Any Honda dirt bike experts here?

I just bought a 1984 XR350R for very specific reasons, and yes it had to be this bike. I have owned several bikes, a supercharged Buell X1, Harley Heritage Springer, and others. I have restored many cars and airplanes and the big picture of a vehicle restoration is pretty clear but I am hoping to pick up some tips and tricks here on Fchat.

My reason why is this; I am a pilot and have my planes at a historical grass strip airport and most of the guys there have a variety of go karts, scooters, mini bikes, etc to get around the airport and for general shenannigans. In the movie Iron Eagle the main character Doug Masters races a Cessna against a local jerk who rides a Honda XR350R. So naturally if I am going to have an airport bike it has to be that bike. And of course after two years of looking almost all of them are part out jobs on ebay or wrecks. I finally managed to find a good one with all the bits there, super compression and no obvious problems other than being a 30 year old bike.

I tore it down and have sent the frame, handle bar, kick stand, exhaust, swing arm, and other bits off to the powder coater that does great color matching.

This is my starting set of questions, I am hoping Fchat has it's usual supply of experts on all things to comment.

I ordered an OEM upper and lower end seal kit for the engine, the head and valve gasket kits are not the same as what I pulled out of an obviously unopened engine. The originals for the valve cover and cyl head were metal, the OEM kits have non metal ones. What is the best path, reuse the original metal ones or use the OEM kit?

ANY of the after market kits say they are complete other than oil seals. WTF are the oil seals and do I have them in the OEM kit?

This bike has the double carbs, any guidance on overhaul kits?
The factory manual makes reference to a special tool for setting up float height, any real world measurements out there?

Are there any suggestions for carb jets? Any tune up options, and how do I source the correct carb overhaul kits?

The manual has a reference to removing the exhaust and intake silencers if noise restrictions are not a problem in your area. Is there any performance to be gained by removing them and which one would sound closer to the movie?

The manual references an oil strainer in addition to the oil filter, there is NO evidence of this engine being opened yet no oil strainer was present, any ideas on this?

As far as suspension setup, this bike will be uses to run around an airport in open grass fields and mild bumps, any advice? I am fairly short and is there a way to lower the bike a tad to make starting easier?


The one plastic part I have that is bad is the front fender, know of a good source?

 

Thanks for all the great input here, far more useful than the Thumpertalk, the only response I got there was a tiny debate over whether or not it was really an XR350 or an XR600, there is a mountain of proof that it is an XR350.

"You bought am OEM gasket kit ,A and B - correct? That does not include oil seals but you should purchase and replace them all. Same with any parts you are buying - go with OEM, carb kits, the whole deal. I would tune then stock and leave the exhaust alone. You can get more power by rejetting, modded pipe and airbox. Not worth it IMO."

Yes, I got the A and B kit, the no oil seals included was a bit confusing because there was no definition of what they were calling oil seals but after comparing the kits to the shop manual and the engine itself I figured out what was missing, the Honda part numbers don't come up on ebay but per suggestions here I will check with the Honda dealer. And will look there for the carb kits as well.

PROGRESS SO FAR
Frame, swingarm and all the levers, kickstarter etc. were all powdercoated and look amazing.
The engine is almost all back together after the new gasket kits, just needs seals and painting. New plug, ignition coil, and decals are in hand.
Rear damper is cleaned, tested, and refilled.
New plastics other than the tank have arrived, tank will get cleaned up and polished.

Pics soon!

 

Just some pictures of some of the work so far. The powder coating turned out great, got all new plastics, and the exhaust was ceramic coated. Allot of work for what will become just a glorified airport pit bike but it is just the way I do things.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Is there a source for accurate reproductions of the hand guards used on the XR350s? I can't find one but for all I know it might be the same as the 250 or some other bike that is offered somewhere.

 

I found quite a few parts on XRs Only, good site! I did run into one glitch though, when reinstalling the cam assembly, it makes reference to timing marks that should be parallel to the cylinder head. that is all fine and good but the cam could easily be 180 out of phase, they seem to make no reference or allowance for this, can it honestly not matter? I suppose if you consider a sacrificial spark on the exhaust stroke that being 180 deg out would be fine, sanity check anyone?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks for the sanity check, I could see it was a wasted spark arrangement but I have no experience with Honda dirtbike engines so I wanted to be sure.

When I installed the cam I tried both orientations and no matter what when the flywheel mark was centered the cam marks were not perfectly parallel with the cyl head. It was a tiny bit off center to either direction depending on which orientation or chain tooth (by slightly I mean one dot visible just above the cyl head and one dot just below) so I went with slightly ahead.

 

WOW, that is exactly what mine looks like so it seems nominal.

 

First major step, rear suspension is on, the engine is just about ready to go in as well.

 

Pic didn't attach
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Another update, the engine reseal is done and it is back in the frame! Getting it back in is like one of those brain game puzzles where you have a few wire rings or something like that so I did get a few small scuffs I can easily fix.

The further I get on it the more I am pleased to keep ordering new parts, wheel bearings, chain, sprockets, strut boots, grease fitting covers, etc. Anything that isn't in new like condition is getting replaced.
Image Unavailable, Please Login