The big red pig, also known as the Honda XR650R.
Some have called it the world's best enduro
motorbike that flopped because it was released at the wrong time.
Released in 2000, it replaced the hugely successful XR600 which began in 1985.
The 600 was a prime example of what the Japanese could achieve back in the
days when they were passionate about making the bestenduro motorbikes...
instead of being controlled by their accountants nowadays.
For years it was THE motorbike for desert racing and kept winning at Baja relentlessly,
until eventually the lighter more powerful Kawasaki KX500 entered the scene.
The XR650R was a completely new motorbike,
with a much more powerful engine in an alloy frame and a dry weight of only 130kg.
It continued to win many of the desert races but the timing sucked.
The age of the 450 four stroke enduro motorbike had arrived and the market
was moving toward these lighter more nimble motorbikes instead of desert racing models.
Sadly production of the XR650R was cancelled in
2008 and in its place was the emasculated XR650L...
way less power, way more weight and dicky suspension.
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The big red pig has a strong fan base today and you can see why.
It produced so much power but was matched with incredible reliability,
along with handling and suspension that puts most of the current big bore four strokes to shame.
Currently the only high performance big bore four stroke is the KTM 690
and many argue Honda would take a huge chunk of their market share
if the XR650R was released again - but with an electric button.
I'm one of the many people who were disappointed with the KTM 690 and
would love to see a much more reliable well designed Japanese equivalent on the market.
We firmly believe the big red pig should be brought back.
Could the Honda XR650R sell again today?
There's a strong dual sport market, and the rapidly expanding adventure motorbike market.
And there are many riders buying motorbikes like
the DR650 and modifying them to be more like the XR650R.
The most common issues with the XR650R today would be its tall seat height,
the small fuel tank and no electric start.
A redesigned seat could make the motorbike a bit lower.
There are still aftermarket tanks around but a bigger tank would not be hard for Honda to design.
And Honda actually did an electric start version for their 650 quad so that's an easy fix.