Think soft luggage if riding difficult terrain. Keep it low and forward. Even a small amount of weight high and way back on the bike can upset the handling. Hard luggage is just another thing to break your bones when the bike lands on you.
hey Drift,have you looked at the 8lt fuel bladder,strap it anywhere on your bike and when empty,just roll it up and stash it. made out of some tuff curtain sider type material,has eyelets at each corner for easy mounting. used one on the cape york couple of years ago. i think liquid containment in AU makes them @about $160
Hi there, Thank you for the suggestion! Are you using these?or just for one trip? How do you find it? I have looked them up on the net. They look ok ,but can call me old fashioned but I still not trust these bladder types.They should be ok for road use but probably need a decent support for dirt. therefore defeating the purpose of being store able. hence a 5lt plactic petrol can will do the same job for the cost of $5. ( El Cheapo!!!) Well I m thinking having a petrol can as a semi permanent fixtures to my bike to extend the range until i have $$$$$$$ to fit a larger tank.Most likely it is tiresome mucking about with petrol cans but I just want to get out and ride not to wait until the bike is all set up. so the cost of these would cover about a 1/3 of a 18.5 or 20lt tank.Which I think should be the the long term goal. Thanks.
Hi Yes for starters differently soft luggage.supported by home made racks. As I m new to dirt I need to experiment to figure out what do I really need and what works for me. And I do not know if I will do enough long rides to justify the investment of hard luggage. But I must say the water and dust proof ness and relative easy access to the luggage is very appealing!
Your riding desires may evolve over time, too, so don't get too hung up on planning rigidly for the future.
Hi There, I m new to adventure riding,slowly setting my bike up for gravel. I been lurking in here for a while and then I came across this thread. Your name came up as the person who knows DR's well. I m new ish to forum ing. Is this a good place to ask about the mighty DR or there is a better one? The reason I ask as this thread had no traffic for a bit. Or the DR owners just too busy riding? Anyway nice to meet you.
gpcustom makes bashplates for the DR ($165) and is in Dunedin... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/154306-Suzuki-dr650-bash-plate I run one on my DR.
Hi Thanks, I just bought a bash plate off trade me yesterday. If it does not work out I will look for one of these.They look solid! .
Gday mate, just cottoned on to this thread, My Dr came with a B+B bash plate also a B+B carrier on the back which is bloody solid and has many holes and slots already in it. My tank is stock and I was reluctant to spend the big bucks on an aftermarket tank so Ive mounted an Army ammo box on the front of the rear carrier in which the 5ltr fuel container from Mitre 10 is an exact fit. I made up a little bracket which fits under the handle of the fuel container which both holds it in and padlocks to the side of the box. If im not using the fuel container, the standard lid just slides back on and is designed to padlocked on if need be. On the rear of the carrier Ive mounted a smaller Ammo box on its side as a tool box which also can be padlocked shut. I also have a standard Ventura pack frame on the back which had to be lifted slightly so the rear carrier part of it fitted over the tool box. I need to learn how to post pics on here then I could show you what it looks like.
Click me................................... https://www.adventuremoto.com.au/images/dr650bashplateresize.jpg from these fella's https://www.adventuremoto.com.au/index.php?osCsid=4007e76ddb8b1935717796aa958e93f5 ........................................................................................................