DR650 790 Big Bore Installation and Review

EDIT: Video of the build here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8xE4ZwgbdQ

The minute I saw the 790cc kit on Procycle.us, I knew that needed to go on my bike. So now, some time has passed and everything I need to make that kit happen has lined up. I ordered my kit last week, and it should be arriving by this Friday (pending my mailman doesn't fall asleep on duty again, true story). I have noticed there isn't much information out there documenting the installation for those that want to do it, but are hesitant. I will be documenting my installation with pictures and videos, and finally give a review of the product after the installation.

To give you an understanding of my skill level: I have an intermediate level of understanding mechanics, and have worked with tools my whole (short-thus-far) life. I have researched for hours the DR650's engine, have read the DR650 thread, and have read the service manual cover to cover. This will be my first time taking apart a 4 stroke engine. I have installed a new piston and rings on a 50cc 2-stroke scooter, but the lack of a timing chain or valves made that job silly easy.

About my bike:

For those that don't know, I bought my 2000 DR650 in October of 2010. She has 20,000 miles and cost me $1800 (neg down from $2400 )

How she looked the day I bought her home (next to my custom dr200 "military edition"):



How she sits today (Before my Hayabusa muffler installation):



As you can see, a lot of work has gone into this bike. I bought the bike to start off doing more trips and trail riding. Since buying it, property owners and local government has closed down all the shady trails in the area, and made it impossible to go off road. I have hear of instances where DEC officers will sit on the trail, pretending to be hurt, and when you stop to help them, they zip tie your clutch and take you away.... not worth it. I bought a v-strom 1000 when the trails started to close, but most of the time, found myself back on the DR, loving its ride. 1500 miles on the V-strom later (and 1 road trip) and she was history, sold to a guy in Jersey. I used part of that fund to spruce up the DR making it more road friendly. I bought the TM-40 pumper from Procycle, redid the suspension, new supermoto rear and 19" front, built a custom windscreen, and outfitted the bike with a V-strom seat among other things. Last summer I did 1000 miles in upstate New York, about 200 or so was 2 up with my girlfriend, Chrissy. She loves the way the DR rides, and actually prefers it over the Vee. We had no problem going upstate, but once the hills started, you can tell that engine was struggling.

That was the tipping point. I knew this kit has to be ordered if I wanted to keep riding together and enjoying the trip. I thought about a V-strom 650, but I would want a 2012+ (think they are hotter) and I don't feel like financing while starting to make a life. Plus, my DR is MY DR... There are no others like it in the world.

I also ordered with the Bike bore kit:

Barnett Clutch and springs
New hotter iridium spark plugs
10 pack of oil filters
valve o-rings
fuel filter (never has one on my bike, i think its about time)
timing plug (destroyed mine)
and a valve tool.

My DR has about 29,XXX miles on it.

I am planning on installing all of the above and:

Wrapping the exhaust pipe
Sound dampen the skid plate
Clean up some of my wiring
Check on the NSU


I hope you guys and gals find my thread to be informative and helpful. I will probably start\finish the rebuild on Friday the 15th. I will keep y'all posted!

Subscribed!

I have been thinking about this as next winter's project (doing RMZ forks this year). If you are spending the money on the BB kit, you should also look at changing out the cam. The stocker just won't feed that beast.

Also subbed! I plan to do this over next Winter.

Rob

A nice box came today....





Thanks procycle for the stickers!!! I was planing on having them made..

Luckily it came before this...



Snow is about 16" right now, and predicted to get more over night. Ill be worrying about getting this stuff out first then do the kit a week from today.

Opening the box and actually seeing everything was a bit intimidating. Seeing all the clearance numbers, and all the parts, all I was thinking was "I hope this isn't a waste of $1200".. My concern right now is getting the rings on right, and making sure everything is right in that aspect. I didn't take a picture of the piston, but trust me, it's a work of art. Really beautiful piece of metal.

The cylinder is nice, and really clean. I fit the piston in the cylinder, and it's nice and sung, ill get out the gauges later and see how it really measures.

What's the story on the cylinder? Have you had it bored and sleeved, or was it just the sleeve you tested the piston fit in?

Rob

Procycle has two cylinder exchanc methods, I went with option #2. They sent me a clean bored out cylinder, sleeve already installed, and I will return my cylinder to them. Pricycle continues to amaze me. I was told on the phone don't expect the package to go out until Wednesday because we don't have a cylinder yet for you. Later that day I got an email saying my package shipped. After a quick Email to them, I found out the cylinder was already in the box ready to go. I love the "under-shoot, over-produce" business model!

See this link: http://www.procycle.us/info/articles/dr650/cylinder-exchange.html

Nice! Last I had heard, they weren't offering that... so that's great news.

Since I'm only an hour away from them, I'll probably just pull my cylinder and drive down there when I'm ready to get the stuff.

Rob

I bought the hotter iridium plugs. Should I have gone with the standard?

This is cool stuff. I won't be able to sleep tonight after reading about the 790cc power kit. "Oh My God." I hope he has one for me next year. Ha Ha.

From Jeathrow Bowdean

Can't wait to see how this goes. I never knew about the cylinder exchange thing either. A couple hundred bucks for peace of mind isn't exactly a bad deal.

Wait...how in the hell did you get a VStrom seat on there? I cannot stand the DR650 seat, and upgrading to a Corbin didn't help a bit. The few VStroms I've ridden, however, had very comfortable saddles. Can you give us any info on that piece of work? Friggen awesome.

see this thread post number 459 and on.. Page 32 also has some pics

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=671846&page=31

WTF are you talking about? I don't remember anyone posting up political rants in this thread, or did I miss something?

Ha Ha. I did the same thing a few days ago being that I travel to diffrent threads. I'm sure theat GB slipped up on his post. I bet he was referring to something on another thread, and posted it here by mistake.

Maybe the offending posts were deleted before we got here? Dunno.

is it soup yet ? where's the wheelie-in-the-snow pic at 790 oclock ?

cmon man !

yes they were deleted.

Getting close.. I'm trying to do it this Friday. I replaced the clutch today with the Barnett Clutch kit from Procycle.

Starting by draining all the oil



Then I started to remove the 2 oil lines attached to the side case. I also had to remove my center stand and pull the brake pedal down to get it out of the way of the case.I used my handy impact driver to remove all the bolts. I always forget I have this tool, and its great when you have a bunch of bolts that have to come out.



Once the case was off, I finally had a good look at my NSU. I did not want to remove the clutch basket, so I just used a few different screwdrivers to tighten the upper screw. the bottom one wasn't loose, but wasn't tight.. I removed the screw and used some high temp red locktite to secure it. (screw is removed in the below picture)



I honestly wasn't sure what to expect when I opened the case. The previous owner had no idea what a NSU was when I asked, so that screw could have been gone years ago.

Another picture of inside the case:



NSU screw:







Alright... Then I got to the clutch. I removed the old friction and steel plates, and made note of the order. I installed the new Barnett clutch parts.

No Clutch plates;





The Barnett clutch springs are a little bit longer.



Once everything was installed I started to clean the old gasket off the side case... what a pain in the ass that was. I went to auto zone for gasket remover (not sure if its a real product or not) but the guy directed me to carb cleaner and said that it will work... it didn't. I used a box cutter to cut a lot of the old gasket off. When I installed the new gasket, I used copper gasket spray and mounted it when it got tacky. After filling up the oil, cleaning up everything, installing all the parts I took off, I started the bike. Oil came pouring out of the top near the oil filter and all along the bottom.. I had to take everything apart again and clean the gasket surface again. I will admit that I didn't do a good job the first time around.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYBODY USES THIS METHOD, BE VERY CAREFUL SHOULD YOU DECIDE DO THIS:

To remove the old gasket, I used a 220 grit sandpaper and my rotating sander. I did not apply any pressure, and just used the weight of the sander to cut up the old gasket. when the surface was clean, i sprayed some more copper spray and tried again (this time not putting the bike together first, in case I had another issue). No problems at all. I am dreading removing the paper base gasket off my cylinder, but its gonna have to be done right.

After putting everything back together I ran the bike for 20 minutes at idle, and let the oil heat up to 240*F. no leaks at all

I guess the new clutch has to wear in a little, but I had to adjust my cable adjustment near the lever to almost full out for the wheel to stop spinning. I'll be keeping an eye on this. I only road the bike down my driveway and back, since the road currently look like (outside my driveway):



This is not slush, that is solid ice...



I felt like I was 4-wheeling in my little Jetta!