The DR650 Highway Touring Thread

If you don't want to Fuel Inject the DR650, you could just swap it's twin brother's motor into the frame and add 10hp right off the bat



The pic is of a Suzuki XF650 Freewind. It is essentially a Street'ed DR650, with a standard 5 gallon tank, Electronic Dash board, and dual carb setup. Check it out. They make 47hp (Dr650 makes 37hp). That motor would BOLT into a Dr650 frame, though the oil cooler would need mounting.

http://www.bikez.com/<wbr>motorcycles/suzuki_xf_650_<wbr>freewind_2003.php


Here is a line up of them at the Cartagena, Colombia Suzuki dealership that serviced my bike while I was there. You can notice their crash bars with Police lights mounted on them.

I was able to see one with the tank off, and check out the dual carburetor system. It was a 2 into 1 manifold if I remember right.

The mounting bolts on the motor were the same.

Fuel Inject that baby, and you'd be running close to 60hp...

Just saying.

Alex:Thanks for your comments! Considering you're doing the trip I dream about (preferably minus some of the crashes ) you're comments are very much appreciated! I also only just discovered the existence of the Freewind and much like the Africa Twin and Tenere, I continue my lament that none of the really good mid-size stuff ever gets to the states!!

Shu: Great answers, very much appreciated!! The idea of an easy chain/sprocket is mind-blowing since I'm only used to the Wee (my first bike was a Honda shaftie). Believe me, I haven't forgotten the European/Asian countries - they're on the bucket list to ride too! - but SA has much less shipping costs as it's directly south of me.

Thanks so much to everyone else who replied!

As for dual range transmissions, my CT90 would climb trees in low gear if I put on spiked tires and let 'er rip. It seems so odd to me they had those in the 70s but have never thought to use them for other bikes nowadays? Maybe it's too much torque for higher displacement?

The DR has a gear changer like a mountain bike? No.


The solution is slip the clutch, buy a different bike, or try one that's worse to be thankful for what I have? :huh

I simply think it would be awesome to have the ability to have 14T offroad gearing and 16 or even 17T gearing for highway without wrenching. If they had something like that in the 70s, why not now? Was it built into the transmission, or external similar to a mountain bike?

I know they make aftermarket gear splitters and bolt on overdrive units for hot rods and classic cars. This is the same concept, but much simpler since we have a chain and sprockets instead of a driveshaft!

There's surely an engineer out there who could come up with something.

I swapped on a 14T front sprocket and left everything else (airbox, exhaust, carb) stock. It runs fine on the highway at 75 mph and it's a little better in the 1st gear stuff offroad. I get ~50mpg on every tank.

Sure, everyone would love to have a wider spread in gear ratios like the XT225, but we don't have that with the DR650. It is what it is.

I put a front fender brace on mine and it helps stabilize the front end at speed.

You are probably thinking of the pre-1980 Honda CT90 "Trail 90". I have a '79 CT90 with the dual-ratio 4 speed transmission. There is a short lever on the left side of the transmission that switches between a 1:1 and a 2:1 ratio final drive so you have 8 ratios with the 4 speed transmission, 4 low range, 4 high range, just like with a transfer case on a 4x4.

I don't know why current bikes don't use something like this. It would be perfect for a bike like the DR650.

Agreed.

My 2008 DR650SE as it looked a couple of weeks ago after a 2,800 mile round trip to Moab including a couple hundred miles of off road including the White Rim Trail.

I thought I should add a picture of the front angle too.

Looks good. How did you like doing that many highway miles with this set up? I bet it rides and handles good with those tires and the 19" front eh?

I'd like to know also about your highway pegs.

Thanks,
SR

I'd like to hear details on that topcase, the driving lights, the headlight, and the highway pegs!

Aleeoop, that is one nice looking DR! I'm totally digging the round front headlight, what's the dealio on it?

PS: Love the duct tape tankbag.

Bump to all of those

When I first installed my vapor, I rebuild my dash to try and make it more pleasing to look at.. Well I'm no artist, and it came out like this:



After thinking about it, and how to change it, I went back to a modified stock look. Turns of the stock speedo bracket fits the vapor, just needed 2 holes drilled.



After holes drilled:







My final set up for now. Going to add a bracket connected to the plastic that will hold my Headlight kill switch, heated grips switch, 12v outlet, and eventually the aux light switch and the signal dynamics LED voltmeter (Half way down the page) (http://www.customdynamics.com/LED_battery_gauge.htm)




That Iphone case you see is excellent, for anybody looking to get something to use their Iphone as a GPS. Its waterproof, you can use the touchscreen, and does not move at all.

Finally, I removed the Fork boots, to get a cleaner look. Since I very rarely go off the pavement, I don't think it will be an issue (no pic of that).

Husqvarna had dual range in the 1960's.
8 speeds from a 4 speed transmission.
The primary drive had two gear sets with a lever on the handle bar moving the crankshaft gear in and out of the two ranges.






The TC Suzuki's were probably little different in concept.

Yes it does great on the highway and did very well off road on the White Rim Trail at Moab keeping in mind that we went slow enough to save the equipment knowing we had a 1,000K ride home.
Here are some of the mods and details front to back, top to bottom:
* Headlight: headlight bucket-cheapo Emgo w/carbon fiber look paint, mounting ears found to match-found through internet search, headlight itself is a 7" Euro Hella reflector and 55 W Hella bulb from rallylights.com. Headlight relay from Eastern Beaver. This thing puts out as much light as you can get for halogen and a stock alternator. About $100 invested.
* Daytime running lights are just that, just for visibility and don't help much with illumination but really help with visibility and to identify it as a motorcycle. They are LEDs from "Bling Lights" and use very little power. About $50 invested.
* Front and rear side LED visibility lights-LEDs. Very bright and use very little power. $40 invested.
* Flashing stop light module-$50.
* LED trailer tail/stop lights mounted on the rear of the Pelican cases. Very bright. $30 invested.
* Fabricated turn signal extensions.
* I've been hit twice by cagers, hence all the lights and I was careful not to overload the electrical system.
* Heated grips w/heat troller from Aerostich/Rider Warehouse.
* Trail Tech Vapor speedo/temp/tach/trip gauge.
* Fabricated dash with Vapor, battery condition gauge, power outlets and Heat troller knob mounted.
* Centech AP-2 Fuse block from Aerostich/Rider Warehouse.
* Battery tender pigtail.
* Kawasaki bend aluminum bars-1.5 inches taller than stock and a few degrees more back sweep.
* Brass anti vibe bar inserts $60.
* IMS tank
* Corbin seat
* Rear rack from a fabricator on ebay-excellent work.
* Moto-Sport pannier racks-no longer made.
* Pelican 1520 cases mounted with Happy Trail puck mount kit-5/8". Would recommend Pelican 1550s.
* Wolfman tank bag with large map window-most excellent.
* Excel 19" front wheel
* Avon Distanzia tires-Excellent on road and not bad off road, just don't push too hard in loose turns.
* Mirror extensions from Twisted throttle.
* Top case from Hardigg. They make them for Pelican and they are a little lighter and a little cheaper-excellent.
* Fabricated slide stops to keep the top case from sliding off the rack. It's mounted with Happy Trail puck kit-3/4".
* Center stand from Hepco-Becker/Twisted throttle. Good stand but needs stomp lever to aid in lifting,
* GSXR exhaust can.
* Ceramic coated stock header with inside weld ground down.
* 10.5 to 1 piston.
* Jesse Keintz airbox mods.
* Kehin FCR39 carb from mxrob.com
* Longer duration Cam from J & E
* Power is very similar to KTM640 Adventure
* Tie down loops added to top case-found on internet-mounted with pop rivets. Shock cord laced through them.
* Small waterproof side bags from REI mounted to top case for small items.
* Kolpin fuel cell and mount-mounted under rear rack with handcuff quality zip ties-very solid.
* Self inflating pillow doubles as backrest, held in place with elastic cargo net.
* Locking gas cap from Cycle-Pro.
* Skid plate from Moose Racing.
* Fabricated highway peg mount made from 1/2" mild steel tube and 1/16" plate.
* The peg mount worked well but one of the cheap pegs failed. Get good ones.
* Weld on type foot peg wideners from Cycle Pro.
* Ram mount for Garmin GPS
* Velcro mount on tank bag window for ipod.
* Cut down Maier windshield.
* Heavier than stock springs front and rear.
* Moose Racing handguards.
* Gearing is stock. Just used the clutch a lot off road. The pull is light and the clutch is good.
* Cheap Throttle holding device from Kuryakin-excellent.
* Tool tube from "Agri-whatever" company that makes the tube lots of people use.
* Fabricated a plastic mount for the tool tube from guitar pick guard material. Incredibly tough stuff.
I'm sure I've forgotten something but that's probably enough.

View of the dash. Two switches for the power outlets, one Euro/BMW and one SAE (lighter socket), Kuryakin Battery condition/volt meter, Heat-Troller electronic control for Oxford heated grips, Vapor speed, temp, tach, trip gauge. Dash is attached to an articulating Ram mount to the center of the handlebar.

Aleeoop's DR left side view. The Duct tape on the tank saddlebags became necessarry when the velcro mount failed after 100 miles of rain (leaving Seattle of course). Just one of many reasons to carry duct tape! The little turquoise bag holds 3/8" mil spec tiedown webbing and extra bunji cords. That's a Blackburn hydra pack hanging on the side of the Hardigg top case and collapsible water bags shock corded to the top and a pair of gloves sitting on top.

i commute on my DR, rain grooved CA freeway, speeds here are 80mph and above or you're getting run down. i run 16/42 and get 50mpg average, i've got my vapor dialed in and the speeds are accurate.

i've found that my DR is most stable when the rear tire has worn down a bit and started to square. i've got Distanzias and i run the corners every week to knock the edges off. :) fresh tires love to follow the rain grooves and wobble.

i've been playing with jetting on the carb and currently my top speed is 98.7mph at around 6500rpm according to the vapor and i had plenty of throttle left. though i typically cruise at 85mph or so to keep ahead of the cagers.

+1 on the Sargent. I bought one used and love it!