East of Phoenix Rider's Group

Julio,

Thanks to you I did













I have extra material for the mount if you want me to make you one.


Bill

Nice. I may be in for the Mt Lemmon ride this Saturday.

Great hope you can make it. The weather should be perfect. I sent you a couple emails thru ADV about the coke oven ride, did they do thru?


Later
Bill

I hardly ever check that particular email. I hadn't one so in over a month. I got it. I'll respond shortly. If you need to contact me just send me a PM here or knock on my door.

I know a few of you guys have or have had DR650s. I have been looking to get one and I'm going to look at a couple this weekend. Is there anything I should look out for on certain years? Any problems with things that were changed on newer ones? I've only heard of base gasket leaking, and a problem with third gear? Oh and one that had a wiring harness melt down. Any info appreciated. Wade

Wade,
Here's some info from Jesse at Kientech.
1998 and early '99 were equipped with a solid idler gear that created a problem when the engine kicked back during shutdown, breaking out the gear bearing bosses. '96 and '97 had the torque limiter gear that is designed to slip due to a preloaded slip clutch arrangement. They went back to this design in mid '99 after vin # X2100561.

I have one that is set up nicely and might be interested in selling. It's in perfect mechanical condition, just a few scratches. If interested let me know. It's a 2005 model.

Hey Paul,

How many miles were on your KLR when your pipe went out on the Toroweap trip?

That's about all you really need to know about these DR's in terms of problems. 96+ are solid and have changed very little. The 98-99 idle gear problem was just for those years.

the only other issue is the NSU screws that can be easily fixed with some time and a little loctite. You'll have to do that on any bike you buy so it's really not an 'issue' to look for. More of a maintenance thing.
Same as the infamous leaky base gasket. Some years came with a paper gasket which wears easily and starts to weep. Easy cheap fix to throw a metal one and be done with it.

DR650's are solid bikes. Good luck with finding one.

Thanks for the input guys. I am looking at a 2008 In San Diego. It's 3500 But has all the stuff I would want already on. Might have to sell the WRR. or get my wife a second job.

May be interested in seeing your WRR if you decide to sell. I have tried that 2nd wife with a job...no meant to say 2nd job for wife thing...

Good to know. I just passed up 30,000 miles on mine. How often do you do the valve adjustments? I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on how often you should check them. Everything from you don't to you need to check them every several thousand miles. My plan has been to check it every 15,000 miles. At 15k I took it to ride now and they said that the valve's were in spec. I've been debating whether I should have someone check them for me or do them myself.

Brought the Ural back home today... She is still sick. They are unable to get the carbs tuned in right (especially the left one). Apparently she has a delicate constitution. So now I have ordered 2 new carburetors. Going to take her for a spin Saturday and I would love to meet you guys on mt. Lemon but the Ural is going to stay close to home until she gets over her indigestion.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

what about the strom?

Weak excuses for not going on rides is my job.

This came up today in the DR650 thread.

http://dr650.wikia.com/wiki/Potential_problems_to_be_aware_of

sums it up nicely.

That is a great article. Thanks for posting. It looks like these bikes are pretty solid.

Buddy is flying in to town and wants to ride around the Ural... He is on the fence about hacking his "extra GS" and want to see what riding a hack is really like. So we will be riding, but only around town.

Better excuse? Your job is secure, yes?

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Huh. Thanks for the input.

Here is another question for you. My bike seems to smell more than it used to on start up. Like an old pickup truck if you know what I mean. It is also idling a little rougher on start up. I'm guessing that it just needs a new spark plug and maybe the oil burning issue from going to work everyday at 80 mph is starting to affect the plug. Not sure why it would be fumey though. Maybe the fuel to air mixture needs to be adjusted?

Anyone looking for a throw away trail camera I just ordered this from staples for $29 + tax




If interested Use Coupon Code: 49926 and it will drop to $29

For $30 and those specs, pretty hard to go wrong.

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Just went to the site and it says they are out of stock... Those went quick.