the DR650 thread

[ER70S-2]

Originally Posted by epix1718

Thanks for the info.

Carb is fully assemebled and on the bike, attached firmly to the motor and air box.

When not attached to the carb the cables slide in/out with ease. Just to make sure I have it correct, when I pull the throttle back the cable should extend out, while the push should retract?

No, cables pull, they never push. When you roll the throttle 'on' the rear cable retracts, pulling the throttle CCW at the carb. Sounds like you want it to pull CW?

That's my understanding at the moment. When disconnected from the carb, should the throttle snap right back to "rest" when I let go of it while rotating?.. because mine just stays put.

When the cables are disconnected the throttle tube will stay wherever you leave it, there's no spring for the cables.

The carb itself the throttle rotation thingy-ma-bob rotates freely with no cables attached, lots of spring tension when fully rotated and snaps right back when let off. I'll keep playing with it til I figure it out.

This is correct, so the carb's ok.

[B1]

Originally Posted by ER70S-2

Grrr, for the life of me I'm have some issues hooking up the throttle cables to the stock carb. I put both cables on (push cable on frontmost, pull cable on rearmost) and both cables have tension, but as I rotate the throttle back to WOT and release it just sticks, not returning to rest.

i'm sure you've already tried a bit of lube? just in case you haven't, i had exactly the same prob last weekend. maybe a bit of dirt worked its way in while i was messing around? just squirted a bit of lube into the cable ends and it was good as gold again.

[Mercenary]

Originally Posted by sagedrifter

I don't run lower pressures than what's specified on the swing arm.

Ah. My bad then. I didn't have my DR specs close at hand so wasn't sure what the OEM recommended pressures were....

[kezzajohnson]

Originally Posted by TeeVee

So, need some advice from the collective.

several months ago i made the mistake of putting my gaerne sg-12's away before they were completely dry. they of course, started growing mold or mildew, not sure which but they stunk. so, i washed 'em in a strong lysol bath and left them under a fan in the sun for two days. didn't work. treated them with heavy lysol sprays for days on end while they baked in the tropical sun. still no joy.

i'm thinking my only option is bleach, which will of course bleach out the liners. and while i firmly believe that form follows function, i'd rather seek a non-damaging alternative before i ruin a $500 pair of boots.

any ideas?

tia

recently relocated to another city and when lounge suit arrived, it was covered in light mould spots. found an old wives tale that spraying a mix of water and oil of clove works a treat. About a teaspoon to 1 litre water. Spray on, leave about 20 mins, wipe off and reapply. Used the same trick recently on my gloves which I didn't dry out after a wet ride and now they're like new but smell like a dental surgery.

Give it a go anyway.

[kezzajohnson]

Originally Posted by sagedrifter

I don't lube my cables, the housings are made to self lube. I do lube the exposed ends with white lithium grease.

Too much lube will attract dirt and gum up things. My oldest bike is about 12 years old and the cables are still good, no lube on those. Just the exposed parts see some grease.

Maybe I am doing it all wrong... :p

If it ain't broke fix it anyway, if its all rusted up, lube may help. I would just replace the cable if the sucker was draging bad.

Sent from my GT-S5690L using Tapatalk

The DR's cables are teflon lined and not designed to be lubed. Not a bad idea to lube the pivot points now and again though.
Simply replace if they get knotchy.

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by Mercenary

I've got to wonder how much heat you are generating in the tire carcass by running it at lower pressures and at highway speeds. Heat kills tires and the more flex you have in the carcass, the more heat you are going to generate.....

Might not be a good idea to run tires at lower pressures on the highways.....

Have you read your owners manual? Suzuki recommends 22 psi front, 25 psi rear. I didn't believe those pressures either ... but after 7 or 8 sets on two sets of wheels I'm convinced they are pretty much spot on. This true both for knobbies, 50/50's and street tires.

Safedrifter has got it right, IMO. I add a little more air as I'm 200 lbs. and carry luggage. So on highway, maybe 24/28 or so. I've found I get the most even wear and most miles running below 30 PSI, even with a full load. YMMV.

[Kommando]

Originally Posted by Toxic Mark

I recently mounted Kenda Big Blocks on my DR (OEM wheel set) and immediately noticed that I have lost highway speed stability (wobbles) anywhere above 65 mph indicated. Is this what I should have expected? When I ride with my brother who lives at the foot of the San Bernadino mountains I'm happy to have the knobs, but when I am back up in the Bay Area where I have to slab it to get to dirt I hate them.

I've toyed with the idea of a second wheel set with something along the lines of GP-1s. I've tried troubleshooting the wobble with no success. And I don't want to be swapping tires everytime I head south.

Ideas? Advice? How stable is your DR at highway speeds? And what tires are you on that provide that stability? Would a 19" front provide more stability over a 21" given the same tire?

-Mark

Big knobs, heavy tires, and soft rubber on a light moto sound like a recipe for squirm and vibes on pavement.

I run 70-80MPH with a passenger and luggage regularly, with short bursts sometimes going faster. The DR's seen 101MPH (GPS) in the dirt. I use 25-30PSI onroad, and 15-25PSI offroad, depending on load and surface. I ride in about the middle of the seat and forward. I rarely slide back further unless offroad or eating miles. The DR feels fine onroad at any speed.

The PO put in heavier oil and springs for a 200lb+ rider. The bike is in the high position. I put on a sleek YZ450 front fender for aesthetics, but the stocker caused no wind issues for me either. I have FAR KTM mirrors, Trackside handguards, and no windscreen. I mention these things because many people claim wind issues on relatively-stock DRs at much lower speeds than I sometimes travel.

I have a stock TW tire up front, and ran the stock TW in the rear until replacing it with a Kenda K761 at about 12K miles. I've got over 15K miles now, and the K761 is starting to show wear in the center. The almost wornout front TW is about to get replaced with a cheap Sandsnake knobby as an offroad experiment.

I don't expect the knobby to run well or long on pavement, but I have a streetbike too.

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by epix1718

Grrr, for the life of me I'm have some issues hooking up the throttle cables to the stock carb. I put both cables on (push cable on frontmost, pull cable on rearmost) and both cables have tension, but as I rotate the throttle back to WOT and release it just sticks, not returning to rest.

I can rotate the throttle by hand but whatever position I leave it at it won't return to rest. I attached just the pull cable and the throttle fully at rest and start the bike it starts up like it is at WOT. This is very frustrating! First time I've ever done something like this so what am I doing wrong?

Proceed carefully. You don't want to hurt yourself. Maybe consult a pro for this.

Chances are either your routing along the frame spine is wrong or your bark buster or hand guard is pushed into the grip and preventing it from returning.

Hard to explain how the two cables should be routed. The hand guard is easily fixed ... just tap it outward a bit until throttle is free. When you fall ... in will stick again.

[maynard911]

Originally Posted by Toxic Mark

I recently mounted Kenda Big Blocks on my DR (OEM wheel set) and immediately noticed that I have lost highway speed stability (wobbles) anywhere above 65 mph indicated. Is this what I should have expected? When I ride with my brother who lives at the foot of the San Bernadino mountains I'm happy to have the knobs, but when I am back up in the Bay Area where I have to slab it to get to dirt I hate them.

I've toyed with the idea of a second wheel set with something along the lines of GP-1s. I've tried troubleshooting the wobble with no success. And I don't want to be swapping tires everytime I head south.

Ideas? Advice? How stable is your DR at highway speeds? And what tires are you on that provide that stability? Would a 19" front provide more stability over a 21" given the same tire?

-Mark

Real dirt tires suck on the street and real street tires suck on the dirt. Life and dual sport tires are a compromise. A 19" front with the same tire will be somewhat less stable than a 21" due to the decrease in rake and trail involved in lowering the front. If you lower the rear also you get back to where you started. I'm running the 19"/17' combo, so this is not conjecture. Those Kenda's won't last very long, you could just grin and bear it, and then get something like Shinko 700's next time (maybe Metfo Explorers if you are feeling flush). They are not as good in the loose, but worlds better on pavement, closer to the 'ideal' dual sport 50/50, or go with the second wheel set. If you go with the latter PM me I have what you want.

[maynard911]

Originally Posted by epix1718

Thanks for the info.

Carb is fully assemebled and on the bike, attached firmly to the motor and air box.

When not attached to the carb the cables slide in/out with ease. Just to make sure I have it correct, when I pull the throttle back the cable should extend out, while the push should retract? That's my understanding at the moment. When disconnected from the carb, should the throttle snap right back to "rest" when I let go of it while rotating?.. because mine just stays put.

The carb itself the throttle rotation thingy-ma-bob rotates freely with no cables attached, lots of spring tension when fully rotated and snaps right back when let off. I'll keep playing with it til I figure it out.

You have the cables hooked up backassward, more throttle is pull, less is push.

[Toxic Mark]

Originally Posted by maynard911

Real dirt tires suck on the street and real street tires suck on the dirt. Life and dual sport tires are a compromise. A 19" front with the same tire will be somewhat less stable than a 21" due to the decrease in rake and trail involved in lowering the front. If you lower the rear also you get back to where you started. I'm running the 19"/17' combo, so this is not conjecture. Those Kenda's won't last very long, you could just grin and bear it, and then get something like Shinko 700's next time (maybe Metfo Explorers if you are feeling flush). They are not as good in the loose, but worlds better on pavement, closer to the 'ideal' dual sport 50/50, or go with the second wheel set. If you go with the latter PM me I have what you want.

That makes sense about the stability issue. How are you liking your 19"/17" setup? Did you lower your rear as you suggest? Are you riding much offroad with them? What tires are you running now and do you like them? I'm curious how many DR riders use 2 wheel sets.

Reading above I will try dropping the psi a bit. I've also heard that once the tires have broken in some that they become slightly more manageable.

Mark

[GsVs]

Hey sagedrifter ....

How much noise do the 700's put out on the road ?? ...

Thanks ...

Originally Posted by sagedrifter

I really like the Shinko 700 as an all rounder, nice and stabil on the pavement and good on most surfaces. The 244 Shinko is cheap and better off road but, short lived on pavement.

Tires are always a compromise, I like to run a mild knob on the front and a mild DS tire like a 700, Anakee, 705, Kenda 761 etc. on the rear. I've been running the 700 Shinko on the front lately and its actually decent on gravel roads and dirt trails with the mild 705 on the rear.

If your an aggressive DS rider that does ride slab at speed, try a MT 21 / Shinko 700 combo or maybe a Mefo on the rear.

.

[JagLite]

Originally Posted by epix1718

Grrr, for the life of me I'm have some issues hooking up the throttle cables to the stock carb. I put both cables on (push cable on frontmost, pull cable on rearmost) and both cables have tension, but as I rotate the throttle back to WOT and release it just sticks, not returning to rest.

I can rotate the throttle by hand but whatever position I leave it at it won't return to rest. I attached just the pull cable and the throttle fully at rest and start the bike it starts up like it is at WOT. This is very frustrating! First time I've ever done something like this so what am I doing wrong?

You didn't say why the cables were off the carb and that might be a clue.
My suggestion is to remove the seat and gas tank so you can follow the cables from throttle to carb.
I managed to pinch one cable on another bike and had to remove them to find the problem.
However, if the throttle operates the cables smoothly when not connected to the carb, that is not the problem.

OK, throttle cable running free now?
The problem is the carb.
Did you take it apart?
Does the cable plate on the carb rotate correctly and snap shut when you release it?
Start the bike without the cables attached.
Does the engine idle properly and rev up and down when you operate the cable plate?
The answers to these questions will show where the problem is.

[epix1718]

Originally Posted by JagLite

You didn't say why the cables were off the carb and that might be a clue.
My suggestion is to remove the seat and gas tank so you can follow the cables from throttle to carb.
I managed to pinch one cable on another bike and had to remove them to find the problem.
However, if the throttle operates the cables smoothly when not connected to the carb, that is not the problem.

OK, throttle cable running free now?
The problem is the carb.
Did you take it apart?
Does the cable plate on the carb rotate correctly and snap shut when you release it?
Start the bike without the cables attached.
Does the engine idle properly and rev up and down when you operate the cable plate?
The answers to these questions will show where the problem is.

Carb was off due to me removing the pumper carb (sold the TM40, returning this bike back to stock.. I have 2 DR's so no need for 2 farkled bikes), putting the stock carb back on.
The cable plate rotates freely, snaps shut. Bike is in another garage at the moment so when I get off work tomorrow I'll try these suggestions I'm guessing I just had the cables on backwards.

[sagedrifter]

Originally Posted by GsVs

Hey sagedrifter ....

How much noise do the 700's put out on the road ?? ...

Thanks ...

Not noisy to me. My last TKC-80 front was much louder. I don't get the low speed vibration with the 700's, they don't cup as bad for some reason. My last two non-700 fronts cupped and hummed noticibly at 4K, one Anakee and the TKC-80. The current 700 has very light cupping at 4K, it still looks new.

Its hard to say exactly, but they are no louder than a 705 as far as I can remember. I can hear them when I'm not wearing ear plugs, but I can hear the mild 705's too.