XR650R Baja 1x Dream Bike Build (Rear Suspension)

The rear shock used on the original bike was a Precision Concepts hybrid of a CR500 upper and XR650R lower. Two way postage to PC in the states would have made it a very expensive choice for the build so I picked a local suspension shop that has experience building these hybrid combinations for the big XR and gave them a specific brief to not only get it as close to being the real thing, but also looking like the real thing 

The hybrid shock ready to fit

So the red anodized bit is the 'high-speed' adjuster on the CR500 part of the shock. 

'high speed adjuster'

The benefits of the hybrid shock are:

• larger shock body with more oil, better for cooling and less fade when hot
• High speed adjuster for desert racing
• Slightly longer stroke, meaning a raised rear end to the bike

The original had a titanium red spring, which I could not find so David at Suspension Matters found the correct non-titanium spring for my weight and got it powder-coated that Ferrari red to match the race bike. The internals of the original are largely unknown as Bob Bell and his team kept the internal mods on the low down. I am sure Adv inmate BUMP will know more as he has had a lot of contact with the Precision Concept guys over the years the XRR was raced. I however had to choose the best parts available to me, so I went with a revalve and a race tech Gold Valve along with a total overhaul of the seals on the CR500 body.

New bump stop and red spring

Fitted to the bike with 'Bob Bell' sticker

I hope you will agree that it looks like the real thing and David over at Suspension Matters did an awesome job given my crazy requests!