the DR650 thread

Freeze the bearing, heat the hub with a heat gun and press it in with a hydraulic press if you can. If not a socket and hammer will do just be careful to keep the bearing on an even keel going in.
There is an inner cush hub spacer and obviously 2 outboard ones as well.
Russ is right got my PC order here on east coast really quick.

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Thanks for the advice... this does put the noob dirt rider part of me in the right frame of mind.

If ur not " feeling it" in Utah take the go around and avoid Eagle Canyon. I loved it but it is a very long sandy section with few options out.
Someone posted a video of him dropping his DR off a cliff. That was Eagle Canyon.


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Thanks. As luck would have it there was a shop that pressed the bearing in for me (not carrying a press ). I hope he got the spacers right.. I know of two myself- the one that goes on the inside where the cush rubbers are (that slides into the bearing) and the one on the outside where the seal is. Putting it back together everything feels tight and solid. The bearing that came out was shot and had rusty watery grease coming out. The bearing from Napa is the same skf part number and its double sealed. I also picked up a second as a backup. I'm glad I caught it otherwise it could have took out my sprocket carrier right?

Cush hub rubbers are worn, and of course none here. Gonna order those and have them shipped along with a seal (one I'm using looks fine, but just to be thorough). While I'm at it, I might pick up some wheel bearings too as this has me a little rattled. Not sure I want to go pro cycle after reading about jammin jays fiasco with the all balls. I think my wheel bearings are fine (no rust, no slop, smooth) to make Whitehorse. Man, sand and mud and water crossings does a real number..

Yikes! I think I saw it on youtube...

Is there supposed to be any play at all in the rear wheel that I can feel by grabbing the rear wheel and trying to move it (on a stand)? The front has no slop, but the rear has a touch. The sprocket no longer has any and is solid (cush bearing replaced) and overall the rear has way less. I have two new rear wheel bearings so with the cush bearing going I'm considering replacing them as well. I'm down in tok, so any advice asap is appreciated

There should be no perceptible side to side play. Time to replace the bearings.

I bought my first off road bike three years ago, at 60 years old and after 40+ years of riding - a KLR 250.
I rode it in the mountains around Boulder, CO for a summer and within months my confidence had increased to the point where few trails slowed me down.
The 250 was light and responsive with all the torque and suspension I needed.
The DR feels a lot like the 250 in terms of manageability and I'm glad I took this route to gain off road skills.
Last week I was speeding across the desert on my DR, navigating deep sand and rocky outcrops, and laughing out loud in my helmet.

Hey MrBob,

My background is similar to yours. 35 years of riding all on street, just starting to discover the joy of riding off road. My next bike will definitely be a DR.

Thank you. Went ahead and replaced the rears. The one on the rotor side wasn't too hot, but the one on sprocket side was fine. All new double sealed bearings in the back. Front is fine, but watching. I should have used a bearing supplier before instead of putting OEM single sealed bearings in before I left. I guess its all the mud and water crossings and sand I've done

Well it's Friday here in Australia.
I made a song while riding my bike.
Whilst on my DR650 of course.
My song is called "Staying behind the truck, not going to get F^cked."
Primarily designed for those in offices, trying to pass time. Please share if you know someone bored to the craphouse in an office environment, poor bastards.

Song is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRoyXtdfd5M

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Your front brake is as important in the dirt as on the street. Learn how to use it.

Riding behind the truck...is it available on iTunes yet??

On my last DR I did a good job of scuffing up the oil filter cover. Since then I have seen two others cracked by rocks--one we had to leave in the boonies until we could get a truck back in to get it. I ordered a cover but it did not clear my skid so I did some improvising.
Here are a couple of pics of what I came up with--don't know how well it will work if stress tested but I'm hoping it will at least give my oil cover some protection if I encounter a rock during a dirt nap.

Thanks. Would be good if it got into a few office buildings on a Friday afternoon. That might make it a mild youtube HIT. It was a rainy day and I was rather excited. Rain gets me excited. Like an animal

Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRoyXtdfd5M

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Yea, your front sprocket shows more wear than I initially thought from the other pic. Looks it's been exposed to Salt as well?
Is it Suzuki OEM sprocket?

I'd also be concerned with your rear sprocket. Kinda "Pointy" no?
Hard to tell ... fuzzy pic ... but I'm guessing it's past due for replacement.
Is that a stock Suzuki sprocket? If not ... what brand?

Looks like you're ready for the rest of Summer! Safe riding!

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh :huh

Neat, but you could have just bought a cover for it - and the covers seem like they'd really protect the housing. This is my bike:

Ok, so with this all past me, I have a crazy theory. Tell me what you think of this:

I started out using kerosene in a squirt bottle and bel ray chain lube. Having no experience on the road, I figured kerosene could be easily sourced. I was wrong. As I ran into only being able to buy large quantities of kerosene, I switched to wd40 since I had read in many places about guys using that to clean their chains. I would spray the chain with wd40, then wipe it off with a rag, then apply chain lube and let it dry. I would always do this when the chain was hot.

The problem is, as some have mentioned, wd40 is a penetrant. My theory is that the wd40 penetrated the orings and ruined the grease inside, and soon the chain started rusting internally (despite my cleaning and lubing). At the same time, the Keintech simple stand I use isnt the most stable, but certainly weighs less, costs less, and takes zero ground clearance when stowed compared to a center stand; this stand allows the bike to move a little when I would spin the wheel to blast the chain with wd40. Overspray prolly hit the spacer by the cush hub bearing a number of times, consequently pentrating the seal (or around the bearing perhaps?) and destroying the grease in the bearing. As the bearing wore, it started to place all sorts of additional force on the wheel bearings and caused the one nearest to the rotor to start going bad. **EDIT** I really am not sure the cush bearing could put additional force on the wheel bearings, but id like your opinions.

I always check the wheel for movement when I deal with the chain, but I will confess I didnt always check the sprocket for lateral movement. This happened fast because I know in fairbanks there was no wheel slop at all.

Maybe im reaching here, but the cush hub bearing definitely had a rusty runny watery crap coming out of it, and this theory seems plausible.

Anyone else want to part some wisdom on me? I feel really stupid (and I was for sure) but at least I know better now. Im using diesel in a squirt bottle to clean the chain and silicone lubricant to keep the orings conditioned. I clean when warm, and I wipe the chain off before extended dirt sessions. Sound right?

Moral of the story: dont blast wd40 on chains or by accident, bearings. I guess some might spray wd40 on a rag, but for me diesel is so cheap, abundant, convenient and good at cleaning that Im just going to use it from now on.

Maybe.

But as I stated above, don't over lube a chain, and there is no need to clean it, ever. And even if there is crud build up on it, its not on the wear parts, and its only cosmetic. IMHO, YMMV