DR650 What have I gotten into

[Steve B]

I bought a 1999 DR650SE last week. It has been sitting since 2003, 2010 miles, wiring harness cut through and stripped out of the bike, start / kill assemble removed, front and rear shocks modified (front shocks have air valve to add air to them?) (rear shock has a lowering link) airbox missing, exhaust system needs to be replaced, the plastic and gas tank rattled canned black complete with drips and runs. The deal is I got the bike and clean title for 500.00. Unfortunately the owner passed away in 2003 so I do not know what all the mods are. I will take and post pictures of what it now looks like.

Now it is like a jigsaw puzzle and I am working through it a little at a time. I pulled off the carb, cleaned and installed an oversized jet kit, got a new airbox and did the airbox mod, the tank is a piece dented and sprayed black so i will be replacing it with an Acerbis 6.6 gal which will require a bracket mod to make it fit , removed the exhaust and am waiting for a new FMF Q-4 system, waiting for new dual sport tires.

I got the new wiring harness but can not figure out the wiring layout / routing. Would someone, who has their bike apart, take a picture of the wiring harness routing and post it so I have an easier job routing and reconnecting things up or is there someone close by that I can come have a look at their bike? With the way I have it routed right now there are a few open connectors with no mate to plug into.

This is my first DR650 and my hope is that I can have it running this month.

Thank you for your help,

Steve Barrus
North Bend, WA

[Reposado1800]

Originally Posted by Steve B

I bought a 1999 DR650SE last week. It has been sitting since 2003, 2010 miles, wiring harness cut through and stripped out of the bike, start / kill assemble removed, front and rear shocks modified (front shocks have air valve to add air to them?) (rear shock has a lowering link) airbox missing, exhaust system needs to be replaced, the plastic and gas tank rattled canned black complete with drips and runs. The deal is I got the bike and clean title for 500.00. Unfortunately the owner passed away in 2003 so I do not know what all the mods are. I will take and post pictures of what it now looks like.

Now it is like a jigsaw puzzle and I am working through it a little at a time. I pulled off the carb, cleaned and installed an oversized jet kit, got a new airbox and did the airbox mod, got carb cleaner on the tank and the paint bubbled so I used it (carb cleaner) to remove all the spray paint back to factory finish, removed the exhaust and am waiting for a new FMF Q-4 system, waiting for new dual sport tires.

I got the new wiring harness but can not figure out the wiring layout / routing. Would someone, who has their bike apart, take a picture of the wiring harness routing and post it so I have an easier job routing and reconnecting things up or is there someone close by that I can come have a look at their bike? With the way I have it routed right now there are a few open connectors with no mate to plug into.

This is my first DR650 and my hope is that I can have it running this month.

Thank you for your help,

Steve Barrus
North Bend, WA

It sounds like the PO was insane! Distech has a build up thread here for his DR650 and it is VERY GOOD with mucho details.

[LukasM]

Sounds like you got a great deal!

Distech's build thread is really good, mine should have a bunch of pictures of the wiring as well. Link in my sig.

Lukas

[Steve B]

These are great resources.

thank you,

[Klay]

The factory service manual is excellent, and there are excellent drawings for routing the wiring. It might be worth buying it. I enjoy reading it.

[Steve B]

The bike also came with an 18" rear tire and no tachometer, is that common or after market?

[Harry94025]

Hi Steve,

I don't know if you already knew about this, but the 1998-99 DR650s can have a problem with the starter gear (depends on the serial number, you can Google "Suzuki DR650 starter problem", or something like that for the scoop). I also have a 1999, and replaced the solid gear that was driven by the starter motor, with the earlier/later gear that has a torque limiter clutch. If the engine backfires when it shuts down, this can break the solid gear, and that apparently destroys the engine case. Interestingly, my torque limiter came from a 1995 DR; I checked the part number from one of the on-line Suzuki parts houses, and it was identical to the later number. The retail price for the parts is about $175, but I bought mine through eBay for $40...

Regards,
Harry

Originally Posted by Steve B

I bought a 1999 DR650SE last week. It has been sitting since 2003, 2010 miles, wiring harness cut through and stripped out of the bike, start / kill assemble removed, front and rear shocks modified (front shocks have air valve to add air to them?) (rear shock has a lowering link) airbox missing, exhaust system needs to be replaced, the plastic and gas tank rattled canned black complete with drips and runs. The deal is I got the bike and clean title for 500.00. Unfortunately the owner passed away in 2003 so I do not know what all the mods are. I will take and post pictures of what it now looks like.

Now it is like a jigsaw puzzle and I am working through it a little at a time. I pulled off the carb, cleaned and installed an oversized jet kit, got a new airbox and did the airbox mod, got carb cleaner on the tank and the paint bubbled so I used it (carb cleaner) to remove all the spray paint back to factory finish, removed the exhaust and am waiting for a new FMF Q-4 system, waiting for new dual sport tires.

I got the new wiring harness but can not figure out the wiring layout / routing. Would someone, who has their bike apart, take a picture of the wiring harness routing and post it so I have an easier job routing and reconnecting things up or is there someone close by that I can come have a look at their bike? With the way I have it routed right now there are a few open connectors with no mate to plug into.

This is my first DR650 and my hope is that I can have it running this month.

Thank you for your help,

Steve Barrus
North Bend, WA

[Steve B]

Ok I set up a smugmug account and here we go My bike in a box.

this is what the wiring harness looked like


some sort of front fork mod


my rear wheel was on this bike so i assume the rear wheel on the 650 came off of this bike



parts used to get the rear wheel to fit


rear wheel I took off


Misc photos





busted off the chain guard mounting brackets


wear on the swing arm

[Steve B]

Thanks, My SN is after Suzuki changed back. Do I still need to check?

Originally Posted by Harry94025

Hi Steve,

I don't know if you already knew about this, but the 1998-99 DR650s can have a problem with the starter gear (depends on the serial number, you can Google "Suzuki DR650 starter problem", or something like that for the scoop). I also have a 1999, and replaced the solid gear that was driven by the starter motor, with the earlier/later gear that has a torque limiter clutch. If the engine backfires when it shuts down, this can break the solid gear, and that apparently destroys the engine case. Interestingly, my torque limiter came from a 1995 DR; I checked the part number from one of the on-line Suzuki parts houses, and it was identical to the later number. The retail price for the parts is about $175, but I bought mine through eBay for $40...

Regards,
Harry