My wife wants a touring bike at some point. It wont be another Harley unless they get more modern bikes in the next couple of years. I am thinking BMW used is a lot of bike for the money. All my cars are German, might as well have a German bike too. I could keep my Dyna for shorter trips.

 

I have also owned a XR650L and a DR650. I already had an XR600 when I bought the XR650L. It had a nice motor but was too tall and felt too much like a "tank" compared to the 600, which I plated when I sold the XR650L. I sold my old DR650 last Spring but I'm tempted to buy a brand new one when the supply is up and a good deal can be had. Big Thumpers bring a smile to my face when I ride them. I wonder what the MoCo could do with half of a Revolution Max engine.
AFAIK, if a manufacturer makes any changes to a motorcycle engine, it will have to be recertified for emissions, and the big Japanese Thumpers wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of being certified. They don't even have cat's.

 

Current specs sheet shows that XL650L meets CARB and EPA requirements. 10 years ago my 125cc Honda had a cat.

 

Since last year I've been thinking about trading the '98 Road King up to a 2021. Instead I kept the old King and did this last month. This thing is a blast!

 

Like the DR650, the XR650L is carbureted and air cooled; it's an ancient design and therefore grandfathered in. If they designed and introduced those bikes, as is, in 2021, they wouldn't stand a chance of passing the emissions tests. Where are the catalytic converters on those bikes?

 

Do you have a reference or link to that being the case?

 

it is, sold mine and still regret it each day

 

It seems you are right. I downloaded XR650L 2021 manual and there is no any cat converter mentioned.
That surprises me, because my 2011 Honda CB-125 was also aircooled and carbureted, and it had a catalytic converter. That was clearly mentioned in its book.

 

I'm not going to go hunting for documentation but there is no other explanation possible for the DR650 to be absolutely unchanged since 1996 except for colors . "Continuous improvement" is part of Japanese manufacturing doctrine, yet there are no improvements on the DRs, not even LED lights; there's a reason for that. I haven't been paying attention to the XR650L since I sold mine but I believe Honda is doing the same thing with that bike. I can't think of any other big bore, carbureted, air cooled bikes that are still being produced. The DR650 and the XR650L are simple, reliable, and capable bikes, which is why people are still buying them. Since their tooling and R&D were paid off a long time ago, they're relatively cheap to build and are still made in Japan.

 

Just turned 70 with a really bad back, so I sold my Street Glide and bought an FXDC. I really enjoy the dyna. Lot lighter and more fun overall. That'll probably be my last bike, so I'm not really thinking of a next one.