I ended up having Bruce Triplet rework my front end with a revalve and spacers, and ordered a Hagon rear shock as well. Now I just need to try it all out
the xr's from time to time had the valves. my xr200 does. bruce maybe right about it making it too stiff for you. usually i decide that, maybe you can too. most of the air you get is simply air that warmed up. the smaller volume forks like yours and the stockers on my 200 can get affected and need then bled after several minutes of hard riding.
BBR does get some pretty impressive prices. Not sure what all you were looking for, but when the xr200 i have came along my biggest complaint with it (and my xr250's too) was that not only were they sprung too light for me, they had forks that flexed more than I had become used to. Sometimes it is nice because it is gentler on your wrists on a long ride. The xrs have a steep enough steering head that they will turn well and can be lots of fun, but if you stretch them out to get some travel out of them they are more flexy yet. i have some of the longer travel ones sent on the xr200 and for someone in the 160 lb range they flex way too much. in the past we have put ones off of an xl600 etc onto the 200 and it made a pretty big difference, but didnt have the damping action that the cartridge forks have. So since I had put 43's on my 250 and had a set of 41mm cartridges to donate to the 200 it was an easy pic. yours of course has the brake i wanted all along.
They tell me yours will take the same xr250 aluminum swingarm that mine will get too. then a disk back there just "happens". Kind of a never ending cycle.
You are correct in being careful with adding air. I have seen apes take a bike to a filling station and use the hose. you can blow past the seals at about 70 lbs. 3-4 make a pretty big difference. I know "bruce" must know EVERYTHING. I may
have been pumping them up before he was born (1974).
Back when we had some pretty wimpy seals air conversion
kits were the rage. Add schrader valves, throw away the
springs. Guys you never heard of like Brad Lackey and John
Desoto were winning races here and abroad with bikes which
were springless on both ends. Maybe you have heard there
are air forks back in vogue. Anyway, dont let the fact you
spent a fair some with someone keep you from doing some
free experimenting. My advice is get a reliable air source to
tune with. Small tank, good gauge, and the way you add
air is to pump up the tank to the amount you want to add to
your forks (one of those compressors that goes into the
power point on your cage will work). then transfer air to
the forks. test your results.
Never under emphasize the looks angle.
Wait, 'bruce' said not to. (what was that mommie said
about staying away from the water, dont climb trees, stay
away from girls, and by ALL MEANS, don't ever get on a
motorcycle.) Anyway, enjoy it, you spent enough.
87. But with different forks wheels swing arm shock and disks, year of origin is moot.Tell me it's a pre 90's XR back when an XR 200 was a real bike and ran real woods and hare scrambles.
Lackey was winning races when he finished them because his frame didn't break, among all the other setbacks he had. What shitty luck that guy had before he took the title.