The 'No Pissin and Moanin' DR650 Thread

Holy moly! Your DR has been around the block a few times! Inspiration for the soul...I love it!

I like that big single headlight. Baja Designs? How did the DR do in the Baja 1k?

Wow, Andy nice trips. How many top ends have you put in, in 85,000 miles? :huh

Andy - incredible stuff. You passed Adam by 10K and he just sold his DR with 75,000 on it due to import fees in the UK.. http://shortwayround.co.uk/ To my knowledge, no top ends on Adams bike.

Mr. Jeep. I know I'm a couple hours south, but any time you want a tour of San Diego...... be glad to swap bikes during a ride.

Yep... it's an 8" HID Off-road Racing light from Baja Designs... way more light than anyone needs on the street . Thanks. Let's just say that the DR did better in Baja than I did. I made it 900 miles and ran out of time and energy - unfortunately the race was 1296 miles that year. Here's a link to a thread in the Racing Forum about my experience. It gets off-topic for a bit near the beginning but gets back on a few pages later - it's rated 5 stars. If you're really interested, you can check out the book in my sig line. I've tossed around the idea of racing the Baja 1000 again on a DR650 but with a team of riders. Im sure there would be more than enough interest.

Thanks guys. I did the top end once at 42k - probably didn't really need to but I was getting ready to do a long ride thru Central and South America and just wanted to be on the safe side.

I picked up an '02 model (with an already weeping base gasket) in 2007. It had just over 10,000km (~6000mi) on the clock and was completely stock. It was purchased primarily as a cost-saving measure for my daily 60km round-trip commute.

Then I stumbled across ADV and found that other DR650 thread. Farkle-itis set in quick.

Creature comforts and a small aesthetic change were the first order of business. Slipstreamer windscreen, KX-Hi bars, heated grips... and something random to break up alllll that '02 model year yellow - side plates and all!





Not long after making these small changes, I picked up a lightly used FMF Q2, so I ordered a jet kit and tore into the carb and airbox, and pulled the header to take care of the hideous gob of restrictive weld material.

Airbox hacked open and cleaned up


My tool of choice for dealing with the header weld grind job


With the header already off, I figured "What the hell..." and went ahead with some brushing/sanding/polishing to clean it up a bit.

Step 1 - wire brush to remove all the baked on dirt


Step 2 - sisal wheel and emery rubbing compound (and I cleaned up some of the Q2 as well)


Step 3 - cotton buffing wheel and stainless polishing compound - shiny!


I certainly enjoyed the fun factor that the carb/airbox/exhaust mods had gained, and was pretty much grinning like the village idiot everytime I threw a leg over for the first half of the riding season that year. I was pressure washing some mud off the bike from a trail ride one weekend, and one of the decals started to lift... so I peeled the not-so-inconspicuous camo off and enjoyed the "360 lb banana" look again for a while.



Prior to taking my first road trip on the DR later that summer (with my wife on her new DRZ-SM!) I needed to add luggage and fuel capacity. I went with a PWD tail rack, Wolfman Expedition bags & sideracks and an IMS tank.

Stripping her down and installing racks...




Off with the old tank...


And on with the new one... its girthy!


Oddly, I don't have any 'after' shots of this bit of wrenching... But here's a couple shots from the road trip that followed later that summer




Winter rolled around, and there were a few maintenance things that I wanted to take care of on the bike. It wasn't puffing smoke on startup, but you could smell that hint of oil burning when it was cold. Likely just old hardened valve seals. I'd been repeatedly patching that damn leaky base gasket as well, so I figured I'd get the top end freshened up and replace the gasket at the same time.

At that point, I thought that if the engine was coming out of the frame anyway.... I might as well strip it RIGHT down and give the old girl some TLC from top to bottom.

Several hours later... gutted!


And then... nekkid!


I had a backyard mechanic buddy take care of the top end work for me, and while he was at that, he swapped out all the various 8/10mm bolts with stainless allen bolts that I'd picked up on ebay. MUCH more convenient for general maintenance.

A couple weeks later, I received this back from the powder coater


I just went with a simple semi-gloss black. Not as sparkly as the factory paint, but I like it!

Not long after I got the frame back, I picked up my cleaned up, rebolted, and freshened up engine


The next couple weeks' worth of evenings turned out to be a bit of a race - trying to get the bike back together before all the snow melted!

Bruno was either impressed or confused with the condition of the motor


Got out the tap & die set and went about chasing the powder coat out of all the threads


After wrestling the engine OUT of the frame for its removal... I figured I'd try a different approach to getting it back in. I set the engine on the floor, laid it on its side, and just maneuvered the frame around until I could get a few of the mounting bolts in. Even managed to NOT chip my nice new powder coat!


Then it was just a matter of attaching all the other bits... and re-routing the wiring harness


One of the additional minor mods... notched out the CS sprocket cover just so I could keep an eye on things in there without pulling the cover off


Front and rear end all cleaned up and reattached




Its a roller!!!


A wider shot of the biking coming back together...


Exhaust going back on




Add the tank... and just the seat and side panels to go, now


And then.... ta-daaa! Back together!





So... among some of the other things I did to the bike that I didn't mention...

• removed clutch and sidestand safety switches
• replaced all bearings - wheels, steering head, swingarm pivots, etc
• new 520 chain & sprockets (16 & 15 front, 42 rear)
• added tool tube - pictured above
• replaced all signal bulbs with LEDs, requiring an electronic flasher and a diode kit for the indicator
• ... I think that's it!

That was around the 23,000km mark. Just passed 42,000 this week and still going strong. LOVE this bike!!

If the heat lets up tomorrow for a bit, I'll be installing my newly-rebuilt forks (No pic because they're fucking forks...who gives a crap.) and the TM40 I got from Jesse at Kientech, and my rear shock.

Sweet!! I've got my stock carb where I'm pretty happy w/ it for now, but post up after you install the pumper carb. My next money goes to suspension work and a better seat. Maybe a new carbie later........

Thanks for the offer TH. I'll hit you up in a few months. Possibly doing a baja ride in oct and anza borrego area sometime in the fall/winter.

Too cool! It looks like I've got some reading material this weekend.

Got my new tire today.. still waiting on the rims. Really wide!

110\90-19 Shinko 712



Anybody want to buy the old stuff? Shinko 705 (90\90-21) with 1\2 tread left, and a 21" rim that is oval by an 1\8" (and painted rattle can black). Make an offer...

Busted. I had a KTM 950 at the time as well.

Here's my first submission in the "DR's with Heavy equipment" series of photos. Feel free to add...

My DR with a Caterpillar Butt-N-Top log loader.

I have read all of your ride reports and they are all truly inspiring. Like you, I have been riding for many years, but to put 85,000 miles on your DR650 is Amazing. I have owned more than 20 motorcycles in my life, but I have to say that the DR650 is one durable machine.

Other than the usual maintenence, could you give us some idea of the things that broke, had to be replaced or repaired in all those miles, and what you mean by "did the top end once". Was that just rings and/or a piston, or a complete rebuild with head work done?

Great pictures and reports! Keep 'em coming.

Ride Safe,

Taz9

BST Replaced with the TM

Wow! What a difference...

Best money I spent on this bike in a while, for sure.

If the temps abate some tomorrow, I'll throw the pig up on the spit and remove her suspenders and replace them with the reworked stuff. If not, I may just go riding a bit.

Woohoo! Looking forward to the performance report.

Just downloaded AirborneAndy's book, Excuse me, which way is the Baja 1000?


Will offer up a report in a few days..

Here is my set up when staying at Motels.



I thought it was going to be HOT, so I brought a little cooler. It was cool enough that the ice lasted all day. I do like cold beverages readily at hand though...



I got one of the first PC TM40's years ago and I've replaced two pilot jets due to running old fuel, the DR was my back up bike for years and it set way too much. Now its my main ride so it does not sit much anymore. I've replaced one leaky float bowl seal, I blame that on E-10 gas, it was hard and brittle. It's been very consistent as long as the fuel is fresh.

The Shinko 700/705 combo is still working well when I'm using the bike as a touring mount. The front above has 4,000 plus miles on it now, no cupping still. Its wearing much better than my last TKC... go figure. Cheap tire, great wear, decent mild all rounder.

Just finished it.

Suggestion. Download it and read it asap. Cool pix and an easy read.

Andy, sir, you have my deepest respect for what you accomplished and the manner in which you did it.

Bravo to you

Did a big single track loop on the southfork today.......met this girl face to face on the trail................



she had company.................



I was sitting on the dr, when I took these......a picture of the bike, after mamma and baby bear left



also stopped at the plane crash................