No, Honda’s XR650 is not a lightweight motocrosser like Yamaha’s YZ400 (it was never meant to be). It is, however, a desert/off-road missile –something Honda proved in Baja last Friday.

The team of Johnny Campbell and Tim Staab brought the big XR650 home first overall on an abnormally rough, technical Baja route. Averaging 47.1 miles per hour (slow for the Baja 1000), Honda proved the XR650 is more than competent through technical terrain.

Another Honda XR650 mounted team, Jonah Street, Torsten Bostrom and Greg Bringle finished second motorcycle and third overall. Honda took the top four motorcycle finishes.

Top Five Motorcycle Finishers — SCORE/Tecate Baja 1000

1. Johnny Campbell/Tim Stabb (Honda XR650R)
2. Jonah Street/Torsten Bostrom/Greg Bringle (Honda XR650R)
3. Tex Mitchel/Ron Wilson/Scott Meyers (Honda XR628R)
4. Mike Dellar/Eric Brown/Harry Nevil/Mark Varner (Honda XR600R)
5. Jose Ruvalcaba/Leonel Ruvalcaba (Yamaha YZ250)

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