It's running a little sluggish, but that's not too horrible for the $90 I paid for it. I want to make it run better, but it's mainly for taking it camping, but if I could ride it on some of the trails my Ranger won't go on, that would make it nicer to go out riding.

There's no high end torque, it just moves slowly through the gears and tops out at what seems to me as a low rpm. I don't have a lot of experience with bikes, but my Yamaha RT100, before it bit the dust, would go through the gears a lot smoother. I don't know if it needs a new top end, or what, but for the money I spent on it, I can afford a little work here.

So any advice as far as tuning or simple upgrades would be helpful. I can't do a lot of work, but I have a friend that works on cars and bikes and will be helping me with a head-gasket replacement for my S-10.

Had a flat, or I would've attempted to do some more trail riding and see what she could do.

Here's where we camped:





Planning on camping there this year. Maybe with the new tires, I can get my Ranger up the hill a ways more.

 

Right on, Chain Saw territory.

Do the basics first. Especially at the "good deall of $90" Compression check, leak down check and the other visuals since you do not have a documented history of the XR.