the DR650 thread

I missed this the first time around. This is a dead giveaway that you already had a carb problem. Float orings or float needle. Possibly (but unlikely) a hole in the vacuum diaphragm in the petcock.

My 03 was getting bad mileage, come to find out there was a hole in the petcock diaphragm, pulled the vacuum line off and it was full of gas.

No bike with a low front fender should be called a Dual Sport! IMO

What about the Needle? You haven't mentioned it at all. Most important element. Get the Dyno jet needle: #3138.002 (US model)
If you still have the stock needle ... then THERE is your problem.

When you say "air box top removed" ?? How did you do that? Normally, a section of the air box top is cut. I would follow the "Jesse template". It works. If you have, for some unknown reason, removed the air box side cover ... put it back on.

I'm not a K&N fan but I doubt that's your issue.

Try this:
Main: 155 (DJ jet)
Needle: 3rd clip down from top
Pilot fuel/air screw: One turn out.

Having the Pilot fuel/air screw out too far wastes A LOT of fuel. Turn it IN and lean it out. Sure, it will run a bit rough at idle but your fuel economy will be MUCH BETTER.

Good luck!

Welcome to DR madness! I'm a long time Stonyford/Fouts Springs rider, lots of JackHammer finisher pins. Retired from competition now (B rider). I still ride up there from time to time ... or over at Middlecreek. Love the Foresthill area. Awesome!

What sort of riding do you intend to do with your DR650? Dual Sport, Travel, dirt? All of the above? Post some pics of your bike as you get some mods done.
I've had a few Hondas too: XL600R, XR400 (baja kit) XR250. My race bikes were mostly YZ250 two strokes (enduro-ized). Current dirt bike (old mans bike) is a WR250F and CRF230F.

<cough>Dakar</cough>

Is that a Decepticon?

Well, after approx 15k miles my DR decided to spring a leak! I got oil everywhere! I was riding a lot of dirt roads Sunday which caused the dirt to stick to my engine drawing my attention. I checked all the oil lines, cooler, valve adjustment covers and they are all dry. Leaves the cam chain adjuster and/or base gasket (which is the metal multi-layer one). I was thinking cam chain adjuster but I have oil on the front of the cylinder fins! Could the wind blow it around everywhere? I guess I am going to have to clean it good- fire it up and drink beer until I see a leak!

I am going to have to fix this- I can't point at oil leaking H.D.s and laugh when mine is also marking its territory!

It is!...DRs rollout!!

Just wanted to say thanks again for the advice on the starter motor.

I was thinking 'worst case' and got stressed/not thinking clearly. The brushes were short and the metal bracket they are encased in was rusty. A little elbow grease and sanding and the DR was up and running again.

Sold it this morning. Finished with the South American leg.

What is the availability of DR650s in Africa?

Greeting Fellow Inmates!
Today I bought a Montana GPS to add to the DR for my CDT ride this summer. Until I bought the GPS and loaded big dog's route on it, the ride did not seem real. I almost have the DR farkled beyond belief and have everything I need to go. While it is still several months to go yet it seem real now. Oh I bought a rippin camera also, Sony HX9. I have been reading this forum since Christmas 2010 and though this forum this ride is going to become reality. Thanks to all for all I have learned about my DR, so I have just enough knowledge to get out there and get in trouble! I still have a lot to do before I go, but it seems real now. Thanks Roger

Yamaha was so nice not to import this baby..................saved me thousands of dollars with my DR purchase last summer. Got tired of waiting and like many here made the DR fit my need easily.

Thank yeeeew for the welcome. .. and you coming from a 'S'ford area & F'Hill past, it makes me all warm & fuzzy inside. Not a lot of people know about ForestHill. .the pine tree meca of that part of the mountain. I like the knarly twisty stuff offered in a marked trail setting. ( Allowed for a testing/practice blast if by one's lonesome since usually somebody would come by before you had to start knawing on your own arm for food if you grenaded something.).

Like you and no doubt others here, 'Had a lot of bikes'.. Broke a lot of stuff. Fixed a lot. Lost a lot of parts from smacking Terra-Firma. Learned why bark-busters should be about level with flight to actually DO SOMETHING when that friggin lil' branch comes by when WOT and you're not looking at it. (Yeah, had to convince friends that those guards are MUCH more appreciated protecting the fingers rather than that brake lever. . . well, they had to be convinced, since it was their fingers. .. geese, I TOLD them to not angle them so far downward like the levers).

Being a 'duro guy, you'll appreciate my taking a bunch of moto guys to F'Hill's knarliest loops just to see them sucK up their seat covers. Got tired of them making fun of me for not doing a moto-tripple or long doubles. Damn, I get altitude sickness when up that high. My 94' CR250 is/was set for single track. Plush, torqued via pipe & heavy flywheel, Scott's damper, etc. Probably burn in hell for " OK GUYS. . .DON'T LOOK DOWN. . LOOK 30 FEET OVER THERE . .OK ? ? ! THE TRAIL IS A FRIGGIN FREEWAY ! ! 18 INCHES WIDE AT LEAST !!
THAT'S A 100FT DROP-OFF, SO DON'T LOOK DOWN !! !! Yep.. . .hell for sure.

So, a dr650 ?? Well, I did a little test with a friends DR650. Sprung, valved, piped, jettted. Spot-on set-up. Did a loop route at F'Hill with a bunch of bud's. One lap with my CR250 (first .. where I was friggin awesome w/my WFO roosting, high jumping, ditch making, fishtailing, Rodney Smith wannabe) . . . .Then did a lap with the low cruising plush, on-the-ground mostly comfy thumper. Took about thirty minutes. Got back into SugarPine staging, and WTF ? ? "NO WAY IN HELL, bro's" ! The crowd said a minute FASTER on the DR650. ! ! Huh ? Yep. The watch on my dash said so too. Legend in my own mind or not, the timer doesn't lie. I got tired on the CR after twenty minutes. . .the DR was really friendly with that torque hooking up. Geese. I'm such a wuss. In front of a bunch of people too. AND MY FRIEND RODE THERE ON HIS DR. Man, that hurt. He had plates. Sheese.

So, got a DR650 now. When I figure out pics, will post. Did some welding.

I would bet it's the CCT gasket, the oil runs down to the front when it sits, making you think it's the base gasket. This happened on my 03, FYI the gasket is a bitch to get off the jug.

I didn't even use a new gasket, used Permatex Moto Seal 1, and let it sit over night to cure.

If you have never had a CCT out before, make sure you follow the proper procedures

Funny, I'm kinda thinking the DR has become my go-to bike and the Husky TE450 only comes out when I'm positively going gonzo. I can ride the DR faster on everything other than technical singletrack just because it is so forgiving.

I was just in a low speed wreck that broke my leg. Hospital bill was $120,000. Bodily injury 20k per person won't cover much. If I ever ride again my insurance will cover myself for at least 100k

I have a similar set up to yours - Lynx, Vapor, GPS, etc., and I had bad buffeting issues. Shield all the way down, then cut off even with top of fairing still didn't work as well as just taking the shield off. I'll never put it back on. Even covering the slots makes a slight difference (redirects some air?). For me it went from unusable to pretty sweet by taking off the shield. May have to figure a way to protect wires from the elements.

UberKul:

I understand.

My back surgery .. shattered shoulder. . knee surgery. . snapped collar bone . .. and the latest: heart surgery. . sorta made me mellow out a bit. The heart problem was genetic I'm told, so all is well now.(stent installed). The others were from, shall we say, trying to change the laws of physics.

So, I'm staying off the single-track for a year. Picked up a 2008 with 5500 miles. VERY clean. Very stock.
To date, after one month of ownership, I have done the following.. . What am I lacking?
Note: Just wanting a streetable fun ride, 80/20. The "20" part will be rough pot-holed narrow roads that wind thru the north Calif. coast inlands and the crappy semi-asphalt stuff in the foothills of the Sierras.. . plus the Nor-Cal Delta river levee roads.

1. Safety wired the NSU screws
2. '01 Gixxer can with my own mid-pipe that will mate with a SuperTrapp Quiet
if I need a spark-arstr.
3. Shimmed the needle .055" with some washers (no clip grooves avail.)
4. Drilled three 1" dia holes in the top of air box, then taped over two. Will remove
tape for anything above 3500'.
5. At 1.5 turns for low-mix screw. (was 1 1/4)
6. SuperBrace
7. Removed upper chain roller
8. Laced up a front 17" 2.5 Excel with a Shinko 705 120/90/17. . mounted backwards.
No rim pincheeees like with a skinny 21" against those sometimes sharp pot-holes
that sneak up fast around a sharp curve switch-back. Done that.
9. Shinko 705 rear. . .different rim arriving soon. (4.25)
10. Cut 1" off each bar end. . . too friggin wide for me
11. Manual choke in a week from now.
12. Some manner of new seat, SOON. Have stock & Gel. THESE WERE MADE
IN HELL BY SATIN'S CHILD.
13. Shortened sidestand
14. Braided frnt brake line. Expando rear.

Bike runs crisp & will run crisp to max revs in each gear via a gradual roll-on.
Straight & level is surge-free.
Top gear reads 10mph fast @ 65 true. .( 17" front).. even still, got it to read 110mph, so maybe 95-ish?
Putting around town last tank gave 46mpg corrected for 17". Not bad ? Stock gearing.
I'm 185 lbs nekked.
Plugs look good at every circuit-branch as best as I could clutch & shut-down & peek.
BTW: Running the three holes open in airbox gave the slightest lean pop when slightly
backing off the gas at speed. Too much for such a slight back-off IMO. . . feels good after
taping up two. Considering three 1" holes damn near is the TOTAL stock opening. .maybe
the ONE is 25% of factory snorkel. .
Low rev response is clean & crisp. Never stalls.

Drilled the slide. Read about maybe more slide wear than 'normal'. Tapped the stock
hole 5-40, dressed down a 5-40 machine screw, installed from the top side. Viola !
Like I wuz never there.

So, what more??

Ride the piss out of it and upgrade what brakes.