In mid August I managed to locate in MCN an almost three year old (1979) example of an XL185 with 7800 miles on the clock. It was a very clean bike, negligible rust, the chrome shone, the chipped paintwork had been carefully retouched, and a new clutch cable was fitted. There were two minor dents in the tank, the rear tyre was almost worn out, but as far as I could see all the parts were original.
The guy claimed to be selling the bike to buy a PE175, although he hadn’t bothered to send the log-book off to Swansea. An experienced friend took the bike for a test ride and couldn’t find any faults. I handed over £325 to become the fourth owner.
I still had four weeks to wait until I was 17, so had some time to examine the bike carefully. I noticed a slight weeping of oil from the generator cover. I purchased an impact driver, Allen engine bolts and some Hylomar to effect a good repair. The oil was as black as the ace of spades and I had to clean the gauze filter.
One thing I couldn’t understand is why the Haynes manual recommended changing the oil every 600 miles on the 125 and 2000 miles on the 185, whilst the handbook recommended 1250 miles for the current XL125R. Checking the valve clearances was simple enough screw and locknut adjusters, valve inspection caps and an inspection cap in the generator casing were easily played with. Only the closeness of the engine to the frame makes valve adjustment awkward. Camchain tensioner adjustment is not automatic, set the idle speed high, slacken the tensioner bolt and then tighten.
As with most trail bikes, the exhaust was renown for rusting. Mine was no exception, it was heavily pitted and I could find no effective treatment. The exhaust is made from very thick metal and it’ll take a long, long time to rust completely through, but the rust does nothing for the appearance of the bike. The silencer is a different story, made from much thinner steel and lasts for only a couple of years, although I managed to effect a cure of sorts using a Holts bandage and Gun-Gum, which kept the thing going for four years from new. The baffle had either been removed or had fallen out, but the bike didn’t sound too noisy. Everything was painted in black engine paint and it looks reasonable from a distance.
After deciding that the frame looked too tatty, I dismantled the bike to try out my spray gun. It all came apart easily, and I fitted a new rear tyre and battery when I reassembled the bike.The XL is fitted with 6V electrics which are useless. Unless the battery is new and fully charged nothing works without the engine running. The lights and horn are laughable at the best of times. Two weeks after putting the bike on the road, the MOT was due - it flew through with no problems and a few complimentary remarks from the tester.
Once on the road, handling wasn’t too bad, although adjusting the rear shocks didn’t make much difference. Speeds around 70mph provoked a wobble, but I once managed to hold on and see an indicated 80mph on the clock. The only time I managed to hit the tarmac was at 30mph whilst going around a 180° degree bend more due to the diesel oil on the road than any inherent fault with the XL. I was not injured save for some bruising, the bike twisted its bars, forks and levers in their various clamps and acquired a few scratches.
I had four months to pass both parts of the test before the 125 law came in. I enrolled on a training scheme that enabled me to take my Part One in December. Unfortunately, the instructor broke his arm and there was no way I could take my test there for a couple of months. I started looking at the prices of 125cc engines as they will fit straight into the frame. Scanning MCN, I saw one test centre that gave an intensive days training and test; it was 95 miles away but I wrote off for details, booked the test and passed before the end of December. I took my, Part Two in the middle of January and passed. I was free to ride the XL185...
Fuel consumption was something that the XL185 excelled at (sorry about that one). The worst I experienced, on the road, was 80mpg, the best 90mpg, with an average of 85 to 87mpg. The XL has a hundred mile range before reserve is required. Off road, consumption was around 70mpg.
The original chain and sprockets were replaced after 10000 miles. Instead of fitting a standard 17 tooth front sprocket, I fitted an 18 tooth one. I was rewarded with a worst fuel consumption of 85 and best of 110mpg, and an average of 90 to 95mpg. The engine revved 500rpm lower in top gear but acceleration was a little less, but I didn’t care as I was saving money.
The rear tyre was wider than stock, rubbing against the silencer when the shocks bottomed out. The original front tyre was replaced at 12000 miles with another Pirelli. At this mileage I decided to do a decoke as I thought it might improve performance. This turned out to be a big mistake as on reassembly I must have got the valve timing slightly wrong, the exhaust valve kissed the piston as soon as the engine was started up.
Not wanting to make the same mistake and not having the time, I let a friend do the engine strip and rebuild. As well as a new valve, a new rocker arm, camshaft and set of bearings were fitted. Unfortunately, on assembly my mate forgot to insert the tensioner blade pivot bolt, hence another exhaust valve hit the piston. After having no bike for two weeks. I decided to dump the bike at the nearest dealers. Parts and labour cost £60 - including new exhaust valve, camchain, blade and tensioner.
Back on the road it was great, but I decided to celebrate my 18th birthday by buying a new motorcycle. The top end wear hadn’t impressed me at all - I don’t know if it was due to neglect, abuse, bad design or a combination of these. Perhaps the bike had done more miles than the mileometer suggested. Who knows? One mate who had an XL125S had to replace his camchain at 10000 miles, my other friends hadn’t pushed their machines beyond 9000 miles, so I was alone in my mechanical suffering.
Weekdays the bike was used for commuting 12 miles to work. Weekends it was usually cleaned up after a bout of off road fun - I destroyed three handlebars and only saved the indicators because I’d removed them. The head and tail lights were both the worse for wear, and held together with PVC tape.
By 17000 miles it was consuming a litre of oil every 500 miles, but I still did a 1000 mile trip around England - my panniers contained more oil than anything else. I put the deposit down on a new 350 Powervalve and sold the XL with 19340 miles on the clock for £125. I enjoyed every pound I’d spent on it. It was reliable out on the road, although it did suffer from plug fouling towards the end of my ownership, but always got me back home.
Would I buy another? No, I'd get a DT125LC for off road or a XT250 or XL250R for the road.
Julian Webb