Another Honda XL350R is used in a movie. This time the movie is The Infiltrator, starring Bryan Cranston, and was released on July 13, 2016. Production used a 30+ year old motorcycle because the story takes place in 1986. The 1984 XL350R is ridden by 2 drug cartel hit men and used in a short scene. I can't say the scene was a good showing for the motorcycle, but its cool they chose the bike. The XL350R was manufactured in 1984 and 1985 and voted a top ten motorcycle in 1985 by Cycle World magazine. The XL350R was a good motorcycle, but only manufactured for two years. I think the public tends to favor larger dual sport motorcycles that fall into a heavyweight category with a engine displacement between 500cc to 650cc, and a 250cc middleweight category. The XL350R falls somewhere in the middle, which just doesn't catch on for some reason. I think in order to have a good selling bike in this size range it needs to be either a middleweight or heavyweight motorcycle for its model, or something needs to be different, other than size, to separate it from the others. A good example of this is a Suzuki DR-Z400S compared to a Suzuki DR200S and Suzuki DR650S.
Dual sport or dual purpose motorcycles are designed to be ridden on road or off road. A typical dual sport motorcycle has a standard riding position, smaller displacement single cylinder engine, longer travel in both front and rear suspension making it good for bumpy terrain, and tires with a tread pattern and hardness that grips well on both asphalt and dirt. Dual sport motorcycles can do anything from touring to dirt bike riding. They can be upgraded and improved in any one area to better match the riding preference of any rider. In my opinion dual sport motorcycles are the true adventure motorcycle and are deserving of that label. The label has been used by motorcycle manufacturers as a marketing description for overweight, expensive street bikes with longer travel suspension, but dual sport motorcycles are more deserving of that label and are the true adventure motorcycles.
You can buy or rent The Infiltrator on Amazon:
Photo's of a Honda XL350R from the movie The Infiltrator:
The 2 cartel hit men riding a 1984 Honda XL350R in the move The Infiltrator
A 1984 Honda XL350R in the movie The Infiltrator
A 1984 Honda XL350R in the movie The Infiltrator. In this photo you can see XL written on the seat underneath the passenger. You can also see a decal on the right side panel that says 350R and the Honda decal on the gas tank.
This is a 1984 Honda XL350R. The 1984 model had a black seat, black and red side plastics, Red "Pro-Link" decal on the swingarm, black boots for the front forks,black number plate above the head light and different decals for the tank and side panels.
This is a 1985 Honda XL350R. The 1985 model had a blue seat, yellow and orange/red side panels, blue "Pro-Link" decal on the swingarm, blue boots for the front forks, yellow number plate above the headlight and different decals on the tank. There were no decals on the side panels. This bikes overall color looks like an orange red to me, but its official color might be orange.
