand and said I am going to ride that bike every day and I have stuck to that and now is the time to get it set up for Adventures. Follow along and let’s see what direction the Lost XR takes now. But it will not be lost again.
I am an old guy and I have heard stories all my life that start like this. “Hey, I know a guy that told me that a friend has a 1969 Corvette with only 1500 miles on it and it is for sale.” Could I ever find that ‘69 Vette? Of course not… those old stories never pan out. Well, Expedition Portal was looking for a Honda XR in good shape we could use as a test mule so we started spreading the word. In no time at all we had someone telling us they knew of a brand new 2009 XR 650L with only 830 miles on it and it was for sale. Right… here we go again. The guys took off with a truck and I really did not expect to see anything at all when they pulled back to the shop. After a couple of days on the road they returned with a nice XR with brand new factor plastic, 830 miles and it really was a 2009. Wow! I guess a blind hog does find an acorn every now and then. The Lost XR had been sitting in a warehouse for a couple of years but other than some heavy dust it was still a brand new bike. This would be a perfect test mule for us. Our plan was to build up the XR like the average person would and use it a lot. Is the XR the most perfect bike for everyone? No. Is it the perfect off road bike? No. And of course it is not the perfect road bike for dang sure. There are tons of great bikes on the market today but the ole XR is like a Swiss army knife. After some tire testing and a few other runs the XR got lost the second time in the back of the shop because of the heavy schedule the crew has to keep to get The Overland Journal out in time. Believe me everyone works their butts off here and it is not just fun and games. I would see the Lost XR every day and tell myself it needed to be ridden. After months of not doing anything about it I took a stand and said I am going to ride that bike every day and I have stuck to that and now is the time to get it set up for Adventures. Follow along and let’s see what direction the Lost XR takes now. But it will not be lost again.
