the DR650 thread

[ER70S-2]

Originally Posted by procycle

Those are shrinkage marks from the casting process. Perfectly common and normal on many cast aluminum parts. Look at any other bike (not just DR650s) and you'll see the same thing.

My front hub:


Someone else's front hub (ignore the incorrect seal position).

[LexTalionis]

Have you got a folder in your computer containing every picture posted in this thread???



Lex

Originally Posted by ER70S-2

My front hub:


Someone else's front hub (ignore the incorrect seal position).

[NordieBoy]

Originally Posted by LexTalionis

Have you got a folder in your computer containing every picture posted in this thread???

You don't?

[ER70S-2]

Most of the good ones. Tryin' to get the new guys up to speed.
Pics are easier than splainin'.

I was in the carbie last night (pilot jet replace, just in case), they'll get posted as the subject comes up. [flash bulb smilie]

Hope I'm not murdering the bandwidth thingie.

Originally Posted by NordieBoy

You don't?

Two words.

[smilin jack]

Originally Posted by Putzy

well i dont need to worry about my fueling problem for a while. broke my arm just below shoulder today after departing my DR. :( but thanks for the tips.

Dang, sorry to hear about the hurt wing. You will heal quickly, right? In the mean time, learn everything about your DR so you can help us fix stuff.

Get better soon.

Dave

[mslow]

Acerbis Tank update, had the DR out playing in a silt basin yesterday and got to crash test the tank...

It held up perfectly, barely a scratch, haha!
Looks good, performs well and crashes much much better than stock

[smilin jack]

Originally Posted by fbritt5

2001, 40,600 miles and just did my first oil change..... and new air all around too!

Frank, glad you had good engine oil in there to last 40K miles (know you joke). Don't forget to stop over and get that rear tire.

Dave

[shaddix]

Hey how come this bike can go just as fast in 4th as in 5th?

[Fire Escape]

Originally Posted by shaddix

Hey how come this bike can go just as fast in 4th as in 5th?

5th is just an overdrive for many of us. Speed is limited by horsepower, rolling resistance and aerodynamic drag. If you put a big enough front or small enough rear sprocket it would go just as fast in 3rd as it does in 5th. More gears certainly help with acceleration but after reaching the balance point between power and drag you would not go any faster with 20 gears.
The preceeding simplification presumes that you have enough gears and clutch to get the load rolling and reach your horsepower peak. It also neglects wind and hills for those of us who have to deal with them.


Bruce

[ER70S-2]

Originally Posted by smilin jack

In the mean time, learn everything about your DR so you can help us fix stuff.

[Kommando]

Originally Posted by shaddix

Hey how come this bike can go just as fast in 4th as in 5th?

Because it runs out of power before it runs out of revs in those gears, and dirtbike aerodynamics suck.

Gear it down so that your max cruising speed in top gear is not screaming the revs, but much higher would start to. This will also improve your gearing for offroad and for starting from a stop with a heavy payload. The stock gearing (USA) is pretty tall for a dirty bike, and the stock power output is ho-hum for a 650. Bump up the power and use a flat-slide pumper carb to improve the low-rev manners.

I wouldn't want to be able to hit the rev-limiter in top gear, but re-gearing and uncorking might get you there in 4th.

Why worry about it though? Get a sportbike and go to the track if you want to go faster than a DR will go. If you really want to know if the DR is fast enough to hurt though, take it on some tight singletrack and hold it WFO in 5th for a while. This bike has more than enough mojo to kill you.

[Rugby4life]

Originally Posted by shaddix

Hey how come this bike can go just as fast in 4th as in 5th?

Because the speed limit sign still says 70 after you shifted?

[acesandeights]

It's interesting to me to read about the DR650 needing a sixth gear. Seems plenty fast (top end) to me with five gears. I want a lower gearing overall for offroad, knowing that gearing down a bit will still leave me with the top end I need for commuting to and from work during the week. I don't think I've ever had it on the Interstate, but highway speeds I want for naught, and seldom use fifth for very long.

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by shaddix

Hey how come this bike can go just as fast in 4th as in 5th?

What was your top speed in 4th gear?

The DR will rev quite a bit in 4th ... if you're not going up hill and you stay on it. It takes a while, but I've hit 90 or 95 mph indicated in 4th (prone).
Shifted to 5th, saw about 110 mph indicated top speed.
190 lb. rider, light load, street tires, NO wind, Stock carb (jetted), open air box, stock exhaust.

Watch that front end weave at that speed. Gentle grip.

[ER70S-2]

Originally Posted by acesandeights

It's interesting to me to read about the DR650 needing a sixth gear.
I don't think I've ever had it on the Interstate, .

Doesn't that compromise your viewpoint somewhat?

Originally Posted by Adv Grifter

What was your top speed in 4th gear?

The DR will rev quite a bit in 4th ... if you're not going up hill and you stay on it. It takes a while, but I've hit 90 or 95 mph indicated in 4th (prone).
Shifted to 5th, saw about 110 mph indicated top speed.
190 lb. rider, light load, street tires, NO wind, Stock carb (jetted), open air box, stock exhaust.

Watch that front end weave at that speed. Gentle grip.

It isn't about what the DR can do, it's about what it can do more comfortably for the rider. I rode at sea level a couple of weeks in February and when I heard the ride plan (lotsa highway to get to easy dirt roads), I decided to run my 16t CSS. This turned out to be a good decision on those long 75-80mph sections. If they had drug me down more technical stuff the 16t woulda sucked. Point is: idealistically I want a 14-42 first gear and a 16-42 6th gear. Even here at altitude, I would use all six gears on most rides.

This is assuming they didn't screw up the current gear spread.