BergDonk's DR650s and the Odd Tangent

Hi Guys (and Gals),

I posted some of this on the DR650 thread, buts its easy for stuff to get lost there so I thought I'd follow other's examples and make my own thread for my DR650 because I thought some would be interested to see what I'm up to.

I got a deal on a used 09 DR650 in February. It came with a lot of kit, including:
0.46 fork springs
8.5 kg rear spring
Barkbusters
braided front brake line
protaper bars with raiser for
MSC steering damper
wind screen
big footpegs
acerbis rear guard
headlight protector
bash plate
rear brake m/c guard
32 l safari tank
sheepskin cover
aluminium hardcase panniers and frame
megacycle muffler
extra air filter
spare rear sprocket
+ 2 sets of partly worn tyres and 11,000 kms on the speedo.

I paid $6900 AuD for the lot, unregistered. Not a gift, but a good deal I thought.

I’ve ridden DRs before and we’ve had them in the company fleet I’m a casual employee of, as tour bikes. They are the ultimate do all, good at nothing in particular, but capable of anything. It was time to own one and do some adventuring.

I have ridden Husabergs in the bush for over 10 years, having a 98 FE501, now with 33,000 kms, and a 07 FE650 coming up 10,000 kms. The Bergs are reliable, but need regular +/- 5 hr oil changes as they only take 800 ml per change and with 2 ring pistons are hard on oil. The 650 with some pipe and carb work puts out 63 hp at the wheel on the dyno and weighs 122 kg blinged and fueled with 10.5 litres on the bathroom scales, so I didn’t get the DR to go fast in the bush!

I got it to go far with not much more maintenance than oil changes.

Since getting the DR I’ve done a few more things to it, including strip the frame and wiring and reassemble for reliability, ie lube all bearing and wiring connectors, check for chafing etc etc.

I’ve also adding a couple of racks. I did this by removing the stock taillight and fitting an old Berg extender and light I had lying about. This made room to fit the KLX 250 rack I had lying about and left over from my wife’s bike. I then cut and welded a Ventura rack I also had lying about for the top rack. The Kelly tool bag hides under. You’ll note that its facilitated by the beefier seat which incorporates a Yam XT600 foam from the wreckers piggy backing the stock Suzi seat. I’m 6’ 3” and have dodgy knees. While I was in there, I reinforced the subframe just in case, because I could, and it was easy to do.

I’ve also added some 12v accessory outlets to the tank bag and behind the headlight. I did this by rewiring the headlight and using the original headlight wiring for the accessories and heated grips. The headlight now uses a +80% Philips bulb and is wired directly to the battery through a switch and relay.

I’ve fitted Fastway pegs and cut down and rearset the stock footpeg hangers. I may yet fabricate new hangers without the rubber bushes. I don’t want them failing at an awkward time.

The bike came with a Megacycle tailpipe and muffler as well as the stock system and crap jetting. After some debate with myself, and testing of the stock system, and looking at the Berg system and DR Staintune option, I got an FMF Powerbomb header and fitted that up. Also got a Dynojet kit and am still working on trying to get rid of the slight off idle hesitation. I’m convinced that my seat of the pants, and test hill, demonstrate a slight improvement in grunt with the header. Its now the same bore all the way through to the muffler, and the same size as the Staintune. I note that Staintune only sell a full system. Many of their other systems are either or, including my wife’s KLX250/300 which just has the Staintune header and stock muffler. I ‘T’ vented the carb and removed the limit switch while I was in there, just in case.

I also modded the fuel inlet on the carb so all the Safari litres get into the carb via gravity. It seems it actually holds about 38 l.

After some further debate with myself I decided to fit an 18” rim. Ended up with an Excel and HD stainless spokes from JTR. Primarily it gives me more tyre choices, especially out west. The 12 mm or so of extra ground clearance is nice too, they are close to the ground! It also has the effect of removing 3 teeth to the back sprocket and slightly speeding up the steering.

I had played with gearing by trying 14/15/16 countershaft sprockets. I’m running 15/46 now which equates to 15/43 with the 17” wheel. This was somewhat forced on me when the bearing in the sprocket carrier collapsed while testing my jetting just after fitting the 18” rim. Fortunately it was near the shed and in 1st gear at the time. It locked up the back wheel and destroyed the chain. It could have been at speed up my hill a few minutes before… My 2 mates with DRs have also had them collapse, and I discovered that when we had them in the fleet they were sometimes replaced on tour. They had to be checked every day. So I’ll change them at say 10,000 kms to be safe, maybe each chain.

I’d also read that some have lost the top chain roller. Mine was AWOL after a 1,000 km trip to Dargo via Pinnibar. The pics show a repair. The welding looks worse than it is, shadows, but I did struggle a bit getting the MIG torch in there, even with the shock and airbox out.

Another weakness that they seem to have is a fragile chain guide. I fitted a Procycle replacement and fabricated a reinforcement to support the inside up to the swingarm which is attached using nutserts.

I’ve got some more racks to make for my Wolfman panniers, coming soon. I’ve also got a set of tank panniers which work well after fine tuning the webbing.

With the suspension, I got my mate Frank Pons to fit some Gold Valve emulators to the forks and revalve the shock to suit the spring. Much better, but still I want more. The Berg benchmark is a problem. A bit inspired by Snowy, who just lives up the road a bit, and I met on a ride in Feb, and Mezo and LukasM, I’m in the process of fitting an Ohlins off a 96 KTM and a 48 mm WP USD front end off an 08 SXF. The shock is now with Frank for servicing, respringing and valving after test fitting this week when I fixed the chain roller. May also get a slightly shorter reservoir as it only clears the exhaust by 1-2 mm, and its not really enough. The extra shock length will result in 12 mm more travel and swingarm sag according to my measurements. We shall see how that effects the handling. With the 26 mm axle hole on the WP forks, I plan to fit the Suzi wheel with eccentric bushes, so can experiment with trail a bit to compensate if necessary. Means I can make a up a caliper carrier, and keep the stock brake too.

Thanks to Procycle for their great service and assistance to date. Enough words, some pics.

Steve

And here it is

And here is a shot of the KTM forks fitted and tested yesterday. They work extremely well, and heaps better than the upgraded stock forks I've used to date.

08 450 SXF WP4860 MXMA CC.
They are a closed cartridge design about 45 mm longer than stock. i set them up at 25 mm higher, ie 20 mm poking out the top clamp, and with the 12 mm ride in the tail due to the 18" rim it balances nicley. There is another 12 mm to come in the tail when I get the Ohlins fitted. My measurements indicated that the axle offset is the same as the DR and the triple clamp offset in the forward 20 mm position is 2 mm less than the DR triples. This means that the trail is increased, but riding suggests it steers quicker, but also more precisely, as well as absorbing the rail snot fantastically well. the 0.48 springs which I assume are in them are right on too.

There is no issue with steering locck as the KTM triple clamps are extremely low profile.

I machined up some bushes so I could use the Dr wheel and brake disc. the KTM axle is 26 mm. I found an old 17 mm axle in my junk heap, and a brake side spacer that I trimmed up to get everything to line up.

making swarf

getting a brake

A guard and some steering stops to go with some ebay fork leg shrouds.

Some DRZ400 SM headlight mounts with the bottom 'ring' dressed a bit to increase the diameter about a poofteenth
The guard is from the wrecker and came off an old Husky

And get the dash all back in place

Thanks, they are a fun thing, but its got 2 wheels and an engine, so by definition....

Nice bike Steve! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the build.

What I tried to do with the fork adaption was not to cannabalise anything so that where I used the stock parts, they are untouched. I also wanted to minimise the expense, so kept the stock instruments etc. The only thing that was too hard was getting the steering lock to line up. I could get it to work but would never be able to remove the key because of the bar mounts being further forward on the KTM triple clamps.

I trusted LukasM http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239519 on his advice re the steering head bearings, and it works so far, ie keep the Suzuki cups in the steering head and the KTM races will line up. the bearings are sized differently, ie 29 x 50.25 x 15 KTM vs 30 x 52 x 16 Suzi but it seems to work OK. The rollers are in full contact with the cup. A couple of shim washers to lift the top clamp to clear the damper post mount and we shall monitor durability. May end up fitting a sleeve to the KTM shaft and just use the Suzi bearings, dunno.

EDIT, the steering head bearings failed, read on.

$AU costs for the front end conversion:
$520 KTM 08 SXF forks and triple clamp, with bearings - ebay
$30 Husky guard - local wrecker
$105 DRZ400 SM headlight mounts - local wrecker
$32 KTM white fork shrouds - ebay
$8 Suzuki stickers - ebay
$142 MSC KTM submount for damper - MSC

I also got 2 sets of head bearings, just in case, but as yet unused from ebay for about $100

I also had some scrap steel and bar stock for making adaptors etc and an axle and lock nut in the shed, and miscellaneous bolts, so no direct cost as such.

Steve

Still to come is the Ohlins, a new bash plate from KTMatt and some pannier frames.

I've also fitted a Brembo master cylinder to the front brake for improved control, a definite improvement. TM do it, so it must be good, although the other way around!

And I ordered a 39 mm FCR today too I can't help myself but my perfectly set up Bergs create a benchmark


Steve