the DR650 thread

[Mongle]

Originally Posted by Mambo Dave

I don't know, but it's time to start safety wiring that which can stay, and I already began loctiting other bolts two days ago.

.

You need to stick with loctite. Even safety wire will let a bolt loosen a little; it just wont come out all the way. Safety wire is used in areas like airplanes, race cars, race bikes because it can VISUALLY be inspected quickly to see if it will fall out. Also, safety wire can fail due to improper instalation. There are specific ways you must wire a bolt or you are just pissing in the wind (like using needle nose pliers).

As an engine builder and someone who has experience with both loctite and safety wire---the loctite is better it just can't be seen once the bolt is installed.

[AST236]

Originally Posted by GaThumper

+1,000,000,000,000

The FCR is amazing to me, FINALLY, a dual sport with the throttle response I've been missing! Reminds me of my old TT500/600 or my KTMs. I've been unhappy (and didn't know why) with my DRZ400, DR350, and my first DR650 before installing the FCR on my second DR650. The finess of the Keihin FCR is worth every penny it cost me.

I rode the first big group ds ride this weekend on the DR since installing the FCR and you couldn't get the grin off my face with a belt sander. Smooth as an electric motor, throttle control to lift the front wheel over ruts and roots, and power wheelies all day long! Got asked by other riders what I had done to my DR to make the front come up so easily. FCR Carb and 14 tooth CS are a great combo!

The best thing though is the throttle response from idle, such smooth, instant power delivery, if I wanted to I could stay in 2nd and 3rd gear as I slowed for switchbacks and then just roll on the throttle, no need to downshift unless I wanted to.
Thank You! MXRob for all your efforts getting the FCR dialed in for the big DR!

That's what I was looking for. Thanks

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by Mambo Dave

Thanks. I have hit the rev limiter once, but do generally run in high RPM for indicated 90 or 95 MPH commuting (70 miles of it each day for the round trip, plus slower stuff for 10 more - 400 miles a week)... maybe it's the DG exhaust, but most likely it's the revs I keep the bike at. I don't know, but it's time to start safety wiring that which can stay, and I already began loctiting other bolts two days ago.

I'm willing to bet my neutral safety switch, or whatever it is, is already loose at 3k miles, and will fall apart by 5k at this rate (doesn't anyone else run their bike this fast all the time?). Safety wiring may seem like overkill for some, but if I can do it well I'd rather set the bike up right.

Thanks for the harbor freight idea - I didn't think any of their bits would be any good.

That's a fast pace for the DR650. Traffic flow must have picked up from when I lived there in the early 1990's. I lived in West Palm and commuted down to all the beach towns ... even as far as Miami some days. Average pace then was about 70 to 75 mph. Not much enforcement.

The startling thing I remember riding that freeway was the kids who would
suddenly hop the barrier and bolt across five lanes of high speed traffic. One kid jumped RIGHT in front of me (I was on my old XL600R in the fast lane) I missed him by two feet. Locals said it was Crack dealers. Whacko!

Going up to Daytona once in a while I noticed the pace picked up to about 80 mph. If you're going 95 mph you need a sport tourer. Buy a used Vstrom or Bandit 1200, older Ninja 1000, or any number of freeway cruisers. My DL1000 Vstrom could cruise at 90 mph all day and never even break a sweat. Just 5000 RPM at measured 92 mph. (overdrive 6th gear),
45 mpg.

[Olas]

Originally Posted by ER70S-2

I'm 180 in street clothes and I'm still using the stock spring on my Cogent and it's at its limit (with a 17 lb tailbag). But the stock bike has buddy pegs, so Suzuki thinks the 6.5 ok for 2-up, I can live with that. The 7.5 can only make things better for two-up. If I was 20lbs lighter, the stock 6.5 would be even better. My point: suspend the bike for how you usually ride it (solo?), then slow down with a pillion. If you usually ride aggressively and/or are chasing KTM and Husky riders, the 7.5 with real damping will help control the DR's 366 pound weight.

I think the stock shock has too many limitations. A heavier spring will overload the damping, the stock spring can't handle the DR's weight in the aggressive bumpy sections. I've had the Cogent with rebound for about 20k miles now and even though I squealed like a little girl when I paid for it , I've been happy since then. I couldn't see spending $500 without getting the rebound adjustment.

I can ride quickly but the DR is too heavy for anything rougher than Rollins Pass, aggressively. IMO

I don't know. Maybe a Procycle gold valve kit?

One vote for save your money, send the stock shock to Cogent and live happily ever after. The big question is 'how good is the 420 you already have?' It may be comparable to the Cogent, then that would be a waste of your money.

Thank you for the response! I appreciate the suggestions. Maybe we should meet for a ride someday and trade DRs for a few miles...You can try out my DR outfitted with the 420... Of course, we are of different weights but not by much.

[zdiver1]

Originally Posted by AST236

So I've done the free carb mods on my '98. Shimmed the needle, drilled the slide, removed the snorkel.

The previous owner, a motorcycle tech, had already removed the cover from the air screw and I didn't mess w/ it. Starts easily and idles fine.

I'm impressed w/ the result. The bike seems to run much better and w/ the richer mixture has to be running a little cooler.

So here's the question. How much more of an improvement will I see if I drop the coin on a new TM40 pumper from Uncle Jesse? Will the pumper work ok w/ the stock exhaust or do I need to budget an additonal bit of jingle for a GSXR can and midpipe?

I understand this is a fairly subjective question, but given the combined experience on this thread, I'll take subjective answers and make up my mind from there.

Thanks......

Stock carb sucked. I would like to sound like joe pro carb guy ! but I had my PC jet kit installed at a local High performance bike shop the bike ran very smooth and got 50 mph. But I like to upgrade so I ordered the PC TM40 and installed myself and this is like the poor mans fuel injection! I am geting 53 mph well worth it.

[sagedrifter]

I would not ride a bike in Miami, too dangerous. My life has enough value to find a car to drive in that crap hole. That said, 80/90 mph will get you in trouble on a DR650, totally wrong for that speed. Can't get out of the way at 80.

The bike won't last long at 85 mph all the time either.


We learned to get a place close to work so we could avoid the freeways. I was amazed at the traffic speeds down there in the mornings. I just drove a beat up diesel truck while in FL and stayed to the right. The idiots can go around. Don't join the morons or stoop to their level.


Sent from my GT-S5690L using Tapatalk 2

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by sagedrifter

I would not ride a bike in Miami, too dangerous. My life has enough value to find a car to drive in that crap hole. That said, 80/90 mph will get you in trouble on a DR650, totally wrong for that speed. Can't get out of the way at 80.

A couple times coming home from Miami at 4 or 5am on a Friday night
(movie business work long/weird hours) we'd see running gun battles on the Freeway and get passed by guys going like 120 mph. On those occasions I was driving with a friend. Scared the shit out of us. YOU COULD HEAR THE GUN SHOTS. ... not a cop in sight! It's funny now ... I hope things have calmed down.

[Deadbeat Lebowski]

Originally Posted by ER70S-2

Somewhere about 60,000 posts ago this was brought up. You shouldn't have any trouble finding it. Seems the solution was a ZX1200 (1300, 1400??) motor mount bolt. That's all I can remember.

G'nite.

Thank you.

[Bob808]

Originally Posted by jessepitt

Looks like the valves contacted the piston at some point. How do they look. Also it looks like something else hard got in there to cause those dings in the side of the piston. Pic of the cylender and head?

Here are some pictures of the cylinder and head. I found one scratch that I can barely feel with my fingernail, the rest seem like stains or very fine scratches. Can't feel them at all. The longer one is the one that I'm talking about. Is that too much damage that I can't really use it like this? Bike has 30.000 km. I was thinking to put it back in and ride it for another 10.000 then change it. Thing is that I don't know of any good shops in my country that could repair the cylinder and to send it abroad would cost too much.

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[Thumper Dan]

Hi all,

I just bought a set of Oxford grips and my question is: if I put them onto my current bars, will I be able to get them back off when I order a new set of bars later on (several months away)??

The kit comes with super glue but I don't want to obviously destroy the heater grips to remove when I get new bars. Even without using glue, I need them to come off without damage!

thanks heaps.

[ADV8]

Originally Posted by Bob808

Here are some pictures of the cylinder and head. I found one scratch that I can barely feel with my fingernail, the rest seem like stains or very fine scratches. Can't feel them at all. The longer one is the one that I'm talking about. Is that too much damage that I can't really use it like this? Bike has 30.000 km. I was thinking to put it back in and ride it for another 10.000 then change it. Thing is that I don't know of any good shops in my country that could repair the cylinder and to send it abroad would cost too much.

If the choices are that limited stick it back together.
What does the piston look like where that scratch is in the cylinder.

One thing I noticed is the DR must have a big squish measurement.

[thumpididump]

^

[Albie]

Originally Posted by Olas

Also, I've read that 10W rear shock oil is an improvement for riders that want to ride a little on the aggressive side and that it may be to harsh for regular road/dirt road conditions. True? This is with the stock valving.

I'd say that's way false. Even with a Race Tech gold valve installed, the Race Tech set up called for light (3 WT) oil on my shock. I seriously doubt the stock valving could even begin to handle heavy oil.

[Mambo Dave]

I know a lot of you DR guys think I should ge ta street bike, but I'll try to keep running this one (I just sold my larger street bike yesterday). As I wrote earlier, I really don't believe that the 90 to 95 MPH my speedo reads is really what I'm doing. At that speed I still have plenty of power to speed up to over an indicated 100, so this speedo is just way off if you are saying it doesn't have passing power past 85. I would say 80 to 85 is my real cruising speed. (Plan is to put a taller rear tire on, and a 16 tooth sprocket, by the end of this week - that should lower the RPMs a bit.) I am thinking about getting a steering damper for the twitchiness at those speeds, but I'll try new tires first. It really isn't bad enough that I'd slow down for it, but it seems like it would go into a tank-slapped if I fucked up enough.

So far body panels, the rear fender top-bolt, and the chain-guard are what I've found loose. Got lucky with the rear fender bolt since it somehow came all the way out, but stayed on the bike for +30 miles. It's obvious bolts were falling out for the previous owner, too, as there is a make-shift replacement on an exhaust cover that I can only assume fell out. I've only had the bike a few days, so while I can't say critical bolts are loose yet, if the few areas I have inspected or fooled around with are any indication then I'm going to have a lot loose.

Originally Posted by Mongle

When I was doing track days with the GSXR I used one of these for safty wire. Bikemaster drill guide:

Thanks Mongle, that top adjustable jig is just what I'm looking for. I should probably buy both for the allen-bolts that have round heads though.

And Harbor Freight has safety-wire pliers for cheap, so no big deal there. I don't need a professional set that resets itself since I'm not doing an entire aircraft.

I'll be doing a mix of Loctite and safety wire on the bike as I see fit. I understand the concept of how to safety wire (i.e. wiring to keep things tight), so it's not as if it would be pissing in the wind.

-----

I ride north, instead of to Miami. My experience shows these commutes are much faster than those who ride from here, south, into the snarled traffic heading to the big city. Yeah, speeds are still high going south sometimes... and I-595 might as well be a NASCAR track going west in the mornings - actual bumper-to bumper traffic doing 80 or 83 MPH (measured with a car back when I used to do that route - you wouldn't catch me alive on the DR, or any bike, on that route at those times).

I love hearing about how Florida used to be (even crazier) back in the day - thanks for the stories guys. It's still sort of a third-world country, so ...

[Motodeficient]

Yeah, I think you REALLY need a 16t countersprocket.