the DR650 thread

[procycle]

Originally Posted by vintagespeed

your dyno chart is impressive but it only demonstrates that you MAIN JET is fine. not sure what that has to do with the needle?

That's not true. On a CV carb dyno run you won't really be running fully on the main jet until the motor is way up into the higher rpm range. Through the midrange it will be running on the needle/needle jet even though you have the throttle wide open.

[procycle]

Originally Posted by c2c4c

Unless there is some other way to adjust idle speed to spec/below spec (by ear...)

By ear will work just fine.

[GISdood]

Originally Posted by 996DL

I doubt the original valve guide seals, were at all affected by our brutal Canadian winter's temps, normally it's strictly just heat related degradation and possibly oil breakdown can play a role as well. Your region is an offroad paradise and while I know you tour considerably, high heat offroading by yourself or the previous owner, will accelerate the wear life of these items as well...

What was your approach with reringing your DR, did you leave the cylinder's finish untouched, or lightly deglaze the nikasil surface ? And finally, have you rejetted the bike, to alleviate the supposed oem lean condition ?

Thanks for your, as always, considerable positive input to this thread / site, GISdood !

996DL

Well, I'm going to play it safe and blame the previous owner for the early expiry of the valve seals then!

I initially was going to just deglaze the cylinder with a scotchbrite pad, but I figured seeing as I was tearing the bike down and freshening up everything else, going half-assed on the heart of the beast just wouldn't do. I wound up taking it to a local engine rebuilder and had them put a nice light crosshatch into the cylinder wall for me.

As for rejetting... definitely. After I had the base gasket issue resolved and the first set of new rings installed, I scored a lightly-used FMF Q2 from another DR owner over on the Yahoo DR650 group, then picked up a Dynojet kit from my local dealer. A few hours later, a bunch of plastic removed from the airbox, and many, MANY profanities uttered after stripping out those f%$#ing JIS screws from the float bowl, some dremel work to notch the screwheads for extraction and so on.... well, suffice to say I was happy to sacrifice a couple miles per gallon for the added throttle response and fun factor
Thanks for the kind words... I'm glad to help!

[Mercenary]

Ok...so if I wanted (needed) to upgrade the springs in my front forks on my 08.....how do I go about doing that? Is it just a matter of unscrewing the top caps, removing any spacers, drain the oil, replace the springs,and then re-assemble?

[carcajou]

Originally Posted by procycle

No agenda here other than trying to contribute to everyone's general understanding. Just pointing out that the majority or DR owners won't be happy with a 45 pilot jet. Neither would they be happy with a cut open airbox and a shimmed needle. It worked for you so more power to you. Your bike responds differently than 99% of the other DRs. We do see this occasionally. On the other side of the balance is the bike ridden by one of my employees. He has a cut airbox but still has a stock exhaust. His bike wouldn't run properly until we set the DJ needle on the 5th position. That would be way too rich for 99% of other DRs but his bike ran great with that setup and got 53+mpg. Most other bikes with his setup would need the needle set at position #2. Go figure.

I appreciate that you participate in the forum.

[livetofly]

Rumlover and motolab,
Thanks a lot for the informative responses. I have a much better idea of the carb and its adjustments on the DR650 now. As far as my DR goes I think I got the issue worked out now. When the PO installed the dynojet jet kit, he must have forgotten to remove the white plastic spacer that it says to take off in the instructions. This had the effect of making it run really rich. The rich situation was also compounded by an air filter caked with dirt (somehow the dealer didn't clean that when I took it in for an initial check up). So with those corrections done I just took it for a test ride and didn't notice any of the rough bogging down at low rpm like before. On a side note it was probably a clue that before it started even in the cold with no choke applied just fine, now that it's not running so rich the choke will probably have to be used as it should be on cold mornings.

I love this thread, but think it's starting to take away from time I should be working on my studies

[TrophyHunter]

Originally Posted by Mercenary

Ok...so if I wanted (needed) to upgrade the springs in my front forks on my 08.....how do I go about doing that? Is it just a matter of unscrewing the top caps, removing any spacers, drain the oil, replace the springs,and then re-assemble?

Lotsa variables for this answer. http://www.procycle.us/info/question...html#both_ends PC has some good starting suggestions and was helpful during my chosen solution.

[motolab]

Originally Posted by livetofly

Rumlover and motolab,
Thanks a lot for the informative responses.

You are welcome!

I have a much better idea of the carb and its adjustments on the DR650 now. As far as my DR goes I think I got the issue worked out now.

Good deal...

When the PO installed the dynojet jet kit, he must have forgotten to remove the white plastic spacer that it says to take off in the instructions.

I'm concerned where the needle clip sits if you remove the white spacer. Do they have you install a thinner washer of the same diameter as the spacer?

Regards,

Derek

[motolab]

Originally Posted by Mercenary

Ok...so if I wanted (needed) to upgrade the springs in my front forks on my 08.....how do I go about doing that? Is it just a matter of unscrewing the top caps, removing any spacers, drain the oil, replace the springs,and then re-assemble?

You'll need to set the preload. This will tell you if you've got the right spring rate as well. If you are able to hit your laden sag target but not the unladen one (or vise-versa), the sprig rate is incorrect. Once the right rate springs are installed with a preload that facilitates hitting your laden and unladen sag targets, you need to set the oil levels. Wrap a zip tie around one of the fork tubes. Use it to check to see how much travel is being used during hard riding down hill on the brakes over bumps If more than 90-95% of the total travel is used, add a little oil (evenly of course) and try again. If less than 90-95% is used, subtract some oil (evenly of course) and try again. A fork oil level tool like the one from Motion Pro helps a bunch.

Regards,

Derek

[poppawheelie]

Does the DR have a rev limiter, or is that just my carb running out of air when it goes "dut... dut... dut" at really high rpm? Sure sounds like a rev limiter.
FMF big pipe, Kientech mid pipe, GXSR 1000 muffler, stock jet with needle shimmed up 1 mm, adjustable mix screw, snorkel removed.

[procycle]

Originally Posted by poppawheelie

Does the DR have a rev limiter, or is that just my carb running out of air when it goes "dut... dut... dut" at really high rpm? Sure sounds like a rev limiter.

The CDI stops the party at 7750 RPM

[NordieBoy]

Originally Posted by motolab

I'm concerned where the needle clip sits if you remove the white spacer. Do they have you install a thinner washer of the same diameter as the spacer?

Small washer under the clip. The needle is quite a bit shorter than the stock one.

[PHILinFRANCE]

Originally Posted by PHILinFRANCE

You can follow little donkey here http://www.adventurebikerider.com/fo...oes-maroc.html

Phil

I thought at least one of you would have looked at this

[LexTalionis]

Originally Posted by PHILinFRANCE

I thought at least one of you would have looked at this

Wednesday I read to page 5, post 80263 in one sitting. Very entertaining report, great pics and I love your dry British humor. Too bad the girls you gave up your room to didn’t give you a tumble.

Good to see your DR is soldiering on with so little drama, just a cracked inline fuel filter as I recall. And your self-inflicted tube pinches, of course.

But, the BMW (quoted from your RR):
chain SNAPPED
throttle cable was only held together by two threads
the left hand side of the subframe had broken
and shortly thereafter: the subframe snapped both sides

And it was some Dakar-prepped bike? WTH? That guy didn’t bother to properly prep his bike, apparently. Not someone I’d care to leave civilization with. I recall an in-progress RR from one of your countrymen that I started Wednesday also, he bought a Honda XL600 to ride to Africa but, as I recall, discovered a worn-out chain and worn/cracked countershaft sprocket before leaving France. Some riders should stay home, for their own safety. However, their misfortunes on the road do make for interesting reading.

Thank you for taking the time to post the RR, I'll be following along till the end.

Lex

[Storz]

How is the DR650 for long highway slogs? I am down to choosing between just a couple bikes and the DR650 is at the top of my list for all the reasons you guys know about, the thing is for me to get anywhere interesting on it I've got at least 2-3 hours on pavement and am just wondering if it's going to vibrate me to death. I had a DRZ400sm that I put quite a few road miles on and sometimes my hands would fall asleep lol.