Rally racer Skyler Howes has always been as comfortable with a wrench as he is with a throttle. Long before Dakar podiums and world‑stage rally results, the Factory Honda rider was the kid in the garage tearing into his own bikes, learning everything the hard way because that was the only way. The need to work on his own bikes would continue as he got his start in rally racing as a privateer. Even now, as a factory competitor, his love for getting hands‑on with his machines remains strong.

“I’ve spent my entire racing career being my own mechanic at home, building and prepping my own stuff and bikes for others,” he says. “When I became a factory rally racer, I found more enjoyment in wrenching on my stuff and started looking at project builds.” – Bike Bound Interview

And the spark for his latest project? A classic 1990s Honda letterman jacket he was gifted.During a break in his pre‑Dakar training schedule, Skyler posted a photo of the jacket on social media with a simple caption: “I need a classic bike to go with this classic jacket. Which bike should I build, an XR650R or a CR500?”

The response was unanimous — the XR650R.

The Legend Of The XR650R

To understand why the XR650R is considered one of the best off-road bikes Honda ever built, you have to go back to the early 2000s—an era in Baja racing when the Honda XR650R completely dominated the series. For several years, nearly every serious contender lining up at the start of any Baja race was straddling the same machine. The 450cc four strokes of the time just didn’t have the power or reliability to compete. If you weren’t on an XR650R between 2000 and 2005, you were effectively racing for the scraps.

Honda’s dominance in that period was absolute, powered by a roster of riders who’ve since become legends: Johnny Campbell, Steve Hengeveld, Andy Grider, Chris Blais. Their battles—often against each other as much as the desert—became part of off‑road folklore, immortalized for a wider audience in the race documentary Dust to Glory. But behind every heroic charge down the peninsula was the same weapon: a purpose-built desert racer that simply outclassed everything else.

The XR650R was engineered with Baja in mind from inception. Its liquid‑cooled 644cc four‑stroke single, with a SOHC four‑valve head, made roughly 45 horsepower in stock trim. In Team Honda hands, that number reportedly jumped up to around 67 hp—enough to push the bike to 114 mph during testing. For race day, they geared it down to around 105 mph top speed to get more punch out of corners.

But power was only part of the story. The bike’s aluminum frame—stiff, precise, and a major leap from the steel‑framed XR600R—gave it unmatched stability at speed. Long‑travel suspension (11.2 inches up front, 12 inches in the rear), a towering 37‑inch seat height, and a dry weight around 280 pounds created a platform that could skim across endless miles of whoops without flinching. It was fast, comfortable, reliable, and brutally effective in the hands of elite riders who knew how to push it.

The results speak for themselves: seven consecutive Baja 1000 victories in the motorcycle class, including overall wins during those years against million‑dollar trophy trucks. The XR650R didn’t just dominate its category—it dominated the entire race.

And perhaps the most remarkable part? This wasn’t some unobtainable race machine. Anyone could walk into a Honda dealership, buy an XR650R off the showroom floor, bolt on the same aftermarket parts Team Honda used for a few thousand bucks, and build a bike capable of running with the best in the world.

Building The Baja 1000‑Spec Beast

For a factory Honda off-road racer like Skyler Howes, an XR650R Baja 1000 tribute build was a perfect fit. And now racing for team Honda, Skyler had easy access to a man whose name is synonymous with the 650R’s legacy — 11-time Baja 1000 champion Johnny Campbell.

The donor bike — a clean 2002 XR650R — came from Skyler’s friend Brett Stevens. From there, the build became a collaboration between Skyler, Johnny and several other American Honda racing veterans who worked on the bikes during that era.

This tribute build would stay mostly true to the spirit of the early‑2000s factory Honda XR650R desert racers. At its core is a lightly massaged XR650R engine exhaling through a Pro Circuit T4 full race exhaust system. Inside, a Stage‑2 HotCam wakes up the power, and Skyler suspects a previous owner slipped in a high‑compression piston (the race bikes of that day typically ran on race fuel to accommodate the high-compression). A Twin Air filter keeps the big 644cc single breathing freely while blocking out the constant dust of the desert.

Final drive is handled by Renthal chain and sprockets running 15/47 gearing, good for roughly 100 mph in its current state—though Skyler hints there’s still more power on the table once jetting is perfected.

Suspension stays faithful to the era as well. The bike retains its standard 46mm conventional forks, but out back Skyler uses a Honda CR500 shock body, a larger unit that resists heat fade better than the stock XR shock. Precision Concepts—longtime masters of Baja suspension setup—handled the tuning, giving the bike the same high‑speed settings and internals riders relied on two decades ago.

Steering precision comes from a BRP upper triple clamp topped with a Scotts stabilizer, an essential upgrade when you’re blasting across endless whoops at race pace. Fuel range is handled by an oversized IMS 3.2‑gallon tank equipped with a dry‑break filler neck, allowing for lightning‑fast pit stops just like the factory teams used.

At the controls, the bike runs Renthal 997 TwinWall 1-⅛” bars wrapped in AME waffle grips, paired with IMS Core platform pegs for extra support. The 21”/18” wheels are heavy-duty Warp 9 hoops mounted with Pirelli Scorpion XC Mid‑Hard tires and Pirelli mousses—another necessity for the infamous hidden rocks encountered in Baja.

But the most visually striking feature of the build has to be the pair of iconic 8‑inch round halogen race lights. These aren’t replicas—they’re the real thing—leftovers from Honda’s factory race program gifted to Skyler from Johnny Campbell himself. The setup uses one light as a long‑throw spotlight for reading the course far ahead; the other is a wide flood light that illuminates the immediate terrain. The halogen units produce an exceptionally bright beam—and plenty of heat—powered by a dual‑output 240‑watt stator. Their size requires a frame‑welded mount, yet the overall system remains surprisingly light and robust for the harsh environment of desert racing.

Aesthetically, Skyler kept things simple and era‑correct. An eBay‑special seat cover and a set of OEM‑style Throttle Jockey graphics complete the look, while all plastics, hardware, and wiring remain genuine Honda parts. The result is a true time capsule—one that’s sure to send a tingle of nostalgia down the spine of anyone who chased glory down the peninsula or followed the races back in the day.

Riding The Legend

Skyler has raced the most advanced rally bikes on earth, yet the XR650R still managed to leave an impression.

“A lot of people say the XR650R is one of the best bikes ever built. They aren’t wrong,” he says. “It’s big, solid, and a perfect desert sled — it eats the whoops and roads. If you want to trail ride with it, it gets a little heavy. But for an open desert smasher it’s awesome.”

Modern off-road bikes may be lighter, faster, and easier to ride, but the 650R’s legacy speaks for itself. Watching the Dakar veteran carve through the desert, hearing the exhaust note of the big thumper hang in the air, is like poetry in motion. Knowing he’s got an ear-to-ear grin under his helmet as this build finally comes to completion is a reminder of why these bikes remain relevant more than 20 years on. 

With the 2026 Dakar Rally just days away, Skyler’s training schedule is no doubt getting intense around this time. We can’t wait for the action to begin and we’ll be cheering him on from the sidelines when he lines up for the start in Saudi Arabia on January 3rd.

Photos by Todd Ellis Photography, Skyler Howes and Honda

Author: Rob Dabney

Rob Dabney started a lifelong obsession with motorcycles at the age of 15 when he purchased his first bike – a 1982 Honda MB5. Through his 20’s and 30’s he competed in off-road desert races, including the Baja 250, 500 and 1000. Eventually, his proclivity for exploration led him to dual sport and adventure riding. Rob’s never-ending quest to discover what’s around the next bend has taken him on Adventures in Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and throughout the American West. As a moto journalist, he enjoys inspiring others to seek adventure across horizons both near and far.