The 'No Pissin and Moanin' DR650 Thread

[Albie]

Originally Posted by Kernel

I just got to thinking.
Everyone refers to the DR650 as the ultimate 'zombie apocalypse' bike.
Sorry, but I tend to disagree.
Why?
The bike is not fuel efficient enough.
Ok ok, the DR650 is quite a fuel efficient bike, especially considering how much forward-lurching torque blast-outta-da-cornerz fun it has, it really is.
But for a zombie apocalypse/post nuclear disaster bike? Sorry, no.
The bikes that will truly shine when shit really hits the motherfucken fan will be bikes such as the TW200, the CT110, the DR250, the XT200.
Bikes which use fuck all of nothing petrol and will get you anywhere and everywhere, and will keep thumping along happily all day. Because lets face it, petrol is going to be damn near unobtainable, and when you can get it, it will be very expensive (think $5 a litre) and people who sell it will be few and far between.

OR.

A multi-fuel motor equipped DR650, a la the HAYES-DT M1030-M2, capable of achieving near 100 MPG. Now THAT would be unstoppable.
Think of the logic behind it. A powerful, high-revving, torque rich, mechanical direct injected, indestructible engine capable of achieving astonishing astonishing fuel mileage mated with the most versatile best go-anywhere any-time bike known to man.

When the zombie apocalypse/post nuclear disaster inevitably hits, there's going to plenty of people scraping a living together making fuel this engine is capable of happily running on. It is going to be the most widely available and cheapest fuel in existence. After all, you can make kerosene/diesel out of used motor oil (providing you run it through an oil cleaner first) very cheap and biodiesel out of vegetable crops, and lets not forget the vast quantities of unused jet fuel that will be looming around in stores. All of which the M1030-M2's engine is capable of running on quite happily.

One of these days either Hayes-DT is going to release their magnificent single cylinder diesel motorcycle engine into the public sector, or someone is going to design and manufacture an equivalent nearly as good (perhaps better?) engine and make it available for sale to the public. I plan on being one of the first to have it adapted it to the DR650 when this happens, so that I will have the edge when petroleum becomes unobtainium.

No gas powered machine of any type will be viable in a post apocalyptic scenario. These on the other hand:

[planemanx15]

Originally Posted by Bronco638

Do you have a newer Vapor that has an additional temperature probe? My Vapor's temp probe sits under one of the spark plugs to get (approx.) cylinder head temps. That said, warm oil = happy engine. You may experiment with blocking off 1/3 or 1/2 of the cooler to see what effect you get. When I was racing (cars) we tried to get the oil temp to be close to the water temp. Obviously, that's not a consideration here. I'd shoot for a temp somewhere around 200º-220º F.

My commute to work is short, too (8 miles, 20 minutes). I see cylinder head temps near 250º F in similar ambient temps. I wonder what my oil's temp is? Of course, you could go with a thinner oil, too. That wouldn't help with operating temps but it would provide some peace of mind knowing that the oil is circulating on those cold starts.

I'm not sure what your talking about, so i assume I have to older vapor. It came with 1 probe for the spark plug, which I bored out a little and use for the top oil bolt. I usually get around 180*F on the highway in the summer, with around town highs in the 220*F range.

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by Bronco638

Um, I don't think the upper triple on my '97 is steel. It looks cast to me (and it's not iron).

You're correct. I was thinking of the steel brace piece that sits between upper and lower T clamps. Have you seen that piece? Also steel turn signal mounts are there and of course the steel front sub frame bit that holds headlight and shroud.

As mentioned, the problem is neatly stowing the wiring
so no abrading takes place down the road.

The stock Alu upper triple is maybe a bit heavier/larger due to housing ignition switch and other extras there. A racing clamp would have none of that, probably lighter and stronger too?

[Bultaco206]

No pissing here. And no moaning. And please don't yell at me because I've not owned a DR before. But look what followed me home this morning. A 2006 with 4600 miles. I have a few things to sort out (this thing is leaner than a vegetarian cattle farmer) and then I can start blowing money on yet another bike.

[AST236]

Sweet, Bultaco206. Keep us updated.....

[GSF1200S]

Everyone goes straight to the apocalypse when these scenarios are contemplated. I think the DR650 is probably the best "get out of Pensacola when a cat 5 hurricane is approaching and everyone is going insane, lines are miles long for gas, and all the roads and freeways are packed with cars." You could ride off the side of the freeway in the grass, follow some railroad tracks, or take dirt roads, fields, etc to get out of Dodge. I bought the DR for completely different reasons, but unbeknownst to me I actually bought a pretty decent shtf vehicle. Of course, useless if your not single, if you have big pets, etc. But for a single dude looking to grab some clothes, a laptop, and some small valuables and get out of trouble, its perfect. Strap a few gas cans to the bike (with an IMS/Acerbis/Safari already on it), and you can get 3-500 miles away from trouble before you even need gas. Its simple, nothing to break or overheat, etc.

As far as total Apocalypse, I would take a bicycle over anything. A horse can be shot by someone, it needs food and water (like you do), it cannot be thrown over a fence, and it can be spooked. A bicycle is literally almost bulletproof. Anyways..

[GSF1200S]

Originally Posted by Adv Grifter

That's a good mod if you can pull it off. We've seen a few here, a few kits are out there that fit the DR650. Some have adapted a Buell headlight. Not bad.

If you can manage all the wiring there and find a nice home for it ... then should be good. The steel front subframe is a bit heavy and perhaps overkill for what it's doing. A rubber strap on dirt bike style headlight/shroud could work. I would go with an HID bulb
for sure. 3 times brighter than stock, cheap, reliable, weighs nothing.

You may as well ditch the stock upper and lower triple clamps as well. The Upper DR one is heavy steel. Maybe you can find something in Alu to fit?

Yeah, definitely need to worry about protecting all the wiring. I have seen mention of the buell headlight mod, but im not sure exactly how much weight it saves- you have any clue? If it saves alot compared to stock, Id do it. If it only saves a little I might as well stay stock and buy an HID kit. This is why I was looking at KTM headlights and aftermarket ones- weight. Of course, as an adv bike the light needs to actually work.

Never considered anything in the forks. I need to get it all apart and take a look, but I also need to get it back on the road! Im a huge believer in doing smart things to reduce weight. When the price gets ridiculous then I stop. I did the same with my 1200 bandit and it made a huge difference in tight twisties throwing it from side to side.

[greystoke]

Originally Posted by GSF1200S

Everyone goes straight to the apocalypse when these scenarios are contemplated. I think the DR650 is probably the best "get out of Pensacola when a cat 5 hurricane is approaching and everyone is going insane, lines are miles long for gas, and all the roads and freeways are packed with cars." You could ride off the side of the freeway in the grass, follow some railroad tracks, or take dirt roads, fields, etc to get out of Dodge. I bought the DR for completely different reasons, but unbeknownst to me I actually bought a pretty decent shtf vehicle. Of course, useless if your not single, if you have big pets, etc. But for a single dude looking to grab some clothes, a laptop, and some small valuables and get out of trouble, its perfect. Strap a few gas cans to the bike (with an IMS/Acerbis/Safari already on it), and you can get 3-500 miles away from trouble before you even need gas. Its simple, nothing to break or overheat, etc.

As far as total Apocalypse, I would take a bicycle over anything. A horse can be shot by someone, it needs food and water (like you do), it cannot be thrown over a fence, and it can be spooked. A bicycle is literally almost bulletproof. Anyways..

And zombies love horse brains too...

[neoxaero]

Originally Posted by greystoke

And zombies love horse brains too...

I just can't picture Mr Ed getting eaten by a zombie... "Saaave me Willber!"

[Kernel]

Originally Posted by BergDonk

So where's the link to your build thread?

All in good time. I envision it would cost a fair few thousand dollars plus shipping for the single cylinder diesel engine I would like to use for the project, plus a wrecked DR650 to use as a donor bike.

[Bronco638]

Originally Posted by planemanx15

I'm not sure what your talking about, so i assume I have to older vapor. It came with 1 probe for the spark plug, which I bored out a little and use for the top oil bolt. I usually get around 180*F on the highway in the summer, with around town highs in the 220*F range.

I was wondering if a newer version of the Vapor came with two probes; one for the spark plug and one for the oil cooler. You answered my question. Since you only see 180º F oil temps during the Summer, try to block off the cooler to get temps closer to 180º. It may not be easy since daily ambient temps tend to be widely variable at this time of year.

I'm kind of chasing a similar issue with my VTR250; the engine is so small and radiator rather efficient so that I see very low water temps in the Spring and Fall. I'm trying to come up with some sort of sliding shield so I can block off varying sections of the rad to maintain better temps.

Originally Posted by Adv Grifter

You're correct. I was thinking of the steel brace piece that sits between upper and lower T clamps. Have you seen that piece? Also steel turn signal mounts are there and of course the steel front sub frame bit that holds headlight and shroud.

As mentioned, the problem is neatly stowing the wiring
so no abrading takes place down the road.

The stock Alu upper triple is maybe a bit heavier/larger due to housing ignition switch and other extras there. A racing clamp would have none of that, probably lighter and stronger too?

It's stamped steel is it not? Are those support pieces that heavy? I'm going to guess that any other metal may not handle the vibrations as well (stress fracture). I suppose you could weld a section of .75" square tube to the head bearing tube so you could bolt a structure to that. Then, you could remove all of the stuff that's attached to the forks/triples.

[Bronco638]

My DR's starter has developed a little bit of a squeal during start. It only seems to happen after the bike has been sitting outside in the parking garage all day (cool temps). The weather has started to change here (Chicago) so that day time highs are in the 50s/60s. In the morning when the DR has been sitting in the (warm) garage overnight, it doesn't make a sound.

I looked at the shop manual and it seems that some lubrication is required. But, I didn't want to take a lot of things apart in case this sound might indicate bigger issues. I plan to address it over the winter but thought I would ask the collective now.

Has anyone else experienced this? TIA, Dave.

[Willwilkins]

Originally Posted by Bronco638

My DR's starter has developed a little bit of a squeal during start. It only seems to happen after the bike has been sitting outside in the parking garage all day (cool temps). The weather has started to change here (Chicago) so that day time highs are in the 50s/60s. In the morning when the DR has been sitting in the (warm) garage overnight, it doesn't make a sound.

I looked at the shop manual and it seems that some lubrication is required. But, I didn't want to take a lot of things apart in case this sound might indicate bigger issues. I plan to address it over the winter but thought I would ask the collective now.

Has anyone else experienced this? TIA, Dave.

Sounds like a duck with a sore throat? Perfectly normal, they've been doing it for years

[Albie]

Originally Posted by GSF1200S

As far as total Apocalypse, I would take a bicycle over anything. A horse can be shot by someone, it needs food and water (like you do), it cannot be thrown over a fence, and it can be spooked. A bicycle is literally almost bulletproof. Anyways..

Can't eat your bicycle in a pinch.

[ER70S-2]

Originally Posted by Bronco638

My DR's starter has developed a little bit of a squeal during start. It only seems to happen after the bike has been sitting outside in the parking garage all day (cool temps). The weather has started to change here (Chicago) so that day time highs are in the 50s/60s. In the morning when the DR has been sitting in the (warm) garage overnight, it doesn't make a sound.

I looked at the shop manual and it seems that some lubrication is required. But, I didn't want to take a lot of things apart in case this sound might indicate bigger issues. I plan to address it over the winter but thought I would ask the collective now.

Has anyone else experienced this? TIA, Dave.

Originally Posted by Willwilkins

Sounds like a duck with a sore throat? Perfectly normal, they've been doing it for years

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showp...4&postcount=32