The 650 Dakar Thread

I have an "06 Dakar.....kind of.

Last weighed, it was about 338lbs dry.

Here's what I've done:

Yamaha YZ 450 front suspension -7lbs
Replaced stock exhaust with Supertrapp directly to header (no Adventure Pipe connector) -15lbs
Removed ABS system (It's shit anyways) -12lbs
Moved battery into ABS box to lower CG.
Removed Fairing, light assembly, and metal support bracket. Replaced with 1.5lb carbon fiber setup with dual 50w HID's. -12lbs
Removed rear cowling/luggage rack setup and metal sub structure. -6lbs
Cut off rear pegs at the frame. -2lbs
Removed all plastic except to faux tank pieces. -4lbs

All total removed = 58lbs +/-

Now I'm working on all new plastic/carbon/kevlar body panels. The new rear cowling will take up the rear seat area and hold an additional 1.8g's of fuel.

This is what it will look like when complete.



I have moved my oil reservoir inside the frame and fabbed up a new air intake that utilizes dual K&N high-flow filters. Doing both of these mods has allowed me to fab a new faux tank piece that is 5" lower and 6" narrower than the stock one. Thus, allowing a more nimble feel and better centering and forward movement of your weight when riding.

This is the battery mod that has been done showing now open area for ???.





Here's what it recently looked like.



Here's the new faux tank tooling being done.





I ride my bike mainly in the dirt, only hitting slab to get there. I just rode the high desert for two days, 768 miles, and only 110 of that is slab. I can keep up with most anyone on a KTM 690/950/990/950se, XR650, Husky 610, etc.

The Yamaha YZ forks are 46 and 48mm, depending on the year. The TT/WP set up is only 43mm. The YZ forks and triples are more than strong enough for a Dakar. The only thing that is needed is to change the springs form the stock .46's to at least .52 depending on your weight. I currently run the .52's and weigh 180lbs. Almost too stiff for me. I also run the stock YZ 450 brake system and have absolutely no need for anything else. In the dirt, you mainly use the rear anyways.

I've solved all of those issues without buying anything from TT*




*Not at all true. I've bought lots of stuff from there, including the license plate piece and the rear mud guard thing, but it would've totally messed up my point above to say I by stuff from TT

True.

It obviously works for some of you. Getting a used set from eBay over here would be an absolute fortune aswelll and I couldn't find any used here (after a quick search). It's in the books for me now anyway, so I just hope it works out. He normally charges $1400 for this build, but'll charge me a bit less since it's a "prototype" project.

deadly so all i need is amx bike complete front end,

or does the dakar front wheel, axel and speedo drive.

A YZ 450 weighs 250lbs dry. I know many guys who weigh well over 250lbs that ride these bikes well beyond their limits. With that said, a Dakar weighs 389lbs dry in it's stock form. The difference is 139lbs. Most Dakar riders ride gravel roads ans some bumps, hill climbs, sand etc. Engineers don't design m/c parts to fail if you take them slightly beyond their limits. So, YZ forks on a Dakar is more than most riders will ever use. Besides, you'll never be jumprng your bike 20 feet vertical and 100 feet in distance.

Believe me, I ride my bike well beyond it's designed limits and the last thing I'm worried about is my YZ forks failing.

With that said, if you want a set of YZ forks, buy them. Shipping to Europe is only about $150 the slow way.

I did my whole set up for under $350 including: Excel rim, braker caliper, new longer brake line, Racetech springs, and all new seals.

And for those naysayers that doubt the simplicity of this mod. Once I had all of my components, the whole change out only took 1.5 hours. And they do bolt right up with a 1/4 shim under the triple clamp.

Get the whole thing. What Speedo? I use a GPS for speed. My bike has no instrumentation.

There are two ways to go, probably the easiest and cheapest would be the full front end. The weakness of this approach is the front brake system, which is far beefier on the heavier 650s.

Adapting the BMW wheel to the Yamaha forks takes a bit of ingenuity, though. A group of us did a purchase of the parts for it, at a cost of a few hundred bucks to each of us. The trick is to adapt the larger hole in the YZ forks to the smaller hole through the BMW hub.

The YZ brake system is more than adequate. No weakness at all!

However, those parts that Jim made are sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Cheerfully withdrawn, then. I haven't made a research project or anything of it, just went by looks and the idea that brakes made for a 250 pound bike designed for dirt would logically be lower spec than brakes made for a 400 pound street legal machine.

No argument there. Beautiful work.

Probably valid for a 400lb bike that rides mostly street where the front brake is used 80-90% of the time. I ride almost all dirt and my bike has been on a serious diet. Now, if only I could lose about 20lbs

Ah, you see I may spend several hours riding highways to get to some dirt, and it could be weeks between dirt roads. Stupid overdeveloped suburbs. I think we have both probably made good choices in direction for the forks.

thoes are sweet parts, well i would be very tempted get the barksfrom usa and shipped over here.

as got speedo i would still like keep the dash as handy for when doing my test.

willride bike stock when buy it and get all the parts ready and then do whole re build

are thoes brake mounts and shafts still around? even the drawings be fine as i could get them made in house at work

They're even better in person, but the guy to contact would be JDRadman, who is responsible for the design of these pieces, and also contracted out the machine work. He was really the driving force, and it was probably a bit wrong of me not to mention his name at the start of this.

My understanding is that he contracted for five sets, all of which already had buyers. I think he said he'd consider a second run of parts if there was sufficient interest, find the thread 'Yamaha Forks on a BMW F650GS' for more.

JDLuke, where did you get the parts from?

Do you have a pic of them installed.

Dwayne,

See the post immediately before yours, where I went into a bit more detail. It's all JDRadman's fault!

You'd think a YZ brake upgrade or big brake kit work if you felt the front brakes needed help?

Traditionally MX brakes are some of the most powerful out there. I would also think that you can also upgrade the master cylinder for more power if you want it. I hear that the CRF450R has a very good front master cylinder.

So what the hell is in that spot on a non-abs bike to begin with? That seems like a hell of a hole for nothing if you didnt start with ABS.

Isn't it the preload canister on the Dakar?

yes, but it's pretty easy to move it to where the ABS models canister is mounted

I did the battery relocate to, a couple of years ago. works well!
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206084

timing thing!

for some reason I can't visualize them installed?