the DR650 thread

The battery on this bike has always seemed marginal to me. Even when new they don't crank very well. If mine sits for a week or more off the battery tender I am concerned. I have just resigned myself to always leaving it on a tender, even during the riding season. I have owned the bike since new, and had good quality batteries -- always been the same.

I will probably fork over the money for one of those pricey ones that procycle offers next time, or look at modifying the battery box (if even possible) to accept a bigger battery.

Again,no. I bought a DR that had sat for nearly 4 years, with a charge that battery lasted a few weeks, of course it needed a new one. Mine will fire up after weeks of sitting. If the jetting is spot on it really doesn't crank at all, immediate firing. I usually buy the cheapest (Walmart) batteries.

I hope your good luck continues. If you ever have a need to "crank it" for very long (or more than a couple of times) it won't last very long. It will always charge back up (if it is a good battery), but it just doesn't have much cranking power or reserve to begin with (I am referring to oem equivilant types).

It is simply too small for the application. Suzuki would have put a bigger one in if there was room. Heck my old 250 timberwolf has a bigger battery, as do most ATVs --- why? because they have the room.

Has anyone here put the Givi E21 hardbags on their DR like these ??

http://www.happy-trail.com/Suzuki-DR650/Givi-Cases-on-Happy-Trail-SU-Racks-DR650.aspx

If so I'd like to see a side view picture of it if you have one. I had the E21's on a V-Strom 650 I sold and they are not much on capacity but are quite handy and "cheap".

part of the issue is an undersized battery cable.
tpi has a cable upgrade kit.
http://www.tpimotorcycleparts.com/i...age=flypage.tpl&product_id=347&category_id=69
i switched over to a ETX9 DEKA AGM battery and this battery has plenty of additional crank power on my DR. AGMs can sit for a very long time with no issues. mine sat all winter and then cranked up just fine in the spring w/o being on a battery tender.

Good tip on the cable! Thanks

I currently have the big crank agm (I think it is a rebranded DEKA). Still seems to crank the same to me, as did the OEM and walmart ones. Maybe I am just picky, but I am use to batteries spinning the motor briskly on my other toys -- this one just seems to be a little lazy about it. I will try the bigger cable next time.

I have a some 8 AWG around,anybody know what that stock battery cables are?

There are some more powerful batteries that will fit our battery box. I haven't tried one yet, but when my Deka battery needs replacing again (in a few years!) I might try one of the "bigger" batterys. Here's some info I picked up when I was looking at replacing the battery on my '09.


I'm using a Deka battery made by East Penn Mfg. Their replacement for the standard Yuasa YTX9-BS is the ETX9.

I haven't tried it myself but I have found out that there are three Yuasa Batteries that are almost exactly the same physical size, but more Amp Hours/Cold Cranking Amps. I was really tempted to try one in my '09 when I replaced the battery this spring, but ended up going with the Deka.

The stock YTX9-BS-BS is 150x87x105 mm and 8AH/120CCA
The YTX-12A-BS is an AGM battery with the same dimensions and 9.5AH/175CCA
The YTZ 12S is an AGM battery that is 150x87x110 (5mm taller) and 11AH/210CCA
The YTZ 14S is an AGM battery that is also 150x87x110 and packs 11.2AH and 230CCA

I went to pick up 2 of the YTZ14S for me and my riding buddy and when tested one of the only two in stock had a bad cell. That made me uneasy, so I had him bring out a Deka ETX9 and test it and it exceeded the CCA of the YTZ14S so I bought the American made Dekka this time. (the salesperson told me Deka is known to be conservative in rating their batteries) I'd still like to do a side by side comparison of the YTZ battery and see if it spins the DR any better, but I've always had good service from the Dekka, so I'm not sure if I'll switch next time or not.

It sure looks like the YTZ14S might be an interesting replacement for the YTX9. It;s only 3/16" taller (5mm) and with a couple of washers under the battery retainer it apparantly fits under the seat just fine. However, if you are really concerned about weight, it does weigh about 2 pounds more than the stocker.

The only concern I might have is that there are probably more plates in the higher capacity battary in the same (relatively) size package. I've read before that this could cause a problem due to the plates being closer together.

Having said all that, I'm REALLY satisfied with the Deka ETX9. Also made in the U.S. of A. if that matters to you.

I can't take credit for this. Here's the article I found this info in and a big THANK YOU to "Scott", wherever you are!

http://www.cs.clemson.edu/~westall/851/suzuki-battery.pdf

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Thanks for sharing the info. I checked out batterymart to see what they offer for the YTZ14S. I obviously can't comment on quality compared to yuasa, but it was a pretty reasonable price, at $69.95.

http://batteries.batterymart.com/search/index?query=ytz14s+agm

We often have the option, and many servos here in NSW only offer it and diesel, and maybe 98. The 98 can be problematic as it burns too slow and can foul plugs unless the engine is set up for it, or can self adapt. The ethanol blend is 91 octane with 10% ethanol, E10. Sugar from Qld to keep the farmers happy. Many/most servos in the populated areas also have 95 and 98 which have no ethanol. The 91 E10 ends up being about 95 too.

In my cars its 91, else if only E10 is on the forecourt, then its 95. I tend to run 95 in my bikes, but if 95 isn't available, 91, then 98, and E10 is the absolute last choice if there is no other option.

And then there is OPal out west which the DR runs on. I've yet to test it in any others in my fleet though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opal_(fuel)

Yikes! $100+ for a motorcycle battery cable, that's 5% of what I paid for the bike. I have some left over bigger cables from another application l may try. The one time it did fail to start I just cranked hard on the connections and it fired fine.

I'm sure its on here someplace but I can't find it. Do the stock springs need to be upgraded when you put a DRZ front on a DR ? I'm 175 without gear and do mostly double track & street. I just got the front end and its not on the bike so it will be easy to send it out if I should. I'd just as soon not spend the money if I don't need to

thanks for all your knowledge

Here's a few pics I have from different views. I'm using the SW-Motech Quick-Lock side carriers.

My '06 is still on the original battery (I think, I bought the bike slightly used from a dealer in '07). I have been waiting for it to be a problem but as of April,it could sit for a month and still start although it did turn a little slow at first. My guess would be that you have some parasitic electrical drain that is drawing down your battery. A dirty connection that allows for only a very slow drain to ground perhaps? When I last looked at a battery chart (don't recall whoose) the DR called for the same size battey as my 900cc Scrambler so it doesn't seem undersized to me but they might have been listing the biggest replacement instead of what the bikes come with. I am interested in trying one of the Lithium batteries, just hate to part with that much $$$ until I really need to. I would be inclined to blame poor connectionsand barely big enough cables for starting issues over battery size. Automotive (or bike) cables are rarely 'all they could be', on my boats I build better quality replacements as it's really hard to push start a boat. I might look into doing it for my DR as well because it shows all signs of being a "keeper".


Bruce

I pulled the clutch cover and safety wired the NSU screws a couple of weeks ago. I had a replacement gasket (bought it over a year ago) but couldn't find it so I put the cover back with the intact original. I hadn't gotten around to taking the bike off the lift, still want to change the plugs and check the valves, once it comes down something else will take it's place and it will be 2013 with me still wanting to check the valves. I found the 'spare' gasket and my concience told me to put it on rather than chance a leak. It took over 3 hours this afternoon, with gasket remover and a razor scraper to clean off the old gasket! Several times I kicked myself for not leaving it alone but once you start .... There has to be a better way, adding 3 hours of shop time to a clutch job would not be acceptable, niether would leaving the old gasket be considered 'good form'. I had heard several people describe the 'torture' of cleaning the surfaces when replacing the CCT gasket, if they are made of the same stuff ... I now understand!

As an interesting (to me anyway) aside, I asked a friendly parts guy to run a 'reverse check' on the DR NSU to see what other machines used the same switch, the answer is NONE! I was surprised that Suzy made a special switch just for one model, perhaps they were going to use it elsewhere but thought better of it.

Oh well, perhaps tomorrow I will get my clutch cover back on, then I should never have to think about a NSU again.


Bruce

Bruce
always grease or at least oil any gasket going on to eliminate that hassel coming off. a thin film of it on both sides does the trick.

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

Looks like a winning set-up!! Thanks vfr870

If you can find out from the manufacturer what type thermocouple it is... you can purchase stainless steel sheathed from Omega and other suppliers to replace it with a heavy duty TC. We make T and K type at work for use in our lab. It's not hard to make a non-sheathed TC... only takes a few minutes with "proper" tools. We named our spot welder "sparky".

http://www.omega.com/toc_asp/sectio...=temperature&gclid=CMeFyqv9nLECFQtThwodmnLIdA

http://www.omega.com/universal/guides/results.html

Dave

I paid 4000 for a 2009 with 4k on the clock.

Protaper bars and a kappa case with bark busters.

:Long work hours have precluded calling them so far. Plus I figured since the warranty is up.
Didn't get to ride today but leaving the bike in the garage has again fogged the display. I'll try a call to Trail Tech tomorrow.