the DR650 thread

[Mambo Dave]

Originally Posted by johnkol

Tyre pressures are proportional to rider weight, so a 250-lb rider should certainly be using higher tyre pressures than a 150-lb rider. And indeed, underinflating tyres will make for a sub-standard handling bike.

You know, it hit me as I was doing a bank and grocery run on the DR650 today that I should have added that I'm no heavy-weight, and the bike isn't 'loaded down.'

And it sorta seems like the Shinko 705 owners are reporting running over suggested pressures, by a good degree, more than any other tire make.

I'm about 185 pounds... and aside from the 7 pounds of lard and two pounds of cube steak I had on the bike today (above and beyond my own lard and tube steak), it runs pretty stock weights normally. Yet, probably mostly due to the front tire/wheel's feel, I run my tires like I wrote earlier - high 20's front, 30 or 32 rear.

I'm not advocating it, or saying it's safe, or anything, but I'm damned glad to know other guys are feeling what I am feeling out of the 705's, and doing the same. When I die from a horrible fire-ry crash due to it, I'll report back here and say "Don't do that" ... but until then I'm going to run what feels good to me for turning and cornering.

It also hit me that a part of this may me a slightly flexier tire build (since thus far it's mostly 705 guys) coupled with a weak front suspension. Maybe some part of it is trying to make up for just a too smushy front end, but then that really doesn't explain why I did it ... which was to counter what I was feeling in the tire during even mild and slow transitions.

Probably all of us who have reported running them that high on relatively stock bikes would be better served with a set of SM wheels and tires, or a 19" front and street tire, (and a suspension upgrade) to counter what we're feeling up to the point at which we want to take our bikes off road. But no matter... airing the 21" 705 up just seems OK enough that I don't really care. Well, OK enough that I don't care for now - I'd still like the tire to 'feel' the way it does now, but with a fork spring upgrade (or emulators, or... other forks).

[Lil' Steve]

Originally Posted by neo1piv014

Tell me it was built as a joke, right?

Not sure, some redneck engineering and meth were likely involved. I picked that up years ago from a local classified ad, kept the wheels and parted the rest.

[Multisurface Rider]

Originally Posted by Jammin

Need your advice, fellow DR riders:

As you may know, I was having electrical problems with my bike in western Tanzania (she's a 1998 with 74,000+ miles). She was dying after a few minutes of running and a reworked carb, a newer CDI, rectifier and ignition coil didn't solve the problem, so I figured it was the stator. I got a new stator shipped in, the 250W uprated one and installed that along with slightly-newer parts from parted DRs: a CDI from a 2006 and a rectifier from a 2001. After those parts, she fired up and sounded really good. I did 50 kms of test rides and was confident the problem was solved, so got back on the trail heading south.

But now, after 400 kms (250 miles), the problem is back. She died on me today in the middle of muddy roads. It felt like a loss of power. I let her cool, we rode a bit more and then she died again. I figured since I didn't replace the original ignition coil, maybe it was acting up now. I put in the coil from the 2001 bike and she died again in a few kms. Then I unplugged the generator and we ran for a while before same failure. Then I unplugged the rectifier and we ran fine for a few kms before she died again. The longer I let her cool down before trying again, the longer she lasts before dying again. To me, this sounds like something is heating up and causing the loss of power. It doesn't feel like a fuel (carb) issue. It feels like something is cutting power to the spark plugs. I limped her back to a small town.

I'm running on the Shorai battery and have a voltage monitor and after unplugging both stator and rectifier, battery was holding charge at 13.45 and after two starts with no stator, it dropped to 13.35 V.

I have a replacement wiring harness from the 2006 bike. Is mounting that on going to help? That's all I can think of now. I'm close to throwing in the towel and putting her on a truck and heading back to a good mechanic in Nairobi. Argghhh!!!!

Jay,

Sorry the bike is given you a hard time dude.
You have a lot to check from all the other ideas.
I have a couple to add.
Check the spark plug caps and coils for cracks.
If you can run it in the dark might want to do so while looking at the spark plug caps and the coil. If they are cracked you should see the sparks. Gets worse the hotter the bike gets until it cuts out.

Good luck.

[FlowBee]

So late last week I made it to Tucson on my DR. My tires (especially the rear) were significantly flat-spotted. So I rolled into town needing a new rear and possibly a new front. Tucson - border town, right? So I decided to gear up for the road south.

I checked FOUR different dealerships in Tucson for tires. ONLY tires. Here is what I found:

1. The big dealership chain in town with two locations had NO 17" rear tires under 140-profile in stock. They could order them for me with a 5 day turn around.
2. The #2 dealership in town along the I10 corridor had ONE pair of tires, shelf-aged, at FULL markup including full labor markup. This was a Pirelli MT90 and a Gripster 130/70. I paid them $$$ for the service of having my chain guard disappear 100 miles later. They still weave under 20 MPH.
3. The #3 shop in town, along Grant Rd, had only Shinko 750s. These are super cheap Koren tires known for low price but short lifespan. Not appropriate for south of the border.
4. Some independent guy known as *MW who may or may not have something I may need. Call..... yeah... no.

So now I'm back in Ohio trying to figure out how to be truly self sufficient in light of the "adventure sport" BS that comes with being in the southwest.

I might as well just take the RT.

FB

[DockingPilot]

You werent planning on new shoes for the bike once you got there?

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

[FlowBee]

Originally Posted by DockingPilot

You werent planning on new shoes for the bike once you got there?

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

No. I understand carrying tires into Tadfuckistan. But this is still the United States - let alone north america. Crazy is it seems, I assumed that towns near the border would have spares for common tire sizes for people headed south. Yeah, you're right. I should have anticipated this. The "border" begins about 600 miles north of the border.

Even my local dealer in Ohio has these in stock. Seriously.

WTF.

[DockingPilot]

Well that sucks for sure. I try not to assume anything or leave anything to chance on trips. Always figureing if something can trip you up, it will. 17" knobbed tires are like 525 chains. Lol

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

[FlowBee]

Originally Posted by DockingPilot

Well that sucks for sure. I try not to assume anything or leave anything to chance on trips. Always figureing if something can trip you up, it will. 17" knobbed tires are like 525 chains. Lol

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

OK, thanks. S0..... we should expect a 18" conversion. $$$

[Rusty Rocket]

Originally Posted by RichBeBe

Yeah I never saw it in person, but the guy from here who bought it was an ideal match for it. He could actually touch the ground

Thanks to him, I'm still running the wiring harness outta that baby.

[smilin jack]

Originally Posted by Adv Grifter

Man, that's bad luck! You've replaced just about everything it seems. Hard to know where to look. I suspect a bad Pick-Up coil (ignitor) ... within the stator. Maybe swap in another from the other stator? They can be intermittent, from what I've heard. Maybe heat related?

Got to be heat related issue as she starts after cool down, no?
Could also be Rectifier/Regulator ... but I know you replaced that too.
But using 2nd hand donated parts ... its sometimes not possible to know if they are "known good". Not an easy situation ...

I know you wired in a bunch of switches in your dash. Could anything there be shorting or in anyway screwing things up? Also ... when you modded your dash, did you mod the ignition switch? I was thinking of that little hidden resistor (anti-theft) under the switch. It interfaces into the harness and goes to CDI ... if shorted or missing ... bike won't start. I doubt it is intermittent though. More mystery.

When you swap out the harness ... take care that little resistor.

But I keep coming back to the Pick-Up coil (ignitor)

Good luck ... I hope you solve it!

My Pick-Up coil went out and I replaced it with the $40 mail order one. The symptoms were: hard starts, missing while riding, weak spark, then NO STARTING. Tried again later and it would start and run a while... then die.

Ordered the replacement pick-up coil, installed it with new engine cover gasket and has worked great for about 9K miles. Bike now has over 49K miles.

Dave

[NordieBoy]

Originally Posted by FlowBee

3. The #3 shop in town, along Grant Rd, had only Shinko 750s. These are super cheap Koren tires known for low price but short lifespan. Not appropriate for south of the border.

If it was Shinko 705's then they'll out last the trip.
I get 12,000km from a rear and 23,000+ from a front.

Bloody good tyres.

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by NordieBoy

If it was Shinko 705's then they'll out last the trip. I get 12,000km from a rear and 23,000+ from a front.
Bloody good tyres.

I agree. i'm on my 2nd set. Not much good off road but fine on easy dirt roads and great on pavement.

Originally Posted by FlowBee

No. I understand carrying tires into Tadfuckistan. But this is still the United States - let alone north america. Crazy is it seems, I assumed that towns near the border would have spares for common tire sizes for people headed south. Yeah, you're right. I should have anticipated this. The "border" begins about 600 miles north of the border.

Even my local dealer in Ohio has these in stock. Seriously.

WTF.

I would re-consider the Shinko tires. Cheap and good. Buy them mail order .... AHEAD OF TIME!

Shops rarely stock anything. I never rely on them to have anything on hand. They will FOR SURE ... bend you $$$ over $$$ and laugh at you. I've seen guys pay $150 for a tire you can get online for $65. Sound familiar? Mounting and balancing ? Same deal. OUCH!

Unless you're near San Bernadino, CA at Chapparrel (they are HUGE, stock everything on site), most shops are limited. Cycle Gear is pretty good in the Bay area. Out in AZ ? Dunno?

I don't know how far you intend (or intended?) to go in Mexico or for how long ... but I can tell one thing: you made an error right off the top by not PLANNING AHEAD for your tire change.

Do you ever look at your tires? Did you not notice you were running out of rubber long before you got near the border? Do you know Ray's Rule #1 for Mexico? 1. NEW Tires/Tubes front and rear.

I would have ordered tires on line a week or ten days ahead and had them shipped to a friendly Motel along my route ... or a friendly shop. I've done this. It works.

To really save some money ... once you get the tires, cross into Mexico and go to a nice looking Llanteria (tire shop) and for $3 to $5 let them change your tires. YES ... I've done this a few times too. Llanteros are everywhere ... in every town!

If doing big miles into Mexico then carrying a spare rear tire is a very good idea IMO. Fronts last (over 10k miles?), but most rears only go 4 to 7000 miles, depending on which tire, your load and pace.

There are a few good, high mileage road tires that fit the DR650 120/130-17. I've used 3 Avon Distanzia's on my DR ... usually get 7 to 8000 miles out of a rear. Also very good is the Michelin Anakee. But the big miles winner is the Metzeler Tourance. You could see 10K miles from the expensive Tourance. (if your road speeds are moderate)

In Mexico ... DO NOT neglect bringing spare tubes. Hard to find good one there. The Llanteros can do amazing work patching tubes ... but having a couple spares is the smart way to go. Once a tube splits .. it's done ... and so are you!

[Kommando]

Originally Posted by FlowBee

So late last week I made it to Tucson on my DR. My tires (especially the rear) were significantly flat-spotted. So I rolled into town needing a new rear and possibly a new front. Tucson - border town, right? So I decided to gear up for the road south.

I checked FOUR different dealerships in Tucson for tires. ONLY tires. Here is what I found:

1. The big dealership chain in town with two locations had NO 17" rear tires under 140-profile in stock. They could order them for me with a 5 day turn around.
2. The #2 dealership in town along the I10 corridor had ONE pair of tires, shelf-aged, at FULL markup including full labor markup. This was a Pirelli MT90 and a Gripster 130/70. I paid them $$$ for the service of having my chain guard disappear 100 miles later. They still weave under 20 MPH.
3. The #3 shop in town, along Grant Rd, had only Shinko 750s. These are super cheap Koren tires known for low price but short lifespan. Not appropriate for south of the border.
4. Some independent guy known as *MW who may or may not have something I may need. Call..... yeah... no.

So now I'm back in Ohio trying to figure out how to be truly self sufficient in light of the "adventure sport" BS that comes with being in the southwest.

I might as well just take the RT.

FB

What's the problem? Order tires online and get them overnighted, or have them sent ahead of time if you don't want to haul them with you.

Shinkos are cheap, but many people rack up some decent mileage with them. I run cheap Kendas too, and some of them go over 10K miles on a rear tire. I haven't had any issue with Shinkos or Kendas yet, but I know that some people have delaminated/chunked some. It happens even with expensive tires though, so I don't really sweat it when I pay less than $30 for a tire.

[neo1piv014]

Originally Posted by Kommando

What's the problem? Order tires online and get them overnighted, or have them sent ahead of time if you don't want to haul them with you.

Shinkos are cheap, but many people rack up some decent mileage with them. I run cheap Kendas too, and some of them go over 10K miles on a rear tire. I haven't had any issue with Shinkos or Kendas yet, but I know that some people have delaminated/chunked some. It happens even with expensive tires though, so I don't really sweat it when I pay less than $30 for a tire.

I just turned over 3,000 on my 705's, and my rear is definitely starting to show some flat spotting. Then again, 90% of the miles I've put on these tires has been highway commuting. The front isn't really showing much wear at all, though, so it may take me a while to burn this set out.

[barko1]

Originally Posted by FlowBee

No. I understand carrying tires into Tadfuckistan. But this is still the United States - let alone north america. Crazy is it seems, I assumed that towns near the border would have spares for common tire sizes for people headed south. Yeah, you're right. I should have anticipated this. The "border" begins about 600 miles north of the border.

Even my local dealer in Ohio has these in stock. Seriously.

WTF.

Southwest Moto Tire is in Tucson, they used to have most everything.