V649HP-Kawasaki's new gravel runner

I have been waiting for this one

get those DRZ forks on there, easy swap. you'll never catch the V649 on those rough roads without them.

Hehe, wanna race

I will do the fork swap during the coming winter. Also gonna swap the spring on the R1 shock.

no contest there sonny, got the edge...suspension and cop motor.

hehe. well you better watch out next summer.

I have a few questions about the drz fork swap. How do you experience the brake capacity now when you only have a single disc brake?

Also, I now that I will need a 1.5mm thick sleeve to shim the lower triple clamp to the drz fork. How about the diameter of the wheel axle? Is it the same as the dl100? Can I use the versys axle?

i have stock front break drz 400 (caliper and disk) and stock master cyl versys 07, and ebc break pad ,next season i put a 285 mm disk and organic pad because my breake levl are strong and little bit poor to breake on sport cruising or emergency situation

Looking over parts- god this thing is going to do my head in!

i am not looking to build a dirtbike out of this machine- something suitable for gravel roads will be fine. I assume I can get away with the stock triples for something like that?

I won't jump the bike, and to be honest doubt I'll so much as do a wheelie (I pulled several withthe bike from new while IW as trying to learn how to ride.. but haven't been able to figure it out since!!).

I'd be pretty happy to have this as a naked, long-suspension bike with street tires. Something akin to the KTM Duke, I think?

Its only going to be long-suspension in the front. With the versys shock or r1 sho
ck its around 6" to 61/2".
I have a r1 shock, xr forks 41 mm, and SM motech motor guards if interested pm me.

2Fast, those parts are mine.... thanks for the deal!

brakes are fine with the OEM caliper, braided SS line, and either 290 or 310mm rotor. you might as well use a 310mm setup because you're going to fabricate a simple spacer/relocation bracket. i have a 4 piston caliper, but i feel the brakes are darn good without it. remember, you need a pair of rotors, because you're going to cut the center out of one for a hub block off plate on the right side.

late model DRZ400 uses the 20mm axle, same as the DL1000 wheel. the Versys and DRZ axles are the wrong length, so to make the correct size 20mm axle i used the Versys/ER6 swingarm bolt threaded and cut to length. these bolts can be found cheap.

yup, go bigger.

ok, Thanks.

in that case, i would build the LSL Urban X...clone it, my favorite in a 100% street bike built around the ptwin platform.

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out with a some buddies who were riding a pair of well equipped Dr650s, we took a break after a winding and near continuous 20 mile climb up the mountains on gravel, some seriously rough roads in there. the V649 was running well, i was whipped and needed a stop. over 200 miles of gravel roads before we were done.



interesting that the DR bikes banged the skidplates on the way up, while the rat didn't touch anything, plenty of ground clearance.


the V649HP passed the 20,000 mile mark on this trip, i'd say the design concept is proven.

That's pretty much EXACTLY what I want. Where can I find out more? Whose bike is this?

use Google to poke around for more photos and build info.

I did but am unfortunately not finding much in English..... will try again later.

Google translate

exactly, that way you can read the LSL catalog too.

the LSL Urban X (ER6 version) was built 5 years ago, nice job, still looks good.